Horse Guards, elevation to Whitehall, c.1720. (WORK 30/172)
Window tax receipt, dated 25 March 1755.
The window tax, based on the number of windows in a house, was first introduced in 1696 by William III to cover revenue lost by the clipping of coinage. It was a banded tax according to the number of windows in the house. For example, for a house in 1747 with ten to 14 windows, the tax was 6d per window; it increased to 9d with more windows. Not long after its introduction, people bricked up their windows to avoid paying the tax.
It was repealed in 1851 after pressure from doctors and others who argued that lack of light was a source of ill health. (QAB 1/13/27)
Transcript
No 1 Gordon Court
The 25th – Day of March 1755
Received then of Mr John Hetherington the sum of five shillings being the year’s assessment due this day 1755 charged upon his Dwelling-House by Virtue of several Acts of Parliament for laying a Duty on Houses, windows or lights. £0 5s 0d.
By John Fleming Collector
A petition sent to two MPs from local wool manufacturers asking for a bill to protect the price of wool, 5 December 1719 (SP 35/19/20).
Transcript
To the Right Honourable James Craggs Esquire, One of is Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State and Sir Edward Prideaux Baronet: Members of Parliament for the Borough of Tregony—
[Tregony was a rotten borough in Cornwall on the Roseland Peninsular]
Gentlemen Tregony December Yr 5th 1719
The general wear of Callicoes [cotton cloth] and other East India [Company] goods has caused a decay of Trade in these parts as deplorable as tis inexpressible. The vast summs of money carried off by the clandestine importation of ‘em added to the contemptuous neglect of Woollens has brought the woollen Manufactory almost to the lowest ebb. The best makers unable to vend [sell] their commodities can carry on but very little business, the poor labourer though reduced to half wages is not withstanding destitute of a constant seat of Work. Judge then the necessitous and miserable condition of a people brought of half pay and half employment who yet must earn their bread before they can have it. Nor has the Villainous Exportation of Wooll a little contributed to this great Calamity which though we can’t legally detect appears very certain by its evil consequences, the low price of charges etc bearing no manner of proportion to that of Wool in the fleece.
We therefore the Mayor, Capital Burgesses and sundry Inhabitants, Traders in Woollen and concern’d in the Woollen manufactory, in behalf of ourselves and many more hundreds more within and near this Borough have thought it reasonable at this juncture to lay before your Honours the grievances of our country earnestly soliciting your best endeavours to promote such a Bill this session of Parliament as to your Honours and all other Patriots of the Nation shall seem most effectual towards taking off a burden so intolerable to a sinking trade and redressing an Evil so much felt and so justly complained of…
Age of modernity?
by Professor Amanda Vickery
No educated continental European would have bothered to read or even speak English in 1700. By 1800 fluent English was a necessity. Why did this happen?
In the 17th century, the British Isles were seen as backward, politically unstable and irrelevant to the rest of Europe. By 1850, Britain was the ‘Workshop of the World’, the centre of the global economy, the richest, most powerful and advanced nation of earth. The 18th century represents one of the most transformative ages in British history.
What caused this transformation? One fundamental factor is immediately clear if we look at British politics and foreign policy. With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, which involved the overthrow of the Catholic king, James II, and the coming to the throne of the Protestant Dutchman, William III, British foreign policy and military potential were driven by a consistent policy hostile to French expansion, both in Europe and beyond. By the time of the victory at Waterloo in 1815, Britain had become the most powerful state in Europe, the prime architect of the victory over Napoleon and ruler of large parts of India.
Already, in the wars between 1689 and 1714, the British, with their allies, had defeated the previously unbeatable French armies of Louis XIV. This was made possible by the employment of the resources which the political settlement of 1689 had put in place. This settlement meant the King had to accept limitations on the power of the crown, in conjunction with a bill of rights, permanent parliaments and religious toleration, in return for finance for military operations. It brought into being the remarkably effective state financial apparatus (such as the Bank of England) that was to underpin Britain’s military success and commercial boom.
Foreigners emphasised that much of Britain’s prosperity was commercial; indeed that this was a distinctively commercial society. They noticed the flourishing ports, the exciting new turnpike road network, and impressive canal system. This was a country of trade, traffic and movement. An 18th century German pastor who walked round England, said, with evident feeling, that the country was ‘a land of carriages and horses.’
Commerce and affluence were intertwined. In 1763 Casanova (an interesting social commentator, not just a famous lover) noted ‘the general cleanliness, the beauty of the country and the excellent cultivation, the nourishing quality of the food, the beauty of the roads, and of the post chaises, and the reasonableness of the prices they charged, … the speed of the post horses, although they only went at a trot, finally the construction of the towns from Dover to London, such as Canterbury and Rochester.’ Britain seemed exciting, shiny, busy and rich.
Georgian industry was thriving too. The 18th century was acclaimed as ‘an age of manufacturers’. For centuries the only product the English exported on any scale was wool; the only commodity that was remotely competitive on the international market. Domestic manufactured goods were mostly poor quality, inferior to the luxuries of France, Germany and Italy. However by 1750, the British could now manufacture a range of products to the highest European standards of technique and design: cottons in Manchester, ribbons in Coventry, boots and shoes in Northampton, wool and worsteds in Leeds, Bradford and Halifax, soap and glass in St Helens, steel in Sheffield or metal goods in Birmingham. ‘The most common trades here seem to partake of the perfection of arts’, noted the Abbé le Blanc in 1737. ‘With regard to the neatness and solidity of work of all kinds they succeed better in the least towns of England than in the most considerable cities of France.’ The term ‘manufacturing town’ was coined in the 1750s. The manufactories of Birmingham and Manchester were places considered so remarkable that they deserved to be visited by rich tourists.
The British saw themselves as a polite and commercial people. Most foreigners were struck by the affluence, vivacious commerce and great manufacturing capacity of the Georgians. It was Napoleon who first called the British a nation of shopkeepers, not Hitler. It was the Georgians who ushered in the first modern, industrial society.
Amanda Vickery is the author of ‘Behind Closed Doors At home in Georgian England’
Constance Stringer was also a spy, or ‘informer’ for Parliament, like Elizabeth Alkin. They passed on information about who was fighting for the King to Parliament.
So far in this lesson you have looked at manuscript sources which were handwritten and either produced by a government department or sent into the government. At the time they would probably only have been read by a small selection of people.
However, during the Civil War the use of print increased dramatically. More people had access to pamphlets and newsletters that were produced by the printing press.
Both of these images come from the front pages of pamphlets that were available for members of the public to purchase and read. Some pamphlets would contain news or gossip, and some were official publications of Parliament. These pamphlets have images of women on them and tell us something about the ways in which people at the time represented women and thought they should act.
The back of a letter often gave the address details of the recipient as people did not use envelopes in this period. Instead, letters were folded and sealed.
The author of the letter was written on the back when it was filed: ‘Parliament Joan’, another name for Elizabeth Alkin. As well as being a nurse, she carried out more secret duties for Parliament.
