Victorian Trip Characters
By the pupils of Primary Six Middleton Park School
P6 went on a trip to Esslemont Avenue with Allan Paterson. We dressed up as our Victorian characters that we had researched from the 1881 Census. We each made a personal story about our character from the Census.. We hope you enjoy our trip down memory lane. Here we go back to 1881 ...
Our new personas from the 1881 Census - Annie, Flora, Maggie, Margaret and Maggie
John, John, William, Samuel, William and James.
Name Agnes McDonald Age 15 Occupation Dressmaker From Aberdeenshire Methlick Address 44 Esslemont Avenue
How I Lived in 1891 My name is Agnes McDonald. I am 15 years old and I am a dress maker. My father is George McDonald. I don’t really remember my Mum because she died when I was 5 years old. I have to work 12 hours a day for pennies. I wake up at 7:00am and finish about 7:00pm. I live in Esslemont Avenue which is 20 minutes away from work. I only get lunch if I’ve finished 4 dresses, and for supper I have to finish everything. My father stays up until I come home so he can have dinner with me. I hardly see my sisters, because they’re married. They are both dress makers like me. My job isn’t fair! I make so many dresses, but I don’t get to wear any of them. For my Sunday best I sew myself and my father a pair of trousers, and send my sisters some dresses too. I work Monday- Saturday, and I get a day off on a Sunday to go to the Church. The best bit about my job is that when winter comes, my boss gives me a big box of thick fabric that lasts us all through winter. On a Sunday we have roast chicken with water. During the week we have bread with squeezed grapes to drink. I wish that we could have beef but we can’t afford it. You might be wondering how we can afford a chicken. My father is a farmer. I try to save up as much money I can, but every time we have enough money an accident always happens, and we have to use the money. Still, I wait patiently. I dream of me and my father being rich but it will never happen. I hope to move when I am 19 to get married. I want to move to Australia, but I would still have to carry on with my job over there. One Saturday I got into trouble for not concentrating. I was very upset that my father was ill because he was very tired. My punishment was to sew 50 dresses that have lots of sparkles on it in a dark room. When I had come back from work that day my father told me that one of sisters had passed away by getting smallpox. I was told to pack up quickly because we were leaving that same night. It took us ages to get there. At least we got to see her face for the last time. My father couldn’t bare the death and he died the next day. After that I was so lonely and so I went to live with my other sister in Aberdeenshire. The End
Name Susanne Giles Age 16 Occupation Printer at envelope works From Methlick Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
My Victorian Life Hello I am Susanne Giles. I am 16 years old. A teenager they say. I live with my sister Maggie. She looks after me at home but she can get really strict at times. I live at forty two Esslemont Avenue. My Mum left me and my sister when we were kids. So we lived rough for a while until we got our house. I’ve got a job working with envelopes. We get an average pay of ten pennies a day. Some people get half of that. I don’t know if I have a Dad, and neither does my sister. I am the daughter of the house. It is very dull and cold in there and it’s no pleasure being in the house. We have no source of heating so we have some old ragged blankets. We have two rooms, a bedroom and a kitchen. The kitchen is very bare. You can hear the echo of your voice. I think me and my sister are lucky to be living in our house instead of out in the old dusty streets. I wouldn’t be able to live, if I was poorer than I am already. I feel sorry for the people on the streets. One of them disappears every night and are dead in the morning, it does get scary. I had a friend when I was on the streets but when I got the house she disappeared. It’s just me and my sister now. If I ever have a lot of money, it would go towards a better and warmer house. I am not that clever. I didn’t go to school but my sister did. So she taught me a few things she knew. It’s very boring making envelopes and sending letters. Sometimes I fall asleep and then they would give me a right whack. It’s painful. I would have enjoyed going to school, except the way they dress. I wouldn’t afford that. I get my food from stalls on the street. It isn’t the best I’ve tasted but that’s ok at least I have something to eat. I get my water from the river, yuck is what I say. I know what’s in the water I hate it. This reminds me. I have to go and get water for my sister. That is my Victorian life.
Name John L. Skene Age 16 Occupation Coach painter apprentice From Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
John L. Skene 1891 Day 1 Dear Diary, My name is John L. Skene. I am 16 years old and I was born in Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire on the 23rd of May 1875. I am the son of the family. My Dad is John Skene, and he is 39 years old and married to my Mum who is called Agnes Skene, and she is 41 years old. I also have got 4 brothers, 1 sister and my dog. I live in 40, Esslemont Avenue. Day 2 Dear Diary, Today I was working at Aberdeen Coach Painter Apprentice station. I was working alone, and thinking where my Dad could be. He has been lost for 2 weeks now and I have been very scared and wondering where he could be. I was doing my job for a long time today and still no sign of my Dad… It was my break time. I was leaving the station and then I went to go onto a tram, to go into town for my break. I got off the tram. When I was walking down Union Street, just about to go into the shops, I bumped into my Dad. I said in shock! “Where have you been?” He replied “I was down in Glasgow with my friends for only 2 weeks!” “2 weeks!” “That is too long, Mum got other people to look for you. Now go home and tell mum where you have been.” “Okay” my Dad replied. Later that evening I got home and my Dad got told from his work that he was sacked because he was away for 2 weeks in Glasgow. Day 3 Dear Diary, Today I was once again hard at work as usual and I was just painting another coach when my Dad came and said “I have got a job at your work!” “Really!” I replied in happiness. So we both started to work again. I finished off painting the coach. My Dad came back and said “What shall we do now?” “Emmm let me go and check out something.” “Okay.” My Dad replied “Its 11:37pm we should be home by now. We were meant to be home at 10:00pm.” On the way home we were walking and when we were just about to reach our house we saw our dog. So we took him by the collar (softly) and, then took him home. Day 4 Dear Diary, Today in the morning we had found out that someone had opened the gate and let the dog out that way. We then got a piece of barbed wire and put it on the top of the gate, so they couldn’t climb over and let the dog out again. I then went to work later that day. Just 30 minutes before my work ended I asked my boss if I could leave earlier and he said “Okay” so I went home and looked out my bedroom window to see if the people would come back and try and let the dog out again! I then saw them, coming up the street and they walked up into the garden and looked around to see if anyone was there. They tried to climb over the gate but they found out that it had barbed wire over it. I then went to the back door and shouted “Oi! What are you doing?” They said “We are just checking the house, to see if it was in good condition to live in. I knew they were trying to get into the back-garden to let the dog loose on the dark streets. I am going to keep an eye on these boys to see if they try and set the dog loose again…
Name Annie Strachan Age 7 Occupation Scholar From Aberdeenshire New Deer Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
My Victorian Character in 1891 Hello Diary, My name is Annie Strachan. My mum is called Bella Strachan and she’s a domestic servant. I’m a granddaughter of James Strachan who is my grandfather and Annie Strachan who is my grandmother. I’m a school girl and I’m seven years old. I was born in Aberdeenshire, New Deer. I live in 40 Esslemont Avenue. I know this boy in school. That’s why I’m writing in you to tell you about the horrible school days. Okay, so he’s called William R .Cowie and he’s 11 years old. He was born in Aberdeenshire, Turriff and he is the son of the house. His sister Maggie Cowie, she was born in Inverness. She is the daughter of the house and works as an assistant dye stamper. She is 13 years old. William and I do our homework together. I ask lots of questions, it seems like he knows everything I ask him. He is like a magician, every time I ask a question he will answer. Then he will bring something to help me remember. The first time he did it, it was a bit scary, then I got used to it, but it still scared me (that’s a secret). Well, his sister Maggie would sometimes take a break to come and help, play or feed us. Sometimes he comes to my place and sometimes I go to his place so we can do our homework together. At school it is horrible and it is awful, I hate it. School is like a terrible, dreadful and nasty nightmare. ‘Why did they call it a school?’ there are snakes, spiders and rats all over the place. ‘YUCK!!!!’ The school is not very rich but there are more than 1990 people in the school. The school’s headmistress is called Florence Seacole. At school I learnt that Queen Victoria was 18 years old when she became Queen. She had 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys their names are Edward, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice. The teachers are like a pain in the back. They scream at you when you don’t do anything, especially to Victor Alamnn.
