Reproduction of the original: Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer by George Sturt

"Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer: A Record of the Last Years of Frederick Bettesworth" by George Sturt is a biography. Bettesworth, the old laboring man, who in the decline of his strength found employment in the author's garden and entertained him with his talk, never knew that he had been made the subject of a book. To know it would have pleased him vastly, and there is something tragical in the reflection that he had to wear through his last weary months without the consolation of the little fame he had justly earned; and yet it would have been a mistake to tell him of it. His upbringing had not fitted him for publicity. Excerpt: "December 7, 1892.—The ground in the upper part of the garden being too hard frozen for Bettesworth to continue this morning the work he was doing there yesterday, I found him some digging to do in a more sheltered corner, where the fork would enter the soil. With snow threatening to come and stop all outdoor work, it was not well that he should stand idle too soon."

"Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer: A Record of the Last Years of Frederick Bettesworth" by George Sturt is a biography. Bettesworth, the old laboring man, who in the decline of his strength found employment in the author's garden and entertained him with his talk, never knew that he had been made the subject of a book. To know it would have pleased him vastly, and there is something tragical in the reflection that he had to wear through his last weary months without the consolation of the little fame he had justly earned; and yet it would have been a mistake to tell him of it. His upbringing had not fitted him for publicity. Excerpt: "December 7, 1892.—The ground in the upper part of the garden being too hard frozen for Bettesworth to continue this morning the work he was doing there yesterday, I found him some digging to do in a more sheltered corner, where the fork would enter the soil. With snow threatening to come and stop all outdoor work, it was not well that he should stand idle too soon."

A moving account of a Surrey Labourer at the end of the nineteenth century, related by a master narrator.

Despite its humble premise and subject, George Sturt's Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer offers profound insight into a bygone time through the fascinating character of Frederick Bettesworth, a groundskeeper who despite harsh circumstances and little means was afforded a place of respect in his village. The book brings together a series of vignettes about Bettesworth that gradually reveal his unique outlook and attitude. It's a gratifying read for those who believe that true wisdom can flow from the unlikeliest of sources.

Excerpt from Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer: A Record of the Last Years of Frederick At the same time, it must be allowed that his own evidence was not quite to be trusted. A man in his position, with the workhouse waiting for him, will not make the most of his years to an employer, and I sometimes fancied that Bettesworth wished me to think him younger than he was. But it is quite possible that he was not himself certain of his own age. I have it from his sister-in-law that both his parents died while he was still a child, and that he, with his brothers and sisters, was taken, destitute, to the workhouse. Thence, I suppose, he was rescued by that uncle, who kept a travelling van and the man who carried the boy to fairs and racecourses, and thrashed him so savagely that at last he ran away to become Farmer Barnes's plough-boy, was not a person likely to instruct him very carefully about his age. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.