Untold lives blog

We met Chaund Bebee, commonly known as Bebee Shore, in an earlier story about her will.  She had four children with John Shore, an East India Company official who rose to be Governor General of Bengal: John, Francis, Martha, and George.

John Shore, 1st Baron Teignmouth, by Henry Edward Dawe circa 1823 © National Portrait Gallery, London NPG D40449

Sir John Shore left Calcutta for the final time in March 1798, sailing for England with his wife Charlotte and their children.  Shore died on 14 February 1834.  The only one of his ‘natural’ children to receive a bequest in his will was John, who received £50 for acting as one of the executors, although he wasn’t described as being Shore’s son.

John Shore junior was baptised  at Calcutta in October 1777.  In 1793 he was nominated by the East India Company Court of Directors as a writer for Fort Marlborough in Sumatra.  John was in India at the time and it is unclear whether he ever went to Sumatra, although he remained listed on the Company’s West Coast establishment until 1811.  In January 1797 he was appointed agent to superintend the unloading and loading of Company ships at Calcutta, and the following month he became Secretary to the Marine Board.  He also served as Marine Paymaster and Secretary to the Committee of Embarkation.

Elizabeth Shore, John’s ‘natural’ daughter, was born on 4 October 1803.  John quit his post in Calcutta in February 1808 and travelled to England with Elizabeth in the ship Castle Eden.

In 1812 John married Letitia Thwaits at St George Hanover Square.  They had four children - Letitia, Ellen, John, and Jessy Emily.  The family lived at 23 Guilford Street London, near the Foundling Hospital where John was a Governor.  He was also a director of Guardian Fire and Life Assurance Office, and he and his brothers Francis and George were all East India Company stockholders and active in the Marine Society.

Engraving by James Wyld of the parishes of St Giles in the Fields & St George, Bloomsbury (1824). Maps Crace Port. 15.4 BL Online Gallery. Guilford Street is in the top right corner of the plan.

In 1822 John Shore, described as ‘a Gentleman of fortune’ was found guilty of assaulting schoolmaster John Underhill during an altercation at Ramsgate Assembly Rooms where the election of a master of ceremonies was taking place.  Shore was fined one shilling and required to pay 40 shillings costs.

John Shore died on 7 April 1842.  Newspaper reports and his burial record give his age as 70 which, if correct, would make him born about 1772.  In his will John asked to buried in the vaults of St Pancras Church near to his daughters Jessy Emily and Ellen who had died in February 1829, aged eight and fourteen.  He left to his wife Letitia a house and lands in Cheltenham and the house in Guilford Street, as well as monetary assets.  Other beneficiaries included his daughter Letitia, wife of Reverend Frederick Hildyard in Norfolk; his son John; his daughter Elizabeth; his sister Martha’s widower Peter Mann Osborne; and his brother George.  As well as money, George received a gold snuff box and John’s copy of the Asiatic Journal.  John’s half-brother Charles John, 2nd Lord Teignmouth, and his cousin Reverend Thomas Shore of Paignton are mentioned in connection with trusts discussed in the will.

Sale details for 23 Guilford Street – ‘a well-built residence, very conveniently arranged, and in excellent repair’ - Morning Herald (London) 6 March 1852 British Newspaper Archive.  Sculptor Jacob Epstein was a later occupant.

John’s widow Letitia died at 23 Guilford Street on 27 December 1843 and was buried at St Pancras Church.  Their son John was still living in the family house in 1851 but the property was sold in 1852.

The next post in this series will look at the lives of Francis and Martha Shore.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
IOR/G/35/36 Letter from Court of Directors to Fort Marlborough 5 June 1793 recording John Shore’s appointment as writer, and letter from James Cobb to Fort Marlborough 26 June 1793 forwarding covenants for John Shore.
IOR/D/34 p.409 Appointment of John Shore as writer for Fort Marlborough 9 April 1794.
IOR/L/MAR/B/296D Journal of the ship Castle Eden with passenger list from Bengal 1808 - John was accompanied by a servant Andrew Dias, probably the same man as the Andrew Deos who sailed to Portsmouth with Sir John Shore and his family in the Britannia in 1798.  William Hickey was a fellow passenger in the Castle Eden.
Records relating to John Shore junior’s service in Bengal – IOR/F/4/20/796; IOR/F/4/211/4721; IOR/F/4/309/7076; IOR/F/4/368/9208.
IOR/N/1/17 f.14 Baptism of Elizabeth Shore at Calcutta 16 November 1804.
British Newspaper Archive e.g. Assault on John Underhill  -Morning Advertiser 14 August 1822; Report of meeting of East India Company stockholders at the City of London Tavern Bishopsgate - London Courier and Evening Gazette 28 June 1833; Marine Society reports naming the Shore brothers – Morning Herald 9 February 1828 and New Times (London) 11 March 1830 and 11 February; sale of 23 Guilford Street - Morning Herald (London) 6 March 1852.
Will of John Shore proved 11 May 1842 in Prerogative Court of Canterbury (at The National Archives); also will and estate papers from court in Calcutta IOR/L/AG/34/29/73 pp. 343-365.

