Houses and Household Goods at St Helena, 1673-1782

Every statement drawn from the manuscripts carries a footnote. A reference takes the form of a volume number, an oblique stroke and an image number, for example 062/293 or 080/14-17. The number before the stroke identifies the transcribed volume of the East India Company's St Helena records. The number after it is the image, or film, on which the passage appears. It is not a page or folio number of the original. A span such as 14-17 marks a single matter running across consecutive images. The Key to the Manuscript Volumes at the end gives the title and dates of each volume.

Each footnote gives the year of the matter after the reference. A reference carried forward from the earlier edition to volumes 042 or 048 to 061 may lack a year. Those volumes have not yet been mined in full for this subject, and the passage rests on the earlier edition's reading of them.

Quotations from the manuscripts are given in double quotation marks exactly as transcribed. Spelling, capitals and punctuation inside them are left as they stand. Outside works are cited for comparison only. Every such citation is marked "To be verified", since it rests on general knowledge rather than on a fresh reading of the work.

Introduction

St Helena was a small, high, volcanic island in the South Atlantic, governed by the East India Company from 1659. Its purpose was to refresh the Company's ships on the long passage between England and the East. Its people were Company servants and soldiers, free planters with their families and the slaves owned by both. Almost everything they built with or used in their houses came by sea, except stone, rough timber and thatch.

The present edition asks what the island's houses were built of, who built them and how they were held. It also asks what was kept inside them and what happened to those goods. It follows the private houses of planters and townspeople, the Company's own residences and barracks, and the houses of the Company's slaves. Drink, clothing and farming are treated in companion studies and appear here only where they touch the house.

The Evidence

The present edition rests on 3,597 recorded matters drawn from 69 manuscript volumes. The earlier edition rested on 208. Each matter is one occurrence on one image of the record, from an order of the Court of Directors to a single line in a store account. A separate ledger of 13,180 entries records every stated price, rent, valuation, wage and quantity of household goods.

The records are of several kinds. The quarterly store accounts list the goods sold from the Company's warehouse to its servants and to the planters, and the goods issued to the Castle, the barracks and the slaves. The consultations record grants of house ground and the repair of Company buildings, with disputes over walls and drains. The registers of leases and wills record sales, rents and bequests. The trials of the quarterly court describe houses room by room when they were broken into. The letters between the island and London explain what the Company wanted and what it got.

Coverage

The coverage is uneven. The volumes from 1673 to 1742 were read in the earlier edition and are thinly represented. The volumes from 1753 to 1771 were read in full for the present edition and supply most of the evidence. The volumes for 1743 to 1752, numbered 048 to 061, have not yet been mined for this subject. They include the inventories of estates from 1744 to 1760 and the register of leases from 1749 to 1765. Where the earlier edition drew on them its findings are kept, with its references. The later quarterly court trials and the lease registers carry some matters beyond 1782, and these are cited only as later context.

Arrangement

It has five parts and 23 sections. Part One follows the building of a house, from its ground and walls to its roof, chimney, windows, rooms and decay. Part Two follows the holding of houses, through sales and leases, the Company's residences, the barracks and lodgings and the houses of the Company's slaves. Part Three goes inside, to furniture, linen, lighting, kitchen goods and water. Part Four follows the supply of goods, the inventories and wills by which they passed, the thefts that took them and the households that used them. Part Five draws comparisons and traces change across the century.

Main Findings

Three findings run through the study. The first is that St Helena's houses were built of stone from the start, bound with mud and later with lime, and roofed with thatch long after the Company wanted tiles. Brick was tried repeatedly and failed for more than half a century, until a regular manufacture began at Sandy Bay in 1771. The second is that the Company's store was the island's ironmonger, chinaman and draper. Its quarterly accounts show a household economy supplied from England and India together, priced by the buyer's rank. The third is that the Company housed its own people in ways that shaped the whole island. It built and furnished the Castle and Plantation House at great cost. It paid house rent to officers instead of housing them. It lodged its slaves in communal houses that were long neglected and later locked and searched at night.

Part One: Building the House

The houses of St Helena were built on ground the Company granted, from stone the island supplied and with timber, nails and glass shipped from England. Part One follows them from the plot to the roof. It begins with the ground itself and the rules that governed where and how a house might stand. It then turns to materials, tradesmen, roofs, chimneys, windows and rooms. It ends with the damp, vermin and fire that wore houses down.

1. House Ground, Building Standards and the Town

The Company's first orders, 1673-1680

The Company's instructions of 1673 tied the right to build a house to the defence of the island. An inhabitant who asked for land could be granted enough timber to build one or more houses, provided they were built "in a regular manner" suited to defence.¹ The houses were to stand above the plantations, in valleys the Governor and Council approved, and between the sea and the forts or batteries.² The same order was repeated in the same set of instructions, with 7 years' residence now required before land could be sold.³

A further restatement made the purpose plain. Houses were to be built in an orderly manner so as to form a defensible town above each fortification.⁴ No house was to be built between the forts and the sea, and any house already standing there was to be removed by its proprietor.⁵ An index to the early volume recorded the same grants as land in Chapel Valley "for building houses or stables above the fortifications".⁶

The articles were restated again in the instructions entered in 1680. Old planters were to recover their houses and plantations, and each new planter was to have ground enough for a family to build and plant upon.⁷ Any inhabitant could apply for ground to build a house in a valley, the houses to be built regularly "so as to form a town of defence around the fortifications".⁸ Houses standing too close to the sea or the forts were to be taken down by their owners.⁹

The first settlers did not wait for houses to rise before planting began. In December 1674 the Company ordered that new arrivals have their land laid out and help from the slaves, and that the building of cottages be encouraged.¹⁰ Until their own houses were finished, the newcomers were to lodge among planters who already had houses.¹¹ The first house ground on the island was therefore a military and agricultural allotment, not an urban plot.

The London model, 1682-1683

A fuller building code reached the island between March 1682 and August 1683. In laying out new works for the fort and town, the Governor was to secure uniformity and regularity.¹² Buildings and streets were to follow "the modern style of London, in good square lines".¹³ The Governor was empowered to oblige owners to alter or pull down buildings that did not conform.¹⁴ The existing houses were described as only 12 or 14 feet high and built with battens.¹⁵ The same letter promised experienced men to teach the inhabitants to burn lime from the island's rock.¹⁶

A near-identical restatement of about 1683 added two telling details. Many buildings were only 13 or 14 feet high and formed of loose stones piled together without proper structure.¹⁷ Owners who failed the standard were to be compelled to pull down or alter their houses, the expense not to fall on the proprietors.¹⁸ Every agreement for a house or land was to be entered in a Book of Bargains.¹⁹ An unregistered sale forfeited its whole value to the Company, and an unregistered purchase cost the buyer double fees.²⁰ The code thus joined a standard of building to a register of title.

The London of 1682 was a city rebuilt under the Rebuilding Act of 1667. That statute fixed classes of house by street, set storey heights and required brick or stone fronts.²¹ The Company's phrase "good square lines" echoed that regime of straight frontages and regulated heights. A later order, undated, carried the same principle forward: buildings were to be substantially built, and any not built to standard were to be destroyed.²² The same order allowed the Company to buy Mr Johnson's house if it stood in the way of new barracks.²³

Building in stone was already under way while the code was framed. In about 1681 John Bouresly, a free planter, was building a stone house 33 feet in front with an adjoining wall of 20 feet, and was granted the ground under it.²⁴ Mr John Bountree was building a house with a 22-foot frontage and a fenced yard or garden behind, 64 feet in all.²⁵ In January 1688 Robert Tomps sold Thomas Allis a stone house in Chapel Valley near Fort James for £8 10s.²⁶ In May 1704 Richard Gurling complained that the late John Cagnald had borrowed stones from him "during the construction of his house in Coal Valley".²⁷

Leases soon carried their own standard of upkeep. In November 1688 Edward Bloxfoe covenanted to keep a house still to be built in good and sufficient repair for a term of 21 years.²⁸ He was to leave it and all other buildings in proper condition at the end.²⁹ The repair clause became a fixture of every later town lease.

Chapel Valley and the early town, 1681-1741

The town grew in the narrow valley behind Fort James, called Chapel Valley, Fort Valley and later James Valley. Grants measured house ground against the public way from an early date. John Johnson, who held the Company's former great house in Chapel Valley, was granted some 17 rods of adjoining ground in about 1682.³⁰ It ran 2.5 rods along the highway and 6 rods toward the shore by the moat house, with further strips by the Company's garden wall and behind the house.³¹

Houses were soon packed wall to wall. In about 1705 James Draper sold Samuel Maxwell, a corporal, a messuage house in Chapel Valley joined to the houses of Richard Leach and John Stitt.³² The price of £18 was paid half in live cattle and half in Spanish dollars at 6s the dollar.³³ In April 1704 John Hemon senior sold a dwelling house with a back kitchen, "adjoining the houses of Thomas Allis and Walter Morres", with ground running to the watercourse behind.³⁴ It sold for £25 and changed hands again for £30 in March 1710.³⁵

The ground behind a house was where kitchens, yards and quarrels lay. In September 1707 William Beale, free planter, petitioned to build a back kitchen behind his house in Fort James Valley, being without one.³⁶ The Council viewed the ground first to make sure it would not trouble his neighbours.³⁷ A later dispute showed what could go wrong. Beale's kitchen "happened to front onto the ground belonging to Swallow", and its only door had been built "by the chimney".³⁸ The Governor ordered Swallow to grant a passage 4 feet wide and 30 feet long at a peppercorn rent.³⁹ It was to last only as long as the kitchen stood, or 21 years.⁴⁰

The Council also guarded a neighbour's daylight. Between 1683 and 1687 it ordered Captain Edward Mashborne and Swallow to agree their ground between themselves.⁴¹ Swallow could extend back to the watercourse, but was not to hinder Mashborne "from the benefit of his light".⁴² Nor was he to block "any passages that would be harmful to the public or to neighbouring properties".⁴³ He bore alone what he had already spent on the first parcel.⁴⁴

The town took on named streets and rows. A drunken crowd once broke "two doors and the windows" of Josias Grimsby's house in Butt Alley.⁴⁵ In April 1691 the Council found that many chimneys "in the town at Fort James" stood too low beneath the thatch.⁴⁶ A Company house in Chapel Valley sold that August was "low built and thatched", like others "in that row".⁴⁷ In April 1715 Mary Conway sold Conway's Wash Yard in Southwark Street, James Town, where only the ruins of a house survived.⁴⁸ The sale carried "the right of a party wall or walls previously enjoyed or paid for".⁴⁹

Southwark Street remained a fixed address for decades. In April 1723 Thomas Dutch, sergeant, sold Elizabeth Marsh "one dwelling house, standing and being in James Valley in Southwark Street", with its household goods, for £80.⁵⁰ In about 1745 Richard Mason leased a plot of 38 by 17 feet already enclosed for a yard and kitchen.⁵¹ It lay on Southwark Street behind the house he had bought from John Hanson, opposite the burying place.⁵² The rent was 5s a year.⁵³

The town houses were dressed as well as built. In April 1713 the Council reported that "the people were about facing their houses very handsomely in the Fort Valley".⁵⁴ They had already bought good quantities of lime for the purpose.⁵⁵ The same letter reported most of the planters' houses across the island decayed and propped up with shores and stilts.⁵⁶

Party walls were held, bought and paid for as rights. In August 1733 Charles Steward was allowed to keep a structure, confirmed as "a party wall", for 2s a year.⁵⁷ In November 1738 John Goodwin was granted a plot in James Valley for 15s.⁵⁸ On it he had built a messuage with a brew house, privies and a Brick Chamber.⁵⁹ The frontage of 62.5 feet took in half the wall of the widow Frances Carne's house and half the walls of the back yards of Carne and Steward.⁶⁰ An undated grant to Goodwin between the same two neighbours gave a frontage of 60.5 feet running 217 feet to the new watercourse.⁶¹ No building on an adjoining acre and a half was to stand within 25 feet of the water channel.⁶²

Neighbours' buildings served as boundary marks. In November 1738 John Goodwin junior sold Thomas Greentree a James Valley house for £250, with £178 of it deferred to June 1745.⁶³ The plot was fixed by a plan annexed to the deed.⁶⁴ Its upper end met the chimney of Josiah Charlesworth Powell's house and ran to the corner of Powell's "little back room" in the yard.⁶⁵ Plots were often narrow and deep. In January 1740 a James Valley house measuring 65 feet 6 inches deep and only 14 feet 9 inches in front sold for £75.⁶⁶ A house of identical size was resold in December 1753, with every room, chamber, window and passage named in the deed.⁶⁷

In July 1738 a petitioner was granted ground near the fort 40 feet in front and 100 feet deep, "in order to build a kitchen and other buildings there".⁶⁸ In July 1754 Thomas French sold John Goodwin a plot 14 feet 6 inches square for 20s.⁶⁹ Goodwin had already built a stable on it.⁷⁰

Highways, passages and the street

Private holdings pressed against the public way in the country as well as the town. In October 1716 John Robinson, planter, had cut rafters on his own land "meant to enlarge" his house.⁷¹ Captain Haswell stopped Robinson's servants on the highway, threatened to shoot Robinson and seized the rafters.⁷² In April 1731 Governor Pyke rode into Sandy Bay Valley to view the Company's plantation and limekiln.⁷³ The road there had cost at least £300 and was once broad enough for a cart.⁷⁴ Encroachments by neighbouring plantations had narrowed it until in most places it was "not a foot broad" and full of holes and gullies.⁷⁵ The Council ordered an inquiry into who had enclosed the Company's highway.⁷⁶

Leases could require a tenant to serve the public. In December 1747 Lieutenant John Barton took a plot 105 feet square in James Valley for 18s a year.⁷⁷ He was to build "a good bridge over the water run, facing the Great Barracks", strong enough to carry foot passengers.⁷⁸ He was to keep it in repair for the whole term of 21 years.⁷⁹

The street itself needed protection from the householders. In December 1754 the Council found people in James Valley "throwing dirt and rubbish in the streets at night".⁸⁰ It fixed a fine of 5s for each offence.⁸¹ In June 1758 hogs were found "loose about the street or behind the houses of the town".⁸² They were to be impounded, and dirt and filth were to be carried to the sea rather than the road to Munden's Point.⁸³ In October 1769 the grand jury reported that "one side of the street in Southwark was dangerous for people walking there at night".⁸⁴ The churchwarden was to see a wall built there.⁸⁵

Openings onto a public lane were a public matter. In September 1764 Mrs Elizabeth Kennedy and Robert Ballard had knocked doors and a window through onto the Ladder Hill lane without leave.⁸⁶ Ballard said he had made the doorway from his own house on his own land.⁸⁷ The Council ordered the openings blocked, reasoning that "a light or anything else appearing suddenly from these openings could frighten a horse".⁸⁸ The householders then asked to lease the useless strip behind their houses, since "none of their houses had a back door".⁸⁹

The Council found that ground of no use to the Company but valuable to the petitioners, "whose own yards were very small".⁹⁰ In October and November 1764 it let six strips behind the houses at a combined rent of £5 a year.⁹¹ Matthew Warling took ground 37 feet wide and 108 feet deep at £1 4s 2d.⁹² Martha Scott took 19 by 110 feet at 12s 5d, and James Greentree 30 by 95 feet at £1 0s 3d.⁹³ The rents ran close to 8d a foot of frontage.⁹⁴

Public buildings had their own margins. In October 1767 Sergeant Shirley asked for a strip 10 feet by 8 feet "which lay between his house and the parish house".⁹⁵ After a view it was refused, being "found to interfere with the workhouse".⁹⁶

Foundations, levelling and flood

A house was only as sound as its ground. In November 1693 a house on the high place, taken by the Company for Thomas Smout's store debts, had sunk on damp ground despite frequent repairs.⁹⁷ It was ordered stripped of usable materials for the Company's garden.⁹⁸ In July 1764 surveyors found the south wall of the Castle sinking 6 inches, built at a different time from the others.⁹⁹ In August 1757 John Seale removed a hill and rocks below his mother's house at Sandy Bay.¹⁰⁰ The widow's house was "in such poor condition it was close to falling down".¹⁰¹

Large building sites were cut from rock. In September 1754 the Governor asked the soldiers to clear and build larger barracks without pay, for their own comfort.¹⁰² In March 1755 the store issued 6 lb of powder for "blowing the rocks to level the ground for the new barracks".¹⁰³ In April 1755 the store issued 8 ditching shovels and 6 wheelbarrows for clearing the site.¹⁰⁴ Soldiers were paid £41 18s 6d in the quarter to July 1755 for labouring there and at the fortifications.¹⁰⁵ In the quarter to April 1756 they were paid £26 5s 0d "in levelling the ground where the new barracks are to be built".¹⁰⁶

The siting of barracks was argued over again in 1770. In July 1770 the Council told Captain Tippet "to go on levelling the ground for the barracks" until the batteries were done.¹⁰⁷ Later that month the engineer Corneille dissented from the chosen line.¹⁰⁸ He warned that "The foundation walls of the range nearest the watercourse, outer, inner and cross walls alike, would have to be raised more than 16 feet".¹⁰⁹ Taking in part of the Maldivia walk would have saved £300 to £400, he argued.¹¹⁰ The Governor and Purling wished to keep the walk, made for the inhabitants over 30 years before.¹¹¹ On Tippet's figures the Council moved the foundation 24 feet inward, saving about £200.¹¹² The parade left was 88 by 250 feet, which Corneille thought too small.¹¹³

The site was then cut from the rock with powder. In July 1770, 82 lb of powder went to blasting for the slaughterhouse and the barracks.¹¹⁴ In August a further 146 lb went to the stone blowers at Munden's Point, the barracks and elsewhere.¹¹⁵ The barracks cost £171 16s 9d in the quarter to September 1770.¹¹⁶ Labourers alone gave 2,806¾ days, besides 237½ days of stone blowing.¹¹⁷

Site choice could also hurt a building's purpose. In October 1742 an officer's stone house at Munden's Point, 20 feet wide and the length of the battery, left only 7 of 27 feet for the guns.¹¹⁸ Powell "had built a little room for the officer on top of the soldiers barrack" instead.¹¹⁹

Water was the town's chief hazard. On 28 June 1756 a flood broke the Company's garden wall and overflowed the ground prepared for the new barracks.¹²⁰ It ran down the public street, gouging it out and reaching into houses and some barracks.¹²¹ Behind the houses next to Ladder Hill it "destroyed almost every person's yard walls on that side, threw down some buildings and carried away many others".¹²² One person was hurt and another killed.¹²³

The flood led to a quarrel over walls and water behind the great house. Francis Wrangham and Richard Beale complained in September 1756 that a new wall blocked their customary passage and cut the bank carrying water to their yards.¹²⁴ They said "the back yards were rendered almost useless to them".¹²⁵ Adamson replied that the wall, about 5 feet long and 5 feet high, was flood work on Company ground.¹²⁶ It was meant to "prevent the many irregularities daily committed by the military as well as by slaves belonging to the neighbouring houses".¹²⁷

The petitioners described how the town's drainage had been made. Five planters had cut a new channel close to the hill at their own charge, the old one lying too near the backs of the houses.¹²⁸ Adamson had sunk a pond down to "the loose gravel thrown there when the house was built".¹²⁹ A neighbour, Kirkpatrick, heard Adamson swear "no, by God the wall must not come down".¹³⁰ Wrangham and Beale needed the water to raise plantains for the ships and their families.¹³¹ In October 1756 the Governor ordered a shorter wall about 10 feet long, "placing a door in it as he had always intended".¹³²

The threat of flood shaped later grants. In February 1767 the Company's carpenter John Robinson warned that "the houses standing below the burial ground in the valley were in danger from a heavy flood".¹³³ He offered to wall the torrent off if granted the ground.¹³⁴ He received a strip "64 feet long and 15 feet wide, at £0 3s 0d a year" and no more.¹³⁵ In June 1768 builders were forbidden to dig earth for mortar on Munden's Point hill, since they were undermining the watercourse.¹³⁶ The fine was 40s for each offence, but "Loose stones on the side of the hill could still be taken for building."¹³⁷ In the quarter to March 1771 the Company paid £43 16s 0d for "making a new watercourse and enclosing a piece of waste ground beside one of the Company's houses".¹³⁸ Stone layers gave 73¾ days to the work and labourers 654¾ days.¹³⁹

House ground in James Valley, 1742-1782

From the 1740s the Company let town ground on 21-year leases at a yearly rent. In August 1742 Nathan Sample asked for "50 feet in front and 60 feet backwards in Chapel Valley on which to build a house".¹⁴⁰ He was granted it at 2s 6d a year.¹⁴¹ The lease of September 1742 passed the plot "together with the messuage or tenement then built or erected by Sample".¹⁴² He was to surrender all buildings in good repair at the end of the term.¹⁴³ In November 1742 Ebenezer Leach took ground about 23 feet square on the same terms.¹⁴⁴

Plots changed hands only with the Council's leave. In August 1754 Robert Mason was allowed to sell his house and its leasehold ground, 40 feet square, next to the burial ground, to the marshal Thomas Harper.¹⁴⁵ In May 1755 a plot "33 feet in length and 44 feet three inches in breadth" passed from Desfountain to the new steward William Moore.¹⁴⁶ In November 1755 the widow Sarah Reynolds sublet the ground beside her house to the Company's carpenter Thomas Levinz.¹⁴⁷ By March 1756 a house stood on it, which Levinz assigned to Lieutenant John Clark.¹⁴⁸

Petitions for building ground multiplied in the 1760s. In October 1757 Corporal Clough and quarter gunner Jacks each asked for a plot "on which to erect a dwelling house with a small yard".¹⁴⁹ Jacks pleaded that he was married and meant to stay on the island.¹⁵⁰ In 1762 Jonathan Doveton and John Shelby each took a small plot of waste ground in the valley at 3s a year, Doveton to build a stable.¹⁵¹ In August 1764 the stonemason Thomas Townsend and the carpenter Joseph Chamberlain asked for ground opposite John Bruce's house "so that they could build houses there".¹⁵² Chamberlain received a plot "measuring 60 feet along the front and 79 feet deep", and Townsend one 60 by 67 feet.¹⁵³

The mason William Holbrook asked in August 1765 for "a small plot of unused Company land in the valley so that he could build a house on it".¹⁵⁴ He received 40 feet of frontage and 68 feet of depth at 15s a year.¹⁵⁵ Captain Henry Prozett and Julio Fabiano followed in December 1765, each at 15s.¹⁵⁶ Three more requests came in five weeks of November and December 1766, from John Price, George Bird and James Goudy, each "on which to build a house".¹⁵⁷

The Council fixed the rent by the length of the street front. Price's plot, "80 feet wide at the front and 52 feet deep, at 20 shillings a year", was let at 3d a foot of frontage.¹⁵⁸ Bird's 60 feet and Goudy's 40 feet fitted the same rate, whatever the depth.¹⁵⁹ In July 1769 Henry Bazett took 18 feet beside his Billiard House at 4s 6d, exactly 3d a foot.¹⁶⁰ The engineer Corneille judged that "18 feet of frontage could be spared without harm to the neighbourhood".¹⁶¹ The rate was not rigid. Thomas Harper paid only 10s for 60 feet above the old burying ground in December 1768, about 2d a foot.¹⁶²

Ground rent bore heavily on small holders compared with farmland. In May 1766 Robert Ballard renewed his plot "38 feet from front to back and 17 feet across" at 5s a year.¹⁶³ Captain Bazett paid the same sum for each acre of farmland at Sandy Bay.¹⁶⁴ In January 1769 the mason's mate John Preston explained his need for ground. "He had a family to support, and house rent was very expensive."¹⁶⁵ He took 60 feet square at the full 15s.¹⁶⁶ Three weeks earlier Lieutenant Thomas Leech had paid 12s for a plot of the same size.¹⁶⁷

The table gathers the stated sizes and rents of town plots let between 1742 and 1782.

Table 1. House plots let in James Valley, 1742-1782, with stated frontage, depth and yearly rent
Year	Tenant	Frontage (feet)	Depth (feet)	Yearly rent	Source
1742	Nathan Sample	50	60	2s 6d	046/66
1742	Ebenezer Leach	23	23	2s 6d	047/29-30
1747	Lieutenant John Barton	105	105	18s	042/259
1764	Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice	60	95	15s	076/79
1765	William Holbrook, mason	40	68	15s	077/59
1765	Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice	15	95	15s	077/22
1765	Captain Henry Prozett	60	44	15s	077/184
1765	Julio Fabiano	60	60	15s	077/184
1766	John Price, jailer	80	52	£1	080/40-41
1767	James Goudy, shopkeeper	40	50	10s	080/41-42
1767	George Bird, joiner	60	55	15s	080/42-43
1767	Robert Ballard	14	74	5s	082/189
1768	Captain Henry Bazett	20	40	5s	080/69
1768	Thomas Harper	60	40	10s	080/73
1769	Lieutenant Thomas Leech	60	60	12s	080/77
1769	Lieutenant John Shirley	43	60	10s	080/78
1769	John Preston, mason's mate	60	60	15s	080/79
1770	Captain Beale	14	82	5s	085/363
1770	Robert Leech and Ann McKown	26	26	2s 6d	085/473
1771	George Bird, joiner	53	14	2s	086/91
1771	Roderick Merchant, publican	20	60	3s	086/91; 080/116-117
1771	Mary Harper	60	60	12s	086/94
1771	James Pritchard, tailor	50	40	7s	080/118-119; 086/255
1778	Sergeant Hatton Walker	15	60	5s	080/160-161
1780	Elizabeth Lambe, widow	41	80	14s 6d	080/183-184
1780	Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice	56	104	15s	080/185-186
1781	James Harper	47	60	15s	080/197

Goudy's plot is given as 40 by 40 feet at 078/293 and 40 by 50 feet in the lease itself. Lambe's rent is given as 14s on one page and 14s 6d on the next. Merchant's rent is 3s in the consultation of February 1771 and the rent roll but 5s in the leases register. Bird's plot of 1771 was a strip behind an existing house, 53 feet long and 14 feet deep.

The leases bound tenants to keep what they built. Julio Fabiano's lease of December 1765 set the usual form. "He had to keep in good repair every wall and building standing on the ground or put up there later."¹⁶⁸ He was not to move the fences that marked the plot, nor part with the lease without the Governor and Council's leave.¹⁶⁹ Fabiano could not pass his ground on by private bargain, and in May 1766 the Council accepted Lieutenant St Maurice in his place.¹⁷⁰ Bazett's lease of August 1768 was stricter still.¹⁷¹ "They had to keep the ground and premises in good repair and could not let them, or any building put up there, fall into ruin or decay."¹⁷²

Each lease named its plot by the houses, yards and watercourse around it. John Price's ground was "bounded on the north, east and west by the Company's waste ground and on the south by the house of Jeremiah Smith, a tailor".¹⁷³ Price could not write and completed the lease by his mark.¹⁷⁴ In February 1767 Matthew Bazett's ground behind his yard and stable was measured on four sides, about 66, 71, 81 and 60 feet.¹⁷⁵ A plan was drawn under the signatures.¹⁷⁶ Lieutenant Desfountain's plot of December 1768 was irregular, 40 feet deep on the south side and only 8 on the north, at 3s a year.¹⁷⁷

The town filled in from the waste toward the watercourse. Goudy's plot of January 1767 stood alone in the Company's waste.¹⁷⁸ By March Bird was "putting up" a building beside it, and Goudy asked leave to sell.¹⁷⁹ By February 1771 Bird had a house with a back yard and took a strip 53 by 14 feet behind it for 2s.¹⁸⁰ In September 1770 the publican Roderick Merchant asked for "the vacant plot in the valley between the houses of Mrs Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow, and Richard Harper, deceased".¹⁸¹ The ground was viewed first and let to him in December 1770 at 3s a year.¹⁸² His lease of February 1771 described a gap 20 feet wide "between the houses of Elizabeth Kennedy, a widow, and the orphans of Richard Harper".¹⁸³ In April 1778 Private Richard Bickerstaff took 80 feet of frontage between "the passage above the houses of Julio Fabiano" and the watercourse.¹⁸⁴ In December 1780 St Maurice took 56 by 104 feet from the street to the main watercourse, with the slaughterhouse on the south.¹⁸⁵ In March 1782 Desfountain took a wedge of ground beside the bridge with 70 feet of frontage at 12s.¹⁸⁶

Building often ran ahead of title. In September 1762 John Price, the marshal, was given leave to sell a house "situated on the Honourable Company's waste land in this valley".¹⁸⁷ In October 1768 the Council renewed leases to tenants who had built without the usual inspection, Harper among them.¹⁸⁸ James Harper's house stood on its ground eight months before he had a lease in January 1781.¹⁸⁹ In 1769 the arrack society took "a very narrow strip that served only to enlarge the old building" at 4s a year.¹⁹⁰ Six members took a further tapering slip beside the watercourse in December 1769.¹⁹¹

By 1770 the remaining waste beside the houses was contested ground. In January 1770 John Worrall objected to John Desfountain junior's request for waste land, since "Some of that land bordered the ground on which Worrall's house stood".¹⁹² He asked to be granted the adjoining part or to keep the grassed tract as a common for the neighbours.¹⁹³ In December 1770 the Council let Desfountain only part of the ground.¹⁹⁴ A line was drawn to keep the new tenant back from John Morrall's house.¹⁹⁵ In July 1770 the trustees of the widow Martha Jacks sought a strip 6½ feet by 60 feet beside her house.¹⁹⁶ The Council refused a lease but "allowed the trustees to use the passage leading to the back building on sufferance".¹⁹⁷

The Company also kept ground back for its own use. In September 1770 Lieutenant John Shelley asked for the strip between the new burial ground and the hospital "so that he could build a house there".¹⁹⁸ The Council refused him, keeping the ground for the Company's possible needs.¹⁹⁹ Old leases meanwhile came up for renewal. In January 1770 Henry Bazett gave up a ground-rent plot in the valley, and the Council accepted Julio Fabiano as tenant in his place.²⁰⁰ Captain Beale's plot, 82 feet deep and 14 feet wide, was renewed in July 1770 at 5s a year.²⁰¹ Robert Leech, the steward, renewed a plot 26 feet square in October 1770 at 2s 6d.²⁰² In March 1771 Mary Harper renewed a plot 60 feet square at 12s a year.²⁰³ That was far more by the foot than the 2s and 3s just set on the strips let to Bird and Merchant.²⁰⁴

The yearly rent roll recorded these plots separately from farmland. In 1758 several tenants owed small ground rents with no acreage, among them Robert Ballard at 15s 6d and Michael Frost at 15s.²⁰⁵ By October 1764 the roll's first column was headed ground rent, charged on house plots in Jamestown.²⁰⁶ In 1766 most such rents ran from 5s to 15s a year.²⁰⁷ The tailor Roderick Merchant paid 2s 6d in 1767, while Solomon St Maurice paid £2 5s 0d for his several plots.²⁰⁸ About 50 holders paid ground rent by September 1769, including women, widows and orphans in their own names.²⁰⁹ The roll of October 1770 entered householders who paid ground rent only and held no acres.²¹⁰ Among them were Martha Jacks at 16s, John Price at 35s and Solomon St Maurice at 50s.²¹¹ The roll of September 1771 kept the same form.²¹² The carpenter Joseph Chamberlain, Michael Frost and Julio Fabiano each paid 15s, and "The Society" paid 4s for its house plot.²¹³ The whole roll that year came to £825 0s 3d, against £620 7s 3½d in 1770.²¹⁴

House ground outside the town was let by the acre. In January 1757 the widow Sarah Junge was granted an acre at the Writing Stones "so she could build a house there".²¹⁵ She was to fence it, plant trees, firs and gorse and keep it in tenantable repair.²¹⁶ In February 1743 Charles Steward's will let his widow keep the mansion house "provided Charles set about building a house on the lands called Foxes".²¹⁷ At Sandy Bay in 1769 Margaret Alcock's neighbours opposed her request for the common behind her house.²¹⁸ They said "It was the only piece of common in the South Division of the island".²¹⁹ In November 1770 John Seale, who had "recently bought a house and plantation at Sandy Bay", asked for the 2 acres of waste between it and Richard Bagley's plantation.²²⁰ He wanted a sound fence against straying stock, and the Council sent to view the ground.²²¹ In July 1771 the Directors ordered a new Company house at Longwood.²²² The site was to be fenced a year ahead and planted with trees for shelter on the windy upland.²²³ The letter warned that "The mortar at Longwood was very poor, and he expected to have to fetch most of it from the valley."²²⁴

Not every servant could build for himself. In September 1771 the engineer asked for ground to build a house and was refused.²²⁵ The Council admitted he was badly placed and "thought an engineer ought to have a house", and promised him a Company one.²²⁶ The engineer, James Tippet, said "he had been very badly off for a house ever since he arrived on the island".²²⁷ The plot he wanted had once been allotted to slaves and lay idle.²²⁸ It was kept back for future Company building.²²⁹

Interpretations

The early orders treated the house as part of the island's defence. Their concern was the line between sea and fort, not comfort or style. The London code of 1682-1683 added an urban ideal of regular frontages and set heights. The evidence suggested that the ideal was imposed on a town of low batten and loose stone houses. The council had the power to compel, but no record showed a house pulled down under the code.

