24th June 1753
Letter from Sister Ann 3d
to Lett me know that my Aunt Nichols my mothers sister Dyed at Retford 16 June between the hours of Twelve & one o'Clock Pray god Rest her soul thou She had used all of us very Ill shall say no more.

That entry raises more questions than answers!

Part Exchange in the 18th Century

1 November 1752 Exchanged a Silver Watch with Mr John Colton in Turncalf Aley for a pinch Beack watch Double Gilt with Gold a new one he brote with him from London No.8990 makers name Kover London gave in Exchange as by his receipt for the same £3.0s 0d


I'm not sure I would have swapped a silver watch for a pinchbeck one. The alloy is an 18th century invention by Christopher Pinchbeck. It was copper and zinc and closely resembles gold. I have found online references to the watchmaker Kover. A watch made by him was stolen in 1761 and came to court, as described here. Should Thomas's watch have survived, we could identify it as we have the serial number. Another reference tells us that a watch by the same maker was sold at auction in 2005. Without an appropriate subscription, I can't tell you where, apart from the fact that it was in UK, or how much it fetched.

21 December
Paid Mr Robt. Evans Two Guineas for asking Mr Yardley Willmot Counclers Opinion of my great great Uncle Richd. Tyes Will & my Fathers John Tyes Will and my Bror. John Tyes Will all Deceased. £2.2s


I have a copy of John Tye senior's will. It is odd in one way in that it leaves nothing to his eldest child, who I believe to be his daughter Elizabeth. She died in 1726 not that long after her father (1719) so perhaps she was ill/disabled already by the time he made his will? When John Tye senior died none of his children were even teenagers. His eldest son, John, was to receive what his mother had as a life interest. Otherwise, all is left divided equally, held in trust until they are each 21 and "theirs equally share and share alike".

I will come back to this post and edit it if I find more about these wills.

10 Nov 1751
Ann Newton married Mr Hesketh Lord Wards Steward Summerhill Staffordshire

Family Search.com tells me that Ann married John Hesketh at St Peter's Nottingham. She was born around 1730 but I'm not at all sure where or who her parents were. I assume she is related to Elizabeth but I don't think they are sisters.

Lord Ward owned extensive estates around Kingswinford in Staffordshire.

23 December
My Bror. John Tye Dyed about 12 oClock on Monday night and maid his will about half an Hour before he dyed and had been Ill from October when he returned from London where he had been to Sell the Freehold Estate at Merton In Surry abt 9 miles from London to Mrs Mariam Payne of Merton for 620 pounds the Estate was lLett for 50 pounds a year was told he had not a Right to Sell it without I joined with him

30 December
Paid John Addsett Tayler in West Retford for makeing a mourning Coat & Breeches a WaistCoat I had when I went to Retford - 9/-

Thomas's Brother, John, then came to visit and his sisters moved their lodgings to St James's House in St James's Street. The round of sight seeing continues but mostly to places Thomas has already visited so we have already found out what we can about them.

Aug 1 1743
Went to Dr Tayler for advice of my Eyes he Cutt a vain or two in my Temples and gave me Two Bottles & gave him 10/6

(this is beyond comment!)

And, at last, an outing to a new place

Aug 15 1743
Dined with Sisters & Mr Longdon and Mr Fox went to Chelsea to See Sir Robert Walpooles Grotto & Gardens & The Physick Gardens & Don Salteras Rariteys and Cost us a Pieces 2/6

Sir Robert Walpole, famous as the first Prime Minister of Britain, had a house in Chelsea, close to the Royal Hospital.The house was extensively remodelled, into part of the Royal Hospital. Here is a portrait of the man himself.


And this is the only picture I can find which seems to be of the original house (It's the Vanbrugh Orangery). It became the Infirmary and was destroyed in World War II. I had to resorted to paper research to find that piece of information (Pevsner's Buildings of England, no less).


"Don Salteras" was known as Don Saltero but was really James Salter (a glamourous name never did any harm, it seems). His Coffee house and museum were in Cheyne Walk and Benjamin Franklin records visiting to see the curiosities in his autobiography. James Salter had worked for Sir Hans Sloane, whose collections form the basis of the British Museum, and at least some of his exhibits came from his former master's collections. It seems that he added some items of uncertain provenance such as the almost inevitable piece of the true Cross and.... "Pontius Pilate's wife's chambermaid's sister's hat" !

1st February 1743
Went to Drury Lane play House to See Cato & Entertainment. 2/6

Thomas has seen Cato before. The Entertainment was a generic name for the comedy which ended each evening at the theatre. If you left before it, you received a refund on your ticket.

14th February
Sent Brother a present of the Pope in Wax In Wax Work done by a fine hand at Rome. Bout of a Frend Cost 10/6

Once again, Thomas leaves me wondering. The Pope? In eighteenth century London? I have enough information to be pretty sure that the Tye family was soundly Church of England, but perhaps I am wrong? This post will, of course be edited if I discover anything more.

P.S. John Tye was Compounded as a Catholic some family papers tell me. Now I have to find out what that means (edit 2.3.2009)

And the portrait - was it bas relief or 3D? My money is on the former but there are surviving half length life-size wax portraits from the 18th century as well as smaller busts and bas reliefs such as this one of George Washington

The Pope in question ought to have been Benedict XIV who was elected in 1740

A Sad Letter

12 November 1740
Letter from Bro. 4d
with an account of my Dear Grandmothers Death who departed this life on Sunday the 9 Day of November 1740. 89 years old and don't doubt but shes happy in the Kingdom of Heaven for all her good workes in this World.



Well, just like the rest of us, Thomas had two grandmothers. In his case Sarah Tye & Hannah Brown. I have not yet pinned down which one lived to this very great old age. Thomas only had one brother, John (dates uncertain), so he must have written this letter.

Thomas Tye's family

This post will have to be updated at intervals as I do more research, but this is what I know (or think I know) at the moment.

John Tye ( - 1693) married Sarah Levet, daughter of John Levet. They had at least 8 children, 2 girls, Mary and one another, and 6 sons, Richard(1677- ), John, Joseph, Robert, Thomas & William(1681-1748).

John Tye (1679-1719) was baptised in Pinxton, Derbyshire, married Elizabeth Brown (1686-1728) daughter of John Brown. They married in Nottingham (I think).

They had 6 children - Elizabeth(1710-1726/7), Dorothy(1711-1794), John(1711/2-1751), Thomas (who wrote the account book I'm blogging), Mary(1715-abt1795) & Anne(1716-1797).

Thomas married Elizabeth Newton( - 1778), daughter of Samuel Newton at St Peter's Nottingham in 1764. She died on February 3rd 1778 and was buried 4 days later in St Peter's churchyard.

This is a post of very dry facts but I will put some flesh on these bones in time.

A Book with No Title

My husband's uncle left him all his books. We had just moved house when the executor asked us to collect them and we really didn't have room for them. On the off-chance, however, I scanned the shelves for anything of interest.

I noticed a green book with nothing on the spine. Most books have a title on the spine, don't they?

I pulled out a treasure! It is mostly an account book (how dull!) but the interesting thing is the date. The book was written by one Thomas Tye. Thomas was born about 1712. He was in business, mostly in the City of London and he recorded all expenditure with great care. He also recorded tit bits of news and information. Some of this is fascinating. I will transcribe selected entries here.



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