Dr David Price (1787-1870) was the son of a Welsh clergyman.  After qualifying, he initially practised in the East End of London and then in 1826 moved for health reasons to Margate, a seaside town in Kent.

'Margate Pier' by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy published London 1807 - British Library shelfmark: Maps K.Top.17.4.i. BL flickr

Price became a well-known and highly respected practitioner who gave his services to the local board of health, the town council, and the National Hospital for Scrofula (or Royal Sea-Bathing Infirmary).  He was described as ‘painstaking, earnest, and able, inspiring confidence by his manly bearing and pleasing manners, and extracting from all who knew him much reverence for his thorough honesty and uprightness’.

Presentation of a silver inkstand to Dr David Price in recognition of his services as chairman of the Margate Local Board of Health - South Eastern Gazette 9 February 1858 British Newspaper Archive

Price lived with his family at Hoopers Hill House, in Northdown Road Margate, and worked on anatomy and dissections in nearby Gloucester House.

JMW Turner was a regular visitor to Margate throughout his life.  As well as being a popular leisure resort, Margate was also known for its health benefits.  Turner was sent to school in Margate as a precaution against diseases such as cholera.   In later years, Turner would visit Margate regularly from London by steamship to relax and recuperate, painting many scenes of the stunning sunsets and maritime scenes he enjoyed.  He often stayed at a boarding house on the seafront near the harbour with widow Sophia Booth. Turner and Mrs Booth eventually had a relationship that would last until the end of his life.

In the spring of 1832, there was an outbreak of cholera in Margate. Sophia took special care of Turner at this time, particularly as both her husband and son had succumbed to the disease.  Though Turner had a reputable London physician, Sophia introduced him to David Price.  Sophia trusted and knew Price well, as he had acted as executor of her husband and son’s wills, and she had asked him to look after her inheritance.

From 1845, now in his 70s, Turner’s health started to decline.  He and Sophia increasingly relied on Dr Price for nursing and medication to aid recovery.  Turner became a very good friend of Price, who called him ‘Mr Mallard’.  In 1846, Sophia and Turner moved to Chelsea in London. When Turner caught cholera, they rushed back to Margate for the dedicated support of Dr Price. Turner survived and went to recuperate at Deal, where Price continued to visit.

Shortly before Turner’s death in December 1851, Price diagnosed heart disease.  Turner then succumbed again to cholera.  Price travelled from Margate to see Turner in Chelsea on 18 December.  His friend died the next day.

Price attended Turner’s funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral, riding in one of the mourning coaches.

Report of JMW Turner’s funeral Express (London) 31 December 1851 British Newspaper Archive

Turner left an unpaid bill of more than £500 owed to Price, who took the executors to court to get it paid.

Dr Price died in 1870 at the age of 83 in the Margate house he had lived in since 1826.  His death notice in the East Kent Gazette outlined his valuable services to the town beyond his medical duties.

Death notice for Dr David Price - East Kent Gazette 11 June 1870 British Newspaper Archive

David Price is buried in the family vault at Margate Cemetery.  His sons Peter Charles, David Simpson, and William Preston followed their father into the medical profession.

Family vault of David Price in Margate Cemetery - photograph by author

Alison Shuttle
Independent researcher
Volunteer steward and guide at Turner’s House, Twickenham

Further reading:
Dr David Price from Plarr’s Lives of the Fellows Royal College of Surgeons
British Newspaper Archive
Franny Moyle, Turner; The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of JMW Turner (2016)
Stephen Channing, Turner’s Margate through contemporary eyes – the Viney Letters (2009)
For more information on cholera in Margate, there is a fascinating account found in the files of Margate Local History
JMW Turner and Sophia Booth

Turner’s restored house in Twickenham is open to visitors.

