'Ravenstonedale: An Extraordinary History from Farm and Village Records'

from David Tunstall’s book, transcribed and edited by Dawn Robertson: 276 pp with 58 b&w photographs 

This fascinating publication has recently been released from Hayloft Publishing Ltd, Cumbria and contains material originally recorded in a leather bound book – hand written by members of the Fothergill family and passed down through generations (who continued to add details) eventually ending up with the Tunstall family.  It contains a large variety of farming records and numerous lists of Ravenstonedale residents commencing in the late 17thC.  The book is beautifully illustrated with photographs from the Frankland and Tunstall families.

Here are some snippets of information I discovered on my initial trawl through the book:

• several Adamthwaites rented grasslands from other Ravenstonedale farmers (the lists show the extent of the land and how much was paid);

• some wonderful remedies for rheumatism, toothache, a windy belly, bites from mad dogs, etc;

• lists of prices for goods bought and sold (e.g. in the mid 1800s a pound of coffee cost 2 shillings, but a pound of tea was 5 shillings and sixpence!);

• But for me, possibly the most fascinating chapter details borrowers and books borrowed from the Lending Library , which began in 1736 probably by Anthony Fothergill – this revealed that Isabel Adamthwaite (who MAY have been my 5xgt grandmother) borrowed a very popular book called ‘Adam’s Fall’ a supplement to ‘Wicked Christians practical Atheists’ by Anthony Fothergill, published in 1755 – which you can read yourself at Google Books! The supplement appears after page 255 of the main book.