He is the badest, the meanest and the cruellest in the school, everyone hates him. We want him out of the school. His parents are nice, well they look nice. He has two brothers who are spoilt as well and two sisters who are street sellers. He does not do his homework while his sisters tell him to. He makes excuses every week. Two of the excuses were that on the way home it fell in the river and I got a ride home then forgot to take it but I did do my homework (yeh right, it was in his school bag). The teacher was so stupid she believed him. Okay, back to school days. I hate school, did I mention I hate school. Oh, I’m in a class mixed with lots of boys and girls that I don’t know well. I do know them, but not properly. I wish our family was rich then William and I would not have to go to that horrible school, instead we would be up in the nursery with a nanny to take care of us because we’re the only children in the house. I learnt that at school you know, the rich house thing. I learn lots of things at school. Do you know about the dunce cap? It’s for nutty people, did you know that we write on a writing slate. We do our ‘maths with an abacus, the teacher uses a blackboard and we have school bells to start and end a lesson. That’s all for today diary, bye! Oh before that, lots of different things were invented in Victorian time, I learnt that at school. I love listening to stories. My favourite is ‘Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland’. Okay now bye, got to go to school! Got to run or I will be late for class. Then I will have to wear the dunce cap. I have never worn it before and I don’t want to, as people say it hurts your head and it aches.
Name Maggie Wilson Age 13 Occupation Assistant home duties From Inverness Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
My Life in 1891 Hello my name is Maggie Wilson. I am 13 years old. I live at 40 Esslemont Avenue with my Mother (Agnes Wilson) and my brother (William Wilson). My Father (Graham Wilson) passed away when I was six which meant he died when my brother was four! When I was born we were very poor and didn’t have much that money. So that means I needed to start work. I started work at the age of five and I had an easy job. I only cleaned dishes at different houses and I only worked six hours a day! Work was very easy! But when I turned six everything changed! I went from just cleaning dishes to washing clothes, shoes, floors even the dogs disgusting bed!!! I also cleaned the fire place and sometimes I helped prepare the dining room table. Some of the jobs I had to do you would be shocked at! You would have to be very courageous or else you would lose your job but I didn’t. Anyway after my father died he left all his money to his family. So that meant we got all his money. He had 1oo shillings and 15 pence in his bank account. We were happy that we got the money but also sad that he had gone. Since we had that amount of money we could pay for William to go to school! We also had meat twice a week instead of once. Also with me still going to work and getting 3 shillings a day we were very happy. As I turned 10 I got really bored with just playing with my dolls in my spare time. So when I turned 13 my mother finally let me go out to play with other children my age. I have one good friend who is called Helen Cowe who is just 14. She lives at 42 Esslemont Avenue and she is a fruit seller. So whenever we play together she always gives me free fruit and she also smells of fruit. One day we were playing at the park and we got a glance of Prince Edward. We both were squealing and we started to walk over to him. We never noticed he had Beefeaters surrounding him. "Halt” demanded one of the Beefeaters. We froze as they put their weapons in front of our faces. He is the badest, the meanest and the cruellest in the school, everyone hates him. We want him out of the school. His parents are nice, well they look nice. He has two brothers who are spoilt as well and two sisters who are street sellers. He does not do his homework while his sisters tell him to. He makes excuses every week. Two of the excuses were that on the way home it fell in the river and I got a ride home then forgot to take it but I did do my homework (yeh right, it was in his school bag). The teacher was so stupid she believed him. Okay, back to school days. I hate school, did I mention I hate school. Oh, I’m in a class mixed with lots of boys and girls that I don’t know well. I do know them, but not properly. I wish our family was rich then William and I would not have to go to that horrible school, instead we would be up in the nursery with a nanny to take care of us because we’re the only children in the house. I learnt that at school you know, the rich house thing.
I learn lots of things at school. Do you know about the dunce cap? It’s for nutty people, did you know that we write on a writing slate. We do our ‘maths with an abacus, the teacher uses a blackboard and we have school bells to start and end a lesson. That’s all for today diary, bye! Oh before that, lots of different things were invented in Victorian time, I learnt that at school. I love listening to stories. My favourite is ‘Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland’. Okay now bye, got to go to school! Got to run or I will be late for class. Then I will have to wear the dunce cap. I have never worn it before and I don’t want to, as people say it hurts your head and it aches. Bye Beefeater shouted “step away from the prince and go back to where you came from.” Slowly we walked backwards back in to the park. Me and Helen went to the bridge and threw stones in the river with our feet underneath the bridge. We spoke about multiple things and spoke all day long. Later we both went home and I told my Mother what had happened over dinner. She told me to stay away from someone in the royal family if they are out and about because they will be with a Beefeater. Also my mother said to me that if it happens again I will get the belt. She was not pleased! Later that night I was looking out of my window at the magnificent stars in the sky. I heard shouting and screaming as usual. Then I saw someone who was running and in the background I heard “come back ‘ere with my money”. It must be a pickpocket I thought to myself. There was no time to lose. I jumped out of my window and started chasing the man. I felt as if I was in a movie chasing the robber. Soon the man got tired and he started to walk. He never noticed I was following him. I heard the man ask for directions and I found out where he was going. I took a shortcut and hid behind the corner. As soon as I saw his shadow I jumped out from the corner and ran to him. As I jumped on him I found the money he had stolen and grabbed it out of his pocket. After, I found some rope and tied the man’s hands together. I took him to the peeler station and handed him in and I got 10 shillings as a reward! Next, I rushed home to tell mother but it was night so she must have been worried. I told her what happened. She was so proud! It was so exciting being a thief catcher. Maybe it could be my new job! So currently I am doing the same thing working at houses, playing with Helen, looking after William and my mother and cleaning around the house. So I am bringing this little story of my life to an end. I hope you enjoyed reading this little story of my life and I hope that you have learnt a lot about my life style. Life is not always easy I have my ups and downs but I love my life and it couldn’t be any better. I have a small family and a small house but it’s perfect thank you.
Name William Morrison Age 65 Occupation Joiner From Pitcaple, Aberdeenshire Address 44 Esslemont Avenue
Good evening, I’m William Henry. Something really shocking happened 3 years ago. To make a long story short, it was really terrifying. For the past 3 years, I haven’t had the time to write this. I have been crying and just generally been quite sad. I’ll tell you the whole story… It was a normal day in 1888. I had two sons. One was named Gordon, the very tall one, and the dwarf was named Albert. Both were mocked at school. Not anybody cared, nor anybody helped. Not even the teachers! Gordon was a “tall, scraggy giraffe”. Albert was called a “cheeky dinky boy”. Anyway, we were about to leave the house to go to the harbour. It was the whole family that was going. It used to just be my wife, Katie and the kids because Katie thought a thief might sneak into the house while they were on holiday. That’s happened once before, but at the moment the thief was trying to get through the window, police were walking by. So he had got captured and sentenced 2 years in prison. Although this time, I persuaded my wife for days until she let me go. Oh yes, I nearly forgot, we were heading down to Liverpool on a ship. I apologize, I’m getting old and I may forget things. Sorry about the inconvenience. So it was just after noon and we were outside the street we lived in. Albert and Gordon regularly enjoyed playing hide and seek there. Albert regularly won because he’s quite small and can hide almost everywhere. Gordon usually had a tough time. He’s tall and lanky so he can’t normally fit into things. Either way, they both had a great time. We were quite near to the harbour but Albert had already sped off to look at the toy shop. I yelled to him “Albert!” He sprinted right back. He always listened. His behaviour’s really good. That’s the same with Gordon. Although he doesn’t really listen ALL the time. Well, sometimes. Not as good as Albert though. After 2 short minutes, we reached the harbour. We asked a tall man that was standing quite still beside the entrance. “When is the latest ship going to Liverpool?” I asked. He pointed at the ship that was slowly reaching the harbour. “Thank you,” I said in a stern voice. We then entered the wooden doors that led to the waiting room but then a short lady stopped us. She asked if she could check our luggage (which were small bags really), and the family member’s ages. Oh yes, Gordon was 19, Albert was 18, Katie was 61 and I was 63. It may seem scary that our kids are much, much younger than us but that’s because my other wife, Lindy, died when I was 61 and she had failed to have any kids. I lived another 2 rough years on my own after Lindy, until me and Katie married. Katie said that we had to adopt kids, otherwise we would be lonely. So we adopted Gordon and Albert when I was 62, and we’ve enjoyed life ever since then. We were finally on the ship and we were sailing south. The kids and Katie had gone inside to the restaurant and were having their lunch while I was upstairs talking to the captain, George. He was around the same age as me at that time, maybe a year or two older. We were friends from primary school. He always used to mock me but I had an advantage because I was in a small group of boys. They use to stop people that laughed at anyone in our group, but that was until the leader, Jones, had moved to another school. Ever since then, our group had split up. However, after me and George had finished our wee chat, Katie had come up on deck to tell me if I wanted anything to eat. I asked her if there was any meat and she said “There’s soup with chicken, maybe some potatoes if you wanted,” and after that, she took me down to the restaurant, while she went down to her cabin with the kids. I actually wasn’t that hungry, so I just took chicken with a small plate of potatoes without a drink.
