Stanley Spencer´s picture of a Cotswold Farm (O.K  it wasn't done until 1945, but at least it is in the Cotswolds, and has a waggon in it! Besides, I like it and it's my blog.)

In 1795 Richard arranged for Mr Ward, carrier, to deliver to him

March 9 – a basket from London, 6 oranges, 2lb tea, Bird food.

Watch etc    1s. 0

June 20  - a small parcel of grocery etc..  1s. 0

Aug 8      - an empty trunk up to London                          

Aug 31    - a small box with Grocery

Later in the year the entries are less mundane: 

Oct 17  - a Grate, Shovel poker and Tongs                              √

               - a Smoak Jack & fly    √

Dec 11   - a barrel of Oysters      √

        25  - a barrel of Oysters      √

               - a bag of Grocery         √

              - 2 cheeses sent to London 24th – weight about 33 lb.                            √

Note that the waggoner delivered on Christmas Day itself. The cheese consumption was prodigious – sometimes Richard bought several hundredweight at a time and then parcelled it up into smaller units to pass to family and friends. Think of it though - buying thirty three pounds of cheese, as a gift, at one go! Last time I bought cheese I baulked at the price of four ounces of Cheddar!

Picture courtesy of lincolnshirepoachercheese.com

The perquisites for the fire (new grate, shovel etc) reflect the fact that he had recently moved into the larger of the two cottages opposite the New Inn at Bourton and the fireplace needed re-furnishing. The smoke jack was a complicated device inserted into the throat of the chimney, with vanes which could turn in the rising heat from the fire, in order to rotate the spit.

 The original smoke jack as designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Fitting it was complicated particularly if the throat of the chimney was narrow, or, as in this case, where the jack was to be fitted in an old and soot-lined chimney. The advantage was that a properly fitted jack would obviate the need for a servant to stand by the fire for hours, laboriously turning the spit by means of a handle.

In March 1794 Richard sent an empty cask up to London (at no charge) and records that two weeks later he received

 a Cask of Currant Wine - ten Gallons   at a delivery charge of four shillings. The cask was returned, empty, five months later.

During that same year he also took delivery of

Nov 4  - A Carpet

                A piece Russia Sheeting

                A small parcel Grocery etc  delivery charge £1. 0. 4

And then on the 20^th November – another cask of Currant Wine weighing a hundredweight. That just left time for the usual order of groceries and oysters in time for Christmas….

Things didn’t always go according to plan and in 1798 we get

April 14   A Glass in a Case}

            A Wire fender    }      4s. 0

A Georgian wire fender.Picture courtesy of www.brightwells.com

April 30  A Stove, Grate, Shovel, poker & Tongs

May 7   a Cask Currant Wine

June 16   A bag of Grocery

                  Weight 56 + 19 = 75

 3cwt 0 quarter 21 lbs at 4s.      0. 13 0

                                                               0. 18. 0

Abated for fender broke             0.  1 . 0

July 12 1798 Paid Mr W.            0. 17. 0

In other words anything delivered broken was at the cost of the haulier

Richard faithfully recorded all the things he missed in the Cotswold village of Bourton-on-the-Water and which he had to buy from London and have sent down by carrier. The records cover the period 1792 to 1801, the year of his death. It is interesting to see the things ‘he couldn’t do without’ – it seems that you could take the man out of London, but not London out of the man!

The records start with:

 1792 Recd. by Mr. Ward’s Waggon

July 14 a Quarter Cask of Port directed for Mrs Snooke. (She was his sister in law, who lived nearby in the Manor House). 

July 23     A paper parcel weighing 15lb.          √

July 28th Returned an empty Cask which I had from Prig. & Thorn with Red Port (He always returned the empty casks – the contents seemed to last a matter of weeks!)

A few months later he took delivery of

A Piano Fort in a Case (delivery £1/2/4d)          √

and

2 barrels Oysters             (delivery two shillings)          √

The piano forte had been bought a while earlier at a cost of £25 and it appears that Richard (and/or members of his family) were musical – he later had a flute sent down from Town.

The oysters were of two sorts – the best (to be given to people he liked or wished to impress) came from Pyfleet and cost four shillings and three pence a barrel, excluding delivery. The oysters from Colchester were for the 'lesser' friends – they only cost Three shillings and four pence a barrel and were usually given to the poor gout-ridden Baptist Minster, the Reverend Benjamin Beddome. They wouldn’t have done his gout much good... 

1793 by Mr Ward’s Waggon  

March 9               Sent up 8 Chair bottoms             √

March 23          8 Chair bottoms Returned in a Crate together with a Small Hamper of  Grocery & Biscuits etc          √   

In other words when Richard wanted the rush seating on his chairs repaired he sent them off to London and got them back a fortnight later (plus a hamper of goodies...).

April 12 sent as empty cask for Messrs Shone with S.H.O.N.E. upon it       

June 19 a box with bonnet   One shilling          √

Aug 16 – Sent up a trunk – Empty          √

Sep 1  -Recd the Trunk with Books etc  etc          3s. 0              √  

Oct.      a box with stays               1s. 0          √

And what might the bonnet have looked like? Well, here is a print from the same year entitled "Summer"

 Nov 17  Recd a small brown paper parcel with a watch etc  1s. 0          √ 

Dec 13   Returned an Empty Porter Cask          √ 

Dec 20   Recd 4 barrels Oysters          √  

a bag of grocery         4s.          √ 

 a Hamper with a Dozen bottles of wine from Shone’s weight 1.0.7   

at  5s per cwt.       5s. 0         √ 

It looks as if Mr Ward arrived just in time to bring the Christmas cheer! 

1794 by Mr Ward’s Waggon

June 8       Sent a small box of Cloaths to London    √ 

  ‘Lisbon’ was a reference to wine – Richard may have preferred French wine but for large parts of his lifetime the country was at war with France and Portuguese or ‘mountain wine’ was all that was available.

June 22      Recd. from London  A Hair Trunk      √

Ditto a Hamper 13 bottles of Lisbon – one broke   √

 

 

The hair trunk, now largely bereft of hair... but still used today to hold Richard's papers. 

More lists for subsequent years later…