30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY [CHAP. iv. 



Georgiana E. Ormerod, when little more than a girl, quite 

 at her own expense. It was continued by her without any 

 pecuniary assistance (unless may-be sometimes some small 

 co-operation from myself) to the end of her long life. 



The clothing club was set on foot under some diffi- 

 culties by the wife of one of the clergy resident in our 

 parish, for the goods procurable at Chepstow, the nearest 

 town, were by no means remarkable for their quality, and 

 Mrs. Morgan thought herself bound to do the best in her 

 power for her poor subscribers. So the matter was accom- 

 modated (not without a good deal of grumbling from 

 Chepstow shopkeepers about money being taken out of 

 their pockets) by part of the goods brought from Bristol 

 (where excellent material was to be had) for the women to 

 choose from, being sent previous to " club day " to Mr. Mor- 

 gan's large and commodious house. In those days, so far as I 

 know, the plan of sending the women with tickets to the 

 shops had not been adopted, and our method, though 

 exceedingly laborious to the lady manager of the club, was 

 good for the women, for it ensured that their choice was 

 confined to the very best materials, all of a useful kind, and 

 at the lowest possible prices. 



When a growing up girl, perhaps about sixteen, my sister 

 Georgiana thought it would be a pleasure to the children of 

 our own cottagers to have some entertaining books, and she 

 began by lending them from the small store which had 

 gradually come down from the elders of our generation. 

 She chose carefully what she thought would be of interest, 

 and very soon the elder children took to reading, or some- 

 times the fathers would read aloud to their families. My 

 sister always either read the books herself or knew the 

 nature of the contents before lending them, and when done 

 with they were brought back and exchanged. The borrow- 

 ing rapidly spread beyond our own cottagers till it included 

 our farmers and their friends at Gloucester and Bristol. 

 The books were almost invariably treated with all reason- 

 able care, and scarcely ever was one a-missing. Besides the 

 entertainment, they acted as an antidote to the attractions 

 of the public-house. It was a great delight to my sister 

 when she had a request for a book, because Jack or Dick 

 was home from his ship or on a holiday, and they wanted a 

 book that would keep him from the " public." I attribute 

 much of my sister's success to the care with which, even 

 after her book-lending had extended to far-distant localities, 

 she chose the books. On one occasion when she had made 



