December’s object of the month - and the last of the year(!) - is on the discovery of a new object for the collection!
Every month we feature two blogs written by volunteers; one describes an object in the Palace and the other a feature from the Garden. There is no set format so you are free to experiment with research, prose, poetry or anything new! Thank you to Erin Brudi, Learning placement student from Kingston University, for this thoughtful and creatively written piece.
Tucked away in a small corner bookshelf in the upstairs library, Alexis, Community Archaeologist, stumbled upon a small black leather notebook. Aged and worn, the binding of the small well-loved black notebook was held together with clear sellotape. Having been tucked away, this notebook had yet to be added to the collection! It surely was an exciting Christmas find!
The notebook when closed
Upon opening, the notebook greeted the reader with a title page that read “Christmas Stories written by different members of the Blomfield family and now edited by J.B & L.L. B”. The notebook, complete with an index, held ten Christmas themed stories. Eventually, in 1871, the book would end up in Arthur Blomfield's hands, Arthur would go on to become a famous architect. What better way to get in the festive spirit than gathering with loved ones and sharing stories? That’s just what Bishop Blomfield and his family did during Christmas time!
Bishop Charles James Blomfield became Bishop of London in 1828 and held the position for 28 years. Blomfield married Anna Maria Heath in 1810 and would have six children with her. After Anna Maria’s death in February of 1818, Blomfield would then marry Dorothy Cox a year later on 17 December 1819. Dorothy and Charles would have eleven children together!
Bishop Charles James Blomfield (1786–1857), oil on canvas, 19th century, Collection: St Edmundsbury Museums.
With so many children and such a large family, they must have had such wonderful Christmas celebrations! One tradition that was important to the Blomfield family was gathering together and reading some short stories—such as the stories found within the black book, also known as the Blotting Book. The stories collected in the Blotting Book tell all different types of stories. The index gives titles such as “Kingston Festivities”, “A Tale of Taits”, “The Booted Monk”, “The Ghost of Christmas” and many more! These stories could have been made up stories by the Blomfield children, or maybe they could have been local tales about the previous bishops.
The Blotting Book is fascinating for a few reasons but, to me, the reason I find it so interesting is knowing that then this book is a physical connection to the Blomfield family. You can see the different handwriting within the notebook and which child wrote it. You can also see the mistakes made and crossed out before re-penning the tale. It’s small details like this that remind us the Blomfield children were very much human and make the same spelling mistakes we also make.
You can hear one of my favourite of the Christmas stories included in the Blotting Book on Youtube, read aloud by Alexis. The tale, “The Ghost of Christmas” was written by Dorothy Blomfield and her cousin Francis in 1846, both aged 10, and tells of a woman’s encounter with the ghost of Christmas. This will be posted on Christmas Day - so be sure to keep a look out for it!