| Administrative History | Maria Gyte of Sheldon, formerly the village schoolmistress, ran the village pub, the Devonshire Arms, with her husband. She was also a Church Treasurer. She took a keen interest in the work of her family's farm, though painfully crippled by arthritis and confined to her home for much of the time. Maria held spirited conversations with people who visited the pub and with the local clergy and her neighbours. Maria even notes the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.
The diaries record country life during the Great War and its effect on Maria and the village of Sheldon. They recount the loss of Maria's son, Tony, and also include accounts of farming life in a close-knit Derbyshire community.
The diaries were published in June 1999 by Scarthin Books of Cromford (G Phizackerley (ed), The Diaries of Maria Gyte of Sheldon, Derbyshire 1913-1920) (ISBN: 0907758967)
This book won the Peak National Book Award in 2000. Gerald Phizackerley, a former Archdeacon of Chesterfield, was also priest in charge of Ashford in the Water and of Sheldon in the 1970s and 1980s. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/)
For a partial transcript of the diaries, see 'Our Poor Tony - A Reluctant Soldier: The Diaries (1913-1919) of Maria Gyte of Sheldon'; ed. & intro by Gerald Phizackerley, forward by the Duke of Devonshire; available to view under the heading of 'War' in the Subject Transfer Cases on the shelves in the searchroom of Derbyshire Record Office. |
| Custodial History | These diaries were deposited in June 2002. |