Diary of Rev Edward Stevens

Widow Harris of Burdrop came and I gave her some wine.

Drove to Oxford with Mrs Braddell. Went through Bloxham and Duns Tew. Staid at Jesus College with Hughes.

Returned from Oxford, driving same way as I went, Rev F Wilson accompanied me.

Wet afternoon.

Drove to Tadmarton this evening to concert in schoolroom. Rosa, Bell and Mr Wilson accompanied me. At supper at Misses Cookes’s. Mrs Harman told me they wished very much to restore the church. Mrs Norris told me of some poor people who had left Swalcliffe and come to live at Sibford Ferris.

Mr Wilson returned to Oxford. Harry came from Chippenham. Annie came to stay a day or two.

Visited Mrs Hands, Mrs Shelswell, Mrs Gibbs who said that she would like me to baptize her at any time convenient to myself. I told her I should expect her to promise to come to church if God restored her to health and strength. She demurred at that and after a long talk with her the question of baptism was deferred. Her daughter, Mrs Padbury, told me her mother had often talked about baptism but had put it off with the idea that if she seemed likely to die she could send for the clergyman to baptize her.

Visited Mrs Mawle and Widow Cakebread, Hole and ?senior? and William Keene who has been suffering very much during the week from bleeding at the nose.

Visited Henry Sabin and his wife both of whom were ill in bed with bronchitis, the former very seriously.

Dr Routh called, said one of Hands’s children at farm had typhoid fever, of mild type, that water in well at house is very impure, but that they had a good supply at the brook or spring.

Choir practice for choral festival under Mr Wells.

Visited Miss Dix.

The Lancashire Insurance Company to whom the insurance of the church has been transferred have inserted a clause in the policy “warranted that no supply of mineral oil” is kept in the church. I pointed this out to Mr Woolgrove last week and he spoke to Mr Fox, the agent. He therefore wrote to the office. In their reply they said we should keep the oil outside the church or in a brick vault. I requested Mr Fox this evening to inform the company that we could not do anything of the kind, that we ordered only 2 gallons of oil at a time, that other offices did not make such a stipulation, and that if they did not cancel it from the policy we should not renew. Mr Fox quite agreed with me that it was an unreasonable clause.

Mr ?Elley? told me last Friday that he had taken more school pence lately than ever before. So that my action with respect to the charity is having some good effect, since regularity in paying school fees represents to some extent regularity in attendance.