Tradition

30 October 1738
Spent at Lord Mares Show with Mr Lowery 1/6

The Lord mayor was Micajah Perry, a merchant in the tobacco trade who dealt extensively with Virginia. Below is Hogarth's picture of the Lord Mayor's Show. The picture is dated 1747. The "new" coach in use today was introduced in 1757 so this picture might well show the coach Thomas saw.


5 November 1738
Went to see the cannons fired at the Tower. spent 9d

I haven't found out whether this was part of what was then still a Thanksgiving for the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot but I rather think it was.

February 1737/8 Continued - More Sight Seeing!

27th Bout a Fine Hatt 12/-
28th Went to See The Tower - Horse Armer, small armes, cannon & to see them loin the crowns & cost me 4/6

The Tower Menagerie was first opened to the public in the 18th century. The fee to get in was 3 halfpence or a cat or dog to feed to the lions. I can't find what the fee for any other part of the Tower was. I wonder if the queue to see the Crown Jewels was as long in the 18th century as it often is in the 21st!


8 March 1737/8
Went to the Oppero in ץe Haymarket 5/-

The "ץe" is not "Why EE" but "Thorn e". Thorn is an obsolete letter pronounced in English "th".
Wikipedia will tell you all about it.
Now, which opera was it? If it was by Handel it was Faramondo or Alessandro Severus. I must do some more research into that.