The town that grew up in Chapel Valley probably owed more to the valley than to London. The ground was narrow, steep and cut by a watercourse. Plots therefore ran deep from a short street front, and houses shared walls. The rights that mattered were party walls, passages, light and water. The Council's repeated views of ground before a grant suggested a concern with neighbours and the public way more than with uniformity.

The ground rents of the 1760s marked a change in the Company's view of town ground. A plot of 50 by 60 feet paid 2s 6d in 1742. Plots of the same size paid 12s to 15s two decades later. The pattern probably reflected both demand for building ground and a decision to charge town land by the foot of frontage. The rate of 3d a foot was applied to masons, joiners, jailers and lieutenants alike. Officers sometimes paid less, as Leech's 12s against Preston's 15s showed. By 1770-1771 the rate no longer held for the last strips of infill. Bird and Merchant paid 2s and 3s for ground that would have cost far more at 3d a foot. The Company perhaps priced these leftover strips low because they served only to join or enlarge existing houses. Its refusals to Shelley, Jacks and Tippet suggested that it now meant to hold the larger remaining ground for itself.

The flood of June 1756 perhaps did more to shape the later town than any building code. It exposed the danger of houses and yards built across the water's path. Afterwards the Council granted flood walls, policed digging for mortar and set new plots by the watercourse with care.

Comparisons

English towns of the period regulated building most closely after fire. London's rebuilding after 1666 fixed heights and materials by class of street.²³⁰ Speculative builders then laid out new streets of uniform terraced houses on leased ground.²³¹ Their building leases, with covenants to build and repair, resembled the James Valley leases closely. Outside the towns, English houses were improved by owners piecemeal rather than by order.²³²

Colonial America offered the nearest parallel to a planned town on a defended site. Charleston and Philadelphia were laid out on paper with regular lots and streets before settlement.²³³ In New England, by contrast, timber framing remained the rule for the whole seventeenth century.²³⁴ St Helena's planners had stone close to hand and good timber far away.

Bermuda's St George's was a small Atlantic town crowded onto a harbour shore. Its houses were built of local stone and their lots crowded along narrow lanes.²³⁵ At the Cape the Dutch East India Company also granted town erven and required free burghers to build on them.²³⁶

In Company India, Madras divided a fortified European town from the dense Black Town outside its walls.²³⁷ St Helena's orders against houses between the forts and the sea served the same military logic on a much smaller scale.

2. Stone, Lime, Mud and Brick

St Helena's houses stood on a rock that supplied almost everything a builder needed except good mortar. Stone lay loose on every hillside, and the town's walls were raised from it within a decade of the Company's first building code. Lime was the hard part. It came first from chalk shipped as ballast, then from limestone found at Sandy Bay in 1709, and in the end from a string of kilns fed by imported coal. Brick was tried again and again, and failed for more than half a century before a manufacture at Sandy Bay was put on a regular footing in 1771. Between these materials lay mud, the cheap mortar and plaster of ordinary houses, which Company engineers despised and householders went on using.

Loose Stone and the First Stone Houses

The earliest houses described in the records were light and low. A building code sent out between March 1682 and August 1683 called the existing houses "only 12 or 14 feet high" and said they were built with battens.²³⁸ The same code ordered experienced men sent out to teach the inhabitants to burn lime from the island's rock.²³⁹ A restatement of about 1683 added that many buildings were "formed from loose stones piled together without proper structure".²⁴⁰ Owners of irregular buildings could be made to pull them down or alter them.²⁴¹

Stone houses of a more regular kind were going up at the same time. In 1681 John Bouresly, a free planter, was building a stone house 33 feet in front with an adjoining wall of 20 feet.²⁴² On 25 January 1688 Robert Tomps sold Thomas Allis a stone house in Chapel Valley near Fort James for £8 10s.²⁴³ In May 1704 Richard Gurling complained that the late John Cagnald had borrowed stones from him "during the construction of his house in Coal Valley".²⁴⁴ Building stone was thus a private resource, lent between neighbours and fought over by heirs.²⁴⁵

The Company's own stone building was slow to follow. In March 1712 the Governor asked for a new stone storehouse, the old one being "of slight construction, boarded with weak deal".²⁴⁶ John Simsick, a soldier, was paid 4s a day as a stone layer at Prosperous Bay house in about 1713, a rate the Directors called poor economy.²⁴⁷ An April gale of 1717 threw down "a stone building roughly 50 foot long, known as the Turkey House".²⁴⁸ By 1723 the black house at the Peak, only two years old, had walls "so bruised and so full of large cracks" that the slaves were endangered every night.²⁴⁹

Town walls were mostly shared. A widow sold a ruined house site in Southwark Street in April 1715 with "the right of a party wall or walls".²⁵⁰ Charles Steward paid 2s a year in August 1733 to keep what the Council called "a party wall".²⁵¹ John Goodwin's grant of November 1738 took in "half the wall" of the widow Carne's house next door.²⁵² Yard walls of dry or mud-bound stone were easily breached. In May 1764 a thief stole an iron pot from Constable Harper's kitchen, and "several stones had been pulled out of the wall" of the back yard.²⁵³

These walls were weak against water. A flood down James Valley in June 1756 "destroyed almost every person's yard walls on that side, threw down some buildings and carried away many others".²⁵⁴ Soldiers were paid £93 11s 5d that quarter for rebuilding back walls, houses and garden walls after it.²⁵⁵ In June 1768 the Council forbade builders to dig earth for mortar on the hill at Munden's Point, at 40s an offence.²⁵⁶ The same notice left one resource free: "Loose stones on the side of the hill could still be taken for building."²⁵⁷

Lime from Chalk, 1684-1708

Lime for mortar was at first an English import. A letter of 5 April 1684 hoped surplus sugar would pay for "constant supplies of brick, lime, timber, boards and coals".²⁵⁸ In 1684 the Council had 40 tons of chalk, brought out as ballast, burnt into lime.²⁵⁹ The lime was priced at 4s a bushel and the unburnt chalk at 2s.²⁶⁰ On 4 December 1684 William Roe was paid £3 5s for burning lime and for mason's work.²⁶¹ The two trades went together from the start.²⁶²

The price depended on who bought and how much. In 1693 Robert Sexton, mason, built a kitchen for the fort with 30 bushels of lime charged at £1 10s, or 1s a bushel.²⁶³ Three bushels for the plantation in the same account cost 8s 2d.²⁶⁴ Supply was always short. On 7 June 1707 the Council reported that the whole stock of coal was going on lime and that "Chalk had been entirely exhausted".²⁶⁵ A letter of 1709 found bricks and lime hard to produce for the labour they took, and asked for more slaves.²⁶⁶

The shortage coincided with a general collapse of the island's fabric. In a letter of 1708 the Council found the storehouse, huts and barracks "propped up with shores and stilts".²⁶⁷ "The same situation prevailed for most of the planters' houses across the island."²⁶⁸ Lime was not the only cause of this decay. Walls set dry or in mud had little strength against damp and wind.²⁶⁹

Sandy Bay Limestone, 1709-1741

The turning point came in 1709. With coal so scarce that building threatened to stop, the Council heard that dead ebony on the hills near Sandy Bay would burn lime.²⁷⁰ The Governor and Captain Mashborne went to look and found extraordinary limestone lying beside the wood.²⁷¹ It was judged cheaper to burn the lime on the spot than to carry wood down, so a kiln and slaves were sent up at once.²⁷² Thomas Burnham, a mason, was engaged at 4s a day for the works.²⁷³

Private builders took up the new lime within four years. A letter of 9 April 1713 reported that "the people were about facing their houses very handsomely in the Fort Valley".²⁷⁴ They "had already bought good quantities of lime".²⁷⁵ The ebony did not last. Soon afterwards the Council reported that coal was again used to burn lime, wood having grown too scarce and dear.²⁷⁶ By about 1715 a longboat was bought from a ship specially to fetch lime from Sandy Bay.²⁷⁷

The works soon had fixed equipment. In August 1716 the Council "had set up a very good crane of iron and stonework in Sandy Bay, to load the boats that fetched lime and cut stone from there".²⁷⁸ The paving of the damp floor at Plantation House depended on the same works. Every slave leaving Sandy Bay on a Saturday was to bring back one paving stone, and later a bag of lime.²⁷⁹ In April 1723 two leases in Sandy Bay Valley lay "near the upper lime kiln" and went to Jonathan Higham junior, "a planter and stone cutter".²⁸⁰ More than one kiln was by then in use.²⁸¹

The lime road was the Company's lifeline and the planters' convenience. In April 1731 Governor Pyke found the road to the Sandy Bay limekiln, built at a cost of at least £300, encroached until "in most places it was not a foot broad".²⁸² The road carried stone and lime to the forts, to Plantation House and to the Company's other houses.²⁸³ By about 1738 a "lime house" stood at Rupert's beside a guard house and magazine.²⁸⁴ Some slaves at that date were "at work fetching stone and shell in order to make lime".²⁸⁵ Where the shell came from is not stated.²⁸⁶

By 1739 the works had become a property. A valuation of 30 September 1739 listed "4 acres called the Lime Kiln" at Sandy Bay at £50.²⁸⁷ In January 1740 six of the 36 men fit for service were assigned to the longboat fetching lime from Sandy Bay.²⁸⁸ On 23 July 1741 Governor Jenkins found five kilns burning at once, holding about 500 bushels between them.²⁸⁹

The Lime Works at Full Stretch, 1742-1771

The defence works of the 1740s turned the kilns into an industry. In July 1742 Powell sent "all the Company's slaves who could possibly be drawn for a time from their other business" to the kiln.²⁹⁰ John Barton was overseer of the lime kiln from 3 May 1742 and William Lewis lime blaster from 17 May at 2s a day.²⁹¹ The gunner issued 86 lb of powder from May to August 1742 for "blowing up limestone" at Sandy Bay.²⁹² The fifth burning of that year was to complete 2,500 bushels.²⁹³

New sources of stone were opened as old ones ran out. In September 1742 the lime blaster had cleared the limestone in Dry Gut, "amounting to about four kilns".²⁹⁴ He then began at Potato Bay, where there was enough for all purposes.²⁹⁵ Carriage was by sea and depended on the weather. In August 1742 the longboat "had made two attempts" to reach Sandy Bay and was driven back both times.²⁹⁶ In 1744 the lime boat was lost overnight with 10 slaves after its coxswain, drunk, failed to secure her.²⁹⁷ In March 1743 the first kiln of the new season, holding 500 bushels, was ready to be fired.²⁹⁸

By the 1750s the gunners' monthly returns show limestone blasted almost every month. Powder went to Sandy Bay in February 1753 and to Rupert's, Flagstaff Bay and Ladder Hill in 1755.²⁹⁹ In December 1756 the gunner charged 3 lb of powder "for blowing red stone for the lime kiln".³⁰⁰ Masons drew pickaxes, a stone saw for the Sandy Bay quarry and four lime saws "for the stone sawyers".³⁰¹ Small baskets carried limestone from Sandy Bay and pitching shovels loaded it into the boats.³⁰² The slaves at the kiln in 1756 were fed fresh pork: "five shoats killed for the slaves at the lime kiln".³⁰³

Fuel was the constant problem. In 1763 and 1764 soldiers cut, carried and gathered wood for lime burning for hundreds of days at 1s a day.³⁰⁴ In 1764 the Court, told the island's limestone was nearly exhausted, sent out 80 tons of limestone in place of ballast.³⁰⁵ The engineer Mitchell then found limestone in abundance in several varieties, but wood too scarce to burn it.³⁰⁶ He asked for coal, "since the engineer advised this was the best method, as the island could not supply enough wood".³⁰⁷

Coal changed the economics of the kilns. In June 1765 Mitchell reported lime burnt from island stone "at less than a quarter of the former cost and labour".³⁰⁸ The Sandy Bay stone made lime that "needed less sand than English lime and very little coal to burn".³⁰⁹ The quantities were large. In the quarter to September 1767 the works burnt 32 chaldrons 8 bushels of coal costing £62 16s 2d.³¹⁰ In the quarter to September 1769 coal for lime cost £67 18s 6d, more than half the fortification account.³¹¹ When coal ran short in January 1767 Mitchell was "forced to set the Company's workmen to felling and hauling wood" again.³¹² Ships asking for fuel were refused, for every chaldron "had to be taken from the coal set aside for burning lime".³¹³

The surplus reached private builders. In December 1765 the Lieutenant Governor, Corneille, costed lime burnt for sale to the inhabitants at about 4d a bushel with wood and 3d with coal.³¹⁴ He argued it "would also put lime within reach of anyone who could afford to build".³¹⁵ The Council fixed the price at 1s 3d a bushel, which "would still give the Company a good profit".³¹⁶ The Court approved, for the quarry was "sufficient not only for the Company's works but to spare for the inhabitants".³¹⁷ Lime sold from the works brought in sums of £1 to £7 a quarter between 1765 and 1769.³¹⁸ A sale of 37 bushels from Munden's Battery in 1769 brought £5 8s 9d, close to 3s a bushel.³¹⁹

Lime was also money. In January 1769 the Council settled old claims for labour sent to the kilns in 1742 and 1744 by paying them in lime.³²⁰ Elizabeth Purling was owed 25 bushels for 30 days' labour, and Francis Wrangham's estate 90 bushels.³²¹ The rate of payment was about one bushel for a day's work.³²²

The works were enlarged again in 1770. In April Thomas Bazett, superintendent of the works, reported that the men had "built a lime house" besides their other tasks.³²³ That lime house took six overseers' days and 124 labourers' days, costing £6 17s.³²⁴ Another 70 days went on a lime house in the quarter to June 1770.³²⁵ Labourers spent 24 days building a lime pit that September.³²⁶ The lime houses were kept locked, with a padlock and a stock lock issued for them.³²⁷ Lime travelled in bags, which were mended with twine, sail needles and candle wax.³²⁸

Lime burning was now paid labour on the batteries. Lime burners earned 1s 6d a day at Munden's Battery and the east bastion in 1769.³²⁹ They worked 91 days at the demi-bastion early in 1770 and 84 days in James's Valley by June.³³⁰ Coal for burning lime cost £112 13s 4d in the quarter to September 1770.³³¹ The sum was well above the £67 18s 6d of the same quarter a year before.³³² Carriage remained a heavy cost. In the quarter to December 1770 "bringing lime from Sandy Bay" took 363 labourers' days at £18 3s.³³³ The fortification still sold lime to private buyers, receiving 12s 6d for it in the quarter to September 1770.³³⁴

Table 2. Stated prices and costs of lime at St Helena, 1684-1770
Year	Lime	Price or cost	Source
1684	Lime burnt from imported chalk, for sale	4s a bushel	009/135
1684	Unburnt chalk ballast, for sale	2s a bushel	009/135
1693	30 bushels for the fort kitchen	£1 10s (1s a bushel)	012/82
1693	3 bushels for the plantation	8s 2d	012/82
1765	Cost of lime burnt with wood (estimate)	about 4d a bushel	077/182-183
1765	Cost of lime burnt with coal (estimate)	about 3d a bushel	077/182-183
1765	Price fixed for sale to inhabitants	1s 3d a bushel	077/184
1769	37 bushels sold from Munden's Battery	£5 8s 9d	084/413
1770	Coal for burning lime, quarter to September	£112 13s 4d	085/431
1770	Lime sold by the fortification, quarter to September	12s 6d	085/469
1770	Carrying lime from Sandy Bay, 363 labourers' days	£18 3s	086/80

The 1765 costs are Corneille's estimates of labour, fuel and slaves; the selling prices are those stated in the accounts.

Mud, Earth and the Art of Mortar

Most houses on the island were bound with mud. In August 1765 Mitchell found the masonry of the works "bound only with mud rather than proper lime mortar".³³⁵ In December 1765 Corneille wrote that islanders built with a mortar of mud "far worse than he had seen elsewhere".³³⁶ It served "especially for plastering the inside and outside of houses".³³⁷ The lime offered for sale in 1765 was meant to replace this mud mortar.³³⁸

Even the Company's builders used earth. At the Bankside battery in November 1742 "the stone itself was laid in sand and earth".³³⁹ A breastwork at Sandy Bay in January 1743 was to be laid dry, as cheaper and quicker than mortared work.³⁴⁰ In December 1768 the engineer admitted that the walls of Powell's billiard room "were built entirely with earth mortar".³⁴¹ Its 23 bushels of Company lime went only on the roof.³⁴² A valley magazine of 1771, "built only of small stones and mud mortar", had to be rebuilt in lime.³⁴³ Earth was used well when it was mixed with lime. Merlon filling of lime and earth at Banks's in 1768 "bound so tightly that it set perfectly hard and dense".³⁴⁴

The Council finally tried to stamp out earth mortar on the works in 1771. In May the master mason was reprimanded for a wall that "had been built with earth instead of lime".³⁴⁵ He had also given it a batter of five inches to the foot where the engineer ordered one inch.³⁴⁶ The Council then made lime mortar compulsory for the outer face of all works.³⁴⁷ Good mortar still depended on place. In July 1771 the Council began preparing for the Company's new house at Longwood, a year ahead of building.³⁴⁸ It was warned that "The mortar at Longwood was very poor", and most of it would be fetched from the valley.³⁴⁹

The water used mattered as much as the lime. Older works built with sea water had mortar so spoiled that "a stone or two could be pulled out at the front and the cement would run out like loose gravel".³⁵⁰ From 1742 mortar for the works was mixed wholly with fresh water carried down from Chapel Valley.³⁵¹ The wall at Munden's Point in 1743 was weak, "being built entirely with salt water and in some places extremely thin".³⁵²

Builders strengthened lime with sugar, pitch and beer. In October 1753 the store issued "6 pounds of sugar to mix with lime for repairs".³⁵³ More sugar was mixed with lime for the Castle in 1754 and with pitch in 1763.³⁵⁴ A further 28 lb of sugar were issued in June 1766 "for making a cement".³⁵⁵ Patches of lime, sugar and pitch on the Castle roof in 1764 held only briefly.³⁵⁶ For the gutters of Plantation House Roderick Merchant supplied 64 gallons of beer at 2s a gallon in June 1766.³⁵⁷ Mitchell meanwhile lined those gutters with terras, a water-resisting mortar, laid to a proper fall.³⁵⁸ The billiard-house inquiry of 1768 named hides and hair for size among the materials used.³⁵⁹ Beer grounds were also said to have gone into the mortar.³⁶⁰ Hair remained a standard binder. A bag of hair "for lime mortar" was bought for the wood house in 1770 at 4s.³⁶¹ In June 1771 William Hays was paid 2s 6d for another bag for repairs.³⁶²

Good lime mortar was still exceptional enough to be noticed. In 1744 the Court agreed to enlarge Plantation House rather than rebuild it once told that its walls were sound, being built with lime mortar.³⁶³ Portland stone and marble dust were sent from England for its floors.³⁶⁴ By 1751 a thin mortar laid over deal boards was judged "the best and cheapest" roof covering for buildings in the valleys.³⁶⁵

Facing, Plaster and Whitewash

The earliest wall finish named in the records is "facing" with lime, reported in Fort Valley in April 1713.³⁶⁶ The word probably covered render or limewash, since the records use neither term at that date.³⁶⁷ The first whitewash brush appears in March 1731, bought for 3s 6d in the general store account.³⁶⁸ In December 1742 Samuel Eates was paid for whitewashing the Company's house and Henry Savage "for plastering for 15 days at 10s 6d a day".³⁶⁹

Whitewash had become routine by the 1750s. In April 1754 Samuel Estes, a soldier, spent three days "whitewashing the ceilings of the sentinel and gunner's house at 2s per day".³⁷⁰ He then spent eight days whitewashing Mr Clark's house while Charles Stokes painted its windows, staircases and ceilings.³⁷¹ Robert Ballard sold the Company six whitewashing brushes "at 1s 6d each" in January 1756.³⁷² Plasterer's brushes went to Plantation House for whitewashing in 1762.³⁷³ In 1768 the Governor's country house took "12 days of whitewashing" at 1s 6d a day.³⁷⁴

Interior plaster was laid on lath. The store held "146 bundles laths, £7 18s 4d" in October 1759, kept for plastering.³⁷⁵ A Sandy Bay guard house of 1759 was framed with rafters, lathed and thatched for £14 6s.³⁷⁶ The masons drew plasterers' trowels, sieves and lathing hammers year after year.³⁷⁷ By September 1769 the store held 42 plasterer's trowels and 80 bricklayer's trowels.³⁷⁸ A year later it held 30 plasterers' and 37 bricklayers' trowels, with lathing hammers and 16 plasterers' sieves.³⁷⁹ The new barracks alone drew 22 bricklayers' and four plasterers' trowels in the quarter to December 1770.³⁸⁰

Town houses were plastered outside as well as in. In May 1757 Charles Powell nailed up a bedchamber window in his father's house in James Town.³⁸¹ The next morning "he went into the street and looked under the window, where he saw some of the plastering rather off".³⁸² Private householders bought the tools. Servants and planters bought plasterers' trowels and brushes from the store throughout the 1750s and 1760s.³⁸³ Servants also bought 386 lb of whiting in 1769, a material used in whitewash and putty.³⁸⁴ They went on buying it in 1770 and 1771, including 173 lb in one quarter at 7s.³⁸⁵ The Company's own repaint of the Castle, the Lieutenant Governor's house and Plantation House at the end of 1770 used 471 lb of whiting and seven plasterers' brushes.³⁸⁶ Plasterers worked 17¾ days on the Castle in the same quarter.³⁸⁷

Plastering grew into a trade in the 1760s. The return of September 1765 listed one plasterer among the hired men, at £23 9s a year.³⁸⁸ Two of the slave boys brought by Captain Skottowe were apprenticed to plasterers.³⁸⁹ In April 1766 Plantation House had three white plasterers with two boys.³⁹⁰ Soldiers did 102¾ days of plastering in the quarter to June 1765 and 100¾ days at the Castle a year later.³⁹¹ The rebuilt slaves' house of March 1766 took 160 days of plastering.³⁹²

Brick and Tile: Trials, Failures and a First Success

Brick was an import throughout. In June 1713 the Company sent 3 tuns of bricks and lead at the Governor's request.³⁹³ In about 1714 the Council sent home a box of island clay, believing it "would make good tiles or bricks if well worked".³⁹⁴ The Governor had already made "very handsome red bricks to look at, but they crumbled to nothing".³⁹⁵ The Council asked for a skilled brick or tile maker to be sent out.³⁹⁶

A second effort was made through training. In 1731 the Council proposed sending "a black boy" to England to learn tile making, the island's houses being "every where covered with Thatch".³⁹⁷ The boy, one of the biggest the Company had, was duly sent the next year.³⁹⁸ In about 1737 the Governor claimed that brick and tile making had at last been brought "to good perfection".³⁹⁹ He hoped the inhabitants would tile their houses "to prevent fires in the village or the fort".⁴⁰⁰ Within a year or two the Council reported that "much time, much labour and great expense had been thrown away".⁴⁰¹ English brickmakers had tried the clay and declared it unfit.⁴⁰²

Bricks therefore remained rare and valued. John Goodwin's messuage in James Valley had "a rectangular Brick Chamber" when the ground was granted in November 1738.⁴⁰³ At the Goodwin sale of August 1742 George Gabriel Powell bought a parcel of bricks for 6s.⁴⁰⁴ The same Powell was later charged with using Company slaves after their day's work to build his private house of brick and stone.⁴⁰⁵ The charge listed 484½ days carrying stone and 149 loads of brick carried and laid.⁴⁰⁶

The third and largest trial came under Mitchell. In August 1765 he judged the island's clay good enough for excellent bricks.⁴⁰⁷ Brickmakers drew hoes, hammers and gimlets from the store.⁴⁰⁸ Soldiers built a shed of rafters, purlins and bamboo for the brickworks.⁴⁰⁹ Soldiers worked 206½ days making bricks in the quarter to September 1765 and 282 days in the quarter to June 1766.⁴¹⁰ By April 1766 the ground was cleared, clay and fuel gathered and sheds and a kiln built.⁴¹¹

Mitchell's bricks failed. In November 1765 Mitchell reported "salt in the clay, which made the bricks brittle and prone to crack in the sun and in the kiln".⁴¹² The Council advised him to have the clay dug and left to weather for some months before use.⁴¹³ The Court heard in December 1766 of "his first trial not answering the favourable appearance it had promised".⁴¹⁴ In April 1767 the Council thought brickmaking "would succeed if the island held anyone skilled in that trade".⁴¹⁵ In January 1768 the Court replied that "Stone, of which the council had abundance, was well suited and would answer all purposes as well as brick".⁴¹⁶ A brick porch for the Castle was deferred until bricks could be made.⁴¹⁷ In May 1770 the Council proposed loading bricks at Bengal as ballast for the public buildings.⁴¹⁸

The fourth trial succeeded. Brickmaking at Sandy Bay began in 1770 as an experiment ordered by the Council.⁴¹⁹ In the quarter to December 1770 making bricks took 37 brickmakers' days at £2 15s 6d, with 30 overseers' days and 60 labourers' days.⁴²⁰ In January 1771 the engineer, James Tippet, reported two successful trials.⁴²¹ The Council was "Convinced that bricks would be of great value to the public works".⁴²² It made brickmaking a regular manufacture, and Tippet planned to push it on alongside the new barracks.⁴²³ After more than half a century of failure the island at last made usable brick.⁴²⁴

Tile, by contrast, still came from abroad and travelled badly. In June 1770, 34 Dutch galley tiles from the British King were found broken on opening the packages.⁴²⁵ In April 1771 a third of the tiles from the Calcutta broke in landing.⁴²⁶ A third of the slates from the Duke of Richmond broke the same way.⁴²⁷

Bricklayers nonetheless worked on the island, chiefly in imported brick. Recruits sent in 1756 included men "bred carpenters, bricklayers and caulkers".⁴²⁸ James Hill, "a matross and a bricklayer by trade", went to Bencoolen in 1764 for five years.⁴²⁹ John Wibly, bricklayer, worked 36½ days on the Castle in 1765 at 1s 6d a day.⁴³⁰ The Lieutenant Governor's house took 63½ days of bricklaying in the quarter to December 1765.⁴³¹

Stone Masonry in the Company Era

By the 1750s stone was the material of every substantial building. The masons drew "12 marble tools" and 12 Portland tools in October 1755.⁴³² Purbeck stones sent from England in 1742 made gun platforms at Munden's Point.⁴³³ A party of 15 soldiers carried Purbeck stone there for 21 days at 12d a day.⁴³⁴ In 1758 the Company engaged James Townshend as a mason who "understood rough wall work, cutting of stone" at £6 10s a month.⁴³⁵ Stone sawing was a distinct task, taking 174¾ soldiers' days in the quarter to June 1765.⁴³⁶

Rough stone building became a skill the island could export. In December 1760 the Court asked St Helena to send slaves "skilled in building with rough stone" to Fort Marlborough.⁴³⁷ In May 1766 six slave stonelayers were hired from their owners at 2s 6d a day, "the amount always paid for craftsmen of this kind".⁴³⁸ Townsend refused in June 1767 to teach slave boys, saying "he came to the island to do his own work and nothing more".⁴³⁹ Nobody else on the island then properly understood cutting and squaring stone.⁴⁴⁰

Stone also served the Company's slave houses. In February 1768 Corneille reported "the houses of the Company's slaves in the country had fallen almost to ruin and needed repair".⁴⁴¹ He had them repaired in stone and expected them to last many years.⁴⁴² By July 1769 the Council could claim that "the Company built far more cheaply than any private person".⁴⁴³ It had its own stone and lime, craftsmen on wages and slave labour.⁴⁴⁴

The new barracks of 1770-1771 were the largest stone building of the period. In June 1770 the Council found the old barracks held only 200 men, "and those were badly crowded".⁴⁴⁵ It ordered a second square for 500 men.⁴⁴⁶ Foundations were blasted from the rock, with 82 lb of powder in July 1770 and 146 lb for the stone blowers in August.⁴⁴⁷ In the quarter to December 1770 the barracks took 469¼ masons' days, 401¾ stone blowers' days and 4,210½ labourers' days.⁴⁴⁸ Masons put in 634½ days in the next quarter.⁴⁴⁹ By April 1771 the barracks wanted only their window glass.⁴⁵⁰ Finer stonework went on alongside. Window sills for the Lieutenant Governor's house were prepared at the quarry, and stonecutters worked 72 days there late in 1770.⁴⁵¹

The Company's masons changed in these years. The master mason William Holbrook died on 20 March 1770.⁴⁵² His mate John Preston then served as mason at £20 a quarter.⁴⁵³ Edward Daniels joined as master mason from 3 April 1771, with John Daniels as his apprentice.⁴⁵⁴ He was given a house allowance of £20 a year on top of his salary.⁴⁵⁵

Cronk's Field Study and the Absence of Wattle and Daub

A modern field study of the island's oldest surviving houses fills out what the manuscripts imply. Quentin Cronk found walls of roughly dressed volcanic rock about 50cm thick, bound with mud mortar and occasionally lime.⁴⁵⁶ The mud was sometimes mixed with the chopped leaves of a local hair grass.⁴⁵⁷ Floors were of mud, at times set with stone or brick.⁴⁵⁸ The earliest houses were a single storey of usually three rooms in a row, with a firegrate at one end.⁴⁵⁹ His account matches Corneille's complaint of 1765 about mud mortar and mud plaster.⁴⁶⁰

Wattle and daub does not appear anywhere in the records. Battens are named once, for the light houses before 1683.⁴⁶¹ Loose stone, dry stone, mud-bound stone and lime-mortared stone all appear.⁴⁶² No record mentions woven staves, daub, cob or rammed earth walling. Mud was used on St Helena, but as a bed for stone and a coat on its face, not as a filling for a timber frame.⁴⁶³

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that stone was chosen because it was free and timber was not. Loose stone lay on every hillside and could be taken without leave.⁴⁶⁴ Deals, by contrast, ran so short in 1762 that the store "had hardly enough in store to make coffins".⁴⁶⁵ A builder who could not afford timber framing could still raise a stone wall. The weakness lay in the binding, not the stone.

Lime remained a Company material for most of the period. Private buyers used it from 1713 for facing, but its price and the long carriage from Sandy Bay probably limited it to the better town houses.⁴⁶⁶ Mud mortar was the default for ordinary houses until at least 1765.⁴⁶⁷ The cheap lime offered that year was the first deliberate attempt to change private building practice.⁴⁶⁸ How far it succeeded is not clear, since sales from the works were modest.⁴⁶⁹ Earth mortar persisted even on the Company's own works until the Council made lime compulsory on their outer faces in May 1771.⁴⁷⁰

The early brick trials probably failed for want of skill as much as clay. Each attempt from 1714 to 1767 ended with a request for a skilled brickmaker who never came.⁴⁷¹ Mitchell's diagnosis of salt in the clay may have been right.⁴⁷² The Court's verdict of 1768 that stone would serve as well probably reflected the cost of further trials more than any judgement on the material.⁴⁷³ The success at Sandy Bay in 1770-1771 supported that reading.⁴⁷⁴ The clay had not changed, so method and persistence probably made the difference. Weathering the clay, as the Council had advised in 1765, may have been part of it.⁴⁷⁵ The Sandy Bay bricks were made for the public works, and nothing yet showed them reaching private houses.⁴⁷⁶

The additives in mortar showed builders improvising with what the store held. Sugar, beer, pitch, hair and hides were all period remedies for lime that set poorly.⁴⁷⁷ Their frequent use in Castle repairs suggested that ordinary lime mortar alone did not resist the island's rain.⁴⁷⁸

Comparisons

In England the contrast was sharp. Timber framing infilled with wattle and daub remained the ordinary method across much of lowland England into the eighteenth century.⁴⁷⁹ Stone building there was regional, tied to districts where good stone lay close to hand.⁴⁸⁰ St Helena resembled those stone districts more than the clay lands most settlers knew.

