Sunday 31 July 2011

18th March 1763

at 3 o'Clock in the morning Sett of in the Coach for Nottingham
Paid Coach Hire to Nottingham £1.8:0d

19th March 1763
Got to Nottingham abt. 7 o'Clock at Night and Cost me Expences in Coming Down to Nottingham 10/6
and Came to be at Mr Saml. Newtons


39 hours! In a coach! Suddenly our trains seem fast! (London to Nottingham is a little under two and a half hours today).

Samuel Newton is the father of Thomas's fianceé - are they finally going to get married?

Friday 15 July 2011

17th March 1763

Spent at the Swan with Two Necks in Lad Lane in Punch with some of my acquaintance 4s
& Lay their that Night Paid for my Bedd 12d


Paid Linen Washing 4/6 Newspapers 2/-

Newspapers were not for the ordinary man at that price, were they?

The Swan with Two Necks is long gone but here is what it looked like around 1800


The pub name 'The Swan with Two Necks' is a corruption of the phrase 'The Swan with Two Nicks' meaning a swan with the Swan-Mark of the Vintners Company. (source)

And the pub was mentioned in Pepys Diary on the 5th April 1664.

It was a major coaching inn during the 18th century, of 28 mail coaches which left London each night, half were horsed at this inn. (More information)

Wednesday 13 July 2011

17th March 1763

Paid Mr Benjm. Wigglesworth Two Pounds Eleven Shillings in full for six weeks Board and Lodgeing and Four Shillings for a Quarters Shaveing which is in full of all Demands.

Thomas is paying his bills!

16th March 1763

Paid for a Box Hoard to pack my things in 2/2
Paid Carriage to Nottingham 3/6


That's all that shopping Thomas has been doing! Off to Nottingham. Do I hear Wedding Bells at last?

Monday 4 July 2011

5th March 1763

Went to see Adamses Curiositys spt. 9d


I can't find anything about this display!

EDIT: A mention to a friend about this told me that Sir John Soane's Museum has much of what Robert Adam himself referred to as his Curiosities. I have now spoken to the person at the museum who is working on the catalogue of these items. Much of the collection was drawings done by Robert Adam on his grand tour of Italy. They provided the inspiration for his architecture. There were other items besides the drawings but most are not in the museum collection. However, many of the drawings are shown online and you can see them just as Thomas did! Thomas saw them about 4 years after Robert Adam returned from Italy. Obviously anything later than 1763 was not there for Thomas to see on this visit.