This digitized diary of Abigail Speakman opens with entries from November 1871 spanning several pages. Nothing further is recorded until July 1882, introducing the bulk of the volume which describes a trip by Speakman to Scotland and England. Abigail Speakman, known informally as Abbie, was one of eight children, born on May 17, 1842, to Nathan (1791-1860) and Ann Thomas Speakman (1797-1874) at their family home at Brandywine Summit in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Speakman spent most of her adulthood in Wilmington, Delaware, and traveled widely in the United States and Europe. In the 1920 census, Speakman was living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, as a boarder with the M. B. Hickman family. That same census lists her occupation as “editorial contributor to a magazine.” Speakman died in West Chester in her 90th year on January 22, 1932. She is buried in Concord Friends Cemetery, Concordville, Pennsylvania, where her family were members of Concord Friends Meeting. Speakman did not marry.
The earliest entries in the diary reference the last days and death of Speakman’s mother along with other family news including the efforts of her brother Edward to save the inventory in his bookstore in Chicago during the fire in October that year.
Entries regarding a trip to Scotland and England begin July 1, 1882; subsequent entries are rarely dated, and the descriptions end while Speakman is in London, around July 20. She wrote about shipboard life, including comments on other passengers, dealing with seasickness, and the celebration of the Fourth of July. The group was in Glasgow on July 13, and visited the Highlands, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Melrose. There is also a quick visit to York before proceeding to London. Speakman comments on places visited; the varying quality of the tour guides; her impressions of the landscapes; a run-in with beggars on the return from Dryburgh Abbey and the noise of Covent Garden.
A number of items are laid into the volume, including several cyanotypes, one of which was taken aboard ship. Printed material laid into the volume includes a list of passengers on the ship S.S. Circassia; a list the tour group of which Speakman was a member; advertisements for several hotels; track charts of Anchor Line steamships, and some engravings of places visited. Dried plants are attached to some pages. Also laid into the volume are writings which are possibly drafts of travel articles, including one that describes Speakman’s visit to Dryburgh Abbey. The volume closes with an undated article describing a trip by steamship on the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, Ontario, to Quebec.
