Commonplace Books

Commonplace books (or commonplaces) are a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They have been kept from antiquity, and were kept particularly during the Renaissance and in the nineteenth century. Such books are similar to scrapbooks, with items of many kinds: notes, proverbs, adages, aphorisms, maxims, quotes, letters, poems, tables of weights and measures, prayers, legal formulas, and recipes.

Entries are often organized under systematic subject headings and differ functionally from journals or diaries, which are chronological and introspective.

Sarah Whitehead

A Commonplace Book that was originally written in Draycot Cerne in 1772 has turned up in the Isle of Wight and has now been transcribed in full. It was written by Sarah Whitehead, who was a servant / companion to Catharine and Martha Angell; her book helps to shine a light on life in the village for the relatively wealthy in the 1770s.

Sarah eventually left Draycot Cerne to get married; later entries are mainly of a religious theme, and demonstrate Sarah’s regular churchgoing as (probably) a Baptist.

Sarah and Catharine Whitehead

Catharine Whitehead

At some stage – possibly in 1745 when she was about 15 – Sarah’s Aunt Catharine became a servant of Richard Angell, a yeoman in Draycot Cerne. Richard died in 1766, leaving a small bequest of 5 guineas to Catherine; a year later she married Richard’s grandson, who was also called Richard.

Richard (the grandson) died in November 1770, predeceasing his own father William by 2 weeks. William Angell left a widow, Martha; she may have carried on living in the family home with her daughter-in-law Catherine for a few years.

Sarah Whitehead

Sarah Whitehead was born on 15 January 1757; she was originally from Newington Bagpath, near Tetbury. In early 1772 Sarah came to Draycot Cerne as a servant-cum-companion, when she was 15 years old; and she began to keep her Commonplace Book. The first dated entry is from March 1772.

The two widows, Catherine Angell and Martha Angell, were relatively wealthy, and Sarah was able to receive a good education in the small village school. (Funded by Dame Dorothy Long, Draycot Cerne had a better school than Sutton Benger in the 1700s).

Some of the early entries in the book are dated, and it can be seen that Sarah was living with Catherine Angell from 1772 to 1777. She then leaves Catherine and moves in with Martha Angell; this suggests that the two widows were, at this date, living in separate houses.

Sarah mentions Tetbury, Avebury and Calne; the diary entries are somewhat confusing, and suggest that she was not living permanently in Draycot Cerne.

And in October 1779 she married John Cove, from Tetbury, and the marriage took place in St James’ Church, Draycot Cerne. She then went to live with her husband in Tetbury.

And that’s when the story leaves Wiltshire, and moves to Berkshire and then the Isle of Wight. If you want to know more about the book and its contents, or about its journey from 1772 Draycot Cerne to 2024 Isle of Wight, and back to Sutton Benger, please get in touch. Please contact us:
Hello@BengerTrails.co.uk