The India Office Economic Department series of annual files contains much interesting material, for example IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 of 1920: ‘Research bearing upon the well-being and conditions of lives of natives and residents of the United Kingdom in the tropical climates’.  The file includes correspondence between departments and the conclusions of the research ‘Note on Housing in the Tropics’ by Andrew Balfour and ‘Notes on Tropical Climate and Health’ by Leonard Hill, 20 March 1920.

The research notes demonstrate that there are already strategies in place that the locals use to cope with the heat and humidity such as sirdabs or tykhanas, i.e. underground chambers.  However, they are ‘not bearable to the European’ because the air remains stagnated unless there is an electric operating punkah, a ceiling cloth fan.

Mrs Gladstone Lingham reading under a punkah in a comfortably furnished room at Berhampore WD2904 (1863) British Library Images Online

Therefore, the goal of the document is to look for the best choices in house orientation, design, construction and hygiene.  The authors make clear that regional variations should be taken into consideration when implementing the suggestions, mostly regarding proximity to the Equator, proximity to the sea and humidity.

The recommendations involve having a good water and food supply, effective waste disposal and choosing light colours.  In terms of construction, it is important to bear in mind the direction of prevailing winds and how close the building needs to be to other buildings and settlements.  The building should sit in permeable and clean soil, if possible it should be elevated and have good natural drainage, good circulation of air and plenty of light, and far from large bodies of water to avoid excessive humidity.

Andrew Balfour compares the existing construction materials and presents the available advantages and disadvantages of concrete and cement in comparison with wood and the common mixture of mud and manure. He suggests ‘double walls’ with thin inner and outer layers made of cement with the space between filled with sand or asphalt to be heat and vermin proof.

He stresses the importance of shades and verandas, of high ceilings with openings to release the hot air and to leave some space between the roof and the ceiling that is ventilated and has screened openings to avoid vermin.

He also sees the benefit of sleeping in hammocks on the roof for the early risers.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 - Report, p.5.

Leonard Hill notes call attention to the importance of health to cope with the climate.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 - The dangers of mosquitoes, Hill's notes, p. 1.

He points out the importance of appropriate clothing, diet and exercise, since the weather might influence metabolism.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 - tropical diet, Hill's notes, p.1.

The subject of alcohol consumption is brought up both in the report and notes as ‘club life’ might become a problem.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 - club life, Hill's notes, p.6.

He also advocates for the health benefits of a good tan.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1274 - sun tan, Hill's notes, p.6.

Although the reports present interesting ideas, both for mitigating tropical infectious diseases and for a better adaptation of people, European or otherwise, to tropical climate, the Medical Adviser disregarded the documents saying ‘there is nothing here which promises to be of any assistance to India’.

IOR/L/E/7/996, File 1264 - Medical Adviser's report, 15 May 1920.

Bianca Miranda Cardoso
Cataloguer, India Office Records

Further reading:
The IOR/L/E/7 collection consists of 1567 volumes that bind the Annual Files of the Departments of:
• Revenue, Statistics and Commerce, 1882-1887
• Revenue and Statistics, 1887-1921
• Commerce and Revenue, 1921-1924; Economic and Overseas, 1924-1929.

Adaptation to different climate conditions has been mentioned in previous Untold Lives blog posts -
Severe weather hits Britain in January 1763 

Indian soldiers’ views of England during World War I sharing natives of India’s comments on the mostly wet and cloudy British weather.

Sir Charles Raymond was born in 1713 near Exmouth in Devon and made his fortune with the East India Company.  He was started on a career at sea by his uncle, Hugh Raymond, who engaged him as purser on the Dawsonne 1729/30.  The majority of voyages undertaken by ships for the East India Company can be traced using the magnificent archive of journals kept at the British Library, but there is no journal for Raymond’s first voyage, only a ledger.  The voyage took a year longer than might be expected, lasting from 10 February 1730-15 August 1732.  The journal of the Derby, also managed by Hugh Raymond, explains why.

Having completed business in Madras, the Dawsonne proceeded to Calcutta where the cargo was unloaded.  Then in October orders were received that the Dawsonne was to spend a year guarding the Hugli River in company with the Derby, protecting other shipping from the threat of the Ostend vessels.  There were only a couple of possible threats during that time, but the simple task of keeping safe a ship manoeuvred by sail was not easy in waters which were so silted.  On 10 October 1731 the Frances arrived to relieve the Dawsonne allowing her to return to Calcutta to prepare for the voyage home.

