English Weather: The Seventeenth-Century Diary of Ralph Josselin

Abstract

The seventeenth-century diary of Ralph Josselin recorded local weather conditions in Earls Colne, Essex, during a period when some of the most severe weather of the Little Ice Age occurred. A comparison of information extracted from the journal with the instrumental findings of Josselin's contemporaries, the natural proxy of tree rings, and the highly regarded Central England Temperature series corroborates current knowledge about weather conditions during an era for which sources are problematical.

Weather, Vol. 79, no. 3, March 2024, pp. 70‐104

“…Evelyn's diary (Evelyn andBray, 1870, volume 2, 1664) has been used to confirm some text entries in Gadbury. Josselin, a gentleman farmer (Macadam, 2012), maintained a general diary (1640-1683, end of May) within which weather got frequent mentions, but relatively few within the Gadbury period. Additional daily diaries and papers have been consulted, most usually with respect to severe weather conditions, namely: Locke in Henderson (2007), Wittewronge in Rothamstead (1999), Plot in Oxford (1684), Boyle in London (1684-1685 in Cornes (2020), Goad (1686), Downes (ms 1640Downes (ms -1695, Derham in Essex (1697), Hunt in Kington (1997), and Halley at Gresham College (1687).…”

John Gadbury's 32‐year record of daily London weather (1668–1700)

“…Evelyn's diary (Evelyn and Bray, 1870, volume 2, 1664) has been used to confirm some text entries in Gadbury. Josselin, a gentleman farmer (Macadam, 2012), maintained a general diary (1640–1683, end of May) within which weather got frequent mentions, but relatively few within the Gadbury period. Additional daily diaries and papers have been consulted, most usually with respect to severe weather conditions, namely: Locke in Henderson (2007), Wittewronge in Rothamstead (1999), Plot in Oxford (1684), Boyle in London (1684–1685) in Cornes (2020), Goad (1686), Downes ( ms 1640–1695), Derham in Essex (1697), Hunt in Kington (1997), and Halley at Gresham College (1687).…”

Private diaries as information sources in climate research

“…Here the diary was used to verify a concurrent tree‐ring chronology, generating reasonably strong correlation (R = 0.59). Joyce Macadam used the 17th‐century diary of Ralph Josselin to reconstruct ‘summer wetness’ in Essex . Precipitation was quantified using the formula derived by Hubert Lamb, whereby average summer rainfall for a decade is reconstructed using the relationship R JA = 6.52 W + 29.1.…”

“…Joyce Macadam used the 17th-century diary of Ralph Josselin to reconstruct 'summer wetness' in Essex. 42 Precipitation was quantified using the formula derived by Hubert Lamb, 23 whereby average summer rainfall for a decade is reconstructed using the relationship R JA = 6.52W + 29.1. Here R JA is the average summer rainfall for the relevant decade (relative to the 1916-1950 average) and W is a summer wetness index derived from content analysis where drought months count as 0, unremarkable months as 0.5, and wet months as 1.…”