Fenland Chronicle is composed of two memoirs of the author’s parents, taken from their memories in the late Victorian and Edwardian era’s. The Fens are a low, marshy area in England. Sybil Marshall’s father, Will En’ (Edwards)/Bill ‘Arry, reminisces about his schooling, upbringing, and working life. There are some very funny stories he relates including about a willful donkey, two stubborn old men, and a mischievous brother-in-law. The reminiscences are also sad as he relates stories of poverty, hard work and tragedy. To live on the Fens in those days you had to be tough, stoic and good-humoured to get through it. Wil En’ tells of his varied working life such as turf digging, windmilling, boating and farming. Some of it was very technical and I admit I skipped some of those bits which I found boring. Many aspects of life are covered such as church goings on, and various food such as a tough ‘pudding.’
The author’s mother, Kate Mary Edwards, tells of her topsy-turvy childhood with her ill-tempered and indolent father and hard-working mother, along with her many siblings. Schooling wasn’t easy and physical problems beset her. Like in Wil En’s memoir, both sad and funny scenes are depicted. Awful stories of girls at about 12 years old going out as live-in servants because their families were big and poor. A bit about death, her courtship and married life.
The memoirs are written as they would have been spoken and I sometimes found hard to decipher everything written due to the nature of the ‘speech.’ However, I understood the majority of words and in general.
Both memoirs depict an old and then disappearing way of life. Published in 1967 and includes drawings. I loved the book as it was informative, interesting and humorous.
Readable 