It was at that moment I felt something bad. Just something was bad. Never the less, I did carry on eating, but not for long. I couldn’t take it no more. Something in my stomach just kept on giving me a bad feeling. I stood up, and went to my cabin downstairs. Katie was reading her book that she had wrote last year. It was about a brave boy, James who was 13 years old. He lives in London but then he gets sent to Australia for pickpocketing. Despite the fact that she’s read it a lot of times, she still tells her friends about it quite frequently. "Well built ship, isn’t it Henry? I’m glad we took the chance to go to THIS ship.” She asked me. “Aye, took a good couple of years to build.” I replied. We had a 2nd class cabin. With two sets of bunk beds. The top beds were for the kids and the bottom was for Katie and I. The kids loved the high beds. It had made them much happier. I slowly tucked into bed. I needed a nap. I was very sleepy. It was a while until I woke up, not on my bed, but on the floor. As I opened my eyes, I saw that everything was thrown around the place. Of course I was 63 so I couldn’t exactly get up that fast, but this time I had to. I used all my strength to push myself up but I couldn’t. The reason was, was that I felt as if I was rocking about. I realised that the whole ship was tumbling. I grabbed onto the dark wood that held the upper bunk bed and I pushed so hard that I felt a pain in my arm, but that didn’t matter. After I eventually heaved myself up I looked around the room, and there was nobody there apart from me. I walked (I’m too old to run) really fast to the door and twisted the handle. I then ended up in the corridor, which was not very pleasant, since the ship was rocking around. I then looked right, then left, and I saw an exit. I tried to run but it ended up as fast walking really. I twisted and pushed the lever but it wouldn’t budge. “Hello? Is anybody there?” A voice asked. I definitely didn’t recognise it but I replied “Yes! Can you help whoever you are?” “You’re not trapped!” The voice replied. Then a group of men came outside one of the cabin and into the corridor. “Come here, there are stairs that leads up to deck,” and I went with them. Up on deck there were a lot of people screaming. It was probably the most intense part of my life. To my relief, Katie, Gordon and Albert were all sitting next to the lifeboats. I walked towards them, but a security guard held me back. “I want to see my family!” I shouted in anger. “Sir, your family are about to go on a lifeboat, and that lifeboat is full so you can’t go in it!” The guard replied. I nudged the guard aside and I looked at the exact place my family were sitting, but they weren’t there. “Here is a lifejacket. There is a space in the lifeboat over there,” as he gave me the lifejacket and pointed to the lifeboat. I slowly stepped onto the lifeboat and we started rowing. We rowed for about 15 minutes until a rescue ship from Manchester came. We all went inside the ship and went to the biggest cabin they had. There were 9 of us but there still was no sign of Katie, Gordon or Albert. The cabin wasn’t at all as fancy as our cabin. Even though we were second class (we would have been 3rd but my boss in my job gave us the opportunity to), this cabin was more like 3rd. I asked them why but they said that their company is poor. They got us towels and a cup of tea each. “So… How’d the ship sink? I asked. “It hit a tsunami that was full of ice. The ice then hit the motors and they broke. There is about 15 minutes until the ship officially drowns,” the man said. Ever since then, I have never seen my wife, Albert and Gordon. They could’ve drowned, or they could’ve been rescued by another ship. Hopefully they got rescued. Hopefully…
Name Flora Cowe Age 16 Occupation Dye Stamper From Aberdeen Address 44 Esslemont Avenue
Life In 1891 Hello my name is Flora. I am a boring old dye stamper. Yes I know you don’t know what I am talking about but, I just stamp dye onto a piece of fabric. I don’t have much money but I have enough for some of the rent. I live at forty two Esslemont Avenue. I live with my sisters Helen and Mary Ann, my brother William and my Mum and Dad, John and Mary Jane. We all put 1/5 into the rent. I have a big family and I am the oldest child! Helen and I get on very well. The rest of us get on with each other. I was born on the 9th of October 1875. My younger sister (Helen) was born on the same day two years after. Freaky isn’t it? That is probably why we get on so well. Helen has always been there for me. We still play together even though she is 14 and I am 16! My teacher has the same birthday as well. She is really strict. I don’t want to be like her when I’m older. I want to have the best birthday this year but we are too poor. We don’t live in the streets so we are not as poor as I thought we were. We don’t have much money. I wish I was rich and owned everything. I would then get the birthday of my dreams. When I am a little bit older I wish to work for the Queen. I don’t care what job I have as long as I can see her. I just want to make her smile. No Victorian has ever smiled in a picture so I am going to be the first person to smile in a picture. I wonder if my dreams will come true. If I become something to do with the Queen I might become rich. Right at this moment I am earning 3p a day and 21p a week. If I work for the Queen I might get 35p a week. Super isn’t it? I work from 7:00am till 8:00pm. Not one hour but thirteen hours. My sister Helen gets to work twelve hours. I wish I could work twelve hours as well but it doesn’t matter. If I worked twelve hours I would take in 2p a day. That is what Helen takes in. I pay 3p a week for the bills. My Mum and I work at different times so I help her with all the cleaning. My Dad works hard he gets 2 shillings he puts all of it in to the rent. Bless him. My house is next to a house full of infections. We are not allowed to go in. I feel sorry for the people who live there I don’t think they caused the infection on purpose. My apartment is luckily beside the W/C. (The place where you do your business.) We are lucky because we can just wake up in the middle of the night, walk out and the lavatory is right beside us. The negatives are that it gives an awful smell. We can never leave a door or window open because the smell will just flow right in. I hope life gets better soon. Hopefully I live as long as Victoria our lovable queen. Life is much easier from when I was little so I hope that when I am older it will be easier as well. I know I am being silly but I want to see the world in one hundred years’ time! It might be more hygienic and clean. Nobody will get hanged on the street and it would be so fun. Up the hill there is a new school being built. My fellow workers say it is going to be called Skene Square primary school. I hope it is still standing in the 21st century. I wish I was young and could go to that school! My brother wants to go to that school after all he wants to work in the mines. Apparently a miner is the most popular job for boys. The new school is going to have a special room that is never going to change. The mine sounds too dangerous for me. (I will never try that.) My work as a dye stamper is just fine. I would rather work with dye than coal. I wonder if coal will ever run out. In the cramped mines is the worst and I am petrified of the mines. What happens if you fall over and break everything? Sorry I am freaking out. (I don’t want to lose my little brother) I should be okay. He will be mature when he is older (hopefully!).