New England built in timber for the whole of the seventeenth century and well into the eighteenth.⁴⁸¹ Boston's builders also faced shortages of lime and made it partly from shell.⁴⁸² St Helena's turn to stone came much earlier and more completely than in Massachusetts.

Bermuda offers the closest Atlantic parallel. As cedar ran short, Bermudians turned in the early eighteenth century to houses of the island's soft limestone, sawn into blocks and limewashed.⁴⁸³ St Helena's stone sawyers and "lime saws" point to a similar handling of soft stone, though on a smaller scale.⁴⁸⁴

At the Cape the early VOC settlers built with stone, sun-dried brick and clay mortar. They burnt shell for lime.⁴⁸⁵ Slave craftsmen there, as on St Helena, did much of the skilled building work.⁴⁸⁶ The Cape's clay proved fit for brick long before St Helena's salty clay yielded a usable product.⁴⁸⁷

In Company India building rested on brick and on lime plaster, often burnt from shell.⁴⁸⁸ Mud walls and thatch served the humbler houses there too.⁴⁸⁹ The Council's proposal of 1770 to load Bengal bricks as ballast showed St Helena looking east for the material it could not yet make.⁴⁹⁰

3. Timber, Deals, Nails and Paint

The island's own wood, 1673-1740

St Helena had wood when the Company took possession, and the first instructions treated it as a grant to be made with the land. An inhabitant who asked for ground could be given enough timber to build one or more houses, provided they were built in a regular manner suited to defence.⁴⁹¹ The grant was restated in the same set of orders and again with the rule that houses between the sea and the forts must come down.⁴⁹²

Within a decade the Council was already rationing the wood. In early 1682 several residents were given leave to take fallen timber from the Great Wood to build and repair their houses.⁴⁹³ Felling standing timber remained forbidden.⁴⁹⁴ The distinction between dead wood that might be gathered and live trees that must be left ran through the whole period.

Planters cut what they could on their own land. In October 1716 John Robinson complained that he had cut rafters from wood on his own ground to enlarge his house.⁴⁹⁵ Captain Haswell stopped his servants on the highway, threatened to shoot Robinson and kept the rafters.⁴⁹⁶ The quarrel showed how much a few roof timbers were worth to a householder.

Wood was also consumed by industry. By about 1715 the Council reported that coal was used to burn lime, because wood had grown too scarce and dear for the purpose.⁴⁹⁷ A lease sealed on 1 April 1735 set out the damage more fully.⁴⁹⁸ Timber had been cut for fuel to distil arrack, and young growth had been grazed away by cattle turned onto unfenced leasehold ground.⁴⁹⁹ The Council resolved that no lease would be renewed unless the ground stood planted and fenced at the end of its term.⁵⁰⁰ Each leased parcel had to carry its own due proportion of standing wood.⁵⁰¹ By 1742 a 21-year lease bound Frances Junge to keep a tenth of his 15 acres in wood.⁵⁰²

Old houses were themselves a timber stock. At an outcry of the Beale orphans' house the building was sold piece by piece.⁵⁰³ One buyer paid 11s for the chimney and another £2 14s 6d for a girder, joist and door.⁵⁰⁴ Two others paid over £5 each for boards alone.⁵⁰⁵ Another of Richard Beale's houses was sold after demolition for £51 0s 9d.⁵⁰⁶ A jury found the sale fair because several of the boards and timbers were "much worm-eaten, rotten and damaged".⁵⁰⁷ Boards were also stolen from an empty decayed house in 1693.⁵⁰⁸

Deals, plank and Riga timber from England

The Company planned from the first to ship sawn timber. A letter of 5 April 1684 hoped that surplus sugar would fund "constant supplies of brick, lime, timber, boards and coals".⁵⁰⁹ The deal, a sawn board of Baltic pine or fir, became the ordinary unit of that supply.

Imported deals were issued to private builders as well as to the Company's works. About 1713 several quantities of timber and deals under Mr Cleeve's charge had been issued to inhabitants.⁵¹⁰ Payment was not clearly recorded, so his accounts were in future to be signed and certified.⁵¹¹ The list of necessaries sent home on 9 April 1713 asked for 10,000 deals.⁵¹² The old storehouse it was meant to replace had been "boarded with weak deal" and lay open to fire or forced entry.⁵¹³

Deals served every household need. About 1715 the Council used about 100 deal boards a year for coffins alone.⁵¹⁴ It added that "the planters always asked for some to make their doors, window shutters and other necessary repairs to their houses".⁵¹⁵ Another letter said two or three joiners could be kept busy making sashes, cupboards, chests of drawers and tables for the planters.⁵¹⁶ They lacked only the timber to make them of.⁵¹⁷ The garrison still drew deals for its own furniture in 1770. In the quarter to March it took 62 single and 25 double deals for cots, coffins and bedsteads.⁵¹⁸ The damp floor of the Plantation House alone had never cost the Company less than 50 boards a year.⁵¹⁹

By the 1740s the store accounts give quantities and values. In November 1742 the store held 102 hundred of white deal, valued at £67 12s 6d, with half-inch wainscot boards at 4s 4d each.⁵²⁰ Deals were counted by the long hundred. A short delivery from the Onslow in 1757 was reckoned "six score to the hundred, as they had always come".⁵²¹ The store also kept elm boards, oak plank, fir timber and baulks.⁵²²

Private men held deals too, and lent them. Francis Wrangham petitioned in June 1742 for 300 deals he had lent the late Governor Goodwin.⁵²³ He said "he could prove the deals were worked up for the Company's use, and that the same quantity was to have been returned again the following year".⁵²⁴ In 1756 it emerged that Goodwin had taken most of the deals laid by for Wrangham's own house on Jepson's former ground.⁵²⁵ Several rooms had nevertheless been erected, and Wrangham was then in his 70th year.⁵²⁶

Goodwin's estate also held teak, an Indian hardwood. In 1742 the executors sold 28 teak boards at 1s each and charged 104 more to the slaves, the fortifications and the garrison.⁵²⁷ At his auction George Gabriel Powell bought four lots of 200 teak boards at £4 to £4 5s a lot.⁵²⁸ Captain Wade paid £2 12s for a parcel of plank and black ebony.⁵²⁹

Riga timber, the squared Baltic fir sold by the piece, appears from 1753. The new Plantation House drew 293 single deals, 30 double deals, 29½ pieces of Riga timber and 39 baulks in the quarter to July 1753.⁵³⁰ The Riga timber alone came to £53 8s 2d.⁵³¹ Further deliveries followed each quarter into 1755.⁵³² In the quarter to January 1755 they included 115 double and 57 single deals and 17 wainscot boards for panelling.⁵³³

The store's stock rose and fell with the ships. In October 1753 it held 170 double and 1,102 single deals, with 17 pieces in use as pillars and 20 as shelves in the store.⁵³⁴ By October 1756 it held 191 double and 3,359 single deals.⁵³⁵ In September 1769 the timber in store was valued at £472 12s 3d.⁵³⁶ A year later it stood at £651 5s 11d.⁵³⁷ The store then held 1,075 double and 635 single deals, 66 baulks, 28⅜ pieces of Riga timber and 99 bundles of laths.⁵³⁸

Servants bought deals in large lots in 1770 and 1771. In the quarter to December 1770 they took 120 double and 116 single deals.⁵³⁹ They also bought Riga timber with oak, ash, elm and wainscot boards.⁵⁴⁰ Their timber that quarter came to £54 19s 11d.⁵⁴¹ In the quarter to June 1771 they bought 187 double deals and seven balks.⁵⁴² The Company used 122 deals, a baulk and nails to make a new cellar in the stores in 1770.⁵⁴³ Riga timber was issued to cover it.⁵⁴⁴

The shortages were sharp when they came. The Royal Duke brought everything indented for in 1760 "except the 20 tons of Riga timber, for want of which the Council had been put to great inconvenience".⁵⁴⁵ In May 1761 the Council wrote that the 30 pieces sent by the Prince Henry "were very acceptable, being much wanted".⁵⁴⁶ In June 1762 it had "hardly enough in store to make coffins for the current year".⁵⁴⁷ In June 1768 "Not one deal remained in store", and the shortfall hit the works, the boats and the inhabitants alike.⁵⁴⁸ Deliveries still came short in the 1770s. The Harcourt landed 39 single and nine double deals and six wainscot boards fewer than invoiced in 1770.⁵⁴⁹ The deals and an oak plank invoiced on the Calcutta in 1771 never came at all.⁵⁵⁰

The Court in its turn asked for better indents. In December 1762 it complained that the island had "only given the thickness of the deals, elm and wainscot boards, oak, ash and elm plank".⁵⁵¹ The Council agreed in April 1763 to set out the length and breadth of every piece.⁵⁵²

Large public buildings were supplied as kits. The Court loaded the Exeter in 1754 and the Peter in 1755 wholly with timbers and materials for the new barracks and hospital.⁵⁵³ The Griffin and Oxford carried the rest.⁵⁵⁴ In October 1755 the store set aside 252 pieces of fir timber for the barracks and 275 for the hospital.⁵⁵⁵ The Court could not send oak in 1756, so the plank of that year went to the fortifications.⁵⁵⁶ The church roof and ceiling were framed in England and shipped in 1766.⁵⁵⁷ In 1767 the store held 575 pieces of that timber with its ironwork, valued at £161 10s 2d.⁵⁵⁸ The same 575 pieces still lay in store in September 1770.⁵⁵⁹

The new barracks of 1770-1771 drew timber on the same scale. A separate barracks account opened in the quarter to September 1770.⁵⁶⁰ In the next quarter the works took 86 double and 263 single deals and 28 balks, £58 17s 1d of timber in all.⁵⁶¹ The quarter to March 1771 took 600 double deals worth £101 17s 6d, with 170 single deals and 31 balks.⁵⁶² The work had then moved to the floors and roof.⁵⁶³ Another 120 double and 142 single deals followed for stairs and upper floors by June 1771.⁵⁶⁴

Other public projects were estimated in the same terms. In September 1770 a school committee drew up its timber on the advice of George Bird the carpenter.⁵⁶⁵ It wanted girders 10 by 8 inches, 200 joists 3 by 4 inches, oak plank and about 300 double deals.⁵⁶⁶ Six ship timbers had been set aside, but the committee reported that "The churchwardens had been forced to use five of them to repair the workhouse, which was falling down".⁵⁶⁷

Timber also changed hands with the ships at anchor. Company ships bought 18 pieces of Riga timber from the store in 1754.⁵⁶⁸ In 1762 Captain Berkley "borrowed half a load of Riga timber for a shed, and through mistake carried it away without paying for it".⁵⁶⁹ It was priced at £4 12s 0d.⁵⁷⁰ In 1768 John Bazett bought timber from ships for his billiard room and took a little Riga timber and deals from the store, charged and paid.⁵⁷¹

Timber was worth stealing on shore. In January 1764 the carpenter Julio Fabiano lost an elm plank and a chest lid from his work.⁵⁷² They were "found both pieces of timber under a cot, hidden beneath some jackets" in Matross Poulton's barrack.⁵⁷³

Rafters, laths, bamboo and cabbage tree

The island still supplied the light timber of a roof. Rafters, laths, binders and bamboo were bought from planters, often in loads. In April 1755 the Council agreed to reroof several of the Company's slave houses in the country. It ordered rafters and binders bought from the planters, "the Company having none of either on its own lands".⁵⁷⁴

The purchases were large. Mr Mowatt was paid £12 14s 6d for "500 rafters at 6d each, to cover the Honourable Company's black houses in the country".⁵⁷⁵ Manuel Rodrigues supplied 24 loads of laths and Elly Gurling 14 loads of binders, each at 2s 6d a load.⁵⁷⁶ Samuel Alexander, an overseer, sold 179 rafters at 6d each in 1766.⁵⁷⁷ Others fetched more. Thomas Cartwright had £1 10s for 30 rafters in 1759, and Benjamin Mason sold 102 rafters at 1s 6d in 1760.⁵⁷⁸

The purchases went on into the 1770s at 1s a rafter. At the end of 1769 John Bagley sold 28 rafters and two loads of laths to repair the Blockhouse.⁵⁷⁹ In January 1770 John Robinson was paid £3 15s 0d for "75 rafters to repair the slaves' house at Maldivia Garden".⁵⁸⁰ He also supplied rafters, laths and binders for the alarm house at the Ridge and laths for the Peak house.⁵⁸¹ Later in 1770 the paymaster bought 60 rafters with laths and binders to repair the Black Square.⁵⁸² The wood house took 45 rafters and 20 ground joists in the same quarter.⁵⁸³

Bamboo served for binders and laths. Stephen Young was paid £2 for 16 loads of bamboo "for laths for the use of the Honourable Company's storehouse, being long wood".⁵⁸⁴ Bamboo sold at 2s 6d a load through the 1760s.⁵⁸⁵ The native cabbage tree also gave poles. John Robinson supplied 100 cabbage tree sticks and 32 rafters at 1s each for the buildings at Sandy Bay in 1766.⁵⁸⁶ Councillor Purling and Secretary Bazett sold "140 cabbage tree poles for the Company's use at 6d each".⁵⁸⁷

Some heavier members came from the island as well. In 1760 Samuel Alexander supplied two mantle trees at 2s each and two ridge poles.⁵⁸⁸ Benjamin Mason sold 18 ground joists with 159 loads of rushes in 1763.⁵⁸⁹ The guard house at Sandy Bay built in 1759 took 32 rafters at 1s, a load of laths and six loads of bushes at 3d.⁵⁹⁰ Imported laths were also kept, 117 bundles worth £6 11s in 1753.⁵⁹¹ Servants bought them by the bundle at about 1s 3d.⁵⁹²

Nails, brads and hinges

Nails reached the island in bulk from the earliest years. The Johanna landed nails in 38 numbered barrels in March 1678.⁵⁹³ The larger sizes were priced by the hundredweight at 32s to 40s and the smaller by the thousand.⁵⁹⁴ The largest lot was 30,000 twopenny nails at 1s 4d a thousand.⁵⁹⁵ The same ship carried 25 pairs of hinges and carpenters' adzes and axes.⁵⁹⁶

An account of 25 March 1680 tallied what remained in store.⁵⁹⁷ It counted 58,500 fourpenny, 163,001 threepenny and 169,900 twopenny nails, with 9,000 trunk nails and 16,500 brads.⁵⁹⁸ A London invoice of the next day sent parcels of nails, one group totalling 240,000.⁵⁹⁹

The supply could fail. Late in 1682 the Council found nails almost exhausted.⁶⁰⁰ From 23 December none were to be issued to any inhabitant except to nailers in the course of their trade.⁶⁰¹ The rest went to officers and soldiers in place of pay.⁶⁰² The ban showed that inhabitants ordinarily drew nails from the store. The Society brought six barrels of nails of 24 hundredweight each in April 1684, with 50 large wagon hinges.⁶⁰³ The indent of 1713 asked for 20,000 nails of the thirtypenny (30d) size and 10,000 lb of nails besides.⁶⁰⁴

The stock kept by the store grew through the 18th century. In November 1742 the nails were valued at £142 13s 7d, sorted by size from tacks to spikes.⁶⁰⁵ In October 1753 the store held over 52 hundredweight in sizes from threepenny to fortypenny, with glazing and flooring brads.⁶⁰⁶ By September 1764 it held 89 hundredweight 1 quarter 5 lb, worth £245 17s 7d.⁶⁰⁷ The building of 1766 almost exhausted the twentypenny framing nails.⁶⁰⁸ In 1769 the stock again weighed nearly four tons, worth £224 6s 11d.⁶⁰⁹ In September 1770 it was worth £217 19s 5d, including 9½ hundredweight of flooring brads.⁶¹⁰ The new barracks drew nails worth £7 4s 0d and then £10 2s 5d in the two quarters to March 1771.⁶¹¹

The names of the nails show what they were for. Flooring brads, glazing brads, barrack nails, spikes, clout, board, dog and clench nails all appear.⁶¹² In March 1766 the works drew 215 lb of twopenny and 87 lb of threepenny nails for laths and light boarding.⁶¹³ The gunner issued 500 trunk nails for the Lieutenant Governor's house in April 1766.⁶¹⁴ The store held "2,200 brass nails for chairs, £0 16s 0d" in 1767.⁶¹⁵ Iron rods were also issued in 1764 for making nails at the forge.⁶¹⁶

Private buyers took nails in quantity. In the quarter to September 1769 the servants bought nails worth £13 7s 6d.⁶¹⁷ They included 100 lb of fourpenny and 74½ lb of fortypenny nails.⁶¹⁸ In the quarter to December 1770 they bought nails worth £16 15s 2d, including 263 lb of fourpenny.⁶¹⁹ In 1763 the Council asked for smaller nails, because those sent were too large for use.⁶²⁰

Hinges were building stock in the same sense. The store of 1753 held 99 pairs of H hinges, 16 pairs with rising joints and 11 pairs of shutter hinges.⁶²¹ Later lists add HL, dovetail, side, butt, cross garnet and barrack hinges.⁶²² In 1759 rail hinges stood at 7s 6d and 1s 5d a pair and shutter hinges at 2s 3d.⁶²³ Servants paid 6s 6d for three pairs of H hinges in 1754.⁶²⁴ An overcharge on dovetail hinges in 1766 drew a correction. The Council noted that "Such hinges were usually invoiced at about 4d a pair."⁶²⁵ Sash fastenings, brass shutter rings and sash cord were stocked with them.⁶²⁶ In September 1770 the store held 38 pairs of shutter hinges and 20 pairs of HL hinges with rising joints.⁶²⁷

Paint, colours and putty

Paint was a regular article of the store by 1742. The inventory of that year listed linseed oil, white lead, Spanish brown, umber, yellow ochre, red lead and verdigris.⁶²⁸ The paint was valued at £45 13s 3d.⁶²⁹ White lead stood at 28s to 30s a hundredweight.⁶³⁰

The range of colours widened in the 1750s. By October 1753 the store held 16½ hundredweight of white lead with stone colour, Venice red, umber, Prussian blue and mahogany colour.⁶³¹ By 1755 it kept ready-mixed stone colour, olive colour, grey blue and mahogany, worth £131 6s 7d.⁶³² One entry read "Stone colour, 6 hundredweight 0 quarters 0lb, £15 8s 0d".⁶³³ The barracks materials included white lead, pearl colour and chocolate.⁶³⁴ By 1763 the paint in store was valued at £207 9s 10d, with 28 hundredweight of dry white lead.⁶³⁵

The Company's own houses show how the colours were used. In January 1754 the Deputy Governor's house took 16 gallons of linseed oil and most of 18 lb of white lead.⁶³⁶ The colours for it and the chaplain's house included 54 lb of stone colour and 14 lb of Venice red. They also took "46 pounds of Thye blue, 39 for the Deputy Governor's house and 7 for the chaplain's".⁶³⁷ The chaplain's house also had mahogany colour.⁶³⁸ Thomas Mason was paid £1 19s 6d for painting it.⁶³⁹ The new Plantation House drew two paint brushes for its cornice in 1753.⁶⁴⁰ Paint went "for painting inside the Plantation House" in 1762.⁶⁴¹

The great houses were repainted again in 1769-1770. In the quarter to December 1769 the Castle and the Lieutenant Governor's house took "74 pounds of blue paint, £8 3s 5d" with 143 lb of white lead.⁶⁴² The next quarter they took 385 lb of dry white lead and 25¼ gallons of linseed oil.⁶⁴³ The painters at the Lieutenant Governor's house were given 4 gallons of arrack.⁶⁴⁴ The chaplain's house had white lead, stone ochre, Prussian blue and chocolate in June 1770.⁶⁴⁵ At the end of 1770 the Castle, the Lieutenant Governor's house and Plantation House took 471 lb of whiting, 128 lb of stone colour and 110 lb of yellow ochre.⁶⁴⁶ The new barracks were finished with verdigris and black lead in 1771.⁶⁴⁷ Verdigris and turpentine were issued for painting the garden chairs in 1770.⁶⁴⁸

Private households bought the same colours. In 1753 servants bought indigo, white lead, Venetian red, mahogany colour, whiting and umber.⁶⁴⁹ In 1756 they bought 203 lb of white lead with sky blue, mahogany, olive and stone colours.⁶⁵⁰ In September 1767 they bought paint worth £16 6s 6d, including 755 lb of whiting and 255¾ lb of white lead.⁶⁵¹ Planters bought stone, pearl and olive colours ready mixed in 1766.⁶⁵² Turpentine appears in the sales from 1767.⁶⁵³ In the quarter to December 1769 servants bought 270 lb of dry white lead, 147¼ lb of stone colour and 20 lb of olive colour.⁶⁵⁴ Chocolate and pearl colours followed in 1770.⁶⁵⁵ In September 1770 the store held paints worth £105 9s 11d and 480 gallons of linseed oil.⁶⁵⁶

Some pigments served two purposes. Blue smalt and indigo were sold among the paints but were also issued for blueing linen.⁶⁵⁷ Paint also marked the garrison's blankets. In 1770 the year's issue was marked with chocolate paint, white lead and verdigris.⁶⁵⁸

Whiting and linseed oil made putty. In July 1753 the store issued "linseed for putty for the windows of the great house, the adjutant's apartment and repairs".⁶⁵⁹ Whiting went for putty in the Castle, barracks, guardroom and church in 1754.⁶⁶⁰ Whitewash needed only lime and brushes. In 1756 Robert Ballard sold "6 whitewashing brushes at 1s 6d each".⁶⁶¹ Plasterers' brushes were issued for whitewashing at Plantation House in 1762.⁶⁶²

Wood outside was protected with pitch, tar and rosin as well as paint. In 1767 Plantation House drew 50 lb of rosin and 6 gallons of tar and pitch for weatherproofing.⁶⁶³ Pitch also went to two of the Company's houses in 1768.⁶⁶⁴

Window glass and lead

Window glass came in quantity from 1683. The Scipio Africanus carried four chests of glass cut into squares, 920 feet in all, with solder, drawn lead and glaziers' tools.⁶⁶⁵ The glass in three of the four chests was found damaged by sweating in the hold.⁶⁶⁶ The Society brought a box of window glass in 1684.⁶⁶⁷ The indent of 1713 asked for 12,000 squares in three sizes, 8 by 6, 10 by 8½ and 12 by 8 inches.⁶⁶⁸ The Court sent only half the window glass asked for that year.⁶⁶⁹ A modern field study of old houses on the island found no house glazed before 1715.⁶⁷⁰

By 1742 the store distinguished grades of glass. Its inventory held 102 foot of quarry glass, "120 foot best crown glass, 12 by 10, at 8s" and squares cut to size.⁶⁷¹ The same year inhabitants bought 42 squares of 8 by 10 at 6d each.⁶⁷² In 1755 the store sold glass by the square foot in three pane sizes, 217 square feet of it 6 by 8.⁶⁷³

Three sizes dominated the sales: 6 by 8, 8 by 10 and 10 by 12 inches. Larger panes went to the great houses. The Castle had panes of 11 by 19 and the Lieutenant Governor's house four of 11 by 13¾ in 1763.⁶⁷⁴ The Castle repairs of 1764-1766 used squares up to 16½ by 19 inches.⁶⁷⁵ In 1764 the Council asked that the new church panes "might be ten by twelve inches, instead of eight by ten".⁶⁷⁶

Glass broke on the voyage and on landing. At the store in 1754 "the Black man who assisted in the stores stumbled with it, and by that accident let it fall, breaking twenty-five squares more".⁶⁷⁷ Of 250 squares invoiced on the Egmont in 1758, 16 arrived broken.⁶⁷⁸ From the Northumberland in 1767, 106 panes were found broken when the packages were opened.⁶⁷⁹ The Harcourt brought 103 broken panes in 1770.⁶⁸⁰ From the Calcutta in 1771 came 65 squares of 12 by 20 inches and 14 of 8 by 10, "found broken on opening a sound package".⁶⁸¹

Glass could hold up a building. In April 1771 the men's new barracks were nearly done.⁶⁸² The Council wrote, "These would be finished in eight or ten days, apart from the window glass, which was badly needed".⁶⁸³ They were glazed by June 1771 with 100 squares of 6 by 8 and 80 of 8 by 10 inches.⁶⁸⁴ The same quarter the Company bought 211 squares of 12 by 16 inches at 1s 6d each from George Bazett.⁶⁸⁵ No pane of that size stood in the store, which held 208 panes in 13 sizes in September 1770.⁶⁸⁶

Lead came in sheets and pipe. The store held 10 yards of 2-inch lead pipe valued at £4 15s 6d from 1755 to 1770.⁶⁸⁷ In September 1770 it also held 59 hundredweight of sheet lead, worth £56 7s 6d.⁶⁸⁸ Servants bought sheet lead by the pound, 268½ lb of it in the quarter to March 1771.⁶⁸⁹ Plantation House took 16 lead water pipes for £7 0s 6d in 1754.⁶⁹⁰ The Lieutenant Governor's house took 754 lb of sheet lead in 1769.⁶⁹¹ In September 1769 sheet lead was recast on the island with "1 melting ladle for casting sheet lead, £0 11s 10d" and 31 bushels of coal.⁶⁹²

Tools of the building trades

The store equipped the tradesmen as well as the buildings. The account of 1680 already listed broad axes, 50 adzes, 31 narrow axes, stone axes, red-stone mauls, gimlets, augers, chisels, gouges and whip saws.⁶⁹³ In 1742 the store held jack planes, compass saws, bricklayers' axes and "33 plasterers and bricklayers trowels at 15s".⁶⁹⁴

The issues of the 1750s show the trades at their tasks. Stone sawyers drew "4 lime saws for the stone sawyers" in 1753.⁶⁹⁵ In 1755 the masons had 12 marble tools and 12 Portland tools.⁶⁹⁶ Fishing lines served as builders' lines and "3 cuffies for the masons' scaffolding" were issued in 1763.⁶⁹⁷ The carpenters' shop was re-equipped in 1769 with adzes, chisels, rules, a whipsaw at £2 7s 4½d and "1 sash saw, £0 6s 2d".⁶⁹⁸ Sash planes appeared in 1757.⁶⁹⁹ In June 1770 the carpenters were issued 12 adzes, four broad axes and a whipsaw.⁷⁰⁰ They also had 108 chisels, 48 gimlets and 24 claw hammers.⁷⁰¹ Their planes numbered 18, with 72 plane irons and six handsaws.⁷⁰² A year later the shop was re-equipped again, with a set of sash planes at 18s 6d.⁷⁰³

By September 1769 the ironmongery in store was valued at £372 18s 8d.⁷⁰⁴ It included 80 bricklayer's and 42 plasterer's trowels, 32 stone rammers, 29 mason's hammers and 39 beech mallets.⁷⁰⁵ Servants bought trowels, walling hammers and lathing hammers for their own use.⁷⁰⁶ The barracks works of 1770-1771 drew cart wheels and 33 wheelbarrows for £29 5s 10d.⁷⁰⁷ They also took 22 bricklayers' trowels, 18 iron crowbars and 20 shovels.⁷⁰⁸ By September 1770 the trowels in store had fallen to 30 plasterers' and 37 bricklayers'.⁷⁰⁹

Prices in the Company's store

The quarterly sales give the price of each material to two classes of buyer. The Company's servants paid a small advance on cost. Planters and others paid 25 or 40 per cent above cost. In 1767 outside buyers paid 4s 10d each for four double deals against 3s 9d to employees.⁷¹⁰ The table sets out stated prices from the sales and issues.

Table 3. Stated prices of building materials in the Company's store, 1742-1771
Item	Year	Buyer	Stated quantity and sum	Price each	Source
Teak board	1742	Goodwin estate sale	28 at 1s each	1s	046/126-127
Single deal	1753	Servants	11 for £1 4s 3½d	2s 2½d	062/13
Single deal	1753	At 40 per cent	6 for 17s	2s 10d	062/212
Single deal	1762	At 40 per cent	8 for £1 5s 8d	3s 2½d	071/14-16
Single deal	1770	Servants	116 for £12 11s 4d	2s 2d	086/32
Single deal	1770	At 40 per cent	12 for £1 13s 6d	2s 9½d	085/165
Double deal	1753	Servants	2 for 6s 6d	3s 3d	062/13
Double deal	1767	Servants	94 for £17 12s 6d	3s 9d	082/75
Double deal	1767	Outside buyers	4 at 4s 10d	4s 10d	082/327-328
Double deal	1770	Servants	120 for £22 10s 0d	3s 9d	086/32
Double deal	1770	Planters	12 for £2 17s 9d	4s 9¾d	086/38
Wainscot board	1759	Servants	5 for £1 13s 9d	6s 9d	069/78-79
Wainscot board	1763	Servants	1 for 7s 4½d	7s 4½d	075/70
Wainscot board	1770	Servants	1 for 7s 3d	7s 3d	085/162
Riga timber, piece	1753	Servants	8 for £16 4s 0d	£2 0s 6d	062/286
Riga timber, piece	1770	Servants	3 for £7 2s 9d	£2 7s 7d	086/32
Island rafter	1755	Company	500 at 6d	6d	063/404
Island rafter	1760	Company	102 at 1s 6d	1s 6d	069/394
Island rafter	1770	Company	75 for £3 15s 0d	1s	085/208
Laths, bundle	1763	Servants	7 for 8s 9d	1s 3d	075/139
Laths, bundle	1770	Servants	1 for 1s 2¾d	1s 2¾d	085/411
Window glass 8 by 10	1742	Inhabitants	42 at 6d each	6d	046/121-125
Window glass 8 by 10	1753	Servants	119 for £3 14s 4½d	7½d	062/286
Window glass 8 by 10	1764	Servants	346 for £11 3s 5½d	7¾d	076/15
Window glass 8 by 10	1764	At 40 per cent	34 for £1 8s 4d	10d	076/106-109
Window glass 8 by 10	1770	Servants	163 for £5 5s 3¼d	7¾d	085/158
Window glass 8 by 10	1771	Servants	240 for £6 15s 0d	6¾d	086/296
Window glass 6 by 8	1764	Servants	154 for £2 8s 1½d	3¾d	076/15
Window glass 10 by 12	1757	Servants	109 for £4 19s 11d	11d	067/414-415
Window glass 10 by 12	1769	At 40 per cent	4 for 6s 7d	1s 7¾d	084/45
Window glass 10 by 12	1770	At 40 per cent	4 for 6s 4d	1s 7d	085/165
Window glass 12 by 16	1771	Company purchase	211 at 1s 6d	1s 6d	086/354
White lead, per lb	1753	Servants	22 lb for 8s 3d	4½d	062/11
White lead, per lb	1754	At 40 per cent	86 lb for £2 3s 0d	6d	062/364
White lead, per lb	1770	Servants	157 lb for £2 15s 7¼d	4¼d	085/157
Mixed white lead, per lb	1764	Servants	155 lb for £3 4s 7d	5d	076/11
Stone colour, per lb	1764	Servants	16 lb for 8s 4d	6¼d	075/343
Stone colour, per lb	1769	Servants	147¼ lb for £4 2s 9d	6¾d	085/11
Linseed oil, per gallon	1742	Inhabitants	2½ gallons at 4s 8d	4s 8d	047/86
Linseed oil, per gallon	1753	Servants	2½ gallons for 9s 2d	3s 8d	062/13
Linseed oil, per gallon	1771	Servants	49½ gallons for £10 19s 0d	4s 5d	086/141
Tenpenny nails, per lb	1742	Inhabitants	100 lb for £3 2s 6d	7½d	047/158
Fourpenny nails, per lb	1770	Servants	263 lb for £9 0s 10d	8¼d	086/36
Flooring brads, per lb	1754	Company	60 lb for £1 0s 0d	4d	063/226
Flooring brads, per lb	1770	Servants	20 lb for 11s 3d	6¾d	085/295]]
*The price each is the stated sum divided by the stated quantity. Sales to servants carried a small advance on cost; the higher class paid 25 or 40 per cent

The prices moved little over nearly two decades. A single deal cost a servant 2s 2½d in 1753, between 2s 2d and 2s 6½d in the 1760s and 2s 2d in 1770.⁷¹¹ An 8 by 10 pane cost servants between 6¾d and 8d from 1753 to 1771.⁷¹² White lead stayed near 4¼d to 5d a pound.⁷¹³ Linseed oil was dearer, at 3s 8d a gallon in 1753 and about 4s 5d in 1771.⁷¹⁴ The island rafter, bought from planters, cost 6d in some years, 1s 6d in others and 1s in 1769-1770.⁷¹⁵

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the Company's store served as the island's builders' merchant. Deals, nails, hinges, glass and paint were sold in small lots to servants and planters every quarter. A householder who wanted a door, a shutter or a window bought the parts at the warehouse. The ban on issuing nails in 1682 showed that this dependence was established within a decade of settlement.