Portrait of Sir Charles Raymond. The location of the original portrait and the copyright status of this image are unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.

Raymond then became 3rd Mate on the Princess of Wales 1732/3.  For his third voyage Hugh Raymond arranged for Charles (then aged 21) to serve as Captain of the Wager and he continued in this role for three more voyages.  Charles Raymond was lucky in that although he lost many of his crew to sickness, he did not have any major enemy encounters and his voyages were relatively routine.  He made six voyages to India and it seems likely the Raymond family had contacts in Calcutta where they could maximise their trading opportunities.

Raymond retired in 1747 a wealthy man and took up a business career in the City of London.  His main concern was in managing voyages for the East India Company.  He was one of the leaders in this for the remaining 40 years of his life, responsible for well over 110 voyages by East Indiamen.  He also became one of the managers of the Sun Fire Office, where his colleagues were men who had power and influence in the City and the commitment was a very shrewd career move.  He became involved in other City financial concerns as well as serving several charitable organisations such as becoming a Governor of the Hospitals of Bridewell and Bethlem.  In 1771 Raymond became one of the founders of a bank and 1774 he was created a baronet.  He was said to be ‘universally respected’ as an old man and he died on 24 August 1788 leaving a fortune to his two surviving daughters.

Valentines, the seat of Charles Raymond, from A New and Complete History of Essex by a Gentleman, 1771

As well as a home and offices in the City, Raymond purchased Valentines in Essex in 1754 as a country retreat for his family.  Several of his relatives and associates came to live nearby and Ilford became quite a hub of retired East India captains who were partners in managing ships, insurance and banking.  Raymond’s home is now owned by the London Borough of Redbridge and one room has been enhanced by the Friends of Valentines Mansion to reflect Raymond’s life.

Valentines Mansion today - photograph by the author

CC-BY
Georgina Green
Independent researcher

Creative Commons Attribution licence

Further reading:
Anthony Farrington, Catalogue of East India Company Ships’ Journals and Logs 1600 – 1834.
BL, IOR/L/MAR/B/671D Ledger of Dawsonne, 1729/30; BL, IOR/L/MAR/B/653G Journal of Derby, 1729/30.
Obituaries for Charles Raymond - Gazetteer and New Daily Advertiser (London) 1 December 1787; Gentleman’s Magazine Vol.58 (1788) p.758 & p.834.
History of Valentines Mansion 

Valentines Mansion is open to the public on Sundays and Mondays, 10.30am – 4pm, free of charge. 

Whilst researching in the India Office Records I came across the will of Chaund Bebee, commonly known as Bebee Shore.  Chaund Bebee was described as a single woman and a ‘Mussulmannee’ who died on 17 July 1836 at Entally, a suburb of Calcutta.  The will, dated 9 January 1836, shows that she was the mother of the India-born ‘natural’ children of John Shore, who became Governor General of Bengal and later Baron Teignmouth.  Biographers of Shore mention his Indian mistress and her children but none appear to have discovered her identity.

Will of Chaund Bebee, commonly called Bebee Shore, British Library IOR/L/AG/29/58

Chaund Bebee stated that she had lived in Calcutta for the past 56 years.  She owned a number of houses in Entally and in Hastings Place Calcutta, as well as a piece of land in Chuckerbear in Panchanogram near Calcutta. Half of this land was to be retained as a place for her burial with a monument.

The only one of her four children by John Shore mentioned in the will is George Shore, born in 1785.  Chaund Bebee said that her son George had recently obtained an increase of fortune and was well off in the world.  He therefore did not need any pecuniary gift or legacy from her, but she left him a ring which had belonged to his father, the late Lord Teignmouth. She asked him to wear it as a testimony of her natural love and affection. Her daughter Eliza Cordelia Sheriff would point out the ring to George.

Eliza Cordelia was the daughter of Chaund Bebee and Charles Rothman, a Calcutta businessman.  According to her baptism record, Eliza was born on 20 April 1802.  On 6 November 1815 she married James Urquhart Sherriff, who worked as an assistant in the Mint and then as a house builder.  James died in 1832.

