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James Fitzjames Fraser West, is going to start blogging on livejounral in January, only thing is he’s been dead since 1883. James was a surgeon at Queen’s Hospital (later the Accident Hospital, and now a hall of residence for students at the University), who lived in Edgbaston.

His diary gives fascinating insights into daily life in Victorian Birmingham, as well as including plenty of information on Victorian medicine and foreign travel along the way - all written up with keen insight and a wry sense of humour. He even undertook a month’s excursion through France and Italy in March-April 1883, courtesy of Thomas Cook and Son.

The serialisation is being undertaken to celebrate the publication of a biography of West: A Victorian Surgeon. A Biography of James Fitzjames Fraser West 1833-83, Birmingham Surgeon (which is descriptive if not exactly a snappy title)

It is intended to be a kind of Victorian version of pepysdiary, in that one entry will be blogged every day, complete with annotations providing pictures of the people and places mentioned in the diary, and further information about them.

Tags for this article: a kind of internet diary , blog , books , diary , James Fitzjames Fraser West , livejournal , medicine , Victorian