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THE DIARY OF EDWIN WAUGH Life in Victorian Manchester and Rochdale 1847–1851 edited and abridged Brian Hollingworth (privately published 2008 xvii+172pp ISBN 9781904244493) £12.50 from the author, 12 Lockwood Road, Allestree, Derby DE22 2JD
If diaries record change, then Edwin Waugh emerges as a palpably different person at the end of his diary. It begins with him in 1847, newly-married, with uncertain prospects and contacts, and repelled by the necessity of visiting Manchester. He is out of work and in debt. Yet it ends four years later with his marriage moribund (although arguably that didn't stand a chance), a frequent visitor to Manchester, and in regular work. The diary is one of several fragments edited and abridged by Brian Hollingworth and gives a wonderful insight into mid-nineteenth century Manchester. Waugh's initial horror at the thought of the town - the 'clangor and corruption of this great sooty city' - accords with other contemporary accounts, as does his conclusion that Manchester, 'the most infernal cluster of human habitation on earth … would be a complete hell of soot and stench but that it is drenched by incessant rain'. Yet Waugh comes to see advantage in association with the town, moving to Hulme as his fraught domestic position allowed.
It wasn't all change, though. He remained in debt and noted how one creditor of many threatened him 'with law' (Waugh later itemised his debts, which amounted to over £30). On one occasion he stayed in on a Sunday because his clothes were not presentable, and his search for work involved, for example, uncomfortable interviews with Thomas Sowler, the editor of the Manchester Courier. When Waugh did find work, as assistant secretary for the Lancashire Public Schools' Association - eventually earning a pound a week - his fortunes slowly changed. This job gave him with the chance to make contacts amongst the literati of Manchester. Having recorded his doubts about the value of continuing his poetry (it had led to little success) he was finally among more fitting company. He reported to Francis Espinasse (who went on to publish Lancashire Worthies) and, through the publisher Alexander Ireland, attempted to introduce himself, when in London, to Thomas Carlyle. Waugh also related his meeting with the elderly Samuel Bamford. Although it is beyond the record of this diary, he did eventually find success and fame as a dialect writer and poet, as famous as Dickens.
Waugh's work for the Association was noteworthy for the footwork necessary in collecting subscriptions, but the casual way in which he used the railways is striking. It is the off-hand recording of travel by train, the normality, the routine, the frequency of services and wide network that surprises for a mode of transport barely ten years old. When not travelling by train he walked a lot, on one occasion returning overnight to the city through the villages south of Manchester. As he moves around we are treated to some delicious observations and anecdotes of South Lancashire society and dialect. Most noteworthy are the account of his day-trip on the train to Blackpool among a crowd of thousands; and of Knott Mill Fair, where the 'immense crowds' permit him free literary rein, describing them as 'fiddlers, fuddlers, squallers, brawlers, sprawlers, whores, soldiers, beggars'.
Brian Hollingworth has done a fine job in editing and abridging a tricky text. A general index would have been helpful, but the main players are described in a paragraph or so and there are helpful illustrations. This work will certainly help to colour in our understanding of life in so important a town.
CRAIG HORNER
reviewed by Craig Horner
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