The division between island and imported timber was probably a matter of size and quality. The island gave rafters, laths, binders, bamboo and cabbage tree poles for light roofs and thatched frames. It could not give boards in quantity. Floors, doors, shutters, sashes, panelling and furniture all depended on deals and wainscot from England.

The constant prices pointed to a store governed by fixed advances on invoice rather than by local supply and demand. Scarcity showed itself as empty shelves, not as dearer deals. The periods without timber in 1760-1762 and 1768 stopped work rather than raising the price.

The paint accounts suggested a change in the look of houses from the 1750s. Stone colour, olive, pearl, mahogany and chocolate were bought by servants and planters as well as issued for the Company's houses. Large purchases of whiting probably reflected limewash and putty as much as paint.

Comparisons

In England the 17th and 18th centuries saw deal from Norway and the Baltic replace oak for floors, partitions and joinery in many houses.⁷¹⁶ St Helena drew on the same Baltic timber trade, but at the end of a voyage of several months. Its householders had no merchant other than the Company.

Colonial New England stood at the opposite extreme. Builders there had abundant native timber and framed whole houses from it, sawing their own boards.⁷¹⁷ Nails and glass, not timber, were the imported goods.

Bermuda offers the closest island parallel. Its cedar was consumed chiefly by shipbuilding, and from 1693 new grants in St George's required building in stone.⁷¹⁸ On St Helena the wood went into arrack stills, lime kilns and fuel. The result in both places was dependence on stone for walls and imports for boards.

A wider history of island forests places St Helena beside Mauritius, Madeira and the Caribbean sugar islands as early cases of colonial deforestation.⁷¹⁹ The replanting rules tied to St Helena leases from 1735 belonged to that early pattern of conservation law.

At the Cape building timber was also scarce, and much of it came by sea under the Dutch East India Company's control.⁷²⁰ There, as on St Helena, a company store stood between the householder and the materials for his doors and roof.

4. Builders and Tradesmen

The First Tradesmen, 1673-1740

Before the 1740s the island's builders appear only now and then, usually when a payment or a dispute brought them before the Council. William Roe was paid £3 5s in December 1684 for burning lime and for mason's work.⁷²¹ The lime he burned was probably the imported chalk brought out as ballast and sold that year at 4s a bushel.⁷²² The mason Robert Sexton and John Arden were credited in October 1693 for building a kitchen at the fort.⁷²³ They also rebuilt a room on Munden's Mount destroyed in Henry Jackson's mutiny.⁷²⁴

Skilled men were scarce and dear. John Simsick, a soldier, was allowed 4s a day as a stone layer at Prosperous Bay house in about 1713.⁷²⁵ The Council itself criticised the rate as poor economy.⁷²⁶ Thomas Burnham, a mason, was engaged at the same 4s a day when the Sandy Bay lime works began in September 1709.⁷²⁷ He was later summoned to explain why the "Two Gun Ridge house" he had contracted to build stood unfinished and part of its chimney had fallen.⁷²⁸ He blamed violent rain; the Council accepted this for the chimney but ordered the house finished without further loss of time.⁷²⁹

Trade names also surface in land deeds. Jonathan Higham junior was described in April 1723 as "a planter and stone cutter" when he leased 34 acres near the upper lime kiln in Sandy Bay Valley.⁷³⁰ Giles Smith, "carpenter, of St Helena", sold two parcels of land to Samuel Doveton for £12 and £70 in December 1730.⁷³¹ Both men held land as well as a trade, a pattern that persisted throughout the century.

The joiners' work depended on timber from England. A supply indent of the 1710s asked for 20 bedsteads and noted that only the timber was needed for a joiner to make 40 more.⁷³² The Council added that it "could keep two or three joiners busy" making sashes, cupboards, chests of drawers and tables for the planters, if only it had the wood.⁷³³

The Company looked early to its slaves for skilled labour. An undated order among the island's laws directed that the most tractable and skilful slaves be taught joinery and carpentry.⁷³⁴ In 1731 the Council proposed sending a slave boy to England to learn tile-making, with more boys to follow each year as apprentices to artificers.⁷³⁵ The boy was sent in 1732 to learn a trade "which would be of great use in a country where the houses were all thatched and apt to catch fire".⁷³⁶

The fullest early case is that of Jack the carpenter, a Company slave, who died in October 1736. Governor Pyke called him "a very useful and diligent man".⁷³⁷ Jack asked that his son Daniel be bred to his own trade.⁷³⁸ He also asked that his wife live low down for her health and that up to 50s owed him go to her.⁷³⁹ The Governor promised all of it, and about 100 black people and seven or eight white people attended the funeral.⁷⁴⁰ Daniel had already been placed with Henry Moyce, carpenter, to learn the trade.⁷⁴¹

Moyce was the Company's carpenter through the early 1740s. He drew £8 6s 8d for May and June 1742 and £12 10s for the following quarter.⁷⁴² He resigned in January 1748.⁷⁴³ Masonry on the Company's account was by then a standing charge. In January 1740, of 36 men fit for service, seven were stone layers at Rupert's and six were permanently assigned to the longboat fetching lime.⁷⁴⁴

The Company's Masons and Carpenters

From the mid-1740s the Company kept a small salaried staff of building tradesmen sent out from England. When Plantation House was judged past repair in 1744, two masons were engaged on five-year contracts.⁷⁴⁵ John Bland, master mason, came at £70 a year with diet and house rent, and Mark Hawkins at £50.⁷⁴⁶ Bland advised the Court that a mason skilled in hewing rough wall stone might be found in Kent.⁷⁴⁷ Bland, Hawkins and Moyce were all paid in 1746 for days' work aboard a visiting naval ship.⁷⁴⁸

The pay lists of the 1750s show the staff quarter by quarter. In January 1753 Bland drew £11 10s salary, £10 diet money and £1 10s house rent, £29 in all.⁷⁴⁹ Hawkins drew £12 10s salary with £1 house rent, and the carpenter William Oakman £12 10s.⁷⁵⁰ The same figures recur through 1753 and 1754.⁷⁵¹ Hawkins was trusted as an executor to a settler's will.⁷⁵² Bland bought and later sold a house of his own.⁷⁵³

Oakman was dismissed on 31 March 1754 and replaced by Thomas Lawrence at £50 a year.⁷⁵⁴ Thomas Cheeseborough came as carpenter's mate at £30.⁷⁵⁵ The Court called Oakman "a drunken selfish fellow".⁷⁵⁶ Cheeseborough died in April 1755, and his goods fetched £2 13s 4d at auction.⁷⁵⁷ A flock bed, blanket and hammock went for 2s 6d and a chest for 11s.⁷⁵⁸ Thomas Eastwood took his place on 22 June 1755 at £35 a year.⁷⁵⁹ In 1756 Eastwood escaped on the London, and the Court punished its captain as a warning to others.⁷⁶⁰

The carpenter engaged in 1754 appears under several spellings: Levinz, Loving, Levins, Lewing and Ewing. He drew £12 10s a quarter with 15s house rent.⁷⁶¹ His wife Deborah was given leave in November 1756 to join "her husband Thomas Ewing, the Company's carpenter at St Helena".⁷⁶² He resigned on 31 March 1759, and John Robinson was appointed in his place.⁷⁶³

Hawkins did not last. In November 1756 the Court learned he had been dismissed "from his idleness, negligence and drinking, unfit for further service".⁷⁶⁴ The Council judged him "of little or no service to the Honourable Company".⁷⁶⁵ His successor Townshend was engaged in February 1758 at £6 10s a month for salary and every allowance.⁷⁶⁶ He was given £5 besides to fit himself out.⁷⁶⁷ He was "a mason who understood rough wall work, cutting of stone".⁷⁶⁸ The clerks named him James and Thomas; he arrived in the Egmont and drew £19 10s a quarter.⁷⁶⁹

Bland's later career was stormy. He struck the surgeon without provocation in January 1762 and was dismissed, then taken back on probation.⁷⁷⁰ The inhabitants had meanwhile chosen him as an officer to keep the peace.⁷⁷¹ He was re-entered in June 1762 as master mason at £70 a year.⁷⁷² By 1764 he was blamed for the failing roof of the new Plantation House.⁷⁷³ The Court judged him "undeserving of being employed any longer", and he sailed for England in April 1765.⁷⁷⁴ He returned to his family on the island, and finally left with them in May 1767.⁷⁷⁵ The Council later said he had "left the Company's works and buildings with many failures, blunders and shallow repairs".⁷⁷⁶

Bland's successor was engaged in December 1764 at £120 a year, "in full for wages, diet money, house rent and all other allowances whatever".⁷⁷⁷ The Court's letter named him William Colebrook; the island's pay lists name him William Holbrook, and they were probably one man.⁷⁷⁸ He drew £30 a quarter as master mason from June 1765.⁷⁷⁹ A second mason, engaged at £78 a year and named Piety, Riley and Bailey in different letters, was ruptured on the voyage and sent home.⁷⁸⁰

Holbrook proved a poor choice. He was bound over in January 1768 for beating his wife.⁷⁸¹ The engineer Archibald Mitchell warned it would be "highly improper" to leave the works to a master mason alone.⁷⁸² By June 1769 Holbrook was "a very drunken and idle fellow and was also very infirm with age".⁷⁸³ The Court ordered him kept, "however unskilful he might be", until a better man came.⁷⁸⁴ He still drew £30 for the quarter to December 1769.⁷⁸⁵ He died on 20 March 1770.⁷⁸⁶ His will ordered everything sold for his daughter Martha, the wife of a ropemaker near St George's in the East, London.⁷⁸⁷ The publican John Price was sole executor.⁷⁸⁸ His effects fetched £23 10s 6d at auction on 4 April 1770, and his last 79 days' salary added £25 19s 5d.⁷⁸⁹ After 10 creditors and a funeral with a coffin of two deals were paid, £16 8s 0½d remained for his heirs.⁷⁹⁰ The Council later blamed "the incapacity of the late master mason, William Holbrook".⁷⁹¹

Townsend, meanwhile, had left the service in July 1767.⁷⁹² John Preston was engaged as mason at £80 a year in January 1768, with his wife and two children.⁷⁹³ He drew £20 a quarter as mason's mate.⁷⁹⁴ With Holbrook dead, Preston appeared in June 1770 simply as mason at the same £20 a quarter.⁷⁹⁵ By August 1770 he was "a heavy drinker".⁷⁹⁶ He drew £20 a quarter through 1770 and into 1771.⁷⁹⁷ Edward Danielle was engaged as master mason at £120 a year in January 1771.⁷⁹⁸ The pay list names him Edward Daniels and enters him from 3 April 1771.⁷⁹⁹ He brought an apprentice, John Daniels, who was paid £4 18s 11d for the part quarter.⁸⁰⁰ Preston then reverted to mason's mate at £20.⁸⁰¹ Within six weeks the master mason was reprimanded over a wall "built with earth instead of lime".⁸⁰² The engineer had ordered a batter of 1 inch a foot, but the mason gave 5 inches in 13 feet.⁸⁰³ The Council then made lime mortar compulsory on the outer face of all works.⁸⁰⁴

The carpenter's mate's post was hard to fill. Joseph Chamberlain held it from about 1762 at £7 10s a quarter, besides a private soldier's pay.⁸⁰⁵ He sought release in 1766 because the post demanded attendance on every labouring day and he was "unable to earn enough to support a growing family".⁸⁰⁶ Peter Monit was engaged in his place in February 1768 at £60 a year.⁸⁰⁷ As Mariot, he was found to have "taken a door lock from Plantation House, carried it down to the valley and fitted it to his own door".⁸⁰⁸ He was dismissed on 7 November 1768, and James Hogg followed.⁸⁰⁹ Hogg drew £12 10s a quarter, and the clerks sometimes wrote his name as James Hay.⁸¹⁰ He drowned on 18 November 1770.⁸¹¹ The Council sold his belongings and held the money for his two brothers and sister.⁸¹² His estate, "without leaving a will", was entered at £53 4s 4d in 1772.⁸¹³ William Gurrup, a soldier, was appointed carpenter's mate on 10 December 1770 "at the usual salary of £30 0s 0d a year".⁸¹⁴ In 1771 he drew £12 10s a quarter, the rate Hogg had drawn.⁸¹⁵

John Robinson, Master Carpenter

John Robinson was the most valued building tradesman of the period. An orphan, Simon Whaley, chose him as master in May 1759.⁸¹⁶ Robinson drew £12 10s a quarter as Company carpenter, with £3 5s for his apprentice.⁸¹⁷ In July 1764 the Council put the reroofing of the Castle "under the charge of John Robinson, carpenter".⁸¹⁸

In July 1765 Robinson petitioned for more pay. Before entering the Company's service the inhabitants had paid him 5s a day, £78 2s a year, the normal private rate for a carpenter.⁸¹⁹ The post took all his time, and the masons were paid much more for equal work.⁸²⁰ The Council noted that "his salary was much less than the master masons though he was equally serviceable".⁸²¹ It raised him from £50 to £100 a year, still £20 below a master mason.⁸²² The Court confirmed the rise but warned against raising salaries without its consent.⁸²³ One minute observed that "he could earn twice his salary if his time were his own".⁸²⁴

Robinson still took private work. In November 1768 he was told to give his whole time to the Company's shop: "he was to give himself to that work alone".⁸²⁵ He also supplied materials. In 1766 he furnished 100 cabbage tree sticks and 32 rafters for the buildings at Sandy Bay.⁸²⁶ In 1768 his bill covered 21 rafters for Plantation House and 53 for the Company's houses in James's Valley.⁸²⁷ In 1767 he offered to wall off flood water from the houses below the burial ground if granted the plot.⁸²⁸ On 20 January 1770 he was paid £3 15s for 75 rafters to repair the slaves' house at Maldivia Garden.⁸²⁹ The same bill covered rafters, laths and binders for the alarm house at the Ridge and laths for the Peak house.⁸³⁰ His salary of £25 a quarter ran unchanged from 1769 to 1771.⁸³¹

The Company's carpenters' shop was re-equipped twice in these years. In June 1770 ironware worth £33 19s 5d supplied 12 adzes, four broad axes and a whipsaw. It also held 108 chisels, 48 gimlets and 24 claw hammers.⁸³² The same issue held 12 rules, 18 planes with 72 plane irons and six handsaws.⁸³³ A year later the shop had a dozen more adzes, gouges, engineers' augers and a set of sash planes at 18s 6d.⁸³⁴ George Bird, the carpenter, advised the school committee in 1770 on its timber, including about 300 double deals.⁸³⁵

Glaziers, Painters, Plasterers and Thatchers

The lesser finishing trades were seldom salaried. They were paid by the job or the day, and most of these men were soldiers. One glazier and painter served for more than two decades. The clerks spelled his surname in at least six ways, among them Eates, Eales, Estes and Oates. Samuel Eates was paid for whitewashing the Company's house in 1742.⁸³⁶ Samuel Eales did glazier's work and painting in the early 1750s.⁸³⁷ Samuel Estes, a soldier, whitewashed ceilings at 2s a day in April 1754.⁸³⁸ Samuel Oates, a soldier, glazed the church at 1s a day for 12 days in January 1756.⁸³⁹ Samuel Estre was paid £7 6s for a quarter's glazing in October 1759.⁸⁴⁰ The Samuel Gates who plastered the Castle in 1765 was perhaps the same man.⁸⁴¹

Other glaziers were paid smaller sums. Samuel Cater was paid £12 in October 1754 for "making putty, cutting glass and glazing windows for the East Plantation House and the hospital".⁸⁴² William Finch, a soldier of the Second Company, glazed through the 1760s for between 3s and 18s a quarter.⁸⁴³ In 1765 he was paid 1s 6d a day for 12 days' glazing at the Castle.⁸⁴⁴

Painters were paid at similar rates. Thomas Mason painted the chaplain's house for £1 19s 6d in January 1754.⁸⁴⁵ He painted the bell turret on the guardhouse at 1s 6d a day.⁸⁴⁶ Charles Stokes painted the windows, staircases and ceilings of Mr Clark's house at 2s a day.⁸⁴⁷ Robert Brown painted for the Company from 1762 to 1765, at 1s 6d a day by 1765.⁸⁴⁸ He also ground colours, and was paid £3 13s 6d for joiner's work in March 1764.⁸⁴⁹ In the quarter to March 1770 painters at the Lieutenant Governor's house were paid 35 days at 2s 6d and 23 days at 3s.⁸⁵⁰ Those rates were well above the 1s 6d paid to painters on the batteries.⁸⁵¹ They were also given 4 gallons of arrack while at work on the house.⁸⁵² The Castle, the Lieutenant Governor's house and Plantation House were all repainted in the quarter to December 1770.⁸⁵³ The work used 471 pounds of whiting, 128 pounds of stone-coloured paint, 110 pounds of yellow ochre and 29¼ gallons of linseed oil.⁸⁵⁴

The new barracks waited for their glass. In April 1771 the men's barracks were expected to be finished within 10 days, "apart from the window glass".⁸⁵⁵ They were glazed in the quarter to June 1771.⁸⁵⁶

Plastering in 1742 was entered at a startling rate. Henry Savage was paid "for plastering for 15 days at 10s 6d a day".⁸⁵⁷ The figure is probably a clerk's error, since no later plasterer earned more than 1s 6d a day.⁸⁵⁸ Plasterers at the Castle in the quarter to December 1770 worked 17¾ days for £1 6s 7½d, still at 1s 6d.⁸⁵⁹ They worked another 13½ days there by March 1771.⁸⁶⁰ William Hays was paid 2s 6d in 1771 for a bag of hair to bind the lime plaster.⁸⁶¹

Stephen Young was the Company's usual thatcher. He was paid 3s a day for 18 days "thatching a turkey house of the Company's houses" in July 1755.⁸⁶² His rate fell to 2s 6d in 1757 and rose to 3s 6d in 1759.⁸⁶³ In March 1763 he and two others, William and John Hays, thatched the Lieutenant Governor's house.⁸⁶⁴ Masons also thatched: in October 1759 cordage was issued "for the masons in thatching the great house".⁸⁶⁵ Three gallons of arrack went to the thatchers at the plantation in June 1768.⁸⁶⁶ Thatch was still in use on the Company's slave quarters in 1770, when 14 pounds of "cordage for thatching the slaves' house" were issued.⁸⁶⁷

Some household trades appear only in passing. John Shirtley, mattress-maker, received a dead man's wearing apparel in 1757.⁸⁶⁸ Joseph Drite, "a mattress maker", died in July that year.⁸⁶⁹ Adam Evans was paid 17s 6d in 1765 for "colouring and mending 18 chairs in the castle".⁸⁷⁰ Joseph Chamberlain made 20 Windsor chairs for the Castle hall at 5s each in November 1766.⁸⁷¹ William Davis made 21 sacking bottoms for garrison cots at 4d each in 1754.⁸⁷² A plumber was paid 10s in 1768, and plumbers spent 38 days on the Lieutenant Governor's house in 1769.⁸⁷³ Plumbers worked 10 more days on the portico and the Castle at 1s 6d in the quarter to December 1769.⁸⁷⁴ John Joyce was paid £1 5s a quarter from 1769 to 1771 for keeping and cleaning the Company's clocks and instruments.⁸⁷⁵ Two plumbers were engaged in 1775 to bring water from Chubb's Spring.⁸⁷⁶

Soldiers as Day Labour

Most labour on the Company's buildings came from the garrison. Soldiers were paid a small daily allowance on top of their pay. In August 1742 the Council hired men from their masters "at the usual allowance of twelvepence per day".⁸⁷⁷ The labourer's rate of 1s a day held for nearly 30 years.⁸⁷⁸

Skilled soldiers did much of the carpentry. Jonathan Hitchens, a discharged soldier, was paid £5 a quarter for carpenter's work from October 1753.⁸⁷⁹ He was paid quarter after quarter until 1758.⁸⁸⁰ Joseph Chamberlain drew the same £5 a quarter from 1756 to 1759.⁸⁸¹ Soldiers assisted the carpenter at 1s a day: William Elwood and John Deer worked 137 days in the quarter to January 1758.⁸⁸²

The great building campaigns of the late 1750s rested on soldiers' labour. In 1754 the Governor asked the men to clear ground and build larger barracks unpaid, for their own comfort.⁸⁸³ The Court then empowered the Council to pay extra, adding "not only the fortifications but the barracks and other necessary ones likewise".⁸⁸⁴ Soldiers were paid £131 2s 3d for 2,747½ days at the new barracks and other works in the July quarter of 1758.⁸⁸⁵ They worked a further 1,867⅞ days that October and 2,137 days by January 1759.⁸⁸⁶ They built a stable at Plantation House in 256 days and three rooms for slaves in 507 days.⁸⁸⁷

Soldiers also rebuilt after floods. A flood of 1756, "such as had never been remembered by the oldest person then living on the place", cost £93 11s 5d in soldiers' wages.⁸⁸⁸ The work covered back walls, houses, the burial ground walls and the Plantation House garden walls.⁸⁸⁹ After the Castle was surveyed in 1764, soldiers worked 995½ days there at 1s a day in a single quarter.⁸⁹⁰ They worked 1,022 more days in the next quarter.⁸⁹¹

From 1765 garrison tradesmen were paid 1s 6d a day. In June 1766 soldiers did 100¾ days of plasterers' work at the Castle at that rate.⁸⁹² Carpenters, sawyers, smiths and painters there earned the same, and 828½ labourers' days were paid at 1s.⁸⁹³ Soldier masons repairing the Mount were paid 3s 6d.⁸⁹⁴ By 1768 the scale was fixed: masons, carpenters, lime burners, smiths, painters and cooks at 1s 6d and labourers at 1s.⁸⁹⁵ One carpenter's work at Banks's in 1768 was paid at 5s a day.⁸⁹⁶ The scale held through 1769 and 1770 for every garrison trade on the works, from sawyers and plumbers to lime burners.⁸⁹⁷

The new barracks of 1770-1771 were the largest single call on soldiers' labour in these years. In June 1770 the old barracks held only 200 men in crowded rooms. The Council ordered a second square for 500.⁸⁹⁸ The first nine overseers' days and 141¼ labourers' days were entered that quarter.⁸⁹⁹ In October the Council told the engineer "to go ahead with the additional barracks as quickly as he could".⁹⁰⁰ Table 4 sets out the wages paid on the barracks quarter by quarter.

Table 4. Wages paid for building the new barracks, quarters ending June 1770 to June 1771
Quarter ending	Labourers' days	Masons' days	Stone blowers' days	Total wages	Source
June 1770	141¼	none stated	none stated	£7 13s 3d	085/358
September 1770	2,806¾	35½	237½	£171 16s 9d	085/464
December 1770	4,210½	469¼	401¾	£313 13s 7d	086/78
March 1771	4,185⅔	634½	290	£339 16s 10d	086/192
June 1771	604½	41½	none stated	£79 10s 9d	086/356

Labourers were paid 1s a day and masons, stone blowers, smiths, sawyers and painters 1s 6d. Carpenters, overseers and smiths are included in the totals but not shown separately. The totals come to £912 11s 2d.

The barracks thus took nearly 12,000 labourers' days in five quarters.⁹⁰¹ Carpenters were paid at two rates there, most at 1s 6d and a smaller number at 1s 3d.⁹⁰² The heaviest quarter for carpentry was that to March 1771, with 345 days at the higher rate.⁹⁰³ That quarter the barracks also took 600 double deals, as the work reached the floors and roof.⁹⁰⁴ Other works ran alongside. Stone layers making a new watercourse beside one of the Company's houses in early 1771 were paid £11 1s 3d for 73¾ days, or 3s a day.⁹⁰⁵ Stonecutters at the Lieutenant Governor's house worked 72 days for £5 8s, at 1s 6d.⁹⁰⁶ Building a lime house in early 1770 took six overseers' days and 124 labourers' days.⁹⁰⁷

The Company sent tradesmen out among its recruits. In December 1756 it noted that the soldiers on the Falmouth "had been bred carpenters, bricklayers and caulkers".⁹⁰⁸ In 1766 Mitchell asked for "craftsmen useful in building" among the recruits, since enlisted men cost far less.⁹⁰⁹ He wanted a plasterer, a house painter, masons and "a brickmaker skilled in making tiles".⁹¹⁰ In 1767 the Council was glad to find "so many craftsmen among them".⁹¹¹ The island could also lose such men. James Hill, a matross and bricklayer, volunteered in 1764 to serve five years at Bencoolen, where builders were needed.⁹¹²

A return of September 1765 showed the building force at its peak. The Company's own force numbered 53: four salaried servants, 13 trained slave craftsmen, 14 slave labourers and 22 apprentice slave boys.⁹¹³ Of 46 hired men, 44 were soldiers and two inhabitants, costing £846 19s 6d a year.⁹¹⁴ The combined return listed eight masons, eight carpenters, one painter, one plasterer, three brickmakers, one bricklayer and 36 labourers among 99 men.⁹¹⁵ By April 1766 the works employed 210 men and boys at Sandy Bay, James's Valley and Plantation House.⁹¹⁶

Slave Craftsmen and Apprentices

Company slaves were trained as masons and carpenters, and they became valuable. In 1760 two runaway slaves, named Grewer and Spencer in different letters, returned from England. The Court asked that the mason be spared punishment, he "being bred a mason, must be very serviceable to the island".⁹¹⁷ The Council replied that he was "a very artful and designing fellow" who boasted of liberty in England.⁹¹⁸ The Court then judged its lenity "misapplied".⁹¹⁹

Fort Marlborough asked in 1760 for slaves skilled in rough stone building.⁹²⁰ The Council refused: "it could not possibly spare any of its slaves that were stonemasons, those handicrafts being extremely useful at present".⁹²¹ A black bricklayer of the Company's was at work on the barracks in April 1760.⁹²²

The engineer Mitchell relied heavily on slave labour. In September 1765 he wrote that "nearly all the Company's labourers and craftsmen were slaves, most of them only recently brought from Africa".⁹²³ The Company then had no more than three stonemasons fit for regular work.⁹²⁴ He set several newly arrived slaves aside to train as masons.⁹²⁵ Of the 22 boys brought by Captain Skottowe, 13 went to masons, three to brickmakers, two to bricklayers and two to plasterers.⁹²⁶ Every apprentice on the 1765 return was a slave boy.⁹²⁷ In April 1766 the slaves from Africa were described as raw, weak and sickly, with about a third usually in hospital.⁹²⁸

Formal indentures followed. George Daniel and Frank were apprenticed to Robinson to learn carpentry, and Belford and Luke to Holbrook to learn masonry.⁹²⁹ The agreements were dated 1 October 1765 after a trial.⁹³⁰ The master mason was paid 1s a day for his apprentice's days at the works.⁹³¹ Holbrook was paid £3 18s for 78 days' work by his apprentice in the quarter to March 1768.⁹³² He was paid £3 16s for 76 days by the same means in the quarter to December 1769.⁹³³

Not every master would teach. In June 1767 Townsend refused to train slave boys, though no one else on the island properly understood cutting and squaring stone. "He answered that he came to the island to do his own work and nothing more."⁹³⁴

Planters hired out their own slave craftsmen to the Company. In May 1766 six slave stonelayers were hired from their owners at 2s 6d a day with food, "the amount always paid for craftsmen of this kind".⁹³⁵ One owner was the councillor Matthew Purling.⁹³⁶ Goodwin, Wrangham and a third owner were paid the same rate for their stonecutters at Sandy Bay.⁹³⁷ In 1769 slave masons belonging to John Alexander, Benjamin Seale, Benjamin Mason, Purling and Captain Bazett were hired at 2s 6d, the owners taking the hire.⁹³⁸ Superintendents of the carpenter slaves were paid £10 a quarter between them.⁹³⁹

White apprentices are rarer in the record. Simon Whaley, an orphan of about 16, chose Robinson as master in 1759.⁹⁴⁰ By 1760 he was paid 1s 6d a day in the carpenters' shop.⁹⁴¹ Francis Wrangham left his godson Whaley £50 to set up in his trade.⁹⁴² By 1765 Whaley earned 5s a day for 35 days at the Castle.⁹⁴³ Townsend was paid £3 5s a quarter for his apprentice's work from 1762.⁹⁴⁴ In 1765 that apprentice was paid at 10d a day.⁹⁴⁵

Day Wages and Salaries

The wage rates fall into two clear bands. Tradesmen hired from outside the garrison earned 2s 6d to 5s a day; soldiers and slaves earned 1s to 1s 6d. Figure 1 plots each stated daily rate from 1742 to 1771.

Figure 1. Daily wages of building tradesmen and labourers paid by the Company, 1742-1771, in pence a day. Each point is one stated daily rate; the higher points are tradesmen hired from outside the garrison, the lower ones soldiers paid extra for day work.

In the upper band, Stephen Young thatched at 3s to 3s 6d a day.⁹⁴⁶ John Doveton and Matthew Bazett laid stone at 3s a day in 1756 and 1757.⁹⁴⁷ A mason building the Sandy Bay guard house in 1759 was paid 3s a day for 17 days.⁹⁴⁸ Masons repairing the chaplain's and officers' houses in 1765 earned 3s a day for 159 days, the highest rate paid that quarter.⁹⁴⁹ Sutton Sandys, mason, worked 40 days on the Castle at 2s 6d.⁹⁵⁰ Painters at the Lieutenant Governor's house earned 2s 6d and 3s a day early in 1770.⁹⁵¹ Stone layers on a new watercourse were paid 3s a day early in 1771.⁹⁵² The private rate for a carpenter was 5s a day.⁹⁵³

The lower band was the soldiers' allowance. Labourers earned 1s a day from 1742 to 1771, with a brief rate of 9d on the new barracks in 1762.⁹⁵⁴ Some carpenters on the barracks of 1770-1771 were paid 1s 3d.⁹⁵⁵ Soldier tradesmen earned 1s 6d.⁹⁵⁶ In 1742 the lime blasters William Lewis and William Stevens were paid 2s a day.⁹⁵⁷ Benjamin Higham laid gun platforms at 1s 6d.⁹⁵⁸ Fraud was possible: in 1742 three men, one a stonelayer, were entered at 3s 6d a day for 67 to 73 days of work said to be falsely certified.⁹⁵⁹

Salaried men were paid by the year and drew far more. Table 5 sets out the stated salaries of the Company's building tradesmen and overseers.

Table 5. Stated pay of the Company's building tradesmen and overseers, 1742-1771
Year	Name	Post	Stated pay	Source
1742	Henry Moyce	Carpenter	£12 10s a quarter	047/16
1742	William Wood	Limeburner	£6 a year	047/112
1753	John Bland	Master mason	£11 10s salary, £10 diet, £1 10s house rent a quarter	062/28
1753	Mark Hawkins	Mason	£12 10s salary, £1 house rent a quarter	062/28
1753	William Oakman	Carpenter	£12 10s a quarter	062/28
1754	Thomas Lawrence	Carpenter	£50 a year	063/28
1754	Thomas Cheeseborough	Carpenter's mate	£30 a year	063/28
1755	Thomas Eastwood	Carpenter's mate	£35 a year	066/69
1758	Townshend	Mason	£6 10s a month, all allowances	065/65
1759	John Robinson	Carpenter	£12 10s a quarter, £3 5s for apprentice	069/103
1762	John Bland	Master mason	£70 a year	071/28
1762	Joseph Chamberlain	Carpenter's mate	£7 10s a quarter	071/106
1764	William Colebrook	Master mason	£120 a year, all allowances	065/224
1764	Thomas Piety	Mason	£78 a year	065/224
1765	John Robinson	Carpenter	£100 a year	076/435-436
1765	William Holbrook	Master mason	£30 a quarter	076/387-388
1768	John Preston	Mason	£80 a year	065/274
1768	Peter Monit	Carpenter's mate	£60 a year	065/275-276
1769	Thomas Bazett	Superintendent of works	£100 a year	084/222
1769	William Holbrook	Master mason	£30 a quarter	085/51
1769	John Robinson	Carpenter	£25 a quarter	085/51
1769	James Hogg	Carpenter's mate	£12 10s a quarter	085/51
1770	John Preston	Mason	£20 a quarter	085/330
1770	William Gurrup	Carpenter's mate	£30 a year	086/16
1770	Thomas Bazett	Superintendent of works	£25 a quarter	086/56-57
1770	George Bazett	Clerk of the works	£6 16s 10½d a quarter	086/56-57
1771	Edward Danielle	Master mason	£120 a year	065/328
1771	Edward Daniels	Master mason	£20 a year house rent	086/360

The quarterly and yearly figures are given as stated. Diet money and house rent were paid separately until 1764, when the new contracts folded them into one sum.

