A Vision of Britain through Time | A library of historical British Travel Writing

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head>  <script>(function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start': new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src= 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f); })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-5RQZ6X79');</script>  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title> A Vision of Britain through Time | A library of historical British Travel Writing </title> <link rev="Headscape" href="https://headscape.co.uk/" title="Headscape Web design: strategy, usability, design, development, marketing." /> <meta name="description" content="A vision of Britain through time..." /> <meta name="keywords" content="Vision of Britain, University of Portsmouth" /> <meta name="version" content="v2.7.2" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="#"> <meta http-equiv="imagetoolbar" content="no" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/basic.css" media="all" />  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/default.css" media="all" />  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/print.css" media="print" />  <style type="text/css" media="screen">   </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.7.1.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/default.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/validate.js"></script>  <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/travellers" /> <style type="text/css"> h3 {margin-top: 0px;} .travelBlock {margin: 10px 0px 0px 5px;} </style> </head> <body class="tLanding uniquePageIdentifier">  <noscript><iframe src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5RQZ6X79" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript>  <div id="header" class="row"> <div id="headerOverlay"> <div class="rowInner"> <img id="printLogo" src="/images/logoPrint.gif" alt="Vision of Britain logo" /> <a id="vobLogo" href="/">A vision of Britain through time</a> <p id="strapLine">A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.<br /> Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.</p> <a id="helpLink" href="/about">Help using this website</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="navigation" class="row"> <ul class="rowInner"> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/place/">Places</a></li> <li><a href="/atlas/">Statistical atlas</a></li> <li><a href="/maps/">Historical maps</a></li> <li><a href="/census/">Census reports</a></li> <li class="current"><a href="/travellers/">Travel writing</a></li> <li><a href="/learning/">Learning zone</a></li> <li><a href="/data/">Data access</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="breadcrumbs" class="row"> <ul class="rowInner"> <li><a href="../">Home</a></li> <li><a href="#">Travel Writing</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="page" class="row"> <div class="rowInner"> <div class="cols18"> <div class="content"> <h1>Travel Writing</h1> <p class="pEm">This is the web's largest collection of historical British travel writing.</p> <ul> <li>For what they said about your town or village, search by place-name from our main <a href="../">home page</a></li> <li>Select an author from our gallery below to learn more, and to read their book "cover-to-cover"</li> <li>Click on place-names within the text to find out more about the places they visited</li> </ul> <div class="tabGroup"> <ul class="tabs"> <li name="tab01"><a href="#tab01">Travellers</a></li> <li name="tab02"><a href="#tab02">Artisans and agitators</a></li> <li name="tab03"><a href="#tab03">Search</a></li> </ul> <div class="tab" id="tab01"> <div class="travelBlock"> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Borrow.jpg" alt="George Borrow" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Borrow">George Borrow</a></h3> <em>Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery (1854)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Boswell.jpg" alt="James Boswell" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Boswell">James Boswell</a></h3> <em>The Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1773)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Byng.jpg" alt="John Byng" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Byng">John Byng</a></h3> <em>The Torrington Diaries (1781-94)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Camden.jpg" alt="William Camden" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Camden">William Camden</a></h3> <em>Britannia (1610) - the first county-by-county survey of Britain</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Cobbett.jpg" alt="William Cobbett" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Cobbett">William Cobbett</a></h3> <em>Rural Rides (1821-6)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Defoe.jpg" alt="Daniel Defoe" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Defoe">Daniel Defoe</a></h3> <em>A Tour in Circuits, through the Island of Great Britain (1720s)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Fiennes.jpg" alt="Celia Fiennes" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Fiennes">Celia Fiennes</a></h3> <em>Through England on a Side Saddle (1690s)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/medieval_monk.jpg" alt="medieval monk" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Cambrensis_Tour">Gerald of Wales</a></h3> <em>The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales (1188)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/medieval_monk.jpg" alt="medieval monk" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Cambrensis_Desc">Gerald of Wales</a></h3> <em>The Description of Wales (1190s)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Gilpin.jpg" alt="William Gilpin" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Gilpin_Wye">William Gilpin</a></h3> <em>Observations on the River Wye (1782)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/anon_traveller.jpg" alt="George Head" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Head">George Head</a></h3> <em>A Home Tour through the Manufacturing Districts (1835)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/anon_traveller.jpg" alt="George Head" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Head_2">George Head</a></h3> <em>A Home Tour through various parts of the United Kingdom (1837)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/anon_traveller.jpg" alt="Paul Hentzner" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Hentzner">Paul Hentzner</a></h3> <em>Travels in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1590s)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Johnson.jpg" alt="Samuel Johnson" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Johnson">Samuel