Webb asked me this morning whether I would give him a good character to go into service of Alderman Ward of Banbury Road, Oxford. I said I would, and that he had better give me a month’s notice from last Wednesday. Webb said he did not want to leave a good place and a good master whom he has served over 10 years, he was sure he would get no better; but that his wife had never been satisfied in Sibford – and led him such a life at home that he was bound to give way for the sake of peace and quietness. “Well,” I asked “suppose she becomes equally dissatisfied with the next home you get for her?”

“Then I shall turn her up sir, for I won’t stand no more of it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I shall send her home to her friends.”