Hi Rod, There are a number of diaries that have been published written by ordinary people. These may give you the detail you are after. The book I have in front of me is The Diary of a Farmer's wife 1796 - 1797 written by Anne Hughes a farmer's wife from Chepstow. ISBN 014 00.5457 X She entitled it " Anne Hughes her boke in wiche I write what I doe" She ended it by saying " All times I do wonder who will read my book and what will become of it, but I hope that annie who do read it may be as happie a wife as I be" Good luck Bob Waters (8286) To: "Rod Blaker" <rod.blaker@gmail.com>, <SFHG@rootsweb.com> > Hi folks > > My goal with this genealogy is make make a gift of a story - the story of > my > ancestors and their lives in their times - to my descendants, relatives > and > their extended families. > > To do that I need a very good grasp of daily life as the centuries roll > by - > life on the farm, life as a house carpenter and so forth. From > availability > of horses, to nature of farming, to dentistry and health care and > education > and leisure time (was there any?) > > I read the suggestion of "Larks Rise" but that is I presume a snapshot of > a > particular moment. Does anyone have a suggestion about the type of reading > that can take me from say 1000 to 2000 ? Not the life of the wealthy, nor > the abject poor - the common man - and woman and child. Nasty, brutish > and > short, I understand; but a bit more detail needed. > > Thanks > > Rod