My house is a little apartment with two rooms in it. One is a bedroom and the other is an empty room. It is very small and crowded. Everyone shares a bedroom and a bed it is very unhygienic. My spare room is for making meals for us to eat. We eat in there as well. There is a lodger living in the house as well! The lodger sleeps on the floor with a pillow and a cheap blanket in the same room as us. The room is very small and we have a small bed. In the room where we make meals It is very small so we have to be careful. If I was a builder I would build my family a big palace like Queen Victoria’s. I also have a fear of heights so that’s not going to happen. I also make my dresses and clothes by hand. (It is much cheaper.) I have very quick hand movement so I can sew really fast. You should see me write. I am a girly girl so I love designing my own clothes. I make my sister dresses but I don’t know if she wears them because I make her work clothes and we work at the same time. I am a dye stamper (I have probably already mentioned before) so I create a lot of stuff. When I was younger I used to be told I was very artistic but I don’t think I have gone in that direction. My favourite colour is black but that colour is a bit dull so I say dark blue. My sister says pink. She is a bright girl (get it). My work dress is black with a white smock on the top. I wear black and white because I work with white and dark colours. I wish photos were colourful and didn’t take forever because they turn out black and white. I wonder if a photo will ever be colourful. If I have a granddaughter I will be so happy. I wonder if I will have a daughter. I will be lucky to get a husband with the money I am earning. As long as my family go on forever I will be fine. My wish is to have a daughter and son and move to America. If my brother marries well my family will go on. Then I will be happy. If he goes for the woman’s last name my family won’t go on because my dad has no brothers. My house is a small apartment not a tall castle. I wish I was Queen Victoria’s daughter. It would be so fantastic but I love my Mum more. If I was a house maker or joiner I would build a castle for my family and a hut for my Dad to do his work in (he is a granite builder.) I love my home but Queen Victoria’s is much grander. For food we eat a lot of bread because it is very cheap. For drink we get water from the well. The well is beside the river down the road from us. We also eat fruit we are very healthy. My father is John D. Cowe I wish he could be here forever because he is very kind and always does the trip to the well! My mum is very ill at the moment and I am worried about what will happen. She is getting better but refuses to stay off work. I hope she gets better and doesn’t you know… My mother said she only has the flu and is going to be alright but there something more to it (as you can tell I don’t believe that.) My Mum is a really good cook and I think she should become a school chef. My Dad is starting to get ill so I will put my mum in the spare room and he should be fine. When everyone is at work the house is silent so my mum should do a half day and have a long rest. Helen and I have been walking to work together although it is not as fun as I thought. We walk down a muddy country road and smelly city streets. It is disgusting. My job is in a factory but not the machinery ones. As a hobby I help a farmer every day after work and I get one shilling a day for helping. I have so much fun. That is all for now but I will tell you more about me another time but next time I will be more enthusiastic.
Name Dugald McLeod Age 27 Occupation Wood Carver From Lanarkshire Glasgow Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
A week in Esslemont Avenue 1891 My name is Dougald McLeod and I live in 40 Esslemont Avenue. I was born in Lanarkshire, Glasgow. I am 27 years old and I am a woodcarver and I am a lodger. I have to pay a shilling a week (twelve pence) and I get 15 shillings a week from my job as a woodcarver. Being a woodcarver is very hard work, I did a carving for the Queen( she is not easily amused). I had to redo it because it was not big enough and she only gave me ONE SHILLING !!!!!.You would expect her to give you about 4 shillings but not 1 shilling. I didn’t get prayed that day but I just had enough to pay rent to MR .Strachan. On the way to work I almost got ran over by a peeler chasing someone. Then finally I got to work carving wood. A few months later I received a message asking me if I am interested in a new job and to go to this address: 27, Forfar lane Edinburgh, Scotland. From Aberdeen to Edinburgh (120 miles) so I had to go by steam train which was very very uncomfortable and to top it all off it was a 6 hour journey there and 6 hours back to Edinburgh. When I got back I was very happy because I got a new job as a fish curer. So I saved up my money to buy new fish curer tools for my new job they were 10 shillings. When I got home the peelers (police) where at the door saying my parents had gone missing. It was at that moment I felt something bad. Just something was bad. Never the less, I did carry on eating, but not for long. I couldn’t take it no more. Something in my stomach just kept on giving me a bad feeling. I stood up, and went to my cabin downstairs.I was silent…I didn’t know what to do. So I didn’t take my new job .I went to try to find my parents. I had no luck that day …I heard footsteps going up the stairs in the dark silent bedroom. It was only to my surprize it was my dad saying Mum was there one minute and gone the next. Someone found her somewhere.(very far from here) so I didn’t got to buy the new fishcureing tools but when I went to work that day I collected my pay and bought new fish curer tools. That is a week in Esslemont Avenue.
Name Elizabeth Grant Age 29 Occupation Laundry Worker From Rayne, Aberdeenshire Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
Elizabeth Grant It was the 3rd of November and I was at work. I was tidying up at the front desk and a little girl came in. She came up to me and said “Do you know were my Daddy is?” I said “No.” She flung open the door and ran outside crying. She just stood there for a while and then an old lady came up to her and squeezed her shoulder and dragged her by her arm. I thought to myself ‘Was that her Mum or is she a slave?’ When it was 7:30 it was time for me to go home. I got 15 shillings for working 1 week. When I got home I asked my big sister Margaret Grant “Where is Mum and Dad?” She said “Mum’s away getting bread and meat and Dad’s away getting the vegetables. They finally grew.” I asked, “How was your work?” She said “It was ok. I only got 6 pennies though and there was a big fight over who should get the Sunday off.” I asked, “Who did get the Sunday off?” “Me!” she said with joy. When my Mum and Dad came back my Mum dragged out a big large pot without saying hello. She put it down on the stove. She started to clean and chop up the vegetables and she poured hot water in to the pot. My Dad told me to go and take off my apron because it was for my work tomorrow. Then my mum said “remember to look out your brown dress because we’re going to Nana’s grave tomorrow!” I couldn’t be bothered but I did because we never go to my Nana’s grave and the last time we were there was 4 years ago. When my Mum was finished cooking she poured the hot water with vegetables through it in to rusty bowls and placed them on the table. “Dinner’s ready!” she shouted. We all raced into the kitchen and sat down at the table. We all ate our dinner. Then my Mum asked if Margaret and I wanted bread and meat for work tomorrow. We both said yes. It wasn’t often we got meat for lunch. The next day I got up and put on my brown dress and took my work apron in my hand. While we were all walking up to my work we passed my Nana’s grave. We stopped and prayed for 3 minutes. When I left they just continued walking to Margaret’s work. Later that day the same little girl who was here yesterday came again but this time she said, “Help me, she’s looking for me”. Then an old lady slammed the door open and screamed at the little girl “Come here you little brat. You’re going up the chimney extra hot!” The next day while I was at work the newspaper boy threw a newspaper off the work door. I went to pick it up then I saw the headline it said 'GIRL DEAD BY FIRE’. Then I remembered the old woman saying that the little girl was going up the chimney. I quickly turned to the page. I saw a picture. It was the little girl. I was shocked! That night I had a nightmare of when the little girl went up the chimney and got burned. I woke up in shock. My heart was beating so fast and hard. I couldn’t breathe. Margaret was right beside me so I woke her up and she was trying to help me. She got some water to try and help me feel better and it did. The next day was Sunday and I had the day off. So I thought I’d go out for a walk. Then I saw the old woman again. She was running away from 3 peelers. I started to follow her. The peelers lost her but I didn’t. She led me to her house. When I got to her door I knocked. She opened the door and said “How are you?” I heard crying in the back ground. She screamed “Be quiet!” I said “Can I come in?” “She said “Yes, just one minute.” She closed the door. While she was in the house the crying stopped and I heard a door slam.
