On This Day: 4 January 1703

Occasionally I come across a manuscript within Thomas Bowrey’s papers that is completely confusing for one reason or another. Today’s is one such. It was written on this day in 1703 by Anne Oleyton to her Loving Brother. The reverse shows a long list of monetary amounts, the annotation Mr Simson the Anchor smith, and the top part of an address, the rest being torn off. What remains of the address says This For William Hall Living … It is far from clear if any of the three items on the reverse relate to each other or the letter on the front. However, it is most likely that Anne Oleyton was writing to her brother, William Hall. There is certainly nothing to explain the letter’s survival in Bowrey’s papers.

Whilst adding noting to our knowledge of Thomas Bowrey, the letter appeals to the nosiness within all of us. Three weeks prior to writing this letter, Anne Oleyton’s house was burgled. She lost all her pewter, most of her brass and other things, unspecified.  All her son’s and her brother’s clothes and linen were taken. She was alone because her husband was in the country so sent for her nephew, the son of her brother Joseph.

The letter then becomes very confusing before she mentions that her house was broken into again on the previous Sunday night. She seems to believe that her deceitful nephew, brother Joseph and his wife were responsible for the thefts, although the wife was the worst of them, and believed that her goods were at their house in Hammersmith. She warned William to be careful of them.

She finished by saying that they are well and that she does not wish William to be concerned. It seems that family strife over the Christmas period is nothing new.

On This Day: 1 September 1712

On this day in 1712, Thomas Bowrey paid Benjamin Hall £1/8/6 for buttons. The receipt does not say how many buttons but the cost was equivalent of about £195 today. That would buy a lot of buttons.

There are also a number of bills including the price of buttons from William Killingworth, Bowrey’s tailor, in his papers. Killingworth purchased 72 silver top knot buttons for 8 shillings and 72 white buttons for 1/6 in 1691. At the time, buttons were often made from thread woven over metal rings and at least the silver buttons with the top knot were presumably made in this way. The thread used may have included real silver. At other times, Killingworth also included gold buttons which may have included real gold.

But why the need for so many expensive buttons? At the time, fashionable men wore suits of a knee length jacket over a waistcoat almost as long and breeches that came to just below the knee. Both the coat and waistcoat had buttons down the whole length of the front. The cuff and pocket flap of the jacket were also often trimmed with buttons. The jacket alone could easily have required 40 buttons or more and, I guess, the tailor or customer would wish to retain a number of matching buttons as replacements.