A glimpse back to the past
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (340106)
Rockingham, Australia
February 17, 2022 4:49pm CST
I have my father’s diary from 1937, the year he got married. He was 23 years old.
Here are the first entries:
Beulah Grange 1937
April 12: Took over farm. Paid £100 deposit and £26 stamp and transfer fees. Included in the farm were the following stock and plant.
5 horses and 1 yearling
3 cows
200 ewes ‘more or less’ and 100 mixed sheep, 2 porker pigs, 1 old dog, 2 cats, 40 bags of clean Algerian oats, 5 ½ bags of clean Merredin wheat, 8 ½ bags of feed wheat and 36 bags of feed oats, quantity of hay about 12 tons. Also 12 tons of super, 6 ton of it still to come. 50 acres of fallow been cultivated twice.
There follows a list of machinery and implements. It’s interesting that the Sunshine harvester is 6 ft wide. All the implements were horse-drawn.
The final entry on the page says:
Farm contains 807 acres of which 140 is not cleared. This has also got poison in it.
Started with £219/15/- in bank with deposit and fees to come out.
What a lot of water has passed under the bridge (another idiom) since then.
The photo is of my parents on their wedding day. They are in the front row on the right. Mum was married in a brown suit.
39 people like this
38 responses
@BarBaraPrz (47314)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18 Feb 22
And who's the bobby soxer?
5 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (47314)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18 Feb 22
@JudyEv How can a younger sister be older?
3 people like this
Sorry. She was younger than my Mum. 
@oahuwriter (26777)
• United States
18 Feb 22
Going down memory lane can be fascinating! One old dog & 2 cats too, that makes things very complete.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340106)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 22
@oahuwriter Farms were often sold walk in, walk out so just about everything was included.
1 person likes this
@oahuwriter (26777)
• United States
19 Feb 22
@JudyEv
It sure is very thorough too. So lot, stock & cat & dog your Father got when he bought the farm.
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
18 Feb 22
Nice to have such a photo. I had a couple of my parents including one of my mom pregnant with me. But someone broke into my storage yrs. back and stole a lot of things. Being in a hurry they must have grabbed the trunk most of my old photos were in thinking something of value was there but it was only of value to me 
So many memories were lost forever.
So many memories were lost forever.2 people like this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
19 Feb 22
@JudyEv yes I cried for weeks after. I know it was silly of me but I felt I had lost my parents all over again
1 person likes this
@Firestorm0122 (735)
• United States
17 Feb 22
This is a great look into the past. I’d love if it my ancestors had diaries, but as far as I know they never did.
2 people like this
@Firestorm0122 (735)
• United States
20 Feb 22
That's incredible! What a treasure! The only thing we have from our family's history is some old paintings and a set of Encyclopedias.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340106)
• Rockingham, Australia
20 Feb 22
@Firestorm0122 I'm not sure how many of the old people in our area kept diaries. Some farmers kept records of rainfall, etc.
@Juliaacv (51240)
• Canada
17 Feb 22
My Dad found a strong box when he bought his uncle's farm house, which my uncle was the second generation to live in. While going thru the strong box he found old deeds, life insurance policies even letters in the envelopes, complete with the .02 cent stamp. He made copies of these things and put them into books along with a bit of family history for my generation. Its great to learn history this way. I had a friend, who borrowed the book, as it is told in a story fashion, use it for teaching her students a number of years ago.
I hope that you can hold on to these 'artifacts' for your sons.
2 people like this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
18 Feb 22
It is amazing to have such things.
We still have books that belonged to our grandparents. Only family members seem to understand why we keep such things.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340106)
• Rockingham, Australia
18 Feb 22
In some ways, I can't imagine why I'm keeping these. My nephew might be interested in them. My son would be but now lives in Ireland and really, he wouldn't know many of the names in the diaries. And his wife isn't very keen on 'old' things.
2 people like this
@PatZAnthony (14749)
• Charlotte, North Carolina
19 Feb 22
@JudyEv Family things are important to many of us. The books we keep (mostly medical) have notes from our grandparents written in them, so there is no way I'm letting go of these unless to a younger family member.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (340106)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 22
@PatZAnthony Now I've read through these I'm even more keen to keep them.
@kobesbuddy (78882)
• East Tawas, Michigan
17 Feb 22
You have a beautiful heritage, your Mom&Dad are very happy and blessed:)
2 people like this
@JudyEv (340106)
• Rockingham, Australia
19 Feb 22
@kobesbuddy Vince hated history too but once we went to Europe and England it became much more meaningul. It seemed very 'dry' at school.
1 person likes this
@kobesbuddy (78882)
• East Tawas, Michigan
18 Feb 22
@JudyEv I use to hate history class in school. Now, I realize how valuable history is, with for our families!
1 person likes this
@freelancermariagrace (28009)
• Philippines
18 Feb 22
Wow. That’s so precious! Glad you were able to keep your dad’s diary 
2 people like this
@freelancermariagrace (28009)
• Philippines
20 Feb 22
@JudyEv Wow! That’s awesome!
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16766)
• China
18 Feb 22
What a precious photo ! Your father inherited a big fortune then.
2 people like this
