Diary of Rev Edward Stevens

Visited Mary Sabin, Miss Sabin and Elizabeth Manning, Florence is better today.

A delightful summer day. I took Miss Sottick to Oxford to see the colleges, etc. Left, driving Ruby at 6.40 am arrived Banbury at 8. Left Banbury at 8.30 arrived Oxford 9.5. Saw Jackson at the Union. Left my ivory handled umbrella somewhere and appear to have lost it. Return from Oxford 5.27. Arrived Banbury, 6. Reached home 7.20. Ruby did her work extremely well.

Mrs Leake sent a note asking whether I could make it convenient to call on her this Evening about 6 – 8. I replied verbally that I would call at about 8. Just as I was about to start, Mr Langley called and told me that charges of the very grossest immorality had been brought against Nelsie Golder, viz of instructing little boys sublevare vestes puellarum et qui mode connectionem habere; dixit eam accusatam fuisse a domino Leak et uxore sua dicendi verba talia suo puerulo. I went to Leak’s and to Arthur Haynes’s. Two charges are made against her by little boys and girls to their mothers. They are all too young I think to invent the charges, about 5 or 6 at outside. The children alluded to are Rudolph Leak, Polly Webb, Alice Haynes. It was charged against her that she had shut Leak in the cupboard in classroom with Alice Haynes and John Lamb with Polly Webb. I went to John Webb’s and Mr Langley’s but they had all gone to bed.

Visited both Schools. Asked Miss S Dix not to employ Nelsie Golder as a teacher at present, as serious charges were made against her. Very sultry morning. Thunderstorm and heavy rain in afternoon. Sent for Henry Bishop and told him of the charges made against Nelsie Golder, his step-daughter, and recommended that in the girl’s interest she should be quietly withdrawn from the school and sent out to service with elderly people where there were no children to be corrupted, if it should seem on enquiry that she was guilty, which I was afraid was the case, because little children could hardly invent such stories. Mrs Langley had spoken to her and so had Mrs Haynes, and she had not denied the charge to either. She had moreover made use of a very indecent gesture to Mrs Haynes. Bishop expressed himself to the effect that the girl was very troublesome and that he did not know what to do with her.