These diaries, covering a four year period from 1823-27, offer a fascinating insight into the daily life, the coming and goings, of a typical Yorkshire farmer. Entries are short and informative: "Sheep taken out of Wardman's field", "Went to Bishop Thorp [sic]" and "York Minster in Morning". Each day is described in a single line, and, entry by entry, a detailed picture of uneducated farmer, based somewhere near York, is built up. Taking animals out to graze, a trip to York, shooting, fishing, Church, the weather — there is no shortage of these descriptions, fragments of a typical early 19th century rural life.