Record Number: 5017

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Edwin Whitlock faced...[reading] shortages. A farmer on the Salisbury Downs, he had plenty of time to read while shepherding: "the difficulty was to get hold of books. The only ones in our house were the Bible, a few thin Sunday School prizes, which were mostly very pious publications, and a Post Office directory from 1867, whch volume I read from cover to cover".'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

county: Dorset- Salisbury Downs

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Edwin Whitlock

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1874

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (agricultural)

Occupation:

shepherd

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

[unknown]

Title:

[Sunday School prize books]

Genre:

Other religious

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

5017

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

372

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 372, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=5017, accessed: 27 March 2025

---

Additional Comments:

See Ralph Whitlock, 'A Family and a Village', (London, 1969) pp. 131-32