When she came back out she told me to come in. Then when I was in I said “Why did you kill that little girl?” She said in a nervous voice. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Yes you do,” I said. She screamed “Get out of my house you’re banned from here for the rest of your life until you die!” I was shocked the way she said she didn’t know anything about that little girl. While I was walking away there was a knock that came from the old lady’s house. I looked back and I saw a the old woman grabbing the little girls shoulder like she did with the little girl. I thought I knew who the girl was but I only seen the back of her. That night when I got home everyone who lived there had to pay 8 shillings. I tried to run up the stairs but the man James who owned the house spotted me in the glimpse of his eye. I had to pay the 3 shillings. I spotted someone outside crying because he didn’t pay the 8 shillings. The next day I walked to work. I spotted the old lady and she saw me too. Then she started to run. I saw a wanted poster of her it said ‘VICTORIA TRIP- IF YOU FIND HER YOU WILL GET 4 SHILLINGS.’ I saw some peelers and shouted “Victoria trip went this way”. They dropped everything and chased her. She started to run faster. One of the peelers said to me. “Where do you live?” I told him “42 Esslemont Avenue.” I didn’t know why he wanted to know. I had forgotten all about my work and I needed to be there. I ran as fast as I could to get there. When I finally got there the door was open. I walked in to see nobody about. I crept in to the attic. I saw somebody standing there. Then I realised it was just Edward, my boss. He turned around and said “You’re late!” he said in an angry voice. That night I got home and saw a newspaper on the table. I read ‘GIRL KIDNAPPED, NOT DEAD AND FOUND’. I realised that was the little girl I saw. Maybe that was why peelers were chasing Victoria Trip and maybe that was the little girl I saw in the window. The next morning was Sunday. I was off work so I decided to go and talk to the peelers. I was about to leave when I heard a knock at the door I ran down stairs and flung open the door to see a peeler. He said “Victoria the person we were chasing, she got away. Do you know anything about her or where she would be?” “No.” I couldn’t believe I didn’t tell him where she lives. I felt really bad. So the next day I went to Victoria’s home and knocked. When I knocked the lights flashed off. I shouted “Victoria Trip I need to talk to you!” She peeked out her door and said “go away you rotten child!” I started to walk away. When I got to the peelers station it was about 4:37 (pm). I thought to myself tomorrow after work I was going to tell the peelers where she lived. When I got home my Mum said “suppers ready!” Margaret, my Dad and my Mum were all sitting down at the table. My Mum said for me to sit down at the table too. She made some bread, vegetables and leftover meat.
When I went to bed that night I had a dream where I told the peelers where Victoria lived and she got caught and the little girl got her life back. The next day I walked down to the station after work. I told one of the peelers where Victoria lived and he then called 4 more peelers and started to run to the address. I followed behind to make sure they went the right way. When we finally got there one of them knocked at the door. She opened it. She started to scream and run. They all started to follow her. She all most got away but one of the peelers finally caught her. While they were putting her in to the carriage she screamed “I hate you!” The next day I woke up and put on my brown dress and put my hair up in a bun. There was a knock at the door. I ran down the stairs and flung open the door one of the hinges almost came off. There in front of me was a peeler he said “Come with us, we’re about to see the hanging of Victoria Trip”. I walked out the door. I didn’t want her to get hung. I felt really bad. While we were walking we had seen the little girl again. She came up to the peeler and held his hand. I asked “Do you know who she is?” he said in a whispering “yes she’s my daughter and Victoria kidnapped her.” When we finally got there some peelers took Victoria out and sat her on a stool. He said “the reason Victoria Trip is about to get hung is because she kidnapped a little girl called Gladis Battersea and threatened to kill her!” When the time came for her to be hung a man came out with a long piece of rope. He said in his loudest voice “These 25 shillings are going to the person who found her, Elizabeth Grant!” I was shocked. I went to collect it and saw Victoria getting the rope around her neck. When I went back down in to the crowed someone shouted “1, 2, 3…!” and Victoria jumped. Everyone looked away. Then it was time for me to go home. When I got home I went straight to bed. That night I had a nightmare that Victoria didn’t die and she came after me but I knew it would never happen. I felt good that in the end that I told the peelers where she lives.
Name William Wilson Age 11 Occupation Scholar From Turriff Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
My Life My name is William Wilson. I am eleven years old. I am a scholar. I also have a sister called Maggie Wilson. One day I was walking to school. It took me a long time. Eventually I arrived at school and our first subject was mathematics. I walked into the classroom and had a seat. I tried to pick up my writing slate but I dropped it on the floor. My teacher shouted at me to go put the dunce cap on. In the corner I said to myself I do not like the teacher. She always makes me put on the dunce cap for absolutely nothing. Next it was writing. I enjoy writing. On the way to the classroom I looked out the window and I saw children working in factories. I felt so sad. Maybe I was a lucky child by getting to go to school. A few minutes later I arrived at writing and we had to write about what we do after school. So we began to write. Maybe I would not have to put on the dunce cap. One hour later writing was finished. It was time for school to finish. So I had to walk five miles to get to 40 Esslemont Avenue. It was a long walk and it was very tiring work. I never got to see my sister because she was always working and my Dad passed away so it was just me and my Mum. My Mum was always sad because my Dad died one week ago. When I got home my Mum was crying her eyes out. For dinner we got potato and lamb. It was just a treat because it was Friday. The next day When I left my house these kids from school pushed me down on to my door step and then started to make fun of me. I started to run as fast as I could so I could get away from the bullies. Eventually when I turned a corner I lost them. Suddenly I stopped running and started to walk. Maybe my Mum was wasting her money for me to go to school. I could be working and earning money or even pickpocketing. I like school except from the bullying. I dashed home when I opened the door my Mum asked me, “How was your day?” I paused for a minute because I did not know what to say, so I did not reply. I went to my room. I heard footsteps. It was my mum. She opened the door and asked me “Are you sure you’re ok?” “I am getting bullied” I replied. My mum paused then she said “Go to sleep.” I sat down on my bed and thought tomorrow is another day.
Name John Taylor Age 26 Occupation Store Keeper From Aberdeen Address 44 Esslemont Avenue
John Tayler’s 1891 stories Hello my name is John Tayler. I am a lodger to John D Cowe. I work as a store keeper and don’t have any family apart from my big sister Annie. Annie is a servant to a rich family that are not that nice to the poor. I am twenty six years old and here are some stories that happened this year. On Monday the fourth of February polio had struck and made many people die but even more ill. All they people in the street in Esslemont Avenue were fine but all the men and women in the jail were very ill and they died. There were a few beggars outside my shop that were ill too. Anyway, I needed to get supplies for my shop so I got a ride from a horse and cart near my shop. Slowly I bumped across the cobbled path and as I passed the hospital a lady jumped in front of the horses. Because of the sudden stop I banged my head and fell to the floor. I felt something hitting my leg, I opened my eyes and the nurse was kicking me to wake me up. She stood still then started screaming at me to help her save people who were suffering. She took me inside. That day I saved fourteen people from polio by giving them medicine and I managed to store the shop too. A great thing happened on the twelfth of May. Although I loved my shop I went down to Edinburgh for some ideas to improve it. I travelled down on a train. Suddenly coming out a tunnel I arrived to a large, grand fancy train station. After a while I got off the train and started to look around the streets. I got some great ideas for the shop but then a giant storm came. Because of the storm the train back home was closed. I left the station and wandered around. Finally, I sat on the street begging for money but that got me just enough for a small pail of water. Eventually I closed my eyes and fell in to a deep sleep. The next morning just before sunrise there was a circus being set up across the street. I ran over and they were offering jobs. Next thing I knew I was the animal trainer. I was so pleased because I like animals. Although you had to sometimes hurt the animals it was the best job ever. The man that was training me to train the animals whipped the animals but I used raw meat to make the animals do great tricks. Often it filled the animals and they didn’t try to eat you. One morning circus was about to leave for London. I had started to miss my shop and didn’t want to leave Scotland. So I got on a train. Eventually after three hours I got home! That is all of my big stories from this year so far but there are a lot more months to go, who knows what could happen.
