"I liked bad hats ...

... and older men", wrote Lilah Wingfield in her diary in 1911. And I like her already, I thought, as I listened in the car to her grand-daughter, Jessica Douglas-Home, recount something of her life on Radio 4's Midweek. Bold, feisty, a 'force of nature', Jessica called her. That's some epitaph. The youngest of five, trapped by convention and Edwardian etiquette into looking after her elderly mother in London after the death of her father when she was sixteen, Lilah escaped at the age of twenty-three with notebook and Kodak camera, and headed for India by train. This week in London, there's an exhibition of her photos (from whose website these pictures come) to accompany her diary, about to be published as A Glimpse of Empire. From a scrapbooking perspective, don't you just love the contrast between the everyday-ness of sandwiches and the exotic nature of the location below? And, in the photo to the right, that great backstory visible between the two concise lines of the caption?

But the greatest lesson for a scrapbooker emerged as Jessica Douglas-Home spoke about the photograph books she had seen, growing up: "I used to flick through, periodically, the ten pages on the Durbar" (the huge assembly to celebrate the coronation of George V) and think 'How interesting', but they didn't mean very much. It was only when the diary was discovered relatively recently ... that the whole thing came to life."

Something to ponder on, as I finalise my journalling preparations for a December Daily/JYC, in readiness for sharing some ideas next week. I already know where to find the (ever so slightly) older man, but I'm in serious need of a few bad hats ... :). 

Comments

[Cheri]

Lots to ponder. Can't wait to see your ideas. I don't have any bad hats either. If I had a hat, it would be bad. I don't have a "hat face".

[Amy]

I love the adventurous spirit of so many who have gone before us; can you just imagine packing up and setting off over the Khyber Pass with your sandwiches as a young woman of that era? Their matter-of-factness regarding marriage is also quite astounding by comparison to this day and age, but, I do like how they recorded their lives .. it would seem many of us have lost that art.

[Jennie Hart]

She sounds like my kind of gal. It is a good lesson. Last year I enjoyed how my journal looked (it was my first time recording the season) as I have looked at it this year, I still enjoyed looking at it but I wished I had written more. I will do more journaling this year.

[Paul B]

Personally, I prefer older hats & bad men lol. Pxx

[Alexa]

Spluttering here into my tea! :)

[Alexa]

Oh gosh, that's got such a wistful ring to it. You are really spurring me on here, Jennie. I don't want to get to the end of my life and think "I wish I had written more...".

[Sian]

I love that - casually flicking through the "ten pages on the Durbar". As you do! I'm sure you will already have guessed that I will be looking out for her book. It sounds absolutely like my kind of thing.

I'm thinking by "bad hat" she means what my Mum would call a "bad lad" or two?

[Alexa]

Indeed, Sian. Lilah had had a very free-and-easy childhood in the Wicklow mountains, running fairly wild, I think, mixing happily with all social classes. I am sure she felt a nostalgic ease in London when she encountered a twinkling eye and a roguish smile, with a touch of I've-kissed-the-Blarney-Stone. They are sadly in short supply up here. :) I guess the attraction of older men might have been tied up with the need for a kindly father figure... I've pre-ordered the book, as you might have guessed, and happy to pass it on to you, if you like. :)

[Beverly]

Great connection, journaling and story telling are 2 things I need to focus on in 2012.

[Mel]

That sounds wonderful - must look out for it myself :)

I have plenty of hats, both good and bad. I prefer younger men, though. Or one younger man in particular I should say - and he's definitely not a bad hat!

[Honoré]

Being on this "side of the pond," I'm enjoying everyone's take; the book sounds really interesting and I really love the way you have connected it to scrapping and documenting. I think I'll have to read the book, too. Thx for sharing.
Cheers~

[Fiona]

What an amazing life she must have had, once she escaped her constraints.

[Rosie]

Another Radio 4 fan here - and yes she sounded quite a gal didn't she? Bad hats? Well my MIL has one that looks like a tea cosy. I'd be more than happy to pass it on if only to stop her wearing it .....

[sandie]

Don't you just love women with spirit? This is my kind of book too.
There is a garden I like to visit, the former home of Ellen Wilmott who was a renowned plant collector. After her death the house was demolished and her garden fell into decay. A bit like the Lost Gardens of Heligon. In recent years it has been slowly transformed into a nature reserve and you can trace much of the former garden. In spring it is magical, with fields of Narcissi.
Your post made me think of Ellen Wilmott and in an article I read how she would visit London wearing a diamond broach in her hat, and carry a revolver in her handbag 'to protect herself from thieves'. I also remembered photos I had taken. I had to laugh, because that was a hat day for us too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arty-san/sets/72157623728909722/with/4474264520/
I shall be looking out for A Glimpse of Empire.
And for your JYC album. Counting the days to starting!

[Marcie]

It's so true - that when we're 'in it'..we so often don't see the value or the meaning. And then - years later - looking back...we find something there. And - I'm with you. Let's go find some bad hats...:-)!