The Bettesworth Book Talks with a Surrey Peasant [Paperback]

This fascinating biography of a nineteenth-century gardener provides numerous insights into rural life, work, and social concerns.In 1901, George Sturt (using the pen-name George Bourne) published a biography of his gardener, Frederick Bettesworth, based on interviews which uniquely captured rural life in late nineteenth-century England. It describes Bettesworths childhood, education, recreation and family life, and agricultural work from turf-laying to hop-picking and horses.In 1901, George Sturt (using the pen-name George Bourne) published a biography of his gardener, Frederick Bettesworth, based on interviews which uniquely captured rural life in late nineteenth-century England. It describes Bettesworths childhood, education, recreation and family life, and agricultural work from turf-laying to hop-picking and horses.In 1901, George Sturt (using the pen-name George Bourne) published this biography of his gardener, Frederick Bettesworth. This unusual ethnographic account, written in a modified dialect, uniquely captures rural life in late nineteenth-century England. The book bridges the class divide between 'master and man' as Sturt, through many interviews, gets to know his down-to-earth day labourer, and comes to understand peasant life and poverty as seen through the eyes of Bettesworth. In the introduction, Sturt precisely lays out his interviewing methodology, which allows the reader to understand both men as the conversations, and the book, progress. Through 35 chapters, he opens a window on the social relationships between the classes amid descriptions of the work, childhood, education, and family life of the region's agricultural workers. Sturt is humbled and enriched by his friendship with Bettesworth, calling him the 'voice of Britain', a man 'rugged, unresting, irresistible'.1. Introductory; 2. Boyhood and youth; 3. A roaming commission; 4. Youth; 5. Wanderings; 6. Harvest talk; 7. Sundry appreciations; 8. A favourite horse; 9. Other horses; 10. 'Mul“¦