Name Helen Cowe Age 14 Occupation Fruiter's Assistant From Aberdeen Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
All About Me My name is Helen Cowe. I am 14 years old and I am a fruiterer’s assistant. My Mum and Dad have four children including me. My Mum is called Mary Jane Cowe. She is 36 years old. My Dad is called John Cowe. He is 39 years old. I have 2 sisters, Flora Cowe who is 16 years old and Mary Ann Cowe, who is 7 years old. I also have 1 brother called William Cowe. He is 9 years old. We all live in a really small flat in 42 Esslemont Avenue. I hate my flat because it’s extremely dirty, but I guess it’s better than living on the streets. Despite the fact that I live in a horrible flat my life is not that bad. As you already know, I am a fruiterer’s assistant. I actually like the job. I mean, it is better than working in a factory. The only thing I don’t like about my job is that I have to wake up at 05:00am because I start working at 06:00am! It’s very annoying because I wish I could start at 08:00am. I finish work at 08:00pm. It’s not too bad I suppose. At least I don’t finish really late at night. I get 4p every day so I get around 120p every month. Flora (my sister) gets 4p every day too. She is a dye stamper. At the end of every month we buy bread, porridge, soup and fruit. This is a wonderful day because we don’t get a lot of food throughout the month. For my breakfast I have a bowl of porridge and for my lunch I have a slice of bread. Most days I don’t have supper but the days I do I usually have soup and an apple. Sometimes I think it is terrible to be poor but sometimes I think it’s ok. I mean, I still have a family. Due to me working every day I don’t have any friends. Not one! It’s really sad but there is nothing I can do. I really do want friends. When I was in school I had one friend, in fact, she was my best friend. I can’t remember her name because it was so long ago but I think it began with an “M”. We were always together but then she moved. She never even told me about it! She just stopped coming to school. I was very angry. After that I just couldn’t make friends. I just had my siblings as friends. My brother and sisters can be very annoying at times but most of the time they are very nice to me. All of my siblings work so I don’t get to see them much. I see them for about an hour in the morning and an hour at night. I wish I could see them more. I hope you enjoyed learning about my life. I don’t have a very exciting life but that is how I live. I still have a really long life ahead of me and I am very excited for it!
Name John Fiddes Age 66 Occupation Retired Fish Curer From Newhills, Aberdeenshire Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
John Fiddes’ life in 1891 Hello my name is John Fiddes, I’m a widow and I was born in Newhill, Aberdeenshire. I’m 66 and I’m a retired fish curer. I live in 42 Esslemont Avenue and I’m the head of my family And I’m the step-father of my children. My STEP children’s names are Andrew, Lucy and Josephine. Once on Thursday morning I woke up to find all my belongings scattered around my part of the flat. All the black and white photos had been smashed to pieces and a head scarf was left on the floor. I sat down and had a little think about what had happened to my flat. After a while, I finally realised what had happened, I had been robbed by a thief with a red head scarf! I told my step-children not to worry but they couldn’t stop crying. We walked around the flat, then out the door, and then into the street were the policeman was. I told him I had been robbed but he said there was nothing he could do. So me and my step-children just had to clean up the mess and just pretended nothing happened. The picture of my wife was still there, not touched. That’s the only thing I have left of her. She passed away a few years ago but I still have to stay strong about it because I still have the children. Her last words were “Take care of the children and stay strong.” That was the last time I ever heard her voice again. My wife had an infection in her foot. She couldn’t walk that well, so she pretty much just stayed in her bed the whole time. As time went by her infection got worse and worse until she couldn’t walk at all. We tried to carry her to the hospital, but by the time we got there she had already passed away. Before she had passed away, we had got married in 1861. We had a son called John Fiddes Jr but he passed away when he was 3 years old because he had the mumps and the flu, and the doctor didn’t have time to vaccinate him. I then found out my daughter (Lucy) had the flu. So we rushed her to the hospital. When we got there it was very busy. So we asked the doctor if he had time to vaccinate Lucy. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t have time. I was afraid and scared that I was going to lose Lucy. Lucy started to cry. “I don’t want to die” wailed Lucy, “I know you don’t” I said. “When I do, I’ll be with mum.” Lucy said (With a smile). Josephine my eldest daughter (she’s 22) said to Lucy “Don’t worry Lucy, I mean when you die no-one can boss you around and Mum’s up there. She’ll keep you company.” “I know…but all my friends are here and you and Andrew are here, I’ll miss you!” replied Lucy. Just as soon as we were about to say our goodbyes the doctor burst in and shouted “Where’s Lucy Fiddes?” I said “right here doctor!” The doctor replied “I can vaccinate Lucy now!” I then replied “it’s too late now, she’s turned pale it can’t be stopped now”. The doctor then replied “it can! If I just inject her with this syringe with the vaccination in it…(He injected her)…here and there all better!” Then she woke up We were all happy that she was alive, we were so relieved that the doctor had time to save Lucy. Then the doctor told us that the vaccination might have some side effects like sore head and dizziness but we could live with that. After all that we went to our beds and went to sleep because we hadn’t had a lot of sleep the night before. Then we just lived our lives and got on with things, and we lived a peaceful and happy life together!
Name Margaret Grant Age 30 Occupation Paper Worker From Rayne, Aberdeenshire Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
Margaret’s Life In The Victorian Times Hello, my name is Margaret Grant and I’m 30 years old. I’m a paper worker and I live at 42 Esslemont Avenue with my little sister Elizabeth, my Mum and my Dad. It’s an ok street to live in but it is not the best street to live in, but I love it anyway. My sister Elizabeth is 29 and is a laundry worker. Although she loves being a laundry worker, I would hate to be a laundry worker! Our Mum is called Maria. She is a very loveable woman and a very kind hearted lady. She does not have a job; instead she just stays at home all day. Our Dad is called Hugh and he works as a gardener. He looks big and strong on the outside but he is a big huggable bear on the inside. That’s our family, it may be small but I love it. Now my job, well it’s a paper worker. It’s not the best job in the world, but it's not the worst. I work every day except Sunday! My boss’ name is Albert. He is not the nicest man in the world, but oh well… I wake up around seven forty five (am), so that’s gives me about fifteen minutes to get ready and out the door. I need to get to work for eight o’clock which is not that early! I come back at eight o’clock at night with five shillings in my pocket. It is very good time to come home at because dinner is at eight fifteen. I'm going to talk to you through a day in my life. Ok here it goes… So I wake up around seven forty five. I get my clothes on, then say bye to my Mum and Elizabeth (Dad has already gone to work so I can’t say bye to him). I walk out the door. I might be eating a piece of bread at this time as that’s my breakfast - if there’s bread in the house. Then I just go around the corner, up the hill, and then I’m there! I put on my bonnet which is super itchy! That is why I don’t wear it when I’m walking to work. I open the door, wipe my feet and walk inside. I don’t remember to wipe my feet all the time (oops!) Once I’ve done that, I walk up the stairs to Albert’s office to tell him I’m here and also anything else I have to tell him. After that, I put down my bags and jacket in our cloakroom. Then I head down the stairs to Ruby and my room, it’s at the middle of the building which is ok - at least it’s not at the back! Once I have done that, I start cutting the trees into little chunks. Then I flatten the trees. After that I take the trees through to the shredding room and put them through the shredder for about an hour. Then I go and have a cup of tea and a biscuit in our cloakroom. After that I repeat the same thing again with another batch of trees, and then I take the trees out of the shredder and let them cool off. I put in the chunks that I just cut into the shedder. Half an hour later I take the cooled chunks and put them in a fancy machine that makes them into paper. I just repeat that over and over. Now it’s around 8:oo (pm). So that means I have to walk home. I go down the hill and around the corner and I’m home. I come home to a meal. My Mum tries to make it as nice as possible with what we have at home (which is not a lot).We eat beef and potatoes and some vegetables occasionally. We normally don’t have food like that though- it’s not normally that fancy. It is delicious when we get that as a treat! Mum is the best cook ever! Then we head to sleep and do the same routine again the next day. On Sunday it is very fun day. I get a day off work which is great, my family make a fantastic dinner and I ride my bike. Yes, I know I ride my bike. Lots of people think that I’m a bit too old but I don’t care. So I ride my bike and have fun with my sister Elizabeth. Anyway, I love Sunday. It is the best day of the week!
