Having my Cake and Edith
Facts are fine but reading between the lines is more fun, says Rodger Witt
Published in April ’20
An idealised view of the moment of signing the register by Pre-Raphaellite Edmund Blair Leighton
ON JUNE 11, 1598, in the parish of Powerstock and West Milton, Edith Dowch married Bartholomew Cake. I know that because it says so in the Dorset Parish Registers. Volume 1 sits on a table by the side of my bed. It cost 50p from Bournemouth Central Library who sold it off when their records were digitised. Now, of course, everything’s online. To that extent, I suppose, my leather-bound book is redundant and unnecessary. But while modern, clickable content is convenient, the printed version feels …
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