The Company's tradesmen were among the best paid men below the officers. In 1766 the master mason, stonemason and carpenter drew £74 10s between them in a quarter.⁹⁶⁰ Their pay stayed fixed in 1769, while the covenanted servants' salaries rose.⁹⁶¹ The overseer of the Company's workmen, Thomas Payne, drew £6 16s 10½d a quarter.⁹⁶² A writer was made clerk of the works in January 1769 at 1s 6d a day.⁹⁶³ Thomas Bazett was superintendent of works at 5s a day, then £100 a year from June 1769.⁹⁶⁴ He drew £25 a quarter in 1770, and George Bazett was then clerk of the works at £6 16s 10½d.⁹⁶⁵ Bazett reported in April 1770 that the men had "repaired several of the Company's buildings" and built a lime house.⁹⁶⁶ A new engineer, James Tippet, came in May 1770 at £200 a year with £10 house rent.⁹⁶⁷

The Company believed it could build more cheaply than any private man. In 1769 the Council wrote that "the Company built far more cheaply than any private person".⁹⁶⁸ It used its own stone and lime, craftsmen on wages and slave labour.⁹⁶⁹ Mitchell's estimate of 1765 for burning lime for sale costed three white labourers at 1s a day and 11 slaves at £10 a year.⁹⁷⁰

Tradesmen as Householders

The tradesmen were householders as well as builders. The masons' and carpenters' pay included house rent: £1 10s a quarter for the master mason, £1 for the mason and 15s for the carpenter.⁹⁷¹ Robinson's house rent is entered once as £15, which is probably a clerk's error for 15s.⁹⁷²

Several tradesmen took building plots in James's Valley. In August 1764 Townsend and Chamberlain asked for ground opposite John Bruce's house "so that they could build houses there".⁹⁷³ In October the Council let Chamberlain a plot "measuring 60 feet along the front and 79 feet deep".⁹⁷⁴ Townsend took one 60 feet by 67 feet.⁹⁷⁵ Chamberlain signed with his mark.⁹⁷⁶ Townsend later gave up his plot beside Chamberlain's house.⁹⁷⁷ Holbrook received a plot 40 feet by 68 feet at 15s a year in September 1765.⁹⁷⁸

The joiner George Bird took a bare plot 60 feet by 55 feet for 21 years at 15s in January 1767.⁹⁷⁹ By February 1771 he had a house and back yard there, and he took a strip 53 feet by 14 feet behind it at 2s.⁹⁸⁰ In the rent roll of September 1771 the carpenter Joseph Chamberlain and the mason John Preston each paid 15s ground rent for a plot alone.⁹⁸¹ John Preston took 60 feet square in January 1769 at the full 15s.⁹⁸² He pleaded that "house rent was very expensive".⁹⁸³ In December 1769 Purling took a strip bounded "on the south by the house of John Robinson, the master carpenter".⁹⁸⁴

The carpenter Levinz built quickly. In November 1755 he sublet the widow Reynolds's plot between her house and Nathan Sample's.⁹⁸⁵ By March 1756 a house stood on it, and he assigned it to Lieutenant John Clark.⁹⁸⁶ Earlier the carpenter had let a room in his own house: "he had let a room to Stanley".⁹⁸⁷ He complained that the lodger entertained a slave woman there nightly.⁹⁸⁸ In 1756 the drunken Loving swore "he would knock down him or any man else that should offer to come into his house".⁹⁸⁹

Other tradesmen also took in lodgers. Townsend boarded and lodged two mates of the Fly for 83 days at 4s a day each in 1763.⁹⁹⁰ Edward Danielle found the Company owned no house for him in 1771 and rented one at £20 a year.⁹⁹¹ The Company paid him that £20 as a house allowance from 3 April 1771.⁹⁹² Even the engineer Tippet said he "had been very badly off for a house ever since he arrived".⁹⁹³ Wives sometimes stayed when husbands went. When Townsend was shipped off in 1767, his island-born wife was allowed to remain, the Council judging "he was a very bad husband".⁹⁹⁴ She said she "could support herself by her own work and would not become a burden on the parish".⁹⁹⁵ The Company paid £5 for his passage to England.⁹⁹⁶

Interpretations

The evidence suggested a building trade in two tiers. A handful of salaried men from England set and directed the work. Below them stood a large and shifting body of soldiers, slaves and hired men paid by the day. The salaried masons and carpenters were few, rarely more than four at once, and often unreliable. Drink, violence and desertion ended several of their careers. Bland, Hawkins, Oakman, Holbrook and Preston were all condemned for drink or misconduct within a few years.

The pattern probably reflected the difficulty of recruiting good men for a remote post. The master mason's pay changed little, from £116 a year with allowances in 1753 to £120 inclusive in 1764. A mason's pay rose from about £54 to £78 and £80, and the carpenter's doubled. The rises suggested that skilled men could not be had at the old rates. Robinson's case showed the pressure from the private market. A carpenter who could earn 5s a day from the inhabitants would not stay long on £50 a year.

The day-wage evidence suggested a market split by status rather than skill. A soldier plasterer earned 1s 6d a day, while a planter's slave stonelayer was hired at 2s 6d, the extra shilling going to his owner. The difference probably reflected the soldier's existing pay and rations, which the allowance only topped up. The hire of a slave, by contrast, had to keep the owner content.

The training of slave boys from 1765 was the Company's answer to the shortage of skilled men. It also carried risks, as Grewer's case showed: a trained mason was valuable to the island but also able to leave it. Mitchell's hope that buildings would cost half as much once craftsmen were trained was perhaps never tested. The works of his day ended within a few years of his reports. When the barracks were built in 1770-1771 the Company again relied on soldiers at 1s and 1s 6d a day, and the bill exceeded £900 in five quarters.

The tradesmen's plots in James's Valley suggested men who settled. Bird, Chamberlain, Townsend, Holbrook, Preston and Robinson all held town ground, and several built houses on it. The craftsmen who built for the Company thus also built much of the town in which they lived.

Comparisons

In England a building craftsman's day wage rose only slowly through the eighteenth century. The long series for southern England shows craftsmen earning about 1s 6d to 2s a day, and labourers about two-thirds of that.⁹⁹⁷ On this measure the 3s a day paid to St Helena's stonelayers in the 1750s was high. The 1s 6d paid to soldier tradesmen was close to an English craftsman's rate. Northern English towns paid less still, and their builders often combined a trade with a smallholding or another occupation.⁹⁹⁸ The St Helena planter-masons and carpenter-landholders such as Higham and Smith fit that English pattern of mixed livelihoods.

In colonial America skilled building craftsmen were scarce and well paid, and they often rose to own property.⁹⁹⁹ Southern planters also trained their own slaves as carpenters and bricklayers. They hired them out to others, as St Helena's planters hired their stonelayers to the Company.¹⁰⁰⁰

Bermuda offers the closest parallel among small Atlantic islands. There slaves formed a large share of the island's skilled builders and shipwrights, and owners commonly hired them out.¹⁰⁰¹ In the English Caribbean slave carpenters, masons and coopers were the most valued men on a plantation.¹⁰⁰² White craftsmen there, as on St Helena, commanded high wages and were often accused of drink.

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company kept its own slaves in the Slave Lodge and trained some of them as masons, carpenters and smiths for the Company's works.¹⁰⁰³ Free burghers there also built and rebuilt their own houses with mixed slave and hired labour.¹⁰⁰⁴ The St Helena Company's plan of 1765, to replace soldiers with trained slave artisans, followed a path the Dutch Company had taken at the Cape long before.

In Company India the building trades were in the hands of skilled local workmen, and Company servants of every rank pursued private earnings beside their salaries.¹⁰⁰⁵ Robinson's private carpentry and Bland's alleged private trade were small island versions of the same habit.

5. Roofs: Thatch, Tiles and Shingles

An Island of Thatch

For most of the period St Helena was roofed with thatch. The earliest houses in the records already carried it. In 1682 the free planter John Homon complained that John Starling had failed to supply the thatch for his roof. Starling had also agreed to supply stone for a chimney and an oven.¹⁰⁰⁶ Starling answered that he had supplied thatch enough and that Homon had simply not used it. The dispute ended when Homon offered an extra dollar and Starling agreed to finish the work.¹⁰⁰⁷ A year later, in the trial of Richard Honeywood, Anne Conner was said to have gone to her own thatched house to prepare supper.¹⁰⁰⁸

The town at Fort James was thatched row by row. In April 1691 the council found that many chimneys stood directly beneath the thatch of several houses.¹⁰⁰⁹ Six inhabitants were appointed to inspect the town and report which chimneys should be raised.¹⁰¹⁰ In August the same year a Company house in Chapel Valley was offered for sale rather than repaired. Like others in its row, it was low built and thatched despite the recent orders.¹⁰¹¹

Thatch was still almost universal 30 years later. A lodger's house burned down on Christmas Day in about 1718, after a larger fire than usual set the thatch alight.¹⁰¹² The council then observed that every house on the island was thatched except three: the storehouse, the parson's house and Mrs Carne's.¹⁰¹³ At about the same date it called it a great mercy that the town, all thatched, had stood as long as it had.¹⁰¹⁴ In about 1723 it named the habit of carrying fire from house to house as a standing danger, since every house in the town was thatched.¹⁰¹⁵

Even the Governor's own house shared the risk. In about 1732 the council noted that the house Governor Roberts had built for himself was covered only with thatch.¹⁰¹⁶ The fort itself would therefore be in hazard if fire took hold.¹⁰¹⁷ In 1731 the council wrote of an island where the houses were everywhere covered with thatch.¹⁰¹⁸ The slave boy sent to England to learn tile-making in 1732 was meant to serve a country where the houses were all thatched and apt to catch fire.¹⁰¹⁹

The botanist Quentin Cronk examined the oldest surviving houses in the late twentieth century. He found single-storey buildings whose cross beams carried a shallowly pitched roof.¹⁰²⁰ He identified their thatch as the island's own rush, Scirpus nodosus.¹⁰²¹ The records show what such a roof was hung from. In October 1717 a man was found hanged from the ridge pole of an ordinary house, the main horizontal timber of the roof.¹⁰²²

Thatch did not recede in the mid-eighteenth century. Rushes were cut to thatch a barn and corn ricks in 1746.¹⁰²³ In 1747 a house that had been John Goodwin's, then shared by two families, was ordered repaired; its roof was part thatch and part board.¹⁰²⁴ The church in James Valley was thatched in January 1755, its thatch bound with cordage from the store.¹⁰²⁵ It was rethatched or tied down again in 1759, 1763 and 1764.¹⁰²⁶ As late as September 1769 the Company bought 12 loads of thatching bundles for its houses at 2s 6d a load.¹⁰²⁷ The Company's slave houses were still thatched a year later. In September 1770 the store issued "Cordage for thatching the slaves' house, 14 lb, £0 4s 5d".¹⁰²⁸

Rushes, Bushes and Binders

The thatch was cut on the island from the first years of settlement. In November 1678 the council ordered rushes and long grass cut at Lemon Valley, near the guard house.¹⁰²⁹ They were to thatch a building at Spragues and were carried down with timber for the court of guard.¹⁰³⁰ Between 1704 and 1707 a slave named Suffield broke through the thatch of Arthur Bradley's wife's house. His owner was ordered to make good the loss and to supply a bundle of rushes to repair the roof.¹⁰³¹

Rushes were valuable enough to steal. In 1734 Richard Mason ordered his slave Yellow to take rushes cut for thatching the Company's buildings.¹⁰³² Mason submitted and was forgiven, but Yellow was whipped.¹⁰³³ The council then forbade anyone to cut rushes on the Company's commons or waste lands without the Governor's leave.¹⁰³⁴ A witness was to be present when rushes were cut and when they were carried away. The penalty was the loss of grazing rights in that part of the island.¹⁰³⁵ The advertisement named the places where parcels had been cut: the Horse Pasture, Half Moon and the adjoining forts.¹⁰³⁶

The Horse Pasture remained a source of rushes for the rest of the period. In July 1780 the grand jury reported that "the long drought had caused the rushes to fail".¹⁰³⁷ Cattle were barred from the Horse Pasture so that the plants could recover, on a fine of 5s a head.¹⁰³⁸ Public labour was also directed to plant new rushes there.¹⁰³⁹

The paymaster's accounts from 1755 show how a Company roof was assembled. In April 1755 the slave houses in the country were rethatched. Joseph Boston was paid £7 10s for cutting 300 loads of "flushings" to cover them and other places.¹⁰⁴⁰ Manuel Rodrigues supplied 24 loads of laths and Elly Gurling 14 loads of binders, both at 2s 6d a load.¹⁰⁴¹ In January 1756 soldiers were paid 1s a day for 68½ days "fetching rushes to thatch some of the Honourable Company's houses".¹⁰⁴²

Rushes were bought by several measures. In April 1756 Desfountain was paid for 10 "solids" of rushes at 5s a solid for the East Flying Party's guard house.¹⁰⁴³ In the same quarter Joseph Bates cut 26 solids at 6d a load.¹⁰⁴⁴ By the late 1750s the load at 6d had become the standard measure. Benjamin Mason and John Harper cut 61 and 50 loads at that rate in October 1757.¹⁰⁴⁵ Benjamin Brown cut 138 loads in April 1758, and Mason a further 104 loads in April 1760.¹⁰⁴⁶ Mason became the Company's main supplier of rushes in the 1760s. He supplied 85 loads in September 1763 and 159 loads, with 18 ground joists, in December.¹⁰⁴⁷ He supplied 260 more in December 1764 for £6 10s.¹⁰⁴⁸

Rushes were not the only covering. In January 1757 sundry persons were paid £9 19s 6d for "cutting and carrying bushes to thatch some of the Honourable Company's houses".¹⁰⁴⁹ Nathan Sample supplied "23 loads of brushwood at 1s 3d each for thatching the Honourable Company houses in the Longwood" in April 1759.¹⁰⁵⁰ In the same quarter Benjamin Mason cut 113 loads of brushwood at 6d a load.¹⁰⁵¹ Six loads of bushes at 3d a load went into a guard house built at Sandy Bay in October 1759.¹⁰⁵²

Under the thatch lay a light frame of rafters, laths and binders. Binders were the rods to which the thatch was tied. They were often of bamboo, which planters grew and cut on their own land.¹⁰⁵³ In January 1756 William Young and Elizabeth Gurling sold the Company 8 loads of bamboos at 2s 6d a load for binders.¹⁰⁵⁴ In September 1765 the widow Bazett was paid for "9 loads of bamboo cane used as binders for thatching for the Company".¹⁰⁵⁵ Jonathan Doveton and Simon Whaley sold 13 and 11 loads of bamboos in June 1768 to thatch the Company's houses in the country.¹⁰⁵⁶

Rafters were mostly island timber cut by planters. In 1716 the planter John Robinson cut rafters on his own land to enlarge his house. Captain Haswell seized them on the highway and kept them.¹⁰⁵⁷ In April 1755 the council resolved to reroof several slave houses in the country with rafters and binders bought from the planters. The Company had "none of either on its own lands".¹⁰⁵⁸ Mr Mowatt then supplied 500 rafters at 6d each, £12 14s 6d in all, "to cover the Honourable Company's black houses in the country".¹⁰⁵⁹

Native timber served in other forms. In January 1760 Samuel Alexander supplied 45 rafters at 6d, laths, binders, 2 mantle trees and 2 ridge poles.¹⁰⁶⁰ In April 1757 Richard Beale sold 13 rafters, "ridges of kinders" and 3 loads of laths for £1 16s 6d.¹⁰⁶¹ In 1766 John Robinson supplied 100 cabbage tree sticks and 32 rafters for the buildings at Sandy Bay.¹⁰⁶² Councillor Purling and Secretary Bazett sold the Company cabbage tree poles at 6d each.¹⁰⁶³

By 1770 the usual price of a rafter was 1s. In December 1769 John Bagley was paid for "28 rafters at 1s each and 2 loads of laths at 2s 6d a load to repair the Blockhouse".¹⁰⁶⁴ In January 1770 John Robinson supplied 75 rafters at the same price to repair the slaves' house at Maldivia Garden.¹⁰⁶⁵ He also sold 23 rafters, six loads of laths and two loads of binders for the alarm house at the Ridge.¹⁰⁶⁶ In September 1770 the paymaster bought 60 rafters at 1s, with laths and binders, for repairing the Black Square.¹⁰⁶⁷ Rafters, ground joists, laths and binders went to the wood house in the same quarter. More binders went to the stable, the Maldivia house and the plantation house.¹⁰⁶⁸

The thatch was tied on with cordage, issued from the store by the pound. In October 1753 the plantation drew "Cordage, 23 pounds for thatching", with half a gallon of train oil.¹⁰⁶⁹ Oil was issued for thatching quarter after quarter, sometimes entered as seam oil.¹⁰⁷⁰ The records do not say how it was used. In March 1764 more than 262 lb of cordage was issued "to tie down the thatch" on the wood house and the church against the wind.¹⁰⁷¹ In December 1768 the plantation used 106½ lb of cordage "for thatching in place of wood".¹⁰⁷²

Table 6. Stated prices of thatching materials and labour paid by the Company, 1755-1770
Item	Year	Stated rate	Source
Rafters	1755	6d each	063/404
Laths	1755	2s 6d a load	063/406
Binders	1755	2s 6d a load	063/406
Thatcher, Stephen Young	1755	3s a day	066/82
Soldiers fetching rushes	1756	1s a day	066/242
Bamboos for binders	1756	2s 6d a load	066/242
Rushes	1756	5s a solid	066/322
Rushes, cutting	1756	6d a load	066/324
Rafters	1757	9d and 6d each	067/356
Thatcher, Stephen Young	1757	2s 6d a day	067/234-236
Brushwood	1759	1s 3d a load	069/20
Bushes	1759	3d a load	069/216
Rafters	1759	1s each	069/216
Thatcher, Stephen Young	1759	3s 6d a day	069/120
Binders	1760	1s 6d a load	069/304
Rafters	1760	1s 6d each	069/394
Rushes, cutting	1763	6d a load	075/59
Rafters	1766	6d each	078/124
Cabbage tree poles	1766	6d each	078/336
Cordage for thatching	1767	18 lb for 6s	082/223-224
Thatching bundles	1769	2s 6d a load	084/343
Rafters	1769	1s each	085/78
Laths	1769	2s 6d a load	085/78
Rafters	1770	1s each	085/464
Binders	1770	2s 6d a load	085/464
Cordage for thatching	1770	14 lb for 4s 5d	085/424

Rates are as stated in the paymaster's and storekeeper's accounts. A "load" and a "solid" were not defined, and the price of rafters probably varied with their length.

Thatchers and the Company's Thatched Buildings

The thatcher was a recognised trade by the 1750s. Stephen Young was the Company's regular thatcher for at least eight years. In July 1755 he was paid £2 14s for "18 days work at 3s the day in thatching a turkey house of the Company's houses".¹⁰⁷³ He was paid the same again in October 1756.¹⁰⁷⁴ In April 1757 he thatched for 6 days at 2s 6d a day.¹⁰⁷⁵ In July 1759 he received 3s 6d a day for 5 days thatching a Company house at Longwood.¹⁰⁷⁶ In March 1763 he shared the thatching of the Lieutenant Governor's house with William Hays and John Hays. Young was paid £1 13s and each of the others £1.¹⁰⁷⁷

Other thatchers appear once or twice. In July 1756 Jonathan Doveton was paid for 20 loads of binders "and one days work of a thatcher".¹⁰⁷⁸ In April 1758 Jonathan Dowden had £1 6s 6d for "three days' work as a thatcher, and for 4 loads of binders".¹⁰⁷⁹ In October 1759 Bacon Deloss was paid at 3s for thatching work for the garrison, though the entry is garbled.¹⁰⁸⁰ Masons also thatched. In October 1759 the store issued "Cordage, 15 lb for the masons in thatching the great house".¹⁰⁸¹

Soldiers supplied the unskilled labour. They gathered rushes at 1s a day in 1756.¹⁰⁸² In June 1762 men of the garrison were paid £1 4s 6d for 24½ days "in covering the new barracks".¹⁰⁸³ In September 1762 they were paid 1s 6d for 1½ days on the roof ridge of the gunners' storehouse.¹⁰⁸⁴ The thatchers were also given drink. In June 1768 the plantation issued "3 gallons of arrack for the thatchers".¹⁰⁸⁵ In December it issued 10 gallons for the haymakers, thatchers and shearers together.¹⁰⁸⁶

The accounts name many Company buildings under thatch. The slaves' new houses at the plantation drew 100 lb of cordage "for thatching their new houses at the plantation" in January 1755.¹⁰⁸⁷ The long barracks were thatched in 1757.¹⁰⁸⁸ The laundry took train oil for thatching in October 1758.¹⁰⁸⁹ The barn, the stable and the woodhouse were all thatched.¹⁰⁹⁰ So was the hospital, which drew "7 lb of cordage for thatching the hospital" in December 1767.¹⁰⁹¹ Men were paid for 23 days cutting rushes for it in the same quarter.¹⁰⁹²

Guard houses on the coast were thatched as well. The East Flying Party's guard house was repaired with rushes in 1756.¹⁰⁹³ The guard room at Prosperous Bay drew cordage and train oil for thatching in April 1759.¹⁰⁹⁴ The new guard house at Sandy Bay was built in 1759 with 32 rafters, a load of laths and 6 loads of bushes.¹⁰⁹⁵ The quarry shed was thatched in 1767 with rushes at 6d each and a load of binders.¹⁰⁹⁶

The Lieutenant Governor's house in the town was still thatched in the 1760s. It drew cordage for thatching in 1758 and 1767.¹⁰⁹⁷ In March 1767 a survey found "the thatch was in very bad condition and badly torn by vermin".¹⁰⁹⁸ Rats or birds had torn it where rain lodged behind the chimney. The surveyors advised tiles, but the council chose a patch and the removal of the chimney top.¹⁰⁹⁹

A Roof Anyone Could Open

A thatched roof was easier to break than a door. Between 1704 and 1707 Suffield was suspected of theft because he had broken through the thatch of a locked house.¹¹⁰⁰ In about 1718 a man in mental crisis was locked up for his own safety. He got out through the thatch and ran to hide in the valley.¹¹⁰¹ In May 1720 a runaway slave named Peter broke into the late John Coles's house in Union Valley at night.¹¹⁰² He had broken through the thatch and roof and then opened a trapdoor in the ceiling.¹¹⁰³

The same pattern continued into the 1770s. In April 1771 the slave Roger was tried for entering the slave house of James Greentree at Sandy Bay. Its occupant, Scarborough, locked the door and fastened the windows at night.¹¹⁰⁴ He said that "He believed Roger had got in through a small hole in the thatched roof" and taken yams beside the cooking pot.¹¹⁰⁵ Roger was acquitted.¹¹⁰⁶ In July 1779 the runaway Dick was burnt in the hand for robbing James Collins's rented house. He "had got in by breaking a hole in the thatched roof".¹¹⁰⁷ In 1780 the runaway Patna was hanged for breaking through the roof of Pritchard's warehouse.¹¹⁰⁸

Thatch also invited fire, a danger treated more fully in section 9. In January 1684 drunken soldiers threw a burning stock from a balcony onto a thatched house.¹¹⁰⁹ A Company slave house was burned down when Caesar fired a gun at its thatch, in Governor Boucher's time.¹¹¹⁰ In November 1759 a thatched house at Deadwood burned twice. Witnesses described fires beginning in the thatch under the eaves and inside close to the chimney.¹¹¹¹ One man "found some balls of tow in the thatch".¹¹¹²

Tiles: Imports, Trials and Soft Tiles

Tiles reached the island early but in small numbers. In January 1684 drunken soldiers threw stones to break the tiles on the Company's market house.¹¹¹³ In September 1709 Ruth Desfountaine complained that "a tile house had been built in the Great Wood" on land she claimed.¹¹¹⁴ Tiles were also laid in heavier roofs. In about 1726 a dry warehouse was reported very leaky because a girder had broken. The pillar beneath was too weak for the weight of the earth and tiles above.¹¹¹⁵

The council wanted far more tiles than it received. In about 1719 the re-roofing of the plantation house was halted for want of tiles.¹¹¹⁶ The council asked that the store ship be ballasted with tiles instead of coal. The slave houses could then be tiled, which would expose them less to fire than thatching.¹¹¹⁷ It added that every planter able to build would gladly buy tiles at a reasonable price.¹¹¹⁸ Two years earlier the council had admitted it did not know who might fit a new roof to the plantation house and tile it.¹¹¹⁹

The island tried to make its own tiles. In about 1714 a box of island clay was sent to England in the hope that it would make good tiles or bricks.¹¹²⁰ In 1731 the council proposed sending a slave boy to England to be apprenticed to a tile-maker.¹¹²¹ The boy was sent in 1732, described as one of the biggest and most able the Company had.¹¹²² The council cited the Cape of Good Hope, where no house in Cape Town could be built or repaired unless tiled.¹¹²³

In about 1737 the Governor reported that he had at last brought brick and tile making to good perfection.¹¹²⁴ He meant the inhabitants to tile their houses by degrees, to prevent fires in the village and the fort.¹¹²⁵ Within a year or two the council reported that the island's bricks and tiles were worthless. English tile makers had tried the clay and declared it unfit.¹¹²⁶

Imported tiles were sent in growing numbers after 1740. In the mid-1740s the Court sent plain tiles and sheet lead in place of pantiles, to save room in the ships.¹¹²⁷ In 1751 the council reported that tile answered best for the roof of the fort house.¹¹²⁸ In April 1753 spikes were issued for making tile boxes.¹¹²⁹ The Grantham delivered short in tiles in 1754.¹¹³⁰

In 1761 the island complained that the tiles sent by the Prince Henry were soft. The Court replied that "they were the property of new tiles to be soft, but that they would grow hard in time".¹¹³¹ It repeated the answer in February 1762.¹¹³² The island's masons did not accept it. In May 1761 John Boland and Thomas Townsend examined the tiles and found them "so soft and shallow that they would decay within a few years".¹¹³³

Larger consignments followed. In December 1762 the Court shipped "Five thousand plain and one hundred ridge tiles of the best sort".¹¹³⁴ In November 1763 it sent "10,000 tiles" with 20 chaldrons of coal.¹¹³⁵ In 1764 it sent pantiles and Purbeck paving for the church.¹¹³⁶ In January 1770 an indent for "20,000 plain tiles" was not fully met.¹¹³⁷

Many tiles arrived broken. From the Culloden in May 1763 "400 plain roofing tiles" and 10 ridge tiles were found broken.¹¹³⁸ From the Duke of Richmond in April 1764, 656 plain tiles arrived broken.¹¹³⁹ From the Dutton in April 1765 the storekeeper recorded "Tiles, 376, broken".¹¹⁴⁰ In June 1770, 34 Dutch galley tiles from the British King were found broken, though these were probably glazed tiles for walls or hearths.¹¹⁴¹ From the Calcutta in April 1771 a third of the roofing tiles were broken in landing.¹¹⁴² In December 1774 the Court asked for a proper count after "a third of the tiles and slates were broken when delivered on the island".¹¹⁴³

Tile-making on the island was revived in the 1760s. By June 1764 the Company had a tile house, which received a stock lock with the lime house and the new barracks.¹¹⁴⁴ In 1765 the brickmakers drew hoes, and bamboo and rafters went to a shed at the brickworks.¹¹⁴⁵ In May 1766 the engineer asked for "A brickmaker skilled in making tiles" among the next year's recruits.¹¹⁴⁶ In September 1768 the Company sold some tiles to the inhabitants for 5s 6d, with surplus lime.¹¹⁴⁷

Lead, Gutters and Two Failed Roofs

Sheet lead was the other imported roofing material. In 1713 the Court sent lead with 3 tuns of bricks. Melted lead was to be used for gutters and buildings, the storehouse among them.¹¹⁴⁸ In November 1742 the store held 32 cwt 2 qr 3 lb of sheet lead at 14s a hundredweight.¹¹⁴⁹ The same inventory listed gutter boards among the timber.¹¹⁵⁰ In October 1753 the store held more than 40 cwt of sheet lead.¹¹⁵¹ Servants bought it in small amounts, such as 30 lb for 5s 7½d in January 1754.¹¹⁵²

Leaks were a constant problem. In February 1743 "the recent rains had penetrated the roofing of the storehouses in several places".¹¹⁵³ In October 1758 sheet lead was issued for the store roofs.¹¹⁵⁴ In June 1762 the store issued "1½ gallons tar and roping leaks in the Castle".¹¹⁵⁵ In March 1764, 69 lb of pitch went to repair the Castle's roof covering against rain.¹¹⁵⁶

The new Plantation House showed the dangers of a complex roof. It had a three-span roof behind parapets, with lead gutters between the spans and round them.¹¹⁵⁷ The hall beams broke soon after roofing. Two parts were reroofed in 1759 and twice more under Bland, yet still leaked.¹¹⁵⁸ The survey of June 1764 found that "the gutters, laid with sheet lead weighing 10 lb to the square foot, had blistered all over".¹¹⁵⁹ The council blamed the master mason.¹¹⁶⁰ In July 1764 it reported the house "continually leaking from the roof, which was very defective in many places".¹¹⁶¹

The council's first answer was thatch. In June 1764 the store issued "Cordage for thatching Plantation House and for Longwood, 67½ lb, £1 3s 11d".¹¹⁶² The engineer Mitchell then tried another remedy. In November 1765 he proposed lining the flat gutters with terras, a water-resisting mortar laid to a proper fall.¹¹⁶³ The council resolved to "test the terras on a single gutter of the Plantation House" before spending more.¹¹⁶⁴

The work went ahead in 1766. In June Roderick Merchant supplied 64 gallons of beer at 2s a gallon, to be "used in a cement for the gutters of the Plantation House".¹¹⁶⁵ Soldiers spent "65 days' masons' work repairing the gutters at Plantation House" at 1s 6d a day.¹¹⁶⁶ In October the roof "leaked so badly in the recent rains that the main timbers were at risk".¹¹⁶⁷ Mitchell re-tiled part of it and treated a second valley with terras.¹¹⁶⁸

None of this saved the building. In September 1765 the house "did not contain a single room fit to live in".¹¹⁶⁹ In July 1769 the council judged that "the old roofs could never be made watertight".¹¹⁷⁰ The new Plantation House was pulled down and single-pitch slate roofs were proposed in its place.¹¹⁷¹ Thomas Bazett reported that the workmen had "taken the roof off Plantation House".¹¹⁷²

The Castle roof failed at the same time. In July 1764 a survey found the south wall sinking 6 inches, the rafters propped and the tiles rotten.¹¹⁷³ Patches of lime, sugar and pitch had held only briefly, and part of the roof was covered with canvas.¹¹⁷⁴ The surveyors reported "the current rains were coming through into almost every room of the Castle".¹¹⁷⁵ The council placed the reroofing under the carpenter John Robinson.¹¹⁷⁶ His salary was raised to £100 a year in 1765.¹¹⁷⁷

The Castle's new roof used imported timber and tiles. In September 1764 the store issued "Riga timber for a new roof at the Castle, for Plantation House and for rails at Banks's, £38 12s 10d".¹¹⁷⁸ Soldiers were paid for "97¾ days tiling and sawing at the castle, £4 17s 9d".¹¹⁷⁹ The account of the Castle repairs from 1764 to 1766 included £47 1s 1d paid for tiles.¹¹⁸⁰ In June 1767 the Governor defended the work, since "the whole roof was in constant danger of collapse".¹¹⁸¹

Lead was used on a larger scale in the late 1760s. In June 1768, 956 lb of sheet lead went to the Castle and the Lieutenant Governor's house.¹¹⁸² A further 754 lb for the Lieutenant Governor's house cost £7 17s 1d in June 1769.¹¹⁸³ Plumbers then spent "38 days of plumbers' work at 1s 6d a day" on the house.¹¹⁸⁴ In the same quarter sheet lead was recast on the island, using "1 melting ladle for casting sheet lead, £0 11s 10d".¹¹⁸⁵

The store still held 59 cwt 1 qr 8 lb of sheet lead in September 1770, valued at £56 7s 6d.¹¹⁸⁶ The Lieutenant Governor's house took 84 lb more that quarter and 130 lb in June 1771.¹¹⁸⁷ Servants bought sheet lead in quantity. They took 98½ lb in December 1770, 268½ lb in March 1771 and 152½ lb in June.¹¹⁸⁸

Boards, Mortar, Slate and the Missing Shingle

Shingles, the split wooden tiles of English and American roofs, do not appear anywhere in the records. Boards were tried and found wanting. In about 1719 the council reported that deal boards used as roofing rotted on the island and were good for nothing in six years.¹¹⁸⁹ The house once John Goodwin's had a roof of part thatch and part board in 1747.¹¹⁹⁰

A mortar roof was tried in the middle of the century. In 1751 a thin mortar laid over deal boards was found to be the best and cheapest covering for buildings in the valleys.¹¹⁹¹ The engineer's account of the billiard room in 1768 shows the same practice. Its walls were built entirely of earth mortar, and the 23 bushels of lime bought from the Company went only into the roof.¹¹⁹²

Some roofs used an item entered as "baths". In January 1759 the store issued "13 baths for new roofing a guard room at Rupert's and Prosperous Bay".¹¹⁹³ They cost £4 12s 7½d in all.¹¹⁹⁴ The store held 65 of them in October 1758.¹¹⁹⁵ The word perhaps stood for battens, but the records do not explain it.

