IN today’s Looking Back we’re going back a bit further than usual to the 19th century.

Jessamy Wilsdon, a part-time researcher at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester, has selected a document telling the stories of poverty-stricken people in Blandford Forum as her ‘Desert Island’ document.

She says the notes kept by the Overseers of the Poor from 1812 to 1841 are ‘fascinating’ and a real inspiration to writers.

Jessamy said: “They are stories, in miniature, of people forced to apply to the Overseers for a small payment to survive, and often to move on.

“Luckily for us, the Overseers recorded a range of information, including ‘whence from’; ‘whither going’; height; whether or not literate; age and occupation.

“Also recorded was ‘complexion’, which has allowed us a rare glimpse into the racial diversity of those applying.”

Henry Drewley, described as ‘black’, was 30 years old and single when he made his way through Blandford in January 1827.

Unemployed seaman Henry, originally from Halifax, was making his way from Penzance to Portsmouth.

He was unable to read or write, and was given 8 shillings and 1/4pence to see him on his way.

The documents also tell us about Antonio Gomez, described as an ‘imposter’, who had made an even longer journey, as his original home was in Africa.

Jessamy says the documents also told us that many people were travelling alone.

Elizabeth Burnett, an illiterate chair-bottom maker, was 16 when she requested help in December 1821.

She had been travelling with a woman who sold ‘lace and cottons’, but it appears their partnership had dissolved, and Elizabeth was returning home to London from Weymouth. At 14, 4ft 5in, John Galpin from Great Toller applied for funds.

He had clearly benefited from rudimentary education, as he could read and write.

Returning home from Chichester, where he had transported some sheep, he was given the 9d considered sufficient to get him there.

James Long, at only 13, had been ‘left at Post Down Fair by his father’.

He was helped out with the sum of 8s 1/2d to reach Stone House in Wiltshire.

Jessamy says the documents show just how many people were travelling throughout the country in the early 19th century.

She said: “If anyone had any doubt that travel was widespread in the early 19th century, a quick glance at these registers would convince them otherwise.”

There are entries for people originating in Liverpool, Scotland, Ireland, the West Indies, Finland, many from America, and several from Africa.

Jessamy added: “There must have been many wonderful travellers’ tales told in the inns of Blandford, and the locals would have been aware of a world far beyond the British Isles.

“Every entry tells a story and they are well worth a look if you are interested in the lives of the rural poor, international trade, or the history of Blandford.

“This record would prove an excellent inspiration to writers, and keep my imagination busy as the waves lapped the shore of a desert island.”

To view the Overseers of the Poor notes, visit the Dorset History Centre in Bridport Road, Dorchester.