Help...a more detailed guide to the site

Wynne started writing her diaries in 1895. To start with, she sometimes covered more than one year in a book, but from 1907, she filled one large volume every year until 1931, a total of 30 books.

Alongside her entries, the diaries contain a wealth of other material, ranging from photos and original illustrations to newspaper cuttings, pressed flowers, fashion plates or post cards. You will get a good idea of this from the picture sections. She wrote in a fast scrawl, and I have left much of her idiosyncratic punctuation as it is, though occasionally for the sake of clarity adding a full stop, or changing a spelling. Generally, you will read her words in the bigger print, and my own additions or explanations in the smaller typeface.

You can join Wynne in 1902, as a young bride, or read about her ten years later, the proud mother of three children, in 1912, in 1913 and so on, into the First World War. This is the Diary section and it will be gradually increased until the whole diary is online. If you find an incomplete year, that is because it is being worked on! As time permits, earlier and later years will be filled in.

If you are just getting acquainted, I suggest you read Love, where you will find out about Wynne's life before these pages open, and before her marriage.
It is divided into two, the first concerning her love for a young man whom she was forbidden to marry, and the second about her courtship and marriage to Herbert Jackson. You can enter the second section by clicking on Herbert's name in the first square of the Love browser strip. This section will not change.

You might also like to meet the Family - this section covers everyone on both sides, from the formidable matriarch, Eleanor von Poellnitz, to Wynne's children and grandchildren. This section will explain who all the names are, although I have often added short explanations within the diary entries. It will be updated as necessary.

You might also dip into Editor's Picks where I include some thoughts about the diaries and memory alongside some specific sections, like the one on Wynne as a young Victorian, or on Boer War newspaper propaganda...I'll be adding to this section, sometimes in response to your queries, and from time to time I might go back to the earlier years for events or stories, since we have started our story in mid-life, so keep an eye on it!

Travel, Christmas and Fashion you can browse through for fun. They also include snippets from the earlier years, including the description of her boat journey to India when she met her husband. They will change from time to time.

And as things get going, there will be more and more material, and you should eventually be able to access this via a search engine.

Let me know what you think about the site and about Wynne, using the Contact site. My name is Peter Symes, and I am Wynne's youngest grandchild.