The diary of Emily DIBBLE of Hatch Beauchamp, Somerset

[wecanbeheroes]

I first posted this query in 1998! On RootsWeb Sadly I never had any replies. While Googling Emily DIBBLE a few days ago I stumbled across my old message which inspired me to post the same [but slightly edited] message here, in the hope I might get a little more success!

I have a copy of "The Somerset Village Book" [Countryside Books (13 Oct 1988)
Somerset Federation W.I. ISBN-10: 1853060313]

In the section on Hatch Beauchamp, there is some scant information on one EMILY DIBBLE, who, in 1907, kept a diary about village life in Hatch Beauchamp, a few quotes of which are in the above book.

Does anyone know if this diary was ever published - in full or part?

I've tried to find out from the W.I. on 2 occasions over the last 14 years without success.

Are there any DIBBLE folk out there who might know???

Kind regards, Jacqui

[HeatherLynne]

Hi Jacqui,  Well you'll have one reply at least, even if it's not very helpful.  I tried putting Emily Dibble into Amazon Books' search engine but couldn't find anything.  However there are some books that mention Hatch Beauchamp.

Another possible line of enquiry is that there is a company called Dibble Contracting in Beercrocombe, the next village due east of Hatch Beauchamp - perhaps they're related to Emily Dibble?

Good luck with your search
Heather

[wecanbeheroes]

Heather, Thank you for taking the time to reply. Dibble Contracting was a good find! I might surprise them later with a phone call! If nothing else I might be up for the 'most bizarre call of the year to a contractor' award lol.

I'll update this thread if I find anything out.

Thanks for all your help, it's very much appreciated

Kind regards, Jacqui

[HeatherLynne]

You're welcome    Sometimes the most unlikely routes can turn up exactly what you're searching for - fingers crossed in this case 

Heather

[wecanbeheroes]

Hi Heather,

As I mentioned in my first post of this thread I've been trying to find out more about this diary for 14 years now, and something happened yesterday to further ignite my interest!

The diary was written in 1907, so [and I don't know why I didn't think of doing this before!!] I thought I'd check the 1901 census for Hatch Beauchamp. I found Emily Dibble on page 10 of the census, living very nearby my GG Grandparents [Samuel & Elizabeth SLADE] who are on page 8 & there are only 15 pages for the entire village!

In the Somerset Village Book Emily is said to have been living with her Aunt & Uncle at Capland farm, Beercrocombe [in 1907] but there is no mention of this couple's surname, so imagine my surprise to find that the Aunt & Uncle's family name [in the 1901 and 1891 cesuses] was SLADE!!! It had been wrongly transcribed as 'Glade' but I could tell it was SLADE the moment I saw it.

I don't know yet if there is any connection to my SLADEs [and if there is it would have to be a couple of generations back] but I have to say I had a goose-bumps moment when I saw that name!!

Also, I have made that phone call and am now waiting to get a phone call back that might [fingers crossed] reveal more about this elusive diary  It would be such a thrill to read about events in my GG Grandparents village to really get a feel of what their lives were like!

[HeatherLynne]

Ooh real goosebumps stuff!  Have you looked for them on the 1911 census?

Keeping my fingers crossed for you for a revealing phone call from Dibble Contracting! 

Heather

[wecanbeheroes]

I don't have access to the 1911 - ancestry still haven't added the full census yet. I have looked for her on find my past and found her in the search result [she is the only Emily Dibble born in Somerset around 1888 to be found in the results] but I don't have a subscription there.

I found the death [and probate] of her Uncle Tom Slade in 1907.

[wecanbeheroes]

Ooh real goosebumps stuff!  Have you looked for them on the 1911 census?

Keeping my fingers crossed for you for a revealing phone call from Dibble Contracting! 

Heather

I have some amazing news, and so I wanted to update this little thread for any interested parties.

Heather, your suggestion of contacting the lovely folk at Dibble contracting truly paid off in the best way imaginable!! I'll condense the sequence of events as it could prove to be a long story other wise...

I received a phone call back from the very helpful lady I spoke to at Dibble contracting, and I was given a phone number of [wait for it.....] Emily Dibble's Granddaughter! I had a lovely chat with her and she gave me her sister's number to call as she believed that her sister actually had Emily's diary. I phoned her sister Alison and told her of my long search to track this diary down and that there is also a connection with the surname SLADE. Alison [it turned out] is also a keen family historian so she was rather intrigued that we might be connected too. She said that she would find the diary and check through Emily's entries to see if there was any mention in there of my GGG Grandfather William. A few weeks passed and then out of the blue Alison phoned to say that she had checked the diary but hadn't found any William in there. However, she does have Slades in her tree and it's still a possibility that we could be connected further back - the research goes on!

The most wonderful part of this story is that despite not knowing me from Adam, Alison very kindly offered to send me this precious family heirloom, so that I could scan all diary entries. Entries run for a fairly short span of time from May 23rd to July 26th 1907. Today I had an email from Alison thanking me for the safe return of the diary [which was delivered back to her  today] along with the postal order I sent her to reimburse her for the cost of her posting the diary to me, plus a little something in addition to thank her for her kindness - she's going to buy a shrub for her garden to replace one that was lost last Winter!

I haven't been able to decipher all of Emily's words yet but in time I'm sure I will. I have found a Walter Slade's death mentioned near the end of the diary - and I have 2 Walter Slades in my paternal line, but the 1 Emily mentions isn't one of them.

What a fantastic conclusion to a quest that began over a decade ago after reading just a few extracts from Emily's diary in a book about Somerset villages!! It just goes to prove that we should never give up a search for a piece of history!

A bigggggggggg thank you to you Heather for your inspired idea which got me started on this very fruitful journey 

[HeatherLynne]

Brilliant news Jacqui, wow what a result!  How very lovely to be lent the diary, a privilege indeed    If you have any trouble reading particular excerpts try posting extracts on the Deciphering board, sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is all it needs.

I'm so glad my daft idea of contacting Dibble Contracting paid such dividends, thank you so much for taking the time to update this thread.  I'm feeling quite the detective now!