DIARIES
See Also: BIOGRAPHY; THE LONGEST SUICIDE NOTE IN HISTORY; SAMUEL PEPYS The Diaries
The Bishopsgate Institute Library
The
library of The Bishopsgate Institute has a collection of ordinary people s
diaries. It still accepts
contributions. The project was initiated
by Irving Kinel and Polly North in 2007.
Two years later it found a home in the Institute.
Location:
230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH (blue, purple)
Website:
www.thegreatdiaryproject.co.uk
'Chips' Channon
Henry
'Chips' Channon's family wealth came from a business that operated ships on
North America's Great Lakes.
He
despised America.
In 1933
Channon married Honor Guinness a daughter of the 2nd Earl of
Iveagh. Her family's wealth was much
greater than his. His new father-in-law
helped to buy 5 Belgrave Square, a townhouse that previously would have been
beyond his means. His potential for
social networking with Britain's upper class became supercharged and he availed
himself of it.
Neither
spouse was faithful. They soon drifted
apart from one another, ultimately divorcing.
Channon s
political career peaked with his serving as a Parliamentary Private Secretary
to an Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office. He aspired to a peerage but never received
one.
He had
a strong automatic loyalty to his friends.
This was so ardent that he overlooked their wrong stances.
The
British upper class were terrified of Soviet Communism. As a result, many of its members regarded
Nazi Germany in a positive light.
Ultimately,
Channon appreciated the evil of the Nazis but it took him far longer than it
should have.
Peter
Coats, a landscape designer, became his long-time companion.
The
1967 edition. The academic historian -
and future Conservative M.P. - Robert James Rhodes. He removed the sex and the anti-Churchill
material and reduced the name-dropping.
He was unable to draw on some of the volumes that were known to have been
written since they had gone missing.
Subsequently, a number of them turned up at a car-boot sale.
Location:
5 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8PH (blue, orange)
Richard Crossman
The
senior Labour politician Richard Crossman was given to making howling
indiscretions when speaking to some journalists. His colleague Harold Wilson termed him a
compulsive communicator .
Crossman
left his widow Anne (n e McDougall) (1920-2008), Michael Foot, and the
publisher Graham C. Greene as his literary executors. They fought a legal battle with the Cabinet
Office to be allowed to publish the Diaries. In 1975 Jonathan Cape published the first of
the four volumes of The Crossman Diaries.
Location:
9 Vincent Square, SW1P 2LX (red, turquoise)
John Evelyn
In
1880s there was a campaign to try to save the Deptford home of the writer John
Evelyn. Octavia Hill and Sir Robert
Hunter were active in this. As a result,
they came to appreciate that there was then no legal vehicle for holding the
property. This led to the creation of
the National Trust, which was able own property.
In 1743
the Victualling Commission started to lease the property.
Location:
Sayes Court Park, Deptford, SE8 3LN. The
park is on the site of Sayes Court, where the tsar spent the majority of his
visit in Deptford.
King George VI
Diary
keepers during the Second World War included King George VI.
Location:
Buckingham Palace, SW1A 1AA (orange, white)
Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky
Diary
keepers during the Second World War included Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky
(1884-1975) the Soviet Ambassador in London.
Location:
13 Kensington Palace Gardens, W8 4QP.
The Soviet Embassy.
Kenneth Rose
Kenneth
Rose was a columnist on The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
Joan Wyndham
Joan
Wyndham was a diarist who moved in Bohemian and artistic circles. She held a variety of jobs including cooking
at The Royal Court Theatre. In
1985 Love Lessons, a selection from her diaries covering the Second
World War, was published. This was
followed by Love Is Blue (1986.) (orange, yellow)
Location:
22 Evelyn Gardens, SW7 3BG. Wyndham's
first London home.
Redcliffe
Gardens, SW10 9EX. Wyndham's studio.
(blue, orange)
David
Backhouse 2024