Johnson</a></h3> <em>A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland (1773)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Moritz.jpg" alt="Karl Moritz" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Moritz">Karl Moritz</a></h3> <em>Travels in England in 1782</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Pennant.jpg" alt="Thomas Pennant" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Pennant_Scot">Thomas Pennant</a></h3> <em>A Tour in Scotland (1769)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Pennant.jpg" alt="Thomas Pennant" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Pennant_C2L">Thomas Pennant</a></h3> <em>From Chester to London (1780)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Charles_Wesley.jpg" alt="Charles Wesley" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/C_Wesley">Charles Wesley</a></h3> <em>Diary (1736-56): Building Methodism</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/John_Wesley.jpg" alt="John Wesley" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/J_Wesley">John Wesley</a></h3> <em>Diary (1729-91): The leader of Methodism</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Young.jpg" alt="Arthur Young" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Young">Arthur Young</a></h3> <em>Tours in England and Wales (1776-91)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Young.jpg" alt="Arthur Young" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Young_Ireland">Arthur Young</a></h3> <em>A Tour in Ireland (1776-8)</em> </div> </div> </div> <div class="tab" id="tab02"> <p class="pEm">This is a <em>special collection</em> of mostly lesser-known writers from the nineteenth century, all politically active, mostly from the skilled working class. They travelled not for pleasure or to write books, but to find work and spread ideas. These texts are generally shorter, drawn either from autobiographies or the radical press, but give a clearer idea of how ordinary people travelled. The pictures of the writers mostly show them in old age, but the journeys were mostly made in their 20s and 30s.</p> <div class="travelBlock"> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Adams.jpg" alt="William Adams" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Adams">William Adams</a></h3> <em>A radical printer in the 1850s</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Broadhurst.jpg" alt="Henry Broadhurst" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Broadhurst">Henry Broadhurst</a></h3> <em>The first working man to become a British government minister</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Gammage.jpg" alt="Robert Gammage" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Gammage">Robert Gammage</a></h3> <em>A tramping artisan in the 1840s becomes a Chartist agitator</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/OConnor.jpg" alt="Feargus O'Connor" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/OConnor">Feargus O'Connor</a></h3> <em>The Chartists' main leader tours Scotland in 1839</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/anon_traveller.jpg" alt="Edwin Russell" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Russell">Edwin Russell</a></h3> <em>Organising farm hands in 1872 (Labourers' Union Chronicle)</em> </div> <div class="cols6"> <div class="imgBorder imgLeft"><img src="../images/jumplinks/Vincent.jpg" alt="Henry Vincent" width="81" height="81" border="0" /></div> <h3><a href="/travellers/Vincent">Henry Vincent</a></h3> <em>"Life and Rambles", spring 1839 (from the Western Vindicator)</em> </div> </div> </div> <div class="tab" id="tab03"> <form name="text_search" action="../text/matches" method="post"> <h3>Search the full text of the travel writing</h3> <input name="search_type" type="hidden" value="TT"> <p> <input name="st" type="text" id="st" class="field"/> <input id="submitbutton" type="button" class="button" value="Search" onclick="submit()"/> </p> </form> <div class="textColumns2"> <p>If you are looking for mentions of particular places in Britain, you will be better off searching using the main home page, as our travellers often use very old-fashioned versions of place-names. Use this form to find mentions of places outside Britain, locations that do not fit our definition of "place", such as landed estates, or any other term you are interested in.</p> <p>Searching for "places" via the main home page will take you straight to the first mention within the text, but this more general facility simply takes you to relevant selections and you must then use your browser's search facility to find the actual reference.</p> <p>One particular "place" had to be treated differently: <strong>London</strong>. We have excluded it from our marking-up of place names, because it was constantly mentioned by travellers wherever they were; for example, Boswell mentions London in every single chapter of his tour of Highland Scotland. Conversely, detailed descriptions of the metropolis seldom mention "London", only districts within the city. Follow these links to reach detailed accounts of London by <a href="/travellers/Defoe/18">Defoe</a>, <a href="/travellers/Fiennes/31">Fiennes</a> and <a href="/travellers/Moritz/3">Moritz</a>. </p> <p>We also excluded from our marking-up references to counties or larger areas, and most geographical names when used to identify particular people: the Earl of Salisbury, the Bishop of Winchester, William of Malmesbury.</p> <p>As far as possible, selections are the chapters in the original book and each begins with a clickable map of the places mentioned.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> <br class="clear" /> </div> </div> <div id="footerAds" class="row"> <div class="rowInner"> <script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1952517583355649" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>  <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:728px;height:90px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-1952517583355649" data-ad-slot="0896119656"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script> </div> </div> <div id="footer" class="row"> <div class="rowInner"> <a href="https://www.jisc.ac.uk" id="footerLinkJ">JISC</a> <a href="https://www.port.ac.uk" id="footerLinkP">Portsmouth</a> <a href="#header" class="backToTop">Back to top</a> <ul> <li><a href="/about/credits">©2009-2024 University of Portsmouth and others</a></li> <li><a href="/about">About this site</a></li> <li><a href="/expertsearch">Expert search</a></li> <li><a href="https://headscape.co.uk">Web design by Headscape </a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </body> </html>

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A Vision of Britain through Time | A library of historical British Travel Writing