The Chronicles of John Cannon

Historians have been aware of the John Cannon manuscript at the Somerset Record Office for a number of years. As Christopher Dyer indicates in the foreword of this edition, the manuscript is of exceptional interest for a number of reasons. John Cannon was a man of relatively humble social origin and his memoirs span the years 1684 to 1743—autobiographical material written by a man of this status from the early eighteenth century is extremely rare. Furthermore, Cannon’s manuscript is highly unusual in its focus on matters temporal and carnal. The smattering of life-writing from the lower reaches of society that does exist from the early eighteenth century and before has for the most part an overtly spiritual focus. Cannon’s ‘Chronicles’ is a work in a very different mould. His text ranges widely over such mundane events as his quarrels with employers, his developing sexual curiosity, his attempt to take up smoking, his interest in bell-ringing, the purchase of books and furniture, his arguments with the local minister, and marital difficulties. To my knowledge, this is the only set of memoirs from any point in history in which the author admits to cutting holes in the walls of the necessary house ‘near the seat’, so as to catch a glimpse of the maid’s ‘parts’. At the same time, Cannon’s ‘Chronicles’ provide extensive information on broader themes such as the working of parish politics, landholding customs, farming techniques, and the excise service. It is the little details of daily life, the sexual, personal, and moral failings of himself and others, the struggle to earn a living, maintain respectability and keep out of debt, that form the mainstay of Cannon’s work. This, then, is clearly a text with great significance for a wide range of historians with interests in the social and economic history of the eighteenth century. Yet, until now, the content of the diaries has been largely shielded from scholarly view. Stored in a strong-room in Taunton and running to an estimated 600,000 words, the memoirs have remained inaccessible to all but the most committed researcher

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