In the waning days of 1948, George Orwell was secluded on the Scottish island of Jura in a remote farmhouse named Barnhill—a stark, white-washed building set against the backdrop of Jura’s untamed wilderness. It was there, amidst the stark beauty of nature and in declining health, that he wrote his final novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. This diary entry, depicting a simple yet poignant day in December, stands as his last from Jura. Shortly afterwards, burdened by the advancing grip of tuberculosis, Orwell left the island and headed for a sanatorium, seeking treatment for the disease that would claim his life in January 1950.

The Diary Entry

24.12.48. Sharp frost the last two nights. The days sunny & still, sea calm. A[Avril] has very bad cold. The goose for Xmas disappeared, then was found swimming in the sea round at the anchorage, about a mile from our own beach. B[Bill] thinks it must have swum round. He had to follow it in a dinghy & shoot it. Weight before drawing & plucking, 10 1/2 lbs. Snowdrops up all over the place. A few tulips showing. Some wall-flowers still trying to flower.

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Further Reading

In 2009, eleven of Orwell’s diaries were published by Harvill Secker in the excellent book, The Orwell Diaries, edited by Peter Davison. A Penguin Classics edition arrived a year later.

Also…

• Orwell’s diaries are held at the George Orwell Archive at UCL – this particular entry can be seen, in Orwell’s handwriting, at this link on page 59
• Cold, wet Jura never in Orwell’s Room 101 (The Times)
• Over the years The Orwell Foundation has posted entries from Orwell’s numerous diaries