The church received a roof framed in England. In November 1764 the Court ordered "the roof to be framed in England agreeable to the plan the council sent".¹¹⁹⁶ The frame was shipped in December 1766 as "the roof and ceiling floor for the church".¹¹⁹⁷ In September 1767 the store held "575 pieces of timber for the roof and ceiling of the church, with ironwork", valued at £161 10s 2d.¹¹⁹⁸ The 575 pieces were still in store in September 1770.¹¹⁹⁹

Imported deals now framed the Company's larger roofs. In April 1770 the council ordered the gap between two storerooms in the square roofed over as a room for salt provisions. It noted that "the walls were already built and needed only a covering".¹²⁰⁰ Riga timber was issued in September 1770 for covering a cellar in the stores.¹²⁰¹ In March 1771 the new barracks drew 600 double deals, 170 single deals and 31 balks as the work moved to floors and roof.¹²⁰²

Slate appeared only at the end of the period. The council argued in 1769 that slate would cost more than tiles at first, but its long life would repay the difference.¹²⁰³ In May 1770 the Court approved new houses for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. It "recommended that the slate be packed in cases to prevent breakage".¹²⁰⁴ The advice had little effect. In April 1771 a third of the slates from the Duke of Richmond were broken in landing.¹²⁰⁵ A third of the tiles and slates were again broken on delivery in 1774.¹²⁰⁶

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that thatch survived because it was local and cheap. Rushes cost 6d a load to cut, and rafters as little as 6d each. A thatcher earned 3s a day. A load of tiles, by contrast, had to be indented a year ahead and often arrived broken. The island's own clay failed twice.

The council understood the fire risk from the 1690s. Its complaints about thatch were frequent and sincere. Yet the Company itself kept thatching its church, barracks, hospital and slave houses until at least 1770. The pattern probably reflected the Company's budget more than any preference for thatch.

The failures of the 1760s suggested a further lesson. The most ambitious roofs on the island were the ones that leaked worst. The three-span roof of Plantation House, with its flat lead gutters, could not be made watertight. The council's first remedy in 1764 was to thatch it. The thatched roof probably remained the one the island's tradesmen knew how to build and repair.

The absence of shingles was perhaps a matter of timber. The island had little timber of its own, and deal boards rotted within six years. Bamboo, cabbage tree poles and brushwood served for the light frame of a thatched roof. None of them would split into shingles.

Comparisons

In England thatch was still common on rural houses in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Tile and slate spread first in towns and among the better-off.¹²⁰⁷ St Helena's town remained thatched long after most English towns of comparable standing had turned to tile. Its Governor's house was thatched in the 1730s.

In Massachusetts Bay the authorities banned thatched roofs in Boston from the 1630s onwards.¹²⁰⁸ New England builders turned instead to wooden shingles and boards from their abundant forests.¹²⁰⁹ St Helena lacked both the law and the timber. It never adopted the shingle and found that boards rotted.

Bermuda offers a closer parallel of a small island with little timber. Its early houses were thatched with palmetto, and its builders later turned to roofs of local stone.¹²¹⁰ St Helena's attempt at a mortar roof over deal boards in 1751 pointed in a similar direction. The island had good lime from Sandy Bay but no workable roofing stone.

At the Cape the Dutch authorities forbade new thatched building in Cape Town after a series of fires. St Helena's council knew of the rule by the 1730s and cited it as a model.¹²¹¹ Cape houses nevertheless remained largely thatched with local reed for much of the century.¹²¹² The two Company stations faced the same choice between a cheap local roof and a costly safe one.

In Company India thatch was the normal roof of the bungalow and of many lesser European houses.¹²¹³ Thatch there was an accepted building form rather than a makeshift. On St Helena it remained the common roof for most of the period, while the Company kept trying to replace it with English tile.

6. Chimneys, Hearths, Heating and Fuel

Chimneys in the Early Settlement

Chimneys were part of the island's houses from the first years of settlement. In early 1682 the free planter John Homon complained that John Starling had failed to supply the thatch for his roof or the stone for "a chimney and an oven" as agreed.¹²¹⁴ Starling answered that the chimney did not match their terms, and the dispute ended when Homon offered an extra dollar to have the work finished.¹²¹⁵ The chimney was thus a stone structure built to contract, even on a planter's thatched house.

The pairing of a stone chimney with a thatched roof was dangerous from the start. At a council of 7 April 1691 it was noted that many chimneys in the town at Fort James had been built too low and stood directly beneath the thatch.¹²¹⁶ Six inhabitants were appointed to inspect the town and report the houses whose chimneys needed raising. They were Henry Coles, William Price, Richard Gurding, Thomas Allis, [Gardnworth] and Thomas Cudale.¹²¹⁷ Four months later a Company house in Chapel Valley was sold rather than repaired. The reason given was that "like others in that row, it was low built and thatched, despite recent orders intended to prevent such danger".¹²¹⁸

A chimney stood on every building of a substantial holding where fire was needed. A theft case of 1699 referred in turn to the chimney of James Draper's "dwelling house", his "hill house" and his "still house".¹²¹⁹ The still house needed its fire for distilling, and the hill house was a second dwelling on higher ground.¹²²⁰ A chimney could also be treated as a separate and saleable unit. At the outcry of the Beale orphans' house the building was sold off in pieces, and one buyer paid 11s "for the chimney".¹²²¹ Another paid £2 14s 6d for a girder, joist and door, which suggests that the chimney was valued for its stone and perhaps its iron rather than its labour.¹²²²

The kitchen was the room most often given its own chimney. William Beale's back kitchen had its only door built "by the chimney", and this blocked his way to the ground behind his house.¹²²³ The Governor ordered his neighbour Swallow to grant Beale a passage 4 feet wide the length of the kitchen at a peppercorn rent. The grant was to last as long as the kitchen stood, or 21 years.¹²²⁴ Even the fort was poorly supplied with hearths. In a letter written a few years after 1716 the Governor reported that he had built two small rooms in the castle, one with a chimney.¹²²⁵ Until then there had been "no other chimney in the fort but the kitchen".¹²²⁶

A modern field study of the oldest surviving houses confirmed the pattern on the ground. Quentin Cronk found that they formed a linear series of usually three rooms with a firegrate at one end.¹²²⁷ Their walls were of roughly dressed volcanic rock about 50cm thick, bound with mud mortar and occasionally lime.¹²²⁸ A single hearth at the gable end of a small stone house was therefore the ordinary provision, not a fireplace in every room.

Stacks, Mantle Trees and Repairs

Chimney stacks suffered from the island's rain and wind. Thomas Burnham, the mason, was summoned to explain why he had not repaired part of the chimney of the Two Gun Ridge house "that had since fallen down".¹²²⁹ He blamed violent rain, and the council accepted the excuse for the chimney but not for the unfinished house.¹²³⁰ On 9 March 1737 Governor Pyke reported that the kitchen chimney stack at Plantation House had blown down.¹²³¹ It had been in perfectly good repair and now had to be rebuilt.¹²³²

In the crowded town a chimney could serve as a fixed landmark. When John Goodwin junior sold Thomas Greentree a dwelling house in James Valley for £250 on 18 November 1738, the plot was fixed against a plan annexed to the deed.¹²³³ Its upper end adjoined the chimney of Josiah Charlesworth Powell's house and ran to the corner of Powell's "little back room" in the yard.¹²³⁴

The Company's accounts of the 1750s and 1760s show chimneys still being built by soldiers paid for extra labour. In the quarter to 11 October 1759 soldiers were paid for "building a chimney for the use of the officers at the Lieutenant Governor's, 46 days".¹²³⁵ The same account paid for 299 days on a new bread oven and 193 days on a road and the repair of a house in the wood "burnt down by accident".¹²³⁶ In January 1760 Samuel Alexander supplied two mantle trees at 2s each, the timber beams that spanned the opening of a hearth.¹²³⁷ In June 1764 the store issued 10 lb of plate iron, worth 3s 9d, to make a kitchen fender.¹²³⁸

The junction of chimney and thatch remained the weak point of the roof. A survey of the Lieutenant Governor's house in the town was made on 2 March 1767. Rain was lodging behind the chimney, where "the thatch was in very bad condition and badly torn by vermin".¹²³⁹ The Council chose a patch and the removal of the chimney top rather than a new roof of tile.¹²⁴⁰

The Chimney as a Way In

A chimney was wide enough to admit a person, and the court records show it used as a way into a locked house. In June 1704 John Long, free planter, complained that Ralph Gates had "climbed up his chimney and got into his house in the country".¹²⁴¹ Gates came down into the chamber, where Long's son heard the noise and raised the alarm.¹²⁴²

The same route was used in the town 60 years later. On 2 May 1764 Lieutenant Thomas Leech, in bed, heard a stone fall down his kitchen chimney.¹²⁴³ His bedroom door opened into the kitchen, where Martin Newman slept. Leech went in, and "There he found Patna on the pole across the chimney".¹²⁴⁴ The pole was presumably the bar from which pots were hung over the fire. In January 1766 three slaves of Barclay's climbed onto James Greentree's chimney, dropped into his back yard and forced his storeroom with an iron crowbar.¹²⁴⁵ They set the stolen arrack and biscuit down by the oven in the yard.¹²⁴⁶

The hearth and flue also served as places of concealment. In 1733 a runaway slave named Simon hid a stolen item by hanging it up inside a chimney, where it later broke.¹²⁴⁷ In 1699 stolen leather was found hidden outside a chimney "at a short distance from the main building".¹²⁴⁸ In October 1763 Sergeant Ferris "found three pieces of iron in the corner of the chimney" of a barrack room.¹²⁴⁹ One of them had been used to wrench the staple off a soldier's chest.¹²⁵⁰ In January 1774 an intruder in the cooper Griffiths's kitchen dragged a chest of clothing to the hearth.¹²⁵¹ The slave boy Billy confessed that "he set it on the fire and burned a hole through it to reach what was inside".¹²⁵²

Hearth Furniture and Fire Irons

The inventories show the full range of English hearth furniture in the better houses. Mary Charleworth's portion of 1693 included a fire tool among a desk, a chest and a china set.¹²⁵³ The Company's moveables at Plantation House, taken from Captain Edward Mashborne on 10 July 1711, included three pairs of "handirons, fenders and tongs" for the fires.¹²⁵⁴ A second inventory of the house in 1715 listed andirons with brass heads, gridirons and spits among the ironmongery.¹²⁵⁵ On 29 May 1741 the house held a fire grate with tongs, shovel and poker.¹²⁵⁶ A year later its fire irons were listed again beside a pier glass, a sconce glass and a chimney glass.¹²⁵⁷

The richest hearth goods belonged to the late Governor John Goodwin. His inventory listed two chimney glasses, mirrors made to hang over a fireplace, and a smoke jack for turning the roasting spit.¹²⁵⁸ It also listed "about 20 fireback stones ready made", dressed stones for lining the back of a hearth.¹²⁵⁹ At the sale of his goods in August 1742 George Gabriel Powell bought "1 large chimney glass, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £5 0s 0d".¹²⁶⁰ Powell also took "1 brass hearth, purchased by George Gabriel Powell, £2 1s 0d" and a second for £1 11s.¹²⁶¹ What a brass hearth was is not stated; it was perhaps a portable brazier or a brass hearth plate. Pairs of hand irons and old tongs were sold in the same lots.¹²⁶² Among Goodwin's goods charged to the Company were a pair of tongs and a fire shovel at 3s 6d.¹²⁶³

More modest households owned a smaller set. The planter Richard Gawling's inventory of 2 September 1754 listed pots, a spit, pot hangers and hand irons among house furniture valued at £78 10s.¹²⁶⁴ His four pot hangers were valued at 6s and his hand irons at 2s 6d.¹²⁶⁵ A pair of hand irons was sold from the store at the 40 per cent advance in the quarter to 30 June 1762.¹²⁶⁶ In January 1760 the Company's servants bought two pairs of tongs, together worth 7s 6d.¹²⁶⁷

The Company's store carried fire irons in some quantity. The inventory of November 1742 listed fire shovels and tongs at 2s and further pairs of tongs at 3s 3d.¹²⁶⁸ It also listed 12 pairs of bellows "good for nothing" at 2s 4d a pair.¹²⁶⁹ In February 1743 another 19 pairs of bellows and some fire shovels were among the damaged goods ordered to public sale.¹²⁷⁰ A damaged pair of bellows was auctioned for 2s 7d in January 1756.¹²⁷¹

Bellows were among the most regular small sales from the store. A pair cost a servant 4s 3d in April 1753 and 3s 10d in April 1754.¹²⁷² Planters paid 5s 8d a pair in October 1755.¹²⁷³ Buyers at the 40 per cent advance paid 10s 2d for two pairs in October 1757.¹²⁷⁴ The Castle drew a pair of "kitchen bellows" at 3s 6d in June 1765.¹²⁷⁵ Servants still paid 4s 4d in December 1766 and 4s in June 1769.¹²⁷⁶ In December 1769 they bought two pairs of hand bellows for 8s, and the Castle drew a pair at 3s 8d.¹²⁷⁷ The store held 12 pairs, valued at £2 3s 6d, in September 1770.¹²⁷⁸ A servant paid 4s for a pair in December 1770, and two pairs cost 8s in June 1771.¹²⁷⁹ The steadiness of the price over 18 years showed a plain article in constant use.

The store also kept the heavier furniture of the kitchen fire. In September 1770 it held three pairs of hand irons and nine sets of roasting jack wheels, with jack chains, weights and pulleys.¹²⁸⁰ Servants bought a small roasting jack for £2 15s 8d in the same quarter.¹²⁸¹ Another, with its wheels, chains and spit, cost a servant £3 1s in December 1770.¹²⁸² A few hearths were perhaps faced with glazed tiles. In June 1770 the store found 34 Dutch galley tiles from the British King "broken on opening the packages, which were in good order".¹²⁸³ In September 1771 the Pigot delivered 36½ feet of Purbeck stone short, perhaps meant for paving or hearths.¹²⁸⁴

Warmth: Warming Pans, Chafing Dishes and the Fireside

St Helena's climate was temperate, and the records say little about heating a room for its own sake. Warmth came most often from the cooking fire, from blankets and from small portable heaters. The warming pan, filled with embers to air a bed, appeared in both private and Company inventories. Governor Goodwin's sold for 11s in August 1742.¹²⁸⁵ The store inventory of November 1742 listed "3 warming pans at 14s".¹²⁸⁶

Warming pans were sold to the Company's servants at a steady price. A servant paid 12s 4½d for one in January 1754, 12s 6½d in October 1755 and 12s 4½d again in July 1757.¹²⁸⁷ Richard Gawling's household owned one, valued at 6s in 1754.¹²⁸⁸ The store held four in October 1753, three in 1754 and two in 1755 and 1756.¹²⁸⁹ From 1759 a single warming pan stood in the warehouse inventory at 11s 3d, quarter after quarter, until at least September 1770.¹²⁹⁰ The demand for them was small and was soon met.

The chafing dish, a small pan of embers set on a stand, was a much commoner article. It kept food or drink hot at the table and gave a little warmth where there was no fire. The store held 40 good chafing dishes at 6s 1d each in November 1742, besides three damaged ones.¹²⁹¹ Servants bought them in nearly every quarter of the 1750s and 1760s, usually at 6s 6½d each.¹²⁹² The Castle drew one at 6s 9d in December 1764 and another at 6s 8d in March 1765.¹²⁹³ Gawling's household had one among its kitchen goods.¹²⁹⁴

The chafing dish became cheaper after 1769. The Castle drew one at 5s in June 1770 and another in December.¹²⁹⁵ Servants bought four for £1 2s in September 1770, or 5s 6d each.¹²⁹⁶ They took two for 11s in December 1770 and one at 5s 6d in March 1771.¹²⁹⁷ The store still held seven chafing dishes in September 1770.¹²⁹⁸

The fireside itself appears in the witnesses' accounts of night-time life. In 1699 witnesses described going upstairs to bed around nine o'clock and coming back downstairs to tend the fire.¹²⁹⁹ In a case of 1704 a couple in Rupert's Valley were seen "sitting close together by the fireside" before the candle was put out.¹³⁰⁰ At Christmas lodgers in one house "made a bigger fire than ordinary, and the thatch took fire".¹³⁰¹ The house was burnt to the ground with several of the tenant's goods.¹³⁰²

Fire was sometimes carried rather than kindled. The council noted that "several persons frequently carried fire from one house to another in the town".¹³⁰³ The houses being all thatched, a spark blown in windy weather could set a roof alight.¹³⁰⁴ At the thatched Deadwood house in November 1759 fires began in the thatch under the eaves and inside close to the chimney.¹³⁰⁵ The house had a chimney and hearth, a locked room door, a bed and windows. Witnesses afterwards "found some balls of tow in the thatch".¹³⁰⁶

Guard posts kept fires through the night. At the Lemon Valley battery in November 1755 the four-man guard kept a fire in the guard room.¹³⁰⁷ One soldier "called to Godson to hand him a little wood for the fire" shortly before Godson went missing.¹³⁰⁸ In December 1763 a maul was issued "for Banks's guard for splitting firewood with wedges".¹³⁰⁹ In September 1768 the outguards received 11 wood axes and 26 hand hatchets to cut firewood at their posts.¹³¹⁰ The Castle, the steward's house and the bake house drew four wood axes for the same purpose.¹³¹¹ In March 1771 six wood axes and a hatchet were issued for cutting wood for the Castle.¹³¹² In June 1771 the sea guards and the new barracks received hatchets and wood axes with their iron pots and frying pans.¹³¹³

Firewood and the Shrinking Wood

Wood was the island's household fuel throughout the period, and it was always under pressure. Its use for building, lime burning and distilling competed with the hearth. In 1682 residents were allowed to take fallen timber from the Great Wood to build and repair houses, though felling standing timber was forbidden.¹³¹⁴ By about 1707 chalk for lime had run out and coal was being consumed for the kilns.¹³¹⁵ A later letter added that coal was now used to burn lime because wood had grown too scarce and dear.¹³¹⁶ In 1709 dead ebony wood in great quantity near Sandy Bay was found fit to burn lime on the spot.¹³¹⁷

Firewood was a recognised part of an official's allowances. The inquiry into Governor Duke Crispe found that he had miscounted the firewood-bundle allowances, among other frauds after Governor Goodwin's death.¹³¹⁸ In April 1753 John French claimed that the Du Bois family had burnt wood he supplied for years, among services worth upwards of £150 by his reckoning.¹³¹⁹

Taking wood without leave was punished. On 5 November 1759 Dick, a slave of John Pritchard, received 50 lashes because he "had stolen a piece of firewood out of the Honourable Company's Longwood".¹³²⁰ In March 1760 William and George Seale were ordered to return six loads of wood taken from the Sandy Bay guard, or pay for them.¹³²¹ Both were fined, George the more heavily for threatening a soldier.¹³²² In January 1760 Benjamin Weaver was paid 6d a load for cutting 300 loads of wood.¹³²³

The heaviest demand came from the shipping. The Council warned the Court that the ships' need for fuel "would exhaust the island of wood, so as not to leave a sufficient quantity for the consumption of the inhabitants".¹³²⁴ On 17 November 1756 the Court ordered commanders to supply themselves with fuel before leaving India.¹³²⁵ The order did not end the drain. On 26 May 1761 the Council reported that homeward ships consumed the island's wood during their stay and on the passage home.¹³²⁶ It wrote that "The drain on wood greatly distressed the island, and would, if not checked in time, bring the worst consequences."¹³²⁷

The Court renewed its order in 1761 and sent coal "in relief of the island's distress for wood".¹³²⁸ It did the same in February 1762.¹³²⁹ On 17 June 1762 the Council reported that no wood for fuel had been taken by the ships that year.¹³³⁰ With peace the ships no longer needed to bring their own provisions, but the fuel order stood.¹³³¹ In April 1764 they were still to bring fuel "since the island was very short of wood for that purpose".¹³³² The Court repeated the order in November 1764, November 1765 and December 1766.¹³³³ In November 1765 it suspected that the crew of the London had cut a large quantity of wood with the council's leave or connivance.¹³³⁴

By the late 1760s the Council gave ships coal rather than wood. In March 1768 a commander whose ship "was badly short of firewood" was given 10 bushels of coal, later charged at 40 per cent.¹³³⁵ In July 1769 the Council would spare the Sea Horse no more than one chaldron.¹³³⁶ The island's own coal had to serve the Castle, the armourer and the lime kilns.¹³³⁷ In October 1769 another chaldron for a ship had to be "taken from the coal set aside for burning lime".¹³³⁸ On 17 January 1770 the Court admitted that "a scarcity of fuel still prevailed".¹³³⁹ No coal at all was issued for burning lime in the quarter to December 1769.¹³⁴⁰

The Company also tried to grow fuel. Leases of the 1740s and 1750s bound tenants to plant wood, furze and fruit trees.¹³⁴¹ Widow Sarah Junge's grant of 1757 required her to plant trees, firs and gorse.¹³⁴² In June 1765 blackthorn was wanted for hedges that "would also serve for fuel if it took as expected".¹³⁴³ In October 1767 Corneille opposed leasing the common's furze, fearing "a useful supply of fuel would be destroyed".¹³⁴⁴ On 10 January 1781 the justices and grand jury agreed to "fence off a stretch of the Company's waste land known as the Barn Ground and plant it with trees".¹³⁴⁵ The inhabitants depended on island wood for household fuel, and statute labour was diverted from the roads to this fuel plantation.¹³⁴⁶ Runaways in the hills burnt what they could find. In January 1778 runaway slaves grilled mutton over a fire of ebony wood at their hiding place.¹³⁴⁷

Coal from England

Coal was imported from the earliest years, though at first in small quantities. A letter from London of 5 April 1684 hoped surplus sugar would fund "constant supplies of brick, lime, timber, boards and coals".¹³⁴⁸ An account entered among the consultations of the 1690s valued 70 bushels of coal, expended over two years at the fort, at £7 18s 4d.¹³⁴⁹ At about 2s 3d a bushel, this was more than twice the price of coal in the 1750s.¹³⁵⁰ Some years after 1716 the Council asked that the store ship be ballasted with tiles instead of coal.¹³⁵¹

By the middle of the century coal came every year in the Company's ships. The store held "27 chaldron of coals at 33s 7½d" in November 1742.¹³⁵² The Court sent 10 chaldrons in November 1758 and 20 chaldrons in each of 1763 and 1764.¹³⁵³ It sent 60 chaldrons in December 1766 and 40 chaldrons in January 1768.¹³⁵⁴ In December 1768 it sent 60 chaldrons against a requisition of 70.¹³⁵⁵ The rise followed the engineer's discovery that the island's limestone was plentiful but its wood too scarce to burn it.¹³⁵⁶ The Court foresaw that "the consumption of that article for burning lime must be considerable".¹³⁵⁷

Most of the coal went to the kilns, the forge and the Company's kitchens rather than to private hearths. In April 1766 the engineer's 30 chaldrons were reserved for burning lime.¹³⁵⁸ In the quarter to 30 September 1767 the lime works at Sandy Bay drew 32 chaldrons 8 bushels, worth £62 16s 2d.¹³⁵⁹ Coal also went regularly to the armourer, 70 bushels in April 1756 and 64 bushels in December 1766.¹³⁶⁰ In June 1764 80 bushels were issued "for the forge and kitchens".¹³⁶¹ When the coal ran out in January 1767 Mitchell had to set the Company's workmen to felling and hauling wood for the kilns.¹³⁶² Supplies recovered in 1770. In the quarter to September 1770 the fortifications drew coal for burning lime worth £112 13s 4d.¹³⁶³ At the same date the store still held 15 chaldrons at 42s a chaldron.¹³⁶⁴ Losses at sea continued. The Pigot delivered 1 chaldron 21 bushels of coal short in September 1771.¹³⁶⁵

Coal was also sold from the store for household use, in small lots. The Company's servants usually bought a few bushels a quarter, and never more than 30, at about 1s a bushel. Planters and others at the higher advance paid more, and some bought by the chaldron. Table 7 sets out the stated quantities and values.

Table 7. Coal valued, sold or estimated at the Company's store, 1699-1770
Year	Account	Quantity	Value stated	Source
1699	Expended at the fort over 2 years	70 bushels	£7 18s 4d	012/190
1742	Store inventory	27 chaldrons	33s 7½d a chaldron	047/43
1754	Warehouse inventory	3 chaldrons	£4 14s 9d	063/233
1756	Sold to servants	4 bushels	4s	066/332
1756	Sold to servants	9½ bushels	9s 6d	066/449
1756	Warehouse inventory	3 chaldrons	£6 5s 6d	067/89
1757	Sold at 40 per cent	1 chaldron	£2 18s 2d	067/416-418
1759	Sold to servants	8 bushels	7s 9d	069/79-82
1759	Warehouse inventory	7 chaldrons	£16 15s 4d	069/187-188
1763	Sold at 40 per cent	3 chaldrons	£10 7s	071/302-304
1763	Stores survey	14 chaldrons 15 bushels	£31 12s 9d	075/96
1764	Sold to planters at 40 per cent	20 bushels	£1 14s 6d	075/346-348
1764	Store inventory	19 chaldrons 31 bushels	£41 14s 2d	076/54
1765	Sold to planters	8 chaldrons 32 bushels	£26 13s 4d	076/226
1765	Sold to planters at 40 per cent	5 chaldrons	£15	076/359-362
1765	Corneille's estimate for lime	30 chaldrons	£2 4s a chaldron	077/182-183
1766	Sold to servants	30 bushels	£2 4s 4d	078/76
1766	Sold at 40 per cent	9 bushels	17s 3d	078/227
1769	Sold at 40 per cent	1 chaldron	£2 14s	084/189
1769	Sold at 30 per cent	24 bushels	£1 19s 9d	084/191
1770	Store inventory	15 chaldrons	42s a chaldron	085/434

The chaldron was reckoned at 36 bushels: 2 chaldrons 8 bushels and 80 bushels were each valued at £4 18s 4d in 1764 (075/352-355; 076/25).

The table showed coal at about £2 to £3 a chaldron by the 1760s, depending on the buyer's class. The store valued its own stock at £2 2s a chaldron in 1770.¹³⁶⁶ Servants paid about 1s a bushel, and buyers at the 40 per cent advance paid nearer 2s. The large sales of 1765 to planters, 8 chaldrons 32 bushels and 5 chaldrons, were perhaps bought for private lime burning or smithing rather than for the hearth.¹³⁶⁷ Coal also suffered at sea. A chaldron was damaged on board the Triton in 1760 and charged to the captain at £2 12s.¹³⁶⁸

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the chimney on St Helena was above all a cooking flue. The Castle had no chimney but the kitchen's until a Governor added one, and the stacks that blew down or were rebuilt were often kitchen stacks. Fires for warmth appeared mainly at guard posts and in the night-time scenes of the court records. The climate did not demand a hearth in every room.

The hearth furniture probably reflected status as much as need. Chimney glasses, fire grates with poker and shovel, brass hearths and andirons with brass heads were found in Plantation House and in Goodwin's estate. A planter such as Gawling had pot hangers, a spit and hand irons, which were the tools of the cooking fire. The pattern suggested that a parlour fireplace with its glass above it was an elite refinement copied from England.

The fuel problem was probably less a household crisis than a contest for a scarce resource. Ships, lime kilns, stills and the forge all drew on the same wood as the kitchen hearth. The Company's answer was to push the heavy users onto imported coal and keep the island's wood for the inhabitants. By the 1780s even that was not enough, and the inhabitants were planting a fuel plantation of their own.

Comparisons

In England the period saw chimneys built into almost every house, often inserted into older open-hall buildings.¹³⁶⁹ Probate inventories from Kent and Cornwall record fire irons, andirons and bellows in most households, as St Helena's did in the better ones.¹³⁷⁰ Lorna Weatherill found that decorative goods such as looking glasses spread fastest among the middling and upper ranks in this period.¹³⁷¹ The St Helena chimney glass of the 1740s fitted that pattern.

In New England the timber house was built round a massive central chimney of stone or brick. Boston and other towns passed early laws against wooden chimneys and thatched roofs because of fire.¹³⁷² St Helena's council of 1691 met the same danger by inspecting low chimneys rather than banning thatch.

Bermuda offered a closer island parallel. Its houses were of local stone, and its scarce cedar was in heavy demand for shipbuilding as well as fuel.¹³⁷³ At the Cape the early houses centred on a main room or kitchen that held the house's hearth.¹³⁷⁴ Cape Town also faced a growing shortage of firewood, and slaves were sent far from the town to gather it.¹³⁷⁵

Richard Grove treated St Helena's loss of forest and the Company's response as an early case of colonial conservation.¹³⁷⁶ The orders against ships' fuel and the planting of furze and trees belonged to that history. In Company India the bungalow developed for shade and ventilation, and it carried no fireplace tradition of the English kind.¹³⁷⁷ St Helena's houses, with a firegrate at one end, belonged to the English and Cape tradition rather than the Indian one.

7. Windows, Doors, Locks and Keys

The Early Window: Glass, Bars and Shutters

Window glass reached St Helena within a decade of the English resettlement. In May 1683 the Scipio Africanus brought four chests of window glass cut into squares, 920 feet in all. The same ship carried solder, drawn lead, yellow rosin and a parcel of glaziers' tools.¹³⁷⁸ The tools were four soldering irons, two turncocks and two hammers, the kit for setting glass in lead.¹³⁷⁹ The voyage did not treat the cargo kindly, and the glass in three of the four chests arrived damaged by sweating in the hold.¹³⁸⁰ A further box of window glass came on the Society in April 1684, with nails, household ironware and 50 large wagon hinges.¹³⁸¹

Glass was mended as well as fitted. In 1694 John Acton was paid 3s for mending the windows of the fort storeroom.¹³⁸² Most ordinary houses, however, appear in the record with wooden coverings rather than glazed lights. In 1691 a slave named Phillip broke into a house by night while his accomplice Robin stood by the window.¹³⁸³ Phillip "removed the window bar and shutter and broke one or two rails". He then passed out beans, meat, rum, butter and yams.¹³⁸⁴ The window here was an opening closed by a solid shutter, held by a bar and guarded by rails.

The same construction recurs in the disorders of the early 1700s. A drunken crowd in Butt Alley, probably in June 1701, broke open two doors and the windows of Josias Grimsby's house.¹³⁸⁵ At the Grandys' house nearby "the doors and windows were broken to pieces" and stones were thrown at people sitting at the table.¹³⁸⁶ Visiting ships' gentlemen spent a night in about 1704 throwing stones at doors and windows, and broke a shutter at one house.¹³⁸⁷ At Mary Cosgrave's one attacker went to "the back window, where a bar was missing" and thrust his head in until a thrown bottle drove him off.¹³⁸⁸

Windows were also the place from which a household watched the street. In one trial of about 1683 a witness at his master's house went to the window to see a noise below, and another looked out of his own window at a fight.¹³⁸⁹ In 1703 or 1704 a witness watching Thomas Ashley's house in Rupert's Valley looked through the window and saw the candle put out.¹³⁹⁰ Five drunken seamen at a tavern in January 1735 went upstairs and threw the bed and bedding out of the window into the street.¹³⁹¹ A window large enough for a bed to pass was a window in an upper room facing the road.

