The Woman Who Disappeared

A Note About This Story

M ost of Thomas Hardy’s stories are about the people who worked on the farms and in the small villages in the country area5 which he called Wessex. In the 1800s, many country people were poor and their lives were hard. They did things in the same way that their parents and grandparents had done them. They also did special things on special days of the year - these were their customs. One of their customs was to celebrate6 spring - the time when trees and plants begin to grow again, and young animals are born.
In the nineteenth century, country people worked very hard every month of the year. They did not earn much money and farm work was dirty and difficult. Every member of a family had to work - even small children. Until 1886, country children did not go to school. They helped their mothers and fathers in the fields. After 1886, all children were able to go to school for a few years.
After their work was finished, farm workers often went to inns7 and drank large amounts of alcohol. When they were drunk, they could forget about their troubles.

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A t this time, most country people walked, or travelled in vehicles pulled by horses. Railway lines were not yet built to all parts of the country.
Farm workers did many different jobs. In the spring, they planted the cereal crops8 or vegetable crops in the fields. They repaired the farm buildings. They made and repaired the hedges9 and walls which surrounded the fields.
A t the end of the summer, the crops were harvested10. After a harvest, farmers took their crops to a com exchange11 and sold them.
Farm workers also took care of the animals - chickens, sheep, cows and horses. Dairy farmers kept cows and sold their milk. The men and women who took care of the herds of cows were called dairymen and dairymaids. Shepherds took care of the herds of sheep.
Most country people lived in cottages. These simple, small houses, and the large farms where people worked, belonged to rich landowners. On one day each week, there was a market in the larger villages or towns. At markets, people could buy or sell vegetables, animals and grain. They might also buy furniture, clothes or other things that they needed.
Each year, farmers hired12 men, woman and children to work on their farms. They also hired servants to work in their homes. If they could not work, families had to leave their little cottages and find somewhere else to live. When people wanted to find work, they went to hiring fairs. These meetings were held in towns’ markets in the month of February. The farm workers waited to be chosen by a farmer or landowner who wanted men or women to work on their land.
By the 1880s, machines were coming onto the farms to help the farm workers. But these machines were noisy and dangerous. Farm workers had to work faster and for more hours so that they could keep the machines running well.
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