This comprehensive index volume (volume 10 in 'The Complete Diary
of a Cotswold Parson' series), is presented in two hardback parts.
Part 1 extends to 682 pages and contains a detailed places index, a
subjects index, and the first part of the Biographical Index
comprising surnames A to G. Part 2 extends to 800 pages and
contains the second part of the Biographical Index comprising
surnames H to Z. The subjects index which takes up 192 pages of the
index has been presented as a digest, assembled in six parts in a
contextual style in chronological sequence. These six parts broadly
cover all elements of the diarist's life: 1 The Domestic
Environment, Home and Family 2 Art, Music, Pastimes and Theatre 3
Society, the Law, Local Governance, Education and Public Health 4
Agriculture, Commerce, Industry, Transport and Infrastructure 5 The
Establishment, Politics, Religion, the Armed Forces and
International Affairs 6 Abstract and Miscellaneous By far the
largest element of this index is the Biographical Index listing
approximately 3,400 people and their families. For each person
mentioned a short biography is given with a summary of their career
and family. This is followed by the dates that the person is
mentioned in the diary in chronological sequence. 'The Complete
Diary of a Cotswold Parson' contains all of the surviving journals
and notebooks written by Revd Francis Edward Witts (1783-1854) from
1795 to 1854 and amount to almost 2.5 million words. To anyone
tempted to dip into random entries of the diaries, it quickly
becomes apparent that much of what Francis Witts wrote was mundane;
however, this monotony is interspersed with gems of information and
occasional moments of ire, sarcasm, wit, and levity. Taken as a
corpus, and especially when added to the 900,000 words of the
diaries of his mother, these diaries create a fascinating picture
of society and mobility during the times of the Napoleonic Wars
through to the early years of the reign of Queen Victoria. Francis
Witts records minutiae that cannot be found elsewhere. His method
appears to have been to maintain a 'rough' book, and some portions
of one survive in one of the diaries. From this he transcribed in
fair copy later. However, it does seem that in his settled time
late in his life he went straight to final copy. There are obvious
occasions, picture exhibitions being a clear example, where he
undoubtedly used the exhibition catalogue as his source to write in
his own hand in his journal. Witts also met an extraordinarily
large number of prominent people inhabiting the second layer of
society. The top layer was extremely small, the royal family and
the nobility, while this second layer was essentially made up of
the people who managed and ran the country: the landed gentry, the
baronetage, the politicians, the clergy, military officers,
officials, magistrates and the upper professional classes. In 1801
the first census indicated the population of Great Britain to be
around 10.5 million. If we consider this second layer to have
consisted of about 100,000 souls, we can deduce that it effectively
amounted to 1 per cent of the population. It was in this 1 per cent
that Francis Witts felt at home. Witts mentions approximately 3,400
people in his diaries, and out of these, about 78 per cent, roughly
2,500 people, are of this second layer of society; it is but a
small fraction of the population of the nation, but importantly, it
represents about 2.5 per cent of this influential second layer that
has been referred to. Through this representative sample, we obtain
a tableau of Great Britain during the period in which it was
approaching its pinnacle of influence on the globe.
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