The Council knew what the planters needed. A letter of the 1710s reported about 100 deal boards used each year for coffins alone.¹³⁹² Besides that, "the planters always asked for some to make their doors, window shutters and other necessary repairs to their houses".¹³⁹³ A supply indent of the same years noted that the island could keep two or three joiners busy making window sashes, cupboards and chests of drawers, if only it had the timber.¹³⁹⁴ Sash windows were therefore wanted and could be made locally, but deals were the limiting material.

The largest early order for glass came in April 1713. The Council's list of "Necessaries Wanting from England" asked for 12,000 squares of window glass in three sizes, 8 by 6, 10 by 8½ and 12 by 8 inches.¹³⁹⁵ The same list wanted several sorts of locks and hinges and 10,000 deals.¹³⁹⁶ London sent only half the requested window glass and small looking glasses that year.¹³⁹⁷ The Directors treated these as ornamental goods on trial, to be priced at the Governor's discretion rather than at the modest advance used for necessaries.¹³⁹⁸

Rats shaped one window order. A supply list asked for 40 yards of "strong wirework, to make windows for the directors' warehouses, woven close enough to keep out the rats".¹³⁹⁹ Damp shaped another kind of record. A council survey of the Plantation House in August 1716 found the floors and principal rafters rotten, and "the window frames were in the same condition".¹⁴⁰⁰

Windows could also be property in their own right. A probate inventory of September 1737, totalling £2,385 8s 8d, listed "10 windows" as a separate item.¹⁴⁰¹ Neighbours' rights to light were protected too. When Swallow was allowed to extend his ground back to the watercourse, he was not to hinder Captain Edward Mashborne "from the benefit of his light".¹⁴⁰² A James Valley house sold in December 1753 passed with every room, chamber, window and passage named in the conveyance.¹⁴⁰³

Window Glass in the Company's Store, 1742-1771

From 1742 the store accounts show glass in steady supply. The inventory of November 1742 held 102 feet of quarry glass at 12s for 12 feet, worth £26 4s 2d.¹⁴⁰⁴ It also held 120 feet of "best crown glass, 12 by 10, at 8s", squares cut to size and one glazed window ready made.¹⁴⁰⁵ In the same year inhabitants bought 102 feet of quarry glass 12 by 8 and 95 feet in 8 by 10.¹⁴⁰⁶ At the June quarterly sale of 1742 the entry read "42 square glass, 8 by 10, at 6d each, £1 8s 0d".¹⁴⁰⁷

By the 1750s the quarry glass had gone from the accounts, and squares were sold in three standard sizes. These were 6 by 8, 8 by 10 and 10 by 12 inches, with a few larger panes.¹⁴⁰⁸ The inventory of October 1753 held 1,142 squares, of which 630 were 10 by 12, valued at £26 12s 6d.¹⁴⁰⁹ By September 1763 the stock stood at 1,396 panes, 711 of them 8 by 10.¹⁴¹⁰ The inventory of September 1769 counted about 924 panes in 18 sizes.¹⁴¹¹ Of these, "369 panes of window glass, 8 by 10 inches" were valued at £10 12s 2¼d.¹⁴¹² A year later the stock had fallen sharply. The inventory of September 1770 held only 208 panes in 13 sizes, worth £12 10s 9d.¹⁴¹³

The servants of the Company bought glass every quarter. In January 1755 they took 216 squares, 186 of them 10 by 12, with tumblers and a decanter, for £9 12s 1d.¹⁴¹⁴ In September 1764 one quarter's sales came to 509 panes, including 346 of 8 by 10 at £11 3s 5½d.¹⁴¹⁵ In 1767 a single quarter's sales ran to 333 squares from 6 by 8 to 11 by 17¾ inches.¹⁴¹⁶ Planters bought in smaller lots. In January 1756 they took 61 squares of 8 by 10 and 48 of 10 by 12.¹⁴¹⁷ In 1766 they bought 176 panes in seven sizes, with "50 squares of glass 10 by 16, £3 0s 5d".¹⁴¹⁸

Sales kept up into the 1770s. In the quarter to December 1769 servants bought 223 panes in seven sizes.¹⁴¹⁹ The entry began "113 panes of window glass, 6 by 8 inches, £2 9s 2d" and ended with seven panes of 12 by 22 inches.¹⁴²⁰ They took 170 panes in the quarter to March 1770 and 173 in the quarter to June.¹⁴²¹ In June 1771 a single quarter's sales included 240 squares of 8 by 10 inches for £6 15s 0d.¹⁴²² Buyers at 40 per cent took larger panes in small lots. In June 1770 they bought "13 panes 11 by 17 inches, £1 4s 11d".¹⁴²³

The price of an ordinary pane barely moved across these years. The table gives the stated sales of 8 by 10 panes in single lots large enough to show a unit price.

Table 8. Sales of window glass 8 by 10 inches from the Company's store, 1742-1771
Year	Buyers	Panes	Total	Each	Source
1742	Inhabitants	42	£1 8s 0d	8d	046/121-125
1753	Servants	119	£3 14s 4½d	7½d	062/286
1753	40 per cent	16	12s 8d	9½d	062/212
1755	Servants	87	£2 14s 4½d	7½d	066/50
1755	Planters	46	£1 16s 5d	9½d	066/55
1757	Servants	118	£3 13s 9d	7½d	067/414-415
1757	40 per cent	60	£2 12s 6d	10½d	067/416-418
1759	Servants	78	£2 12s 0d	8d	068/419-424
1763	Servants	57	£1 18s 0d	8d	075/140
1764	Servants	346	£11 3s 5½d	7¾d	076/15
1764	40 per cent	44	£1 17s 7d	10¼d	075/231-232
1765	Servants	60	£2 0s 0d	8d	076/220
1767	Servants	238	£6 13s 10½d	6¾d	082/205
1768	Servants	111	£3 9s 1½d	7½d	083/268
1769	Servants	93	£2 14s 3d	7d	084/359
1769	Servants	80	£2 18s 8d	8¾d	085/17
1769	40 per cent	20	16s 8d	10d	085/23
1770	Servants	163	£5 5s 3¼d	7¾d	085/158
1770	Servants	109	£3 10s 6½d	7¾d	085/300
1771	Servants	240	£6 15s 0d	6¾d	086/296

The 1742 entry is stated as 6d each in the text but totals £1 8s 0d, which gives 8d. Unit prices are the stated totals divided by the stated number of panes.

A pane of 8 by 10 thus cost a Company servant about 7½d through the 1750s and 1760s, and still between 6¾d and 7¾d in 1770 and 1771. A planter or other buyer at the higher advance paid between 9½d and 10½d. The smaller 6 by 8 pane sold to servants for between 3¾d and 5d.¹⁴²⁴ A 10 by 12 pane cost them about 11d.¹⁴²⁵ Glass was also sold by the square foot in 1755, when servants took 217 square feet of 6 by 8 for £3 7s 10d.¹⁴²⁶

Mica served where glass would not. The store held "9 muscovy lights" at 5s 4d in 1742.¹⁴²⁷ Six damaged Muscovy lights were auctioned in March 1755 for 18s 5d, and single lights were sold to servants and others in 1754.¹⁴²⁸

Glass was fragile cargo, and almost every ship's account recorded breakage. In April 1754, 10 squares of 19 by 11 crown glass from the Grantham were broken in the package.¹⁴²⁹ Then "the Black man who assisted in the stores stumbled with it, and by that accident let it fall, breaking twenty-five squares more".¹⁴³⁰ Of 250 squares invoiced on the Prince Henry in 1758, only 195 were received.¹⁴³¹ From the Triton in 1760, 70 squares were "found broken upon opening the packages which were all in good order".¹⁴³² The Egmont in 1763 brought 75 broken panes, and the Northumberland in 1767 brought 106.¹⁴³³ The Prince of Wales in 1766 delivered 73 square feet of glass broken in 10 pane sizes.¹⁴³⁴ The Harcourt in June 1770 brought 103 broken panes.¹⁴³⁵ From the Calcutta in April 1771 came 65 squares of 12 by 20 inches and 14 of 8 by 10, all "found broken on opening a sound package".¹⁴³⁶

Breakage continued on the island. The yearly waste account for 1756 recorded five square feet of barrack glass "broke by a stone falling from the top of one of the cellars".¹⁴³⁷ The waste account of October 1765 wrote off 30 panes of four sizes.¹⁴³⁸ That of October 1770 wrote off 11 squares of 10 by 13 inches at 13s 6d.¹⁴³⁹

Shortage could halt building. The new barracks for the men were almost finished in April 1771, but the Council wrote that they lacked one thing.¹⁴⁴⁰ "These would be finished in eight or ten days, apart from the window glass, which was badly needed."¹⁴⁴¹ In June 1771 the Company bought 211 squares of 12 by 16 inches from George Bazett at 1s 6d each, £15 16s 6d in all.¹⁴⁴² This size was larger than any then in store, and the glass was probably a private import.¹⁴⁴³ The barracks were glazed in the quarter to June 1771.¹⁴⁴⁴ Their final fitting took 100 squares of 6 by 8 and 80 of 8 by 10, with 6½ lb of glazing brads.¹⁴⁴⁵

Larger panes went to the principal buildings. In July 1753 the Great House received 10 squares of 18 by 11 at 13s 9d.¹⁴⁴⁶ In 1764 the Council asked that the panes for the new church "might be ten by twelve inches, instead of eight by ten".¹⁴⁴⁷ In June 1765 the Castle received 92 panes in large sizes, among them 11 by 19, 17 by 13 and 10¼ by 19 inches.¹⁴⁴⁸ Eight panes of 14 by 16 went to the Castle in March 1769.¹⁴⁴⁹ The cost of repairing the Castle between 1764 and 1766 included window glass in squares up to 16½ by 19 inches and £32 3s 10d for window frames.¹⁴⁵⁰ By 1768 the store held panes in sizes up to 11½ by 19, "each fitting a pattern of sash".¹⁴⁵¹ The Lieutenant Governor's house took five large panes in March 1770, among them three of 12¾ by 18¾ inches.¹⁴⁵² In December 1770 the Castle and Plantation House drew 41 squares in five sizes, 16 of them 11 by 17½.¹⁴⁵³ Stone window sills were prepared at the quarry for the Lieutenant Governor's house in the same quarter.¹⁴⁵⁴

Sashes, Shutters, Blinds and Curtains

The sash window was established at the Castle by the 1740s. Governor Duke Crispe fixed 10 window sashes belonging to Mary Alexander "in a new room of the Castle".¹⁴⁵⁵ Her husband had paid £9 5s for them at Pyke's auction, and they were valued at £6 5s, but three governors in turn failed to pay.¹⁴⁵⁶ In November 1742 the Council settled the debt at "prime cost in England", £44 15s 6d, plus 5 per cent commission.¹⁴⁵⁷ The executors received £47 3s 3¾d in February 1743 "for sashes that Mr Crop had of them for the use of the Castle".¹⁴⁵⁸ The chaplain Edward Alcock paid £77 4s 10¾d for windows bought at the outcry of Governor John Goodwin's estate in 1742.¹⁴⁵⁹

Sash windows spread to the Company's other houses. Nails were issued in January 1753 "for slash windows and the salt house", with a deal for windows and shutters for the pipehouse.¹⁴⁶⁰ The carpenters received three pairs of sash planes in April 1757.¹⁴⁶¹ Nails went to "plantation house sashes" in January 1759.¹⁴⁶² Soldiers spent 24 days in 1759 glazing a sash and repairing the wall on Ladder Hill.¹⁴⁶³ In March 1766 the councillor Matthew Purling sold the Company "a glazed window sash for the castle, £4 0s 0d".¹⁴⁶⁴ The carpenters' shop was re-equipped in June 1769 with a sash saw at 6s 2d.¹⁴⁶⁵ It received a new set of sash planes at 18s 6d in June 1771.¹⁴⁶⁶

Sash fittings appear in every later inventory. The store held 42 sash rings in 1742.¹⁴⁶⁷ By 1757 it held 24 sash fastenings and 48 brass shutter hinges.¹⁴⁶⁸ In 1759 it held "24 sash fastenings, £0 7s 6d" and 40 brass shutter rings.¹⁴⁶⁹ Sash cord came in hanks and knots: 10 hanks in 1762 and 9 knots of sash line in 1764.¹⁴⁷⁰ A planter bought "a knot of sash line for a sliding window" in September 1766.¹⁴⁷¹ The Castle drew seven hanks of sash line in 1765, and the Lieutenant Governor's house "1½ knots of sash line" in 1769.¹⁴⁷² A further "Sash line for the Castle, 1 hank, £0 1s 4d" was issued in March 1771.¹⁴⁷³

The Company did not try to make all its own sashes. When plans for a new Lieutenant Governor's house went to London in July 1769, the Council noted that sashes and balusters were better and cheaper made in England.¹⁴⁷⁴ An order for sash frames went with the plans.¹⁴⁷⁵ In May 1770 the Directors approved the two new houses, and the Council asked for windows, sashes, balusters and slate.¹⁴⁷⁶

Shutters did not disappear when sashes arrived. They were hung inside and out on hinges bought by the pair. The store held 11 pairs of shutter hinges in October 1753, worth £2 15s 0d with other hinges.¹⁴⁷⁷ In 1762 it held 57 pairs of shutter hinges and 56 brass shutter rings.¹⁴⁷⁸ By September 1769 it held 49 pairs.¹⁴⁷⁹ In September 1770 it held 38 pairs valued at £4 0s 9d, with six pairs more on another page.¹⁴⁸⁰ In 1768 there were eight pairs of large cross garnet hinges "for doors and shutters".¹⁴⁸¹ A single pair of shutter hinges cost 2s 3d in 1765 and 2s 1½d in 1767.¹⁴⁸²

Deals for shutters were issued year after year. Three single deals went "for window shutters and a table" at the guard houses in 1753.¹⁴⁸³ A double deal went "for window shutters for the barracks" later that year.¹⁴⁸⁴ Seven double deals made shutters to the sergeants' guardroom in 1756.¹⁴⁸⁵ In January 1757 the carpenters had nails for windows and shutters for the hospital.¹⁴⁸⁶ Eight single deals made "window shutters for Mr Clark's house" in January 1759.¹⁴⁸⁷ In April 1760 nails went "to make doors and window shutters" at Plantation House and for the slaves.¹⁴⁸⁸

The Castle had blinds and awnings as well. Three wainscot boards made "frames for window blinds in the castle" in July 1759, with osnaburg for the blinds themselves.¹⁴⁸⁹ In September 1762 canvas went for awnings and blinds on the Castle windows after a storm.¹⁴⁹⁰ The Castle had "6½ yards of English canvas for sun awnings for the Castle windows" in December 1763.¹⁴⁹¹ In 1769 "5¼ yards of coloured shalloon for window blinds at the Castle" cost 10s 1d.¹⁴⁹² Four double deals made blinds for the prison windows in 1768.¹⁴⁹³ A kipser board was issued for the Castle kitchen window in 1755.¹⁴⁹⁴

Window curtains were rare in the early record. The first one in a private house appears in May 1740. William Gray, a seaman of the Lynn, was beaten off at Mrs Vanosten's window and pulled down a curtain hanging there.¹⁴⁹⁵ Governor Goodwin's sale of August 1742 included "1 set window curtains, purchased by Edward Bates, £0 3s 1d".¹⁴⁹⁶ The Plantation House inventory of May 1741 listed window valances with its chintz and bed curtains.¹⁴⁹⁷ Richard Gawling's furniture in 1754 included window curtains, which sold at his auction.¹⁴⁹⁸

Curtains became more costly in the 1750s and later. In August 1759 Thomas Greentree proved that "the curtains for a room of three windows took a whole piece of damask" worth at least £4 10s.¹⁴⁹⁹ The free black man Samuel Bowers was ordered to pay the full value for cutting one.¹⁵⁰⁰ Half a piece of longcloth was issued "for window curtains in the castle" in December 1764 at 9s 11d.¹⁵⁰¹ Another quarter piece went for Castle window curtains in June 1765.¹⁵⁰² In July 1779 the runaway slave Peg was burnt in the hand for taking "three chintz window curtains" from John Whaley's house.¹⁵⁰³ Lieutenant De Laune's sale in 1768 included gauze curtains and window curtains.¹⁵⁰⁴

Glaziers and the Care of Windows

The tools of 1683 had no named user, and for the next 60 years the record names few glaziers. By the 1750s the Company paid for glazing by the day or the quarter, and the men were usually soldiers. Samuel Sales was paid 3s 6d for glazier's work in the quarter to October 1753.¹⁵⁰⁵ Samuel Eales had £3 for glazier's work in the following quarter.¹⁵⁰⁶ In July 1755 the soldier Eales was paid "for 2 days glazier's work, £0 4s 0d". His rate was thus 2s a day.¹⁵⁰⁷ He had the same rate for four days in July 1756.¹⁵⁰⁸ Samuel Oates was paid 1s a day for 12 days glazing the church in January 1756.¹⁵⁰⁹

Larger sums show glazing as a regular charge. Samuel Cater received £12 in the quarter to October 1754 "making putty, cutting glass and glazing windows for the East Plantation House and the hospital".¹⁵¹⁰ Samuel Estre had £7 6s for glazing work in the quarter to October 1759.¹⁵¹¹ William Finch, a soldier of the Second Company, appears in the paymaster's lists from 1762 to 1765.¹⁵¹² Finch was paid 1s 6d a day for six days' glazing at the Castle in March 1765 and for 12 days in June.¹⁵¹³ The Lieutenant Governor's house took two days' glaziers' work at 3s in all in 1766.¹⁵¹⁴

Putty was made on the island. Linseed oil and whiting were issued in July 1753 "for putty for the windows of the great house, the adjutant's apartment and repairs".¹⁵¹⁵ Whiting went in January 1754 to "putty for windows in the castle, barracks, guardroom and church".¹⁵¹⁶ Linseed was issued in 1762 "for puttying windows in several of the Company's houses".¹⁵¹⁷ Glazing brads were sold by the pound to servants and planters.¹⁵¹⁸ The store held 3 cwt 12 lb of glazing brads in October 1753, valued at £4 18s 0d.¹⁵¹⁹

Painting kept the frames sound. Charles Stokes was paid 8s in 1754 for four days "painting the windows, staircases and ceilings of Mr Clark's house at 2s per day".¹⁵²⁰ White lead, Venetian red and whiting were issued in 1755 "for painting and repairing the windows of the Company's houses".¹⁵²¹ Thomas Mawer painted the window frames at the new barracks in 1758.¹⁵²² Windows were also cleaned for pay. James Donavan received 2s 6d in March 1768 "for cleaning the windows of the Lieutenant Governor's house".¹⁵²³

The Company's own houses were reglazed by the dozen panes. In July 1755, 14 squares went to repairs to the Company's houses.¹⁵²⁴ In December 1764 a single issue sent 65 panes of 6 by 8 to two of the Company's houses.¹⁵²⁵ In June 1769, 117 panes went to the Castle and the Company's houses at £3 8s 10d.¹⁵²⁶ The chaplain's house and the plantation house took 66 panes in September 1770.¹⁵²⁷ The barracks drew 51 panes in December 1769 with "½ pound of glazier's brads for the barrack windows, £0 0s 9d".¹⁵²⁸ The hospital was refitted in June 1771 with 96 squares of 8 by 10 at £2 8s 0d.¹⁵²⁹ The hospital, the guard rooms and the barracks drew small lots every few quarters.¹⁵³⁰

Doors, Hinges and Bolts

The door of an ordinary house was usually a deal door hung on iron hinges. The Council's planters wanted deals for their doors.¹⁵³¹ The Company's own doors used heavier timber where security mattered. Two pieces of Riga timber made "a door and door case for the magazine" in 1755.¹⁵³² A quarter piece of Riga timber made a door frame for the Plantation House garden in 1763, and oak plank made the door.¹⁵³³ Six double deals made door cases and frames for the stable in 1757.¹⁵³⁴

Hinges came in many patterns. The store held 99 pairs of H hinges, 16 pairs with rising joints and 11 pairs of shutter hinges in October 1753.¹⁵³⁵ In 1755 it held 54 pairs of HL hinges at three prices and 24 pairs of side hinges.¹⁵³⁶ Later inventories added butt hinges, barrack hinges and cross garnet hinges.¹⁵³⁷ Servants paid 6s 6d for three pairs of H hinges in 1754.¹⁵³⁸ A pair of large H-L hinges for the Peak House garden gate cost 7s 8d in 1763.¹⁵³⁹ Butt hinges sold at 2s 4d a pair in 1768.¹⁵⁴⁰ Dovetail hinges were small and cheap. A London invoice of 1766 charged them by the pair in error, though such hinges "should have been charged by the dozen".¹⁵⁴¹ The island's note put their usual cost at about 4d a pair.¹⁵⁴²

Latches and knockers were ordered early. The supply indent of the 1710s asked for 6 dozen door latches, 6 dozen sorted stock locks and 2 dozen handsome door knockers.¹⁵⁴³ Bolts were common. The store held 234 plate bolts in 1742, including balcony bolts.¹⁵⁴⁴ Robert Wright's effects in 1742 included "locks and eight bolts with furniture".¹⁵⁴⁵ In 1759 John Adamson left the island and his attorneys sold Company property as his own.¹⁵⁴⁶ It included "a night bolt and bar for a chamber door".¹⁵⁴⁷

Doors were cut and stopped by neighbours and the Council alike. In the 1710s William Beale could not reach the ground behind his house without pulling down part of his kitchen.¹⁵⁴⁸ Its only door had been built "by the chimney", and the Governor gave him a 4-foot passage at a peppercorn rent.¹⁵⁴⁹ In October 1756 the Governor ordered a disputed wall rebuilt about 10 feet long, "placing a door in it as he had always intended".¹⁵⁵⁰ In September 1764 the Council ordered doors and a window opened onto the Ladder Hill lane to be blocked up.¹⁵⁵¹ It judged that "a light or anything else appearing suddenly from these openings could frighten a horse".¹⁵⁵² The householders then petitioned to lease the strip behind their houses, since "none of their houses had a back door".¹⁵⁵³

Even the Castle lacked doors in places. In June 1767 the Governor reported that it still had no windows to its porch and no door to the staircase opening onto the mount.¹⁵⁵⁴ This left the building unsafe and uncomfortable in all weathers.¹⁵⁵⁵ A rope door was made for the Castle in 1754.¹⁵⁵⁶

Locks and Keys in the Store

Locks were among the first goods the Company sent. A London invoice of 26 March 1680 priced stock locks in several grades from 7d to 3s 6d each, with padlocks.¹⁵⁵⁷ The stores account of the same month counted 25 stock locks among the tools remaining.¹⁵⁵⁸ The indent of the 1710s asked for 9 dozen cupboard locks in ordinary and fine grades.¹⁵⁵⁹ A storekeeper's account of October 1716 listed a chest lock and two plate locks.¹⁵⁶⁰ Another of 1719 listed stock locks, splinter locks, chest locks and "1 rimmed closet lock".¹⁵⁶¹

By the 1740s the store carried locks for every purpose. The November 1742 inventory listed 28 rim locks and 26 stock locks graded A, B and C. It also held "5 large stock locks with pipes" at 14s 3d.¹⁵⁶² It held 59 chest locks, 26 till locks, 36 rim locks and 5 brass locks on another page.¹⁵⁶³ In October 1755 the locks in store were valued at £28 10s 7d.¹⁵⁶⁴ They comprised 6 brass locks, 38 iron rimmed locks, 28 stock locks, 8 padlocks and 10 chest locks.¹⁵⁶⁵ Of the rimmed locks 21 had brass knobs.¹⁵⁶⁶ The survey of September 1763 counted more than 280 locks of many patterns.¹⁵⁶⁷

New names appeared in the 1760s. The September 1764 inventory held 16 "St Kitt" locks, 48 splinter locks, 60 stock locks and 22 barrack locks.¹⁵⁶⁸ In 1765 the store held 17 partition door locks and four partition cupboard locks.¹⁵⁶⁹ By 1767 it held 11 bureau drawer locks and four brass closet locks.¹⁵⁷⁰ In 1768 locks were graded by size from A to M, with nine parlour door locks and six gaol padlocks.¹⁵⁷¹ A servant bought "1 parlour door lock with brass knobs" that quarter.¹⁵⁷² Tinned iron locks with brass knobs were sold in March 1770, one of them at £1 4s 3½d.¹⁵⁷³ In June 1771 servants bought 13 iron-rimmed mortice locks with brass knobs for £4 10s 5½d.¹⁵⁷⁴ These were the first mortice locks named in the accounts. The September 1770 inventory held 35 splinter locks, 28 stock locks, 18 padlocks and seven brass chest locks.¹⁵⁷⁵ The table sets out stated prices for the commoner kinds.

Table 9. Stated prices of locks and keys at St Helena, 1680-1771
Year	Item	Stated price	Source
1680	Stock locks, London invoice	7d to 3s 6d each	001/128,134
1742	Large brass locks, store	6s 6d	047/42
1742	Large stock lock with pipe, store	14s 3d	047/48
1753	Iron rimmed lock, to servants	6s 9d	062/13
1753	Cupboard lock, to servants	6s 1d	062/106
1753	Iron rimmed lock number 2, Great House	17s 8d	062/214
1753	18 chest locks, to servants	£3 3s 0d	062/284
1753	Stock lock, at 40 per cent	2s 10½d	062/212
1754	5 stock locks, to servants	11s 9½d	063/11
1754	2 padlocks, to servants	3s 0d	063/11
1762	4 barrack locks, to servants	£1 2s 0d	071/131-138
1763	Closet lock, officers' guard room	3s 3d	075/77-78
1765	Iron rim lock with brass knobs, at 40 per cent	7s 0d	076/359-362
1765	Padlock, slaves' house	1s 6d	077/133-134
1765	Blank key, slave house	8d	077/220-221
1766	Iron rim lock of 10 inches with brass knobs	£3 5s 3d	078/77
1767	Spring bolt lock with bits	£1 10s 10½d	082/203
1767	Brass closet lock, Company house	4s 3½d	082/102-103
1769	Iron-rimmed lock, size A	£1 2s 2¾d	084/42
1769	7 stock locks, to servants	£1 1s 0d	084/357-359
1770	Tinned iron lock, to servants	£1 4s 3½d	085/159
1770	Barrack door lock, to servants	8s 3d	085/159
1770	Brass door lock with brass handles, Lieutenant Governor's house	7s 6d	085/421-422
1770	Lock made by the armourer, Lieutenant Governor's house	£1 5s 0d	086/78
1771	Cupboard lock, to servants	3s 1½d	086/148
1771	13 iron-rimmed mortice locks with brass knobs, to servants	£4 10s 5½d	086/295
1771	26 stock locks, new barracks	£3 15s 8d	086/324-325

Prices are those written in the accounts. Sales to servants were at the lower advance on invoice; sales at 40 per cent were to planters and others.

The stock lock was the plain wooden-cased lock of an ordinary door. A servant paid about 2s 2d for one in the 1750s and about 3s in the 1760s.¹⁵⁷⁶ A planter or other buyer at the higher advance paid 2s 10½d in 1753 and 1754.¹⁵⁷⁷ An iron rimmed lock with brass knobs cost 7s or more, and the largest rim locks cost over £1.¹⁵⁷⁸ A padlock cost about 1s 6d.¹⁵⁷⁹ In 1770 and 1771 a stock lock cost a servant about 3s, and the Company charged 2s 11d for each one it issued to its own buildings.¹⁵⁸⁰ Not every lock was imported. In December 1770 the armourer John Robins was paid £1 5s 0d "for a lock for the Lieutenant Governor's house".¹⁵⁸¹

Blank keys were stocked by the score and cut on the island. The store held 53 blank keys in 1762, 108 in 1764 and 160 in 1767.¹⁵⁸² There were 133 in September 1769 and 241 in September 1770, valued at £7 10s 7½d.¹⁵⁸³ A blank key cost the Company about 7½d or 8d.¹⁵⁸⁴ Six "blank keys for stock locks" from the Speke in 1769 were ruined by sal ammoniac packed in the same cask.¹⁵⁸⁵ In January 1755 the soldier Edward Serry was paid 18s "for making some new keys and repairing the locks of the several gates".¹⁵⁸⁶ Another soldier, Baron Deloaph, was paid in 1755 for "numbering two plates for the keys of the gates".¹⁵⁸⁷ In 1760 Robert Cunningham was paid for a lock and key for the barracks.¹⁵⁸⁸ Rolled Dutch brass in store in 1769 was meant for keyhole escutcheons.¹⁵⁸⁹ The store held 97 pounds of rolled brass for escutcheons in September 1770.¹⁵⁹⁰ The Castle drew some in June 1770, and servants bought it for their own keyholes in March 1771.¹⁵⁹¹

The Company's buildings drew locks every quarter. Three stock locks went "for the lieutenant governor's house and bakehouse" in April 1753.¹⁵⁹² Four iron rimmed locks went to the same house for £1 4s 11d.¹⁵⁹³ Nine number 2 iron rimmed locks were issued for Plantation House in January 1760 at £1 5s 4d.¹⁵⁹⁴ A stock lock went to a barrack door in 1754 at 2s 3d.¹⁵⁹⁵ Another was fitted in January 1757 "to prevent the soldiers from going the back way to the barracks".¹⁵⁹⁶ The library at the Castle had "1 iron-rimmed lock with brass knobs" in 1768 and 1769.¹⁵⁹⁷ The Lieutenant Governor's house received "a brass door lock with brass handles" in September 1770, with two cupboard locks and three blank keys.¹⁵⁹⁸ Six stock locks went to the slaughterhouse and the gaol in December 1770.¹⁵⁹⁹ In June 1771 two padlocks for the Castle closets cost 14s 4d.¹⁶⁰⁰ The new barracks were fitted with 26 stock locks that quarter.¹⁶⁰¹ Even the lime houses, the stone house and the churchyard had their locks.¹⁶⁰²

The slaves' houses were locked too. Two stock locks were issued for the Company's slaves in January 1756, presumably for their quarters.¹⁶⁰³ A stock lock went "for the slaves house in the garden" in July 1757.¹⁶⁰⁴ Another went "for the Blacks' house door" in 1758.¹⁶⁰⁵ In September 1765 a padlock was issued for the slaves' house, with candles and a horn lantern for the overseers to inspect it at night.¹⁶⁰⁶ A blank key was cut for the slave house at 8d in December 1765.¹⁶⁰⁷ Four stock locks went "for the slaves' square" in September 1769.¹⁶⁰⁸ Two more followed in December 1769 and two "for the Black Square" in September 1770.¹⁶⁰⁹ The slaves were also guarded under lock. A stock lock and blank key went to the black guard in December 1770, and a "Stock lock for the slaves' guard" in March 1771.¹⁶¹⁰ Section 13 discusses these buildings.