The main beneficiaries of Chaund Bebee’s will were Eliza and her eight children, Eliza, Henrietta Rothman, James Charles, Margaret Euphemia, Robert William, Hannah Sophia, David, and George Hill.  Chaund Bebee stipulated that her property be sold and the proceeds invested for the benefit of her daughter ‘exclusively of any husband she may chance to marry who is not to intermeddle therewith’.  After Eliza’s death, the eight grandchildren were to share the interest or dividends.  Chaund Bebee’s servants were also given legacies.

Probate was granted by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Calcutta to William Upton Eddis and Eliza Cordelia Sherriff on 19 July 1836.  John Chatter swore that the will had been prepared on the instruction of Chaund Bebee, and that he had explained the contents to her in Hindustani.  She had signed each of the eleven pages of the will with her mark.

George Shore’s siblings were: John baptised 1777; Francis born c. 1781; and Martha born c. 1783.  Martha and Francis had predeceased Chaund Bebee, dying in September and November 1834 respectively.  Perhaps George’s inheritance from his brother Francis was the ‘increase of fortune’ to which Chaund Bebee referred?  Both John and George were living in London at the time of their mother’s death, although there is evidence that George was based in Bengal during the 1820s.

Future Untold Lives blog posts will look at the lives of Chaund Bebee’s children in more detail.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
Will of Chaund Bebee, commonly called Bebee Shore, British Library IOR/L/AG/29/58, with an inventory of her estate IOR/L/AG/34/27/114.
Baptism of Eliza Cordelia, natural daughter of Charles Rothman, born 20 April 1802, British Library IOR/N/1/6 f.180.
Baptism of George, natural son of John Shore, born 1 July 1785, British Library IOR/N/1/4 f.52.

Digital images of these documents are available via Findmypast.

In 1826, the celebrated painter, JMW Turner, decided to sell Sandycombe Lodge, his country retreat in Twickenham, and move his father William (‘Old Dad’), who had lived there since 1813, back to the house and gallery in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone.  The man who bought Sandycombe Lodge was Joseph Todd.

Joseph Todd (‘Old Sunshine') by H.W. Pickersgill reproduced in Richard Gatty, Portrait of a Merchant Prince – James Morrison 1789-1857. British Library X.520/11769

Joseph Todd was born in 1767 near Hawkshead in the Lake District and he attended the local grammar school, where one of his fellow pupils was the poet William Wordsworth.  After he left school, Joseph worked for a short time in Penrith.  Richard Gatty, who researched Todd’s family, believed he was a clerk, but Caroline Dakers has suggested that he was perhaps an apprentice in the textiles trade.  About 1784 he left to go to London, where he thought his prospects would be better.  Little is known about the next few years but in January 1792 he married Lucy Plowes, whose family came from Wakefield.  She had some money in her own right, and it is possible that this is what enabled Joseph to take his next big step.

Porcelain plate decorated with the arms of Todd, quartered with those of Plowes. Image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum

On 30 March 1793, Joseph opened a haberdashery in a former tavern at 105 Fore Street, in Cripplegate.  He and Lucy lived in rooms above the shop.  However, Fore Street was not a good location for a retail business and Joseph was forced to cut his profit margins to the bone.  One effect of this was that his low prices attracted hawkers and other small retailers, who began to buy in wholesale quantities.  By 1801 his turnover had doubled and he took on two young women to help with the business.  In 1805 he opened a shop in a better location in Cheapside and turned over the Fore Street premises entirely to the wholesale trade.

Joseph was described as stout, rosy, smiling and easy-going and was nicknamed ‘Old Sunshine’ by the warehouse staff, apparently without irony.  He was also popular with his neighbours and known as ‘Sunshine Todd’ around Cripplegate.  His life, however, was not without tragedy; his wife, Lucy, died in childbirth in March 1798, leaving two children, John Edward born 1792, and Mary Ann born 1795.  In January 1801, Joseph took on Letitia Dann to work in the shop.  A relationship developed and they married in February 1803.  They had four children: Thomas born 1804; Eliza born 1806, who died aged fifteen months in 1807; Joseph born 1809; and Lucy born 1812.  Sadly, Letitia died on 3 September 1819 after a lingering illness of nearly two years.

Sale of Twickenham Park – Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser 12 June 1817 British Newspaper Archive

Joseph’s business flourished and he was able to buy a great deal of property.  In 1817 he purchased the extensive Twickenham Park estate, which was situated just across the road from Turner’s house.  He demolished the seventeenth-century mansion that was on the site and built a new house, using local architect LW Lloyd.