Name James Strachan Age 54 Occupation Stone Masonry From Crimond, Aberdeenshire Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
The Art of the Stone Mason BANG, BANG, BANG. The sound of my hammer resounded in my ears all the time I was working. No wonder I was nearly deaf! It’s so loud! It was worth it though, because I get really good business here in Aberdeen. Lots of things are made of granite or stone (it’s the “Granite City” you see), and those are things I make! I don’t see my family much. I’m always away sculpting or building something. Although, even if I was home I wouldn’t see my family, because they all work as well. Money doesn’t really replace family. Even if it did, I don’t really have much time to spend it, being busy hammering away and all. So, I don’t really have the best life, but I get on with the one I DO have. Currently I am about to go to bed, ready for another day of hard, gruelling work. A New Morning Oof… I woke up lying on the floor with my head up against my wooden (and quite solid) wardrobe. I must have rolled out in my sleep or something. Groaning and stretching I gradually stood up. Slowly, I made my way into the kitchen, made my breakfast (which was porridge by the way), ate it and set off to my wonderful workshop with my chisel and hammer. When I got there I looked at my long list of requests. Mr Nichol (More like Mr Boastful) wanted a statue of himself? Fine! He had enclosed a picture of himself, just in case I didn’t know the snootiest man on the street. Thinks he’s the best just because he’s richer than most people. Sighing, I got up and went to my huge stone cluster, and inserted my chisel roughly, in the space it was supposed to be and started hammering. BANG, BANG, BANG. Here we are back at the start. That was a day in the life of James Strachen, the Stone Mason. Not exactly exciting is it? And it gets repeated EVERY day.
Name Samuel Sutherland Age 35 Occupation Joiner From Tarves, Aberdeenshire Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
A Day In Esslemont Avenue
My name is Samuel Sutherland I live in 42 Esslemont Avenue and I’m the head of the house. There are neighbours and we all have to share one toilet. I wake up at 3 o’clock to get ready to go to work. (My work starts at half past 4) and I finish at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Today I had a day off and I had a long lie in bed. Eventually I woke up at 6 o’clock. I went downstairs to have breakfast. I had a bit of bread, an apple and water. Later, I decided to have a walk into town and buy my lunch. I saw lots of sad poor children in the streets with ripped clothes, dirty trousers, no shoes and socks, and cuts and bruises. I ignored them and walked on. When I got to the bakery I bought a loaf of bread for a sandwich because I ran out of bread after breakfast. On my way back home I passed a lot of factories with poor children working there. I thought to myself about whether that should be right because factories are really dangerous. When I got home I made myself a sandwich. I went to get the ham out of the wooden cupboard and put it in between 2 slices of bread and then walked across the room to sit down and eat my sandwich. While I ate my sandwich I got to read a newspaper for 5 minutes so I quickly scanned to the sports bit to see if my favourite football team had won anything. When I checked my favourite football team had won the league cup. I was so happy I jumped out of my little chair because I never even knew they were in the final in the first place. (The match was against my least favourite team because it was a London derby and my favourite football team won five to zero.) Because it was my day off and the weather was nice I decided to celebrate my favourite football team’s victory and go to the beach and have a nice swim in the water so I got all of my things and then I walked to the beach. I went to go in the water, it was freezing to start off with but later on it was fine. There were loads of other people there as well. Later, I went back home to have supper. It was beef and potatoes. It was really nice. After my Mum came over to have a cup of tea with me. I told her that my favourite football team won the cup and she was really happy. After I decided to go to bed early so I got into my pyjamas and I went to bed.
Name Bella Strachan Age 25 Occupation Domestic Servant From New Deer, Aberdeenshire Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
Bella Strachan-1891 Day 1 (12:45pm) Dear Diary, Hello my name is Bella Strachan and I am 25 years old. My occupation is a domestic servant. My daughter is called Annie Strachan and she is a scholar. My father is called James Strachan and his occupation is a stone mason. We all live in 40 Esslemont Avenue. We also have other people living in our tenement like the Wilsons and the McLeods and lots of other people too! I have a laugh every day with a girl that comes round with the fruit every morning, she is called Helen Cowe. Even though she is fourteen, we still love each other all the same! I love my life and everyone in it! Day 2 (17:05pm) Dear Diary, Hello I’m back again, with good news. I got 4 shillings from work today! I am so excited that I decided to take everyone on a family trip to Edinburgh! I’m keeping it a surprise, so I packed a bag for Annie and father but it was much more difficult to pack the bag for father than it was to pack Annie’s bag. So what I did was I waited until he went to the bathroom, then I snuck into his room, I packed a bag, and came out as quick as possible. Then I hid the bags in my cupboard so no one could possibly find it, but just after I had hidden them, Annie walked in to my room! I quickly spotted her and told her that it wasn’t very kind to look through other peoples things, and after I had said that she was straight out of my room. Day 3 (08:00am) Dear Diary, Today is the day, it’s time to go and tell father and Annie about our family trip to Edinburgh! I went to tell Annie first because I knew she would obviously want to go because she loves going on trips and when I went to tell her she was over the moon with excitement, so clearly she wanted to go. I went to tell father and he was over the moon with excitement as well. Everyone was dancing with excitement, even me! We all can’t wait to go on the trip. It will be so fun! I was away to write letters to people to tell them that we were going away but then I remembered I don’t have any friends or family, I only have Annie and father. That doesn’t matter though because we are going to have the most fun ever! Day 4 (05:15am) Dear Diary, Oh my goodness! We have just found out that Annie has got a very severe illness called polio! I looked it up in a book and it says the illness is a highly contagious viral infection that can lead to breathing problems or even death. I didn’t tell Annie because I don’t want her to get scared. She’ll be really disappointed that she can’t go to Edinburgh, but that isn’t the thing I should be worrying about, is it? Stupid Bella! (08:30am) Dear Diary, We took Annie to the hospital and then a couple hours later. Dr. Milne came through and he said “I’m sorry to tell you that your daughter is going to pass away very soon.” Father and I started balling our eyes out. My pages are all wet from all my tears. While I was crying I was speaking to Annie. With some of the words I said, Annie started to cry. I was crying too. By the time she died, the hospital bed was absolutely saturated in her tears. Unfortunately we can’t have a funeral because we can’t afford it. I’m so devastated. I can’t go on sorry. I might start another diary soon, bye.
Name John D. Cowe Age 39 Occupation Granite Sculptor From Tarves, Aberdeenshire Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
John D. Cowe In 1891 Greetings, I’m John D. Cowe, I’m a granite sculptor, I’m 39 years old and I’m head of a wonderful family. Being a granite sculptor isn’t that easy, but I had lots of practice with my Dad as a child. I sometimes get granite all over my old, torn clothes, but they’re clothes I don’t want so it doesn’t matter if I do. I have to work 12-14 hours a day. That’s ridiculous! What I could do if I was selfemployed… Anyway it’s ridiculous I have to work 12-14 hours a day. My daughter, Flora Cowe, aged 16 is a dye stamper and she also works 12-14 hours a day and SHE also says it’s ridiculous too. Flora and I despise our life. After work, I sometimes go to the beach and swim around in the ocean. During work, as I said before, I sometimes get granite all over my old, torn clothes, but they’re clothes I don’t want so I don’t care. I only get paid about 15 shillings a day, which is not a lot so as you can guess, I’m not very rich. OK so that’s my life story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it.
