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William Goodwin's Diaries: Glossary and Explanatory Notes
Clear understanding of Goodwin's diaries is hampered by his inconsistent spelling (deliberately left as is) and by terminology with which the modern reader may not be familiar. This is particularly true of Imperial weights and measures, etc, which have largely been replaced in Britain by Metric measurements (and decimal currency), but Goodwin uses many other outdated words, too. This set of notes has been compiled (by Mike Gray - so don't blame Mrs. Rothery!) to help clarify the fascinating Diaries. Specific place-names, historic people and other infrequently-occurring terms as usually hyper-linked from the Diaries to these notes. Common terms (e.g. currency, weights and measures) are not cross-referenced - it has been left to the puzzled reader to look up the unfamiliar term in these pages. On the assumption that most readers of the Diaries will have at least some familiarity with Suffolk, local place-names have not been included in these notes. Since the first version of these notes, some additional information (including the fact that Scotland had a different set of weights and measures to England) has been provided by Mrs. Rothery. Any reader who can provide still further enlightenment, or who would additional words included in the Glossary, should send an e-mail to the Webmaster. All additional information will be welcomed. Currency, Weights & Measures Young readers who have grown up since Britain's decimalization of currency (in 1971) and since the beginning of the (on-going) metrication may not be familiar with the terms that Goodwin uses. They probably bemuse readers who visit this Website from abroad! So here is a simple guide to help you … Weights and Measures In recent years, Britain has been undergoing a half-hearted process of metrication. In Goodwin's day, the "Imperial" system of measurements was still firmly in place: Things, Places and People, etc. The Website "InfoPlease" has proved a valuable resource in finding data on Places and People, and links have been made from those pages below to the Infoplease database, for those who would more detail. |
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