ARCHIVISTS have acquired a rare memoir, giving a fascinating glance at 19th century working-class life in Wiltshire.
The Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office found the 736-page manuscript written in 1881 through an antique bookseller in Hampshire, thanks to a grant from the Friends of the National Libraries.
The author - William Small from Salisbury - was a painter and glazier and his account of life from a workingman's perspective has got many historians excited.
He notes significant national occasions, such as the funeral of Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli - as well as everyday problems such as struggling to find money to pay his rent.
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