Twickenham Park Mansion - image courtesy of Twickenham Park Residents Association website

By the time he retired in 1822, Todd was a millionaire, and when Turner’s house came on the market in 1826, he snapped it up for £500.  Shortly after buying it, he made significant alterations to the house, again using LW Lloyd.  These included an additional storey on each of the two distinctive curved wings and an extension to the dining room.  The house remained in this configuration until its restoration in 2016.

Sandycombe Lodge pre 2016 (photo by the author)

London Courier and Evening Gazette 19 June 1835 British Newspaper Archive

Joseph Todd died in 1835, the cause of death given as dropsy, and he is buried in the family vault beneath St Giles without Cripplegate.  No memorial remains, following the extensive damage to the church during WWII.  Todd’s Twickenham Park mansion was demolished in 1923 and only Victoria Lodge survives from his estate.

Victoria Lodge (photo by the author)

Sandycombe Lodge was inherited by Todd’s sons, Joseph and Thomas, and his son-in-law, James Morrison, who was a great collector of Turner’s paintings and the second owner of Pope's Villa at Twickenham, which he purchased at Christie’s for 205 guineas in July 1827.  In 2016, Sandycombe Lodge was restored to Turner’s original design and is open to the public.

Sandycombe Lodge restored to Turner’s original design (photo by the author)

CC-BY
David Meaden
Independent Researcher

Creative Commons Attribution licence

Further reading:
Richard Gatty, Portrait of a Merchant Prince – James Morrison 1789-1857 British Library X.520/11769.
Caroline Dakers, A Genius for Money – Business, Art and the Morrisons British Library YC.2011.a.15683.
Twickenham Park Residents Association website. 
Registers of the parish of St Giles Cripplegate – London Metropolitan Archives, available via Ancestry.
British Newspaper Archive e.g. sale of Twickenham Park – Public Ledger and Daily Advertiser 12 June 1817; death of Letitia Todd – British Press 6 September 1819.

Turner’s restored house in Twickenham is open to visitors. 

Are you still looking for ideas for Christmas gifts?  Maybe we can help?  In 1858, Irish bookseller and stationer Thomas Smith Harvey published a catalogue of books suitable for Christmas, New Year, and birthday presents.

Title page of Catalogue of books suitable for Christmas New Year or birthday presents

The catalogue is divided into ten sections.

Poetry covers four pages, ranging in price from 1s to 31s 6d.  As well as works from famous poets such as Longfellow, Shakespeare, Byron, Scott and Milton, there are books entitled Language and Poetry of Flowers; Moore’s Irish Melodies; Elegant Arts for Ladies; and Book of German Songs.

Religious books – as well as bibles, Harvey was offering Buchanan’s Christian Researches in India; Quarles’ Judgment and Mercy; Bogatsky’s Golden Treasury; and Morals from the Churchyard.  This last one intrigued me and I discovered its full title is Morals from the Churchyard; in a series of cheerful fables.  Here is the contents page and I am surprised that it was possible to create ‘cheerful fables’ from some of the graves listed here.

Contents page of Morals from the Churchyard; in a series of cheerful fables  

The next category is books for the country – natural history etc.  It includes British Rural Sports; Cassell’s Natural History of the Feathered Tribes; Anecdotes of Animal Life; A World of Wonders Revealed by the Microscope; Mechi’s How to Farm Profitably; Rarey on Horse Training; and Walker’s Manly Exercises.

Walker’s Manly Exercises

There is a section devoted to biography, history, travels, and science.  Titles here include Kansas, or Squatter Life and Border Warfare; The Bridle Roads of Spain; Gavazzi’s Last Four Popes; Things Not Generally Known; How A Penny Became A Thousand Pounds; Overland Route to India; and Mornings at the British Museum. The book Unprotected Females in Norway perplexed me until I found the title continues: or, the pleasantest way of travelling there, passing through Denmark and Sweden, with Scandinavian sketches from nature.

Emily Lowe, Unprotected Females in Norway; or, the pleasantest way of travelling there, passing through Denmark and Sweden, with Scandinavian sketches from nature (London, 1857)

Here is one of the sketches drawn by the author Emily Lowe showing a Norwegian wedding taking place near Bergen.

Norwegian wedding near Bergen from Unprotected Females in Norway 

Perhaps surprisingly there is only one page for fiction although Harvey does state that he can provide a large assortment of cheap works.  His selection included Slick’s Nature and Human Nature; Marie Louise, or the Opposite Neighbours; and Never Too Late to Mend.