Name Annie Taylor Age 37 Occupation Domestic Servant From Aberdeen Address 44 Esslemont Avenue
Servant Life Hello, I’m Annie Taylor and I’m 37 years old. I want to tell you about my life as a servant so please enjoy. I get up every morning at 04:00am and get dressed into my uniform. I don’t have many clothes, just one or two outfits because I wear my servant uniform nearly all the time. Anyway, I’m usually ready by 04:10am and out of the door on my way to the Robinson’s house. So when I get to the house I usually get them their breakfast and clean their living room, but today the eldest brother told me to clean the kitchen. I soon got in trouble from the father because the eldest brother told me something that was not true. I didn’t dare tell his father about his son telling me something that wasn’t true because without doubt I would be fired straight away. I got a bit angry but I soon calmed down because I went outside during my lunch break (I had just enough time!). After my lunch break I cleaned their big bedrooms. I went into Abby’s room (the youngest daughter.) She was feeling quite ill. Abby and I are secretly good friends. “How are you feeling, Abby?” I said “Not good” Abby said weakly. I fetched her some water and said “goodbye”. After my shift, it was very dark and it was 23:05. I got home and lay on my bed and I fell asleep without putting on my nightgown. After a while I awoke with a terrible dream. I got fired! Thankfully it wasn’t true. I went downstairs and saw a mysterious silhouette in the distance and I ran towards it and saw Abby! I ran towards her shocked, I saw her standing still. I called her name and she ran towards me. “Annie! Annie!” she called me and gave me a hug. I brought her inside and got her some water and a blanket to cover herself with. It was strange how her parents never came to look for her. A few minutes later I realised they did not know where I lived and I was safe. Today Abby and I went for a walk. When we went outside I saw a poster with “Abby Robinson Missing” in bold writing. Under it in little writing it said “Reward £100”. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I didn’t want her to go but I needed the money. I brought her to the Robinson’s and the mother gave me the money, I said “goodbye”. With my reward money I decided to buy myself a really big and beautiful house. When I looked inside I was overwhelmed because it was amazing! There were nice rooms that were really big and there were three bedrooms so I could invite Abby over sometimes. I loved my new house. My house did not need decorating because that was done a week ago. I did lose my job, but I still kept in touch by visiting them. After a while I became a baker and I became famous! I couldn’t believe it. I am 40 today and I made a birthday cake to share with the Robinsons and we all thought that it was very nice. I let them have a couple more slices until they were full. By then it was late so I went home and had a goodnight sleep. Thank you for listening to my life as a servant, I hope you enjoyed.
Name William G. Ogg Age 19 Occupation Iron Monger's Assistant From Oldmeldrum, Aberdeenshire Address 40 Esslemont Avenue
1819 Census Dear Diary, I am still in horrible pain from the forge. It feels like my hand has been dipped in lava! Anyway let’s get to the story… It was five years ago… I was minding my own business when a little kid came up to me saying he was lost. I took him in and sat him beside the fireplace. He thanked me, but suddenly he pulled a sword on me that was still melting from the forge! He then went on to steal everything! Then he whacked me on the hand with it, it didn’t slice me, but it gave me a nasty burn. I felt horrible. The next day I was just lying down on my bed. There was a bang on the door so I opened it. It was the peelers, “You are under arrest for keeping a criminal in your house”. “Take him away boys!” one shouted. I cried and said they were making a mistake. Being locked away for three years and stuck in that cell was horrible! They let me free after they knew I didn’t know the boy was a criminal. I still wonder what he stole, and now I wanted revenge on that evil, little boy. After I was free my family celebrated with some ale and honey covered treats. I was happy and I forgave the peelers for arresting me. One year later my mother passed away, I felt like the loneliest person on earth. On the funeral day I said words to tell everyone how great she was and then we went home. Another year later I went fishing, I enjoyed the peace and quiet so much that I became a fisherman. I got paid more for catching fish than I did being an ironmonger, it was great. One day when I was fishing, I saw the evil little kid. He was just in the hut beside the river. I went up to him and said “Hello… look what you have done to me! You have scarred me for life!” Then I decided to get my revenge. I said “I’m going to take care of you.” I thought evilly, and then I chucked him in the river. He didn’t drown because the water was so shallow. He ran away from me and he shouted “Leave me alone you stranger, I don’t know you!” Then I said “Oh you don’t remember me? You are the kid who tried to cut my hand off!” “Uh…” he said, “it was your own fault for bringing me in to your house with a forge.” I shouted back, “Be quiet.” I asked him if he had been caught and been to prison. He shouted “No!” “What if I hand you at the station, I’ll be rich!” Then he shouted, “If you want to hand me in you will have to catch me first!” Three hours later I eventually caught him and then I took him to the peeler station. After I took him in I didn’t get paid much but at least I got some money.
Name Maggie J Giles Age 20 Occupation Paper Cutter From Aberdeen Address 42 Esslemont Avenue
MY DIARY ENTRY WEDNESDAY 28TH OF MARCH 1902 Dear Diary, My name is Maggie J Giles and I am 20 years old. I live with my mother, Mary Giles and my 2 sisters Susan Giles and Agnes Giles. Susan is 16 years and Agnes is 35 years old, and she still lives with us now. Well I shouldn’t complain there is a 40 year old man who still lives with his mother! I think people in the future could probably be able to get married when they are 16. That means my sister can get married now. Well I haven’t got a long life ahead of me. I lost my arm at my factory so I don’t think I will live long. I am still waiting to see if it has an infection (my right arm). My sister and I (Agnes) are really good friends (of course sisters). I can’t wait until tonight, it is pudding night tonight! I will be having my chocolate, from my birthday from last year. That is my only present I get every single year, it is the best pudding ever. In the future they would probably be able to buy lots of chocolate for only little money. Oh dear I forgot I had work today. Bye. Friday 13th of April, 1902 Dear Diary, Well it’s only me and my sister Agnes left. My mum and sister Susan died. My Mum died of typhoid and my sister died of small pox. Small pox is a disease which can make you have heart failure and kidney failure. It is so sad I know. So just my sister and I are all alone in the old house... Poor Mum, she never got a life to live. None of us did really, only the rich people did and Queen Victoria definitely got a life to live. Dear Diary, So I was at my work yesterday and the police were looking for me. They said I had stolen something and I said that they should probably be looking for my sister. “Please do not put her in jail please”. They said they had to. He said she is a criminal with a secret inside of her that she cannot keep inside of her forever. I was heartbroken, why would they come, why would my sister do that, all she cares is about herself. She is going to get it...
Wednesday 29th of October 1902 Dear Diary, Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me, happy birthday to me! Well this is my first and last day off my boss said. He is not that nice, he is horrible and terrifying and scary. I have a lot more names for him but I will stop because it is just going to waste my paper. Oh no! I ordered new paper today for my diary. I was supposed to pick it up today! I can’t believe it! Sorry I have to go and see if I can get my paper again. Bye. Friday 31st of October 1902 Dear Diary, I got my paperIt was at that moment I felt something bad. Just something was bad. Never the less, I did carry on eating, but not for long. I couldn’t take it no more. Something in my stomach just kept on giving me a bad feeling. I stood up, and went to my cabin downstairs. but the man who sells the paper took all my money! I mean what kind of person does that? Oh my gosh, he is so mean and I am so mad at him. Okay I have forgotten about him, over and done with! Anyway I am so excited I am meeting my sister this week. I feel like I haven’t seen her in ages but is has only been 2 months I think. It has been a long time now that I have known about the secret, she said I have to be quite about it or something will happen to me. It is really weird having to go to jail for the first time and meeting my sister in jail. I’m scared now. Oh Maggie, don’t be, you’ll be fine. Well that’s me away to meet my sister in jail. I am really scared. What if she is planning to kill me. Oh no, now she has her fist up right at me. Oh no. Ah...!!!!!