DORSET-L Archives

Archiver > DORSET > 1999-07 > 0930912062


From: "P & R.C.Stainer" <>
Subject: Re: Dorset History.
Date: Fri, 2 Jul 1999 10:41:02 +0000


Hi! Ken,

In your message you ask ed as to why your ancestors and others left
Dorset. Now we frequently hear about the terrible conditions that
prevailed in Ireland during the Potato Famine.

What is not so well known, is that many English people especially
those that worked on the land, also suffered at the same time, with
many people in Dorset starving which resulted in quite an exodus of
people from the county during the mid-1800s. Another fact is that the
wages paid to agricultural and other workers were the lowest in
Britain at that time, and that situation existed for many years
through to the 20th Century.

Regards,

Pete

>From "not so windy" Wellington, NZ.

This thread: