A LIFE WORTH DISCOVERING - in an attic
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DISCOVER IT
In 1976, Roy Palmer made an extraordinary discovery in a friend's attic — handwritten journals belonging to Sarah Ellis, a Baptist woman who recorded her horse-drawn journeys across England from 1799 to 1835. This is her story.
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READ IT
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
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LIVE IT
We took a walk upon the Ripe where the wind was very high, and blew my Aunt's ribbons off her bonnet. Mr. Ellis had a long run for it.' — Sarah Ellis, June 3, 1799
In 1976, whilst clearing out his late friend's aunt's attic, Roy Palmer made an extraordinary discovery — a collection of handwritten journals, carefully sewn together by hand, tucked away at the bottom of a battered tin trunk. They belonged to Sarah Ellis, a Baptist woman from Southwark, London, who had recorded her horse-drawn journeys across England between 1799 and 1835 in meticulous, loving detail.
For the Love of Sarah is the transcription and reimagining of five of those journeys — from the Kent coast to Canterbury, north to Beverley and Hull, west to Bath and Bristol, south to Brighton and Portsmouth, and finally a grand roundtrip taking in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.
This is a story of an ordinary life — and what a life it is.
THE JOURNEY
JOURNEY I — 1799 London to Canterbury via Rye, Dover and Margate. Sarah's first married journey, newly wed to Thomas Ellis and full of quiet excitement.
JOURNEY II — 1801 North to Beverley and Hull, amid the tensions of the Napoleonic Wars and a personal mission connected to a captured ship and a Russian Tsar.
JOURNEY III — 1809 West to Bath and Bristol, as Sarah's world continues to widen and the country around her changes beyond recognition.
Then add a second row of three columns beneath:
JOURNEY IV — 1830 South to Brighton and Portsmouth — older now, but no less curious, no less alive to the world around her.
JOURNEY V — 1835 A grand roundtrip north — Beverley, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Sarah's final recorded journey.
THE JOURNALS Five completed works. Over two centuries old. Discovered by chance. Read them and walk in her footsteps.
