David J. Eveleigh – författare

The Victorian farmer occupied a pivotal role in rural society, paying rents to the landowner and providing employment for the labourer. This book explores the world of the farmer during Queen Victoria's reign, which was a period of considerable change on the farm as the forces of industrialisation made themselves felt. Using contemporary observations, illustrations and museum collections, David J. Eveleigh looks at the working farmer and everyday life in the farmhouse - the furnishings and household tasks. The picture which emerges is more complex and more fascinating than the romantic images which so often shape our views of farming life.

Born into the gap between the eras of austerity and boom, David grew up in Merseyside amid an inexorable tide of progress, developing a fascination with the past. With a vivid eye for detail and boundless childhood curiosity for everything from steam trains to ‘My Old Man’s a Dustman’, his account documents the uneasy relationship between worlds old and new. Featuring unique photographs and authoritative observations on architecture, social and local history based on forty years' work in museums and heritage conservation, Escaping Suburbia offers a different view of the ‘swinging’ sixties.

This collection of photographs brings together David Eveleigh's previous two books on this well loved city. He has gathered together a collection of archive photographs which present a record of Bristol from 1850-1969. A world port and a major industrial centre, the historic city still had picturesque streets, ancient churches and colourful civic traditions. Tremendous changes have taken place over this period, including the rise of the motor car, electrical supply to people's homes and vastly improved standards of living. Bristol's experience of this time is illustrated here, along with comments on home life, leisure time and the impact of war on civilian life.