Eight pages are devoted to books for young people – three and a half for boys, four for children, and just half a page for girls.  The boys’ section is full of sport, exploration, travel, adventure, and inspirational works: Sporting in Both Hemispheres; Wild Sports in the Far West; Boyhood of Great Men; The Story of the Peasant Boy Philosopher.  For children, Harvey promises a great variety of cheap books for the very young and lists a selection of moral tales and story books such as Stories for Village Lads; Memoirs of a Doll; Norah and her Kerry Cow, as well as Learning to Converse.  The girls’ books include Fanny the Little Milliner; Extraordinary Women; and Amy Carlton, or First Days at School.

A number of almanacs and diaries are offered as well as miscellaneous articles – gutta percha skates; ‘boys’ telescopes’; pocket compasses; microscopes; mathematical instruments; and small magic lanterns with slides.

When you have finished buying and wrapping your presents, have fun searching in our catalogue Explore the British Library for books listed in Harvey’s catalogue.  Many have been digitised and can be enjoyed online.

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
Thomas Smith Harvey, Catalogue of books suitable for Christmas, New Year, or birthday presents (Waterford, 1858)

Henry Evanion, born 1832 in Vauxhall, London, was a 19th-century conjuror and entertainer.  Evanion’s career began aged just 17 and throughout his life, Evanion performed across the country in small towns, entertained royalty in private performances and had a successful run at the Crystal Palace in London.  Evanion was also an avid collector of paper ephemera from an early age and amassed thousands of items during his lifetime.  The Evanion Collection represents his widespread interests, with themes including local politics, Victorian entertainment and miscellaneous advertisements for products related to everyday household life.

Are you a star baker?
Bakers in the 19th century were spoilt for choice thanks to an increase in products available for home-baking and the enduring popularity of cookery books like Beeton’s Book of Household Management (1859-1861).

In the Victorian period, the development of new ingredients meant that bakers could make quicker and cheaper puddings.  One Victorian invention was self-raising flour, which was first introduced in 1845.  By the 1880s, it had become a baking essential for households with an 1885 advert from McDougall’s (Evan.6234.), claiming that the flour was for ‘everyday use’ and that it could help to ‘avoid indigestion’.

An advertisement for McDougall’s patent self raising flour (c.1885). Evan.6234

A second revolutionary development was egg powder, a cheaper alternative to using eggs in baking.  An advert from 1885 (Evan.4244.) for Freeman’s egg powder shows a  young woman surrounded by the bakes she’s made using the product.  The advert claims that Freeman’s is the ‘largest sale in the world’ and can be used for cakes, pancakes, plum puddings and Yorkshire puddings.

Advertisement card for Freeman’s Digestive Egg Powder (1885) Evan.4244.

Revolutionising Puddings?
An advertisement for Freeman’s Pudding Powder from 1886 (Evan.6504.) offered an alternative for those unable to find the ingredients to make a pudding.  The notice, titled ‘So Glad I Saw This’ tells the story of a woman who asked her friend for the recipe to make a pudding and was surprised to find that the pudding was a powder mix with added milk and sugar.

An advertisement for Freeman’s Delicious Pudding Powder (1885) Evan.6228

This advert for the mix from 1885 (Evan.6228.) offers to send ladies one of each flavour (almond, lemon, vanilla, peach, chocolate and nectarine) for free by post for 12 stamps.  The witty advert features an image of a judge taste-testing the pudding with the caption ‘delivering judgement – delicious’.  Pudding mixes like Freeman’s revolutionised Victorian desserts because they were a cheaper and quicker alternative to traditional puddings which were labour-intensive and required lots of ingredients.

Next time you are baking a cake, watching a cookery programme or buying a sweet treat from a local bakery, think about the variety of ingredients available today and the ease of opening a tin or using a packet mix to speed up the process. These developments came from 19th-century products like the ones featured here. You can explore more 19th-century baking material via the Evanion catalogue online.

Amy Solomons
PhD Placement Student, Heritage Made Digital

Further Reading
Andrea Broomfield, Food and Cooking in Victorian England, A History (Praeger Publishers: Santa Barbara, 2007).
James Hagy, Early English Conjuring Collectors, James Savren and Henry Evanion (Shaker Heights: Ohio, 1985).
Elizabeth Harland, ‘The Evanion Collection’, The British Library Journal, vol. 13, no. 1 (Spring 1987), pp. 64- 700.