Keys were a matter of authority as well as security. About 1713 Mr Bazett was charged with failing to deliver up the keys of the warehouses to the Governor.¹⁶¹¹ It appeared the keys had never been asked for.¹⁶¹² The Council ruled that the keys must be given up whenever the Governor and Council required them.¹⁶¹³ In October 1768 the carpenter's mate Peter Mariot was found to have taken a door lock from Plantation House.¹⁶¹⁴ He had carried it down to the valley and fitted it to his own door.¹⁶¹⁵ The Council dismissed him from that day.¹⁶¹⁶

Securing the House at Night

The law treated a locked house as specially protected from the start. The code of 20 March 1679 set a heavier penalty for theft by force, or by breaking open a dwelling house, room, cupboard or locked trunk.¹⁶¹⁷ The offender was to restore the goods and pay three times their value, with the rest of his estate forfeited to the Company.¹⁶¹⁸ A later body of laws under Queen Anne's charter restated the rule almost word for word.¹⁶¹⁹

Householders locked their doors as a matter of course. In November 1683 Hugh Boddy testified that he had locked his doors and later found them open, with the windows broken.¹⁶²⁰ In the trial of Richard Honeywood the same month, his landlady kept a key to her own house separate from his.¹⁶²¹ During an alarm at the fort in about 1703, Madame Poirier asked her servant Mary "to lock and bolt all the doors very fast".¹⁶²²

The soldiers' burglaries of May 1704 show how such doors were defeated. At Mrs Cagnald's house Thomas Dutton and John Scriven pushed back a back-door bolt with a penknife.¹⁶²³ They then broke open "the door beneath the stairs" and went upstairs to break "a case lock".¹⁶²⁴ They entered John Alexander's house through a window.¹⁶²⁵ Locked houses could still be entered by the roof or the chimney. In 1707 a slave named Suffield "broke through the thatch, the house being locked".¹⁶²⁶ In 1704 Ralph Gates climbed down John Long's chimney into his country house.¹⁶²⁷

The best account of a house shut for the night comes from the enquiry into Lieutenant Hay in May 1757. McNolty lit a candle for Hay at his quarters. Then he "barred the shutters of his parlour windows, pinned the bolts of them on the inside, then double locked the street door".¹⁶²⁸ Another witness said Barclay "double locked the door, put the key in his pocket" and found the lower windows secure next morning.¹⁶²⁹ At James Powell's house the daughters were locked in by day while their father was at Longwood.¹⁶³⁰ Powell's servant Sam Bowers saw through the keyhole that the key had moved from outside to inside the door.¹⁶³¹ One son nailed up a bedchamber window.¹⁶³²

Locking up was a servant's duty. In October 1757 Thomas Stanley, a hired servant of John Adamson, was called at night to lock the doors.¹⁶³³ Richard Goodwin, away in the country in 1765, "had left a servant behind with instructions to lock them".¹⁶³⁴ At Barclay's house in 1766 the back-door key "was normally left on the dresser in the kitchen".¹⁶³⁵ In 1773 the cooper Griffiths locked his front door but "had left the key in the lock on the inside".¹⁶³⁶ John Whaley in 1779 had left the key in the lock on the outside of his door.¹⁶³⁷ William Smith, renting a house in 1782, "locked the front door when the drums beat at nine" and went to the barracks.¹⁶³⁸

The sash window was the weak point of the later house. In January 1763 Mrs Bland found that "the sash, which they had left fastened from inside with a button, had been forced open".¹⁶³⁹ The same month the slave Exeter broke a pane of his master's bedroom window.¹⁶⁴⁰ "He pulled out the pin that held the window fast and lowered the upper sash."¹⁶⁴¹ Benjamin Mason found in 1764 "a broken pane in one of the windows, fragments of glass on the floor and the upper sash lowered".¹⁶⁴² At Burling's wash house in 1767 Yates found a window so loose that he "nailed it fast so that it could be neither raised nor lowered".¹⁶⁴³ In 1771 John Seale found "one of the sash windows had been smashed and part of the sash cut away".¹⁶⁴⁴

William Hayes's house in 1774 shows the full defence of a street window.¹⁶⁴⁵ The window above the door had a shutter held by an iron pin through shutter and frame, fixed inside with a smaller pin.¹⁶⁴⁶ The shutter was forced, a pane broken and the pin holding up the upper sash drawn out.¹⁶⁴⁷ However, "two nails had been fixed on either side of the window frame on purpose to stop it".¹⁶⁴⁸ In 1782 Lewis Hendrick found his window forced. "Its fastening pin had been pushed out and was lying on the ground."¹⁶⁴⁹

Doors failed at the staple rather than the lock. Stephen Young found in 1767 that "someone had wrenched out the staple and thrown the door violently open".¹⁶⁵⁰ Whitchurch's shop door was found open in 1768 "with the staple of the lock torn out of its housing".¹⁶⁵¹ The same shop was forced again in 1769, "the staple wrenched out of the frame".¹⁶⁵² In 1778 Robert Roberts Budd came down to find his back door open and "the lock almost torn away, hanging by a single nail".¹⁶⁵³ Inside the house, the chest remained the last lock. Hendrick's chest in 1782 was still locked after the theft, so a false key was suspected.¹⁶⁵⁴

The Company's own store was not safe behind its locks. In March 1771 thieves broke into it by night and took goods worth £355 12s 11¼d.¹⁶⁵⁵ They did not trouble with the doors. "A stocking had been found tied round a crowbar, which had plainly been used to break a hole through the wall of the store."¹⁶⁵⁶ The sentry post on the bastion stood empty, and the guard slept in the guardroom and under the Castle archway.¹⁶⁵⁷ The matross Pidcock confessed in June 1771 after evidence from Mary, a slave of Jonathan Doveton.¹⁶⁵⁸ Section 21 discusses these burglaries more fully.

Interpretations

The evidence suggested two phases in the St Helena window. Before about 1740 an ordinary house was closed by a wooden shutter, a bar and rails. Glass reached the island from 1683, but the cases that describe ordinary houses mention shutters and bars, and they do not mention panes. The quarry glass in store in 1742 was perhaps for leaded lights of the older English kind. By the 1750s the store sold squares in fixed sizes, and the burglary cases after 1760 turned on sashes, panes and window pins.

The pattern probably reflected supply more than taste. Glass was cheap on the island once it arrived: about 7½d for a pane of 8 by 10 to a servant. The costly element was timber. The Council said in the 1710s that joiners could make sashes if only it had deals, and later preferred English-made sashes as cheaper. A sash required seasoned timber and joinery, with glass, lines and fastenings, all of them imported. A shutter required only a few deals and a pair of hinges.

Shutters did not vanish with the sash. Shutter hinges stood in every inventory through 1770, and Hay's quarters in 1757 had sashes or casements behind barred shutters. The two were probably used together, the shutter giving security at night and shade by day. Blinds and awnings at the Castle suggested that sun as well as wind was a concern in the principal rooms.

Window curtains appeared late and in the richer households first. The single curtain at Mrs Vanosten's in 1740 and Goodwin's set at 3s 1d stand against the damask curtains of 1759 and the chintz of 1779. The evidence suggested that curtains followed glass, since a shuttered opening had little need of fabric.

Locks were cheap and plentiful, and nearly everything that could be locked was locked. The Company locked its slaves' houses at night and its soldiers' back way to the barracks. By 1771 it also kept a lock on the slaves' guard. The evidence suggested that a lock on St Helena was as much an instrument of control as a protection of property.

Comparisons

In England the sash window spread from the 1670s and was common in better town houses by the early 1700s.¹⁶⁵⁹ The St Helena Castle had sashes by about 1740, and the ordinary island house adopted them later than a London house of similar rank. Lorna Weatherill found window curtains rising in English inventories between 1675 and 1725, though still in a minority of households.¹⁶⁶⁰ The late arrival of window curtains on the island matched this English pattern at a lag of a generation. English probate inventories also seldom value fixed windows, so the "10 windows" of 1737 is a rare entry by English standards.¹⁶⁶¹

In New England the first-period houses had small leaded casements with diamond quarries, and sashes replaced them only in the early 1700s.¹⁶⁶² The St Helena store's quarry glass of 1742 points to a similar older practice surviving alongside sashes. In Bermuda stone houses also used heavy wooden shutters, and much building hardware came from England by sea.¹⁶⁶³

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company's houses of the early 1700s used wooden shutters and small glazed sashes, and glass and ironwork were imported.¹⁶⁶⁴ The VOC slave lodge in Cape Town was locked at night and its inmates counted.¹⁶⁶⁵ The St Helena Company padlocked its slaves' houses and paid for candles to inspect them at night, a practice of the same kind. In Company India the larger houses of servants at Calcutta and Madras used venetian shutters and blinds against the sun.¹⁶⁶⁶ The canvas awnings and shalloon blinds at the St Helena Castle in the 1760s probably drew on that Indian experience.

8. Rooms, Floors and Outbuildings

A St Helena house was rarely a single box. Even the smaller town houses had a front room and a back room, a kitchen behind and a yard beyond it. Most of what is known about their interiors comes from witnesses in criminal cases, who described where they slept, sat and ran. Deeds, wills and the store accounts add the names of rooms, the boards and brads that floored them and the sheds, stables and dairies that stood around them.

Front Rooms, Back Rooms and Stairs, 1683-1740

The earliest descriptions already show houses of more than one floor. Witnesses at the trial of Richard Honeywood in November 1683 moved between an upstairs room and the rooms below in the course of one evening.¹⁶⁶⁷ Anne Conner went to her own thatched house to prepare supper, while Honeywood lodged with a landlady who kept her own key.¹⁶⁶⁸ In Butt Alley in June 1701 a drunken crowd broke the doors and windows of two houses. The witnesses spoke of a gallery, external steps and a back door, in houses built close against one another.¹⁶⁶⁹

The houses of the town in the early 1700s had a recognisable order of rooms. At Edward Heath's house in 1702 one witness was "lying in bed in the kitchen", another was in "the front room" and a third heard a man coming downstairs with a gun.¹⁶⁷⁰ The bed in the kitchen was no accident; kitchens served as sleeping places throughout the century. A soldiers' burglary spree of May 1704 gave a tour of several houses in one night.¹⁶⁷¹ At Mrs Cagnald's house the thieves broke open "the door beneath the stairs" to take arrack and then went "upstairs to the chamber".¹⁶⁷² At Sergeant Sivors's house one man went up "on the balcony to shut the door".¹⁶⁷³ The fort house had a gallery, and Madame Poirier ordered her servant to "lock and bolt all the doors very fast" after a scuffle there.¹⁶⁷⁴ At Mary Cosgrave's house her daughters shut themselves in "a private chamber" while an attacker thrust his head through a barred back window.¹⁶⁷⁵

Wills named rooms as the places where valued furniture stood. Michael Morris, free planter, left his daughter "the long table standing in the middle room" in February 1703.¹⁶⁷⁶ A middle room implied a house of at least three rooms in a row. Morris also held a second house at Fort James, so one free household could own two dwellings.¹⁶⁷⁷ Katherine Fensdale had left her daughter a house in Chapel Valley "with all the furniture" in October 1699.¹⁶⁷⁸ Deputy Governor John Alexander kept a chest of drawers, a dressing glass, six cane chairs and a small cabinet "in the room over the kitchen".¹⁶⁷⁹ His will sits among those of 1737-1738, and it showed a kitchen built into the body of the house rather than detached behind it.¹⁶⁸⁰

Coroners and juries described houses in the same incidental way. An inquiry of October 1717 followed a witness "through the house" to the privy outside. He felt his way through "the inner room and then in the kitchen", where a man hung from the ridge pole.¹⁶⁸¹ In January 1735 seamen from the Princess Louisa and the Mary wrecked a tavern.¹⁶⁸² They threw the chairs into the street and broke the table. Then they went upstairs and threw the bed and bedding out of the window.¹⁶⁸³

Conveyances of the late 1730s listed rooms as part of the property. John Goodwin junior sold Thomas Greentree a house in James Valley for £250 in November 1738.¹⁶⁸⁴ It passed with its chambers, cellars, rooms, entries and yards. Its plot ran to the corner of a neighbour's "little back room" in the yard.¹⁶⁸⁵ A plan was annexed to the deed, a rare thing in a St Helena conveyance.¹⁶⁸⁶

Upstairs and Downstairs, 1740-1781

The criminal depositions of the 1750s to the 1770s give the fullest picture of how rooms were used. The most detailed is the inquiry of May 1757 into Lieutenant Hay's night visits to James Powell's house in the valley. Hay went up the stairs to the dining room of the town house.¹⁶⁸⁷ Tea was taken in the lower front room where Mr and Mrs Powell usually sat. Hay once sat in a window in the passage at the head of the stairs.¹⁶⁸⁸ The Powell daughters and their cousin Margaret Harper shared beds in one bedchamber.¹⁶⁸⁹ Hay came in at night "at the window close by her bedside", as one of them said.¹⁶⁹⁰ Their brother Charles nailed up one window and next morning found "some of the plastering rather off" beneath it in the street.¹⁶⁹¹ Powell's country house was plainer: a yard, a hall and a chamber with a bed by the window and another bed opposite.¹⁶⁹²

Other planter houses had the same arrangement of parlour below and bedchamber above. At Henry Easthope's house in March 1760 the widow Mary Herbert slept in a bedchamber up the stairs.¹⁶⁹³ A parlour with a fire lay beneath, and a witness "went down into the kitchen where the blacks lay".¹⁶⁹⁴ At Lieutenant Thomas Leech's house in May 1764 his bedroom door opened straight into the kitchen, where Martin Newman slept.¹⁶⁹⁵ Robert Roberts Budd came down from his bedroom in October 1778 to find his house robbed. A tea chest had gone from the parlour and candles and china from the pantry, with meat taken from a back room.¹⁶⁹⁶ At Mary Beale's town house in January 1775 her slave Will went through the hall and passage to the kitchen.¹⁶⁹⁷ He found his trunk moved from beneath the kitchen dresser to the kitchen doorstep.¹⁶⁹⁸

Bedrooms were reached from outside by sash windows and ladders. In January 1763 the slave Exeter broke a pane of his master's bedroom window and lowered the upper sash to climb in.¹⁶⁹⁹ Benjamin Mason found the same method used at his upstairs room in May 1764, with prints of fingers and toes on the wall below.¹⁷⁰⁰ At Lieutenant Gosling's town house in 1778 a small ladder stood "propped against the back wall beneath the staircase window".¹⁷⁰¹ The upstairs front room had been forced and a bureau broken open.¹⁷⁰²

Rooms were also let and shared. A ship's officer lodged in a room in James Greentree's house in 1762.¹⁷⁰³ The chaplain Thackeray lodged in the surgeon Barclay's house in 1765 and kept money in his bureau.¹⁷⁰⁴ The justice Mathew Burling had a free Malay woman servant with her own room and box. His four slave boys slept together in another room.¹⁷⁰⁵ An aged widow meant to let a schoolmaster only "the use of a room in her house to teach school" in February 1759.¹⁷⁰⁶ Many inhabitants built rooms for sick seamen, and in December 1774 the Council noted their "great expense in building rooms".¹⁷⁰⁷

Back buildings stood behind many town houses, reached by narrow passages. In July 1770 the trustees of the widow Martha Jacks sought a strip 6½ feet by 60 feet beside her house.¹⁷⁰⁸ The Council refused a lease but "allowed the trustees to use the passage leading to the back building on sufferance".¹⁷⁰⁹ The Company made new rooms in the same economical way. In April 1770 the Council ordered the gap between two storerooms in the square to be roofed as a room for salt provisions.¹⁷¹⁰ Its reason was that "the walls were already built and needed only a covering".¹⁷¹¹

Punch houses had their own pattern of front and back rooms. Sarah Walker's punch house had a front drinking room, another room and a back room where money changed hands.¹⁷¹² Harper's punch house in 1774 had a front part where the keeper served and back rooms where the matrosses drank.¹⁷¹³ Hayes's punch house in 1779 had a bar and drinking room at the front, back rooms and an inner room with a bench.¹⁷¹⁴ The laundress Sarah Lake kept her chest in the front room and gave visitors water in the back room.¹⁷¹⁵

Official houses show the same vocabulary on a grander scale. In October 1762 the deputy governor John Skottowe complained of officers lodged in "apartments over his own in the great house".¹⁷¹⁶ The Council moved them out and paid them house rent instead, and did the same in November 1763.¹⁷¹⁷ In June 1767 old leather-bottomed chairs were moved from the Castle hall "into the new dining room upstairs".¹⁷¹⁸ Even soldiers' houses had separate chambers. In September 1742 Pridgeon "got up out of his chamber" and went into Watson's room in the dark.¹⁷¹⁹

Floors, Joists and Paving

Timber floors suffered on the damp ground of the valleys and the interior. The Directors approved an order to pave the ground floor of the Plantation House with stone, "since the place stood so damp as to rot both the floor boards and the joists".¹⁷²⁰ In December 1715 the Governor reported the floor "rotted through again, not the boards alone but the ground joist beneath".¹⁷²¹ Flooring the house had never cost less than 50 boards a year.¹⁷²² A survey of August 1716 found the lower floor already replaced twice and all its boards rotten again.¹⁷²³ The paving was still not done when the Governor ordered each slave leaving Sandy Bay on Saturdays to carry home one paving stone.¹⁷²⁴ Meanwhile the floor was filled with earth to save boards.¹⁷²⁵

Earth floors were ordinary in outbuildings. A deposition of March 1735 mentions water spilled "onto the earthen floor of the milk house" in the Greentree household.¹⁷²⁶ Stone floors appear in the public buildings of the 1760s. Garrison men were paid 19s 6d for 19½ days laying stone floors in the prison in December 1762.¹⁷²⁷ Purbeck paving came out from England in 1765, though 123 feet of it from the Dutton arrived broken.¹⁷²⁸ It was still sent in 1771, when 36½ feet of Purbeck stone were short delivered from the Pigot.¹⁷²⁹ The Company store held 48 flagstones valued at £1 14s 1d in November 1742.¹⁷³⁰

Upper floors and many ground floors were boarded on joists. Ground joists were bought from planters with rafters and laths. John Desfountain supplied 16 ground joists with rafters and laths for the hospital in July 1756.¹⁷³¹ Benjamin Mason supplied 18 ground joists with 159 loads of rushes in December 1763.¹⁷³² Boards were nailed down with flooring brads, which the store sold by the pound to servants and planters every quarter.¹⁷³³ The store held 5 cwt 1 qr 14 lb of flooring brads in October 1753.¹⁷³⁴ Building the new Plantation House drew 60 lb of them in one quarter of 1754.¹⁷³⁵ Servants still bought them every quarter in 1770 and 1771, from 1 lb to 52 lb at a time.¹⁷³⁶ The store held 9 cwt 2 qr 1 lb of flooring brads in September 1770, valued at £24 7s 11d.¹⁷³⁷

The new barracks of 1770-1771 showed how a large floored building was framed. A timber estimate of September 1770 specified girders 10 by 8 inches, beams 9 by 6 inches and 200 joists 3 by 4 inches.¹⁷³⁸ About 300 double deals were to board them, as the carpenter George Bird advised.¹⁷³⁹ In the quarter to March 1771 the barracks drew 600 double deals, 170 single deals and 31 balks as the work moved to the floors and roof.¹⁷⁴⁰ A further 120 double and 142 single deals went to fittings, stairs and upper floors in the quarter to June.¹⁷⁴¹ Smaller buildings took ground joists from the planters as before. In September 1770 the paymaster bought 45 rafters, 20 ground joists, laths and binders for the wood house.¹⁷⁴²

Boards did not always meet. In January 1763 a soldier at the Sandy Bay guard post watched a hog being butchered in the kitchen below "through a gap in the floorboards".¹⁷⁴³ A slave accused of theft in 1762 said he had picked a coin up "from the floorboards beside the bed".¹⁷⁴⁴ An upstairs floor could also bear a heavy load. Two stolen kids were skinned on the floor of an upstairs room in Clough's house in 1779.¹⁷⁴⁵

Ceilings, Plaster and Partitions

Ceilings were common enough to be mentioned in passing. In May 1720 a runaway slave broke into John Coles's house in Union Valley "through the thatch and roof". He then opened "a trapdoor in the ceiling".¹⁷⁴⁶ A thatched house therefore could have a boarded ceiling beneath its roof, with a hatch to the roof space. A loft reached by a ladder stood in Mrs Pledger's country house in June 1755, and a stolen sheep was hidden there.¹⁷⁴⁷

Ceilings and walls were plastered and whitewashed. In April 1754 the soldier Samuel Estes was paid 6s for three days "whitewashing the ceilings of the sentinel and gunner's house" at 2s a day.¹⁷⁴⁸ Charles Stokes was paid 8s for "painting the windows, staircases and ceilings of Mr Clark's house".¹⁷⁴⁹ A room with a canvas ceiling was painted in June 1763, and the market house had a ceiling repaired at the same time.¹⁷⁵⁰ The church roof and its ceiling were framed in England and shipped in December 1766.¹⁷⁵¹

Plastering needed laths, and the store kept them by the bundle. It held 117 bundles in October 1753, valued at £6 11s.¹⁷⁵² By October 1759 it held 146 bundles of laths for plastering.¹⁷⁵³ Locally cut bamboo served as laths too. Stephen Young was paid £2 for 16 loads of bamboo "for laths for the use of the Honourable Company's storehouse" in 1759.¹⁷⁵⁴ The plasterer Henry Savage was paid for 15 days at 10s 6d a day on the Company's house in December 1742.¹⁷⁵⁵ By the 1760s soldiers did most of the plastering. They put in 102¾ days at 1s a day in the quarter to June 1765.¹⁷⁵⁶ In June 1766 soldiers did 49 days of plastering on Plantation House at 1s 6d a day.¹⁷⁵⁷ Plasterers put in 17¾ days on the Castle in the quarter to December 1770, at a cost of £1 6s 7½d.¹⁷⁵⁸ They added 13½ days there in the next quarter.¹⁷⁵⁹ Hair bound the lime plaster. A bag of hair went to the wood house in 1770, and William Hays was paid 2s 6d for another bag for repairs in 1771.¹⁷⁶⁰ The store held 99 bundles of laths in September 1770, valued at £5 8s 11d.¹⁷⁶¹

The plaster was often mud rather than lime. In December 1765 the Lieutenant Governor Corneille described the islanders' mud mortar as fit only to make up for want of better. He added that it was used "especially for plastering the inside and outside of houses".¹⁷⁶² Better rooms were panelled in wainscot. Servants bought two wainscot boards for panelling in October 1754.¹⁷⁶³ The new Plantation House drew 17 wainscot boards for panelling in January 1755.¹⁷⁶⁴ Its cornice was painted with brushes bought for the purpose.¹⁷⁶⁵

Internal partitions were usually thin. In January 1755 the lieutenants complained that their guard room was "divided only by a common partition wall" from the smith's forge.¹⁷⁶⁶ Party walls between houses were scarcely thicker. In 1781 Sarah Cash's house stood next to Sergeant Major Youd's "with only a single wall between them", and she heard the beating of his slave girl through it.¹⁷⁶⁷ The guard room at the Sandy Bay post stood above its kitchen, and the officers had a separate room.¹⁷⁶⁸

Closets, Shelves, Cellars and Fittings

Fitted storage was part of the house itself. The Governor's closet at the Castle held the Company's cash chest in May 1742. It was "very low, with the lock in the middle of the lid".¹⁷⁶⁹ The store sold closet locks, cupboard locks and parlour door locks to servants. One servant bought a parlour door lock with brass knobs in September 1768.¹⁷⁷⁰ The store then held nine parlour door locks and two brass closet locks.¹⁷⁷¹ A closet lock went to Plantation House in December 1764 at 3s 3d.¹⁷⁷² The Castle closets had two padlocks in June 1771, at 14s 4d the pair.¹⁷⁷³ The hospital had a brass closet lock in the same quarter.¹⁷⁷⁴ Servants then bought 13 "Iron rimed Mortice Brass Knobs" locks for £4 10s 5½d.¹⁷⁷⁵

Shelves held china and stores. An earthquake of June 1763 shook "the china and the like off the shelves in the houses" in the south of the island.¹⁷⁷⁶ Deals and a baulk were issued for putting up shelves in the porter's lodging at the Castle in July 1754.¹⁷⁷⁷ Sarah Walker used a loose board as a shelf in 1766, and a corporal seized it to strike a man.¹⁷⁷⁸ Kitchens had dressers. In the surgeon Barclay's house the key of the back door "was normally left on the dresser in the kitchen".¹⁷⁷⁹

Better houses had bells and dumb waiters. Five bell hangers were sold at Governor Goodwin's sale in August 1742 for 7s.¹⁷⁸⁰ A dozen boxes were issued for the dumb waiter at the Castle in October 1753.¹⁷⁸¹ Deals made "a table in the alcove in the valley" in October 1757.¹⁷⁸² The Company's carpenters made a frame for a library in 1768, with three wainscot boards.¹⁷⁸³

Cellars appear in conveyances and in the Company's own store. Nathan Sample's lease of 1742 conveyed "all the cellars, chambers, rooms" of his house in James Valley.¹⁷⁸⁴ The late Mr Goodwin's lease began its list with "cellars, chambers, rooms" and ran on to wells and watercourses.¹⁷⁸⁵ In the store 17 double deals were "in use in the cellars" as shelving or flooring in 1754.¹⁷⁸⁶ A stone falling from the top of one of the cellars broke barrack glass in 1756.¹⁷⁸⁷ In August 1769 an arrack society bought an old building in the town "which they meant to turn into a cellar or warehouse".¹⁷⁸⁸ The Company dug a new cellar in its own stores in 1770. It took 122 deals, a baulk, iron and nails, with 140 days of mixed labour in the quarter to June.¹⁷⁸⁹ Riga timber was issued to cover it in the following quarter.¹⁷⁹⁰

The deeds took care to name each room because neighbours' houses touched. A James Valley house sold in December 1753 measured 65 feet 6 inches deep by only 14 feet 9 inches wide.¹⁷⁹¹ Every room, chamber, window and passage was named as passing with it.¹⁷⁹² In a town of shared walls a buyer needed to know which openings and spaces were his.¹⁷⁹³

Kitchens, Yards and Privies

The kitchen stood at the back, either joined to the house or as a separate building in the yard. The first named "back kitchen" was sold with a house in Chapel Valley for £25 in April 1704.¹⁷⁹⁴ It was resold with the house for £30 in March 1710.¹⁷⁹⁵ Not every house had one. William Beale petitioned in September 1707, "being without a back kitchen and having no convenience for dressing his food".¹⁷⁹⁶ His kitchen was later built with its only door "by the chimney". It blocked his way to the ground behind, and the Governor ordered a passage four feet wide along its length.¹⁷⁹⁷ The fort had a kitchen built by the mason Robert Sexton in 1693.¹⁷⁹⁸ In 1717 the kitchen held the only chimney in the fort until the Governor built two small rooms, one with a chimney.¹⁷⁹⁹

Plots let for kitchens show their size. Richard Mason had a plot of 38 by 17 feet on Southwark Street, already enclosed for a yard and kitchen.¹⁸⁰⁰ A petition of July 1738 sought ground 40 feet by 100 feet near the fort "to build a kitchen and other buildings there".¹⁸⁰¹ In June 1769 Henry Bazett took 18 feet of frontage beside the billiard house for a small kitchen at 3d a foot.¹⁸⁰² By the 1770s kitchens were usually attached. The cooper Griffiths's kitchen was attached to the dwelling and held a chest of clothing in 1774.¹⁸⁰³ John Whaley's kitchen held two chests in 1776, one of clothes and one of meat and yams.¹⁸⁰⁴

The yard behind held the privy, the wash house and the store room. John Goodwin's plot in James Valley carried a messuage with a brew house, privies and a "Brick Chamber" in November 1738.¹⁸⁰⁵ Sarah Walker's privy stood at the back of her yard in 1766, and in January a witness "heard a child crying behind the closed privy door".¹⁸⁰⁶ Burling's house had a privy outside and a wash house with a locked room for wine.¹⁸⁰⁷ James Powell kept "a room in the back yard" of his house, and it was broken into for cheeses in September 1755.¹⁸⁰⁸ James Greentree's back yard held a storeroom and an oven, and a stable stood close by.¹⁸⁰⁹ The Company built a "necessary house on the line" in April 1757 and painted the necessary house in the Castle.¹⁸¹⁰

Yards were small, and householders leased strips behind them. Ebenezer Leech took ground about 26 feet square behind his yard at 2s 6d a year in October 1742.¹⁸¹¹ In October 1764 the householders on one side of James Valley complained that "none of their houses had a back door".¹⁸¹² Their yards were "very small", and six leases of strips behind them were executed in November 1764.¹⁸¹³ Matthew Warling's strip measured 37 by 108 feet at £1 4s 2d a year.¹⁸¹⁴ George Bird took a strip 53 feet by 14 feet behind his back yard at 2s in February 1771.¹⁸¹⁵

Yards were exposed to the weather and the neighbours. The flood of June 1756 "destroyed almost every person's yard walls" behind the houses next to Ladder Hill.¹⁸¹⁶ In September 1756 Wrangham and Beale complained that by a new wall "the back yards were rendered almost useless to them".¹⁸¹⁷ The grandest yards held more than privies and sheds. Labourers spent 74 days "repairing a fishpond in the Lieutenant Governor's yard" in the quarter to March 1771.¹⁸¹⁸ A bath house was built at Plantation House in 1770, alongside repairs to the house itself.¹⁸¹⁹

Stables, Dairies and Farm Buildings

Country houses stood among a cluster of lesser buildings. In February 1699 James Draper's plantation had a dwelling house, a hill house and a still house, each with its own chimney.¹⁸²⁰ In July 1711 the Governor ordered a cowhouse for at least 50 cows with a dairy attached. He called it "a burning shame" that the Company's hog sties and dairy had for years been worse than the planters'.¹⁸²¹ He added that "no wash house had even been built".¹⁸²² An April gale of 1717 threw down "a stone building roughly 50 foot long, known as the Turkey House".¹⁸²³

The Company's plantation accounts of the 1750s and 1760s list a whole farmyard. Nails went to the turkey house and hutches in the Great Wood in October 1753.¹⁸²⁴ Stephen Young was paid £2 14s for 18 days thatching a turkey house at 3s a day in July 1755.¹⁸²⁵ Deals and nails repaired a fowl house, the wash house, the barn and the dairy room in 1756-1757.¹⁸²⁶ In January 1758 deals went to a stable, hogsties and a smoke house at Plantation House.¹⁸²⁷ The pigeon house and rabbit hutches were repaired in 1762.¹⁸²⁸

Soldiers' day labour built the larger outbuildings. They were paid £12 16s for 256 days "in building a stable at the plantation house" at 1s a day in January 1758.¹⁸²⁹ In July 1759 they were paid for 199 days building a dairy house at Longwood.¹⁸³⁰ A further 30 single deals built a dairy room in the Great Wood in the same quarter.¹⁸³¹ Outhouses were roofed with local materials. Samuel Alexander supplied 24 rafters with laths and binders "to repair some of the Honourable Company's outhouses" in January 1756.¹⁸³² The dairy room had a stock lock on its door from 1755.¹⁸³³ The plantation dairy had six earthenware milk pans and a churning stick in December 1770.¹⁸³⁴ The farm buildings still needed constant repair. In September 1770 the paymaster bought binders for the stable and timber for the wood house.¹⁸³⁵ A padlock went on the stable door in the same quarter.¹⁸³⁶ Masons spent nine days and labourers 53 days repairing the stable at Plantation House in the quarter to March 1771.¹⁸³⁷

Private stables multiplied in the town. John Goodwin built a stable on a plot 14 feet 6 inches square before he had formally bought it, and the sale of July 1754 regularised the title.¹⁸³⁸ Jonathan Doveton leased waste land in the valley for a stable at 3s a year in November 1762.¹⁸³⁹ Deals and a rafter made a stable for Mr Bancroft in December 1767.¹⁸⁴⁰ The Lieutenant Governor's stable stood by the dunghill, and in 1753 a Company slave hid stolen bottles there under plantain leaves.¹⁸⁴¹

Outbuildings were treated as part of the estate. The Company's leases bound tenants to keep "all the buildings, houses, sheds, tenements, plantations and fences" in repair.¹⁸⁴² Torbett left his widow "the free use of his dwelling house and its outbuildings for the rest of her life" in November 1766.¹⁸⁴³

Prices of Floor and Room Fittings

The Company sold and issued the fittings of rooms at stated prices. Table 10 sets out a selection of them.

Table 10. Stated prices of floor and room fittings, 1742-1771
Year	Item	Quantity	Price	Buyer or use	Source
1742	Inch wainscot boards	each	5s 4d	Store inventory	047/45
1742	Flooring brads	6 lb	5½d a lb	Fortifications	047/162-164
1742	Close stool chair	1	£1 10s 6d	John Goodwin, at auction	046/56-59
1754	Wainscot boards for panelling	2	10s 8d	Servants	063/214
1755	Wainscot boards	17	£1 14s 0d	Plantation House	063/298
1755	Flooring brads	25 lb	9s 5½d	Servants	063/285
1757	Flooring brads	18 lb	6s 9d	Servants	067/410-411
1762	Wainscot board	1	7s 4d	Servants	071/199-205
1763	Closet lock	1	3s 3d	Officers' guard room	075/77-78
1764	Pewter close-stool pans	2	10s 6d	Store sale	075/342
1764	Closet lock	1	3s 3d	Plantation House	076/111
1765	Shutter hinges	1 pair	2s 3d	Lieutenant Governor's house	076/367
1766	Flooring brads	61 lb	£1 2s 10½d	Servants	078/81
1767	Brass closet lock	1	4s 3½d	A Company house	082/102-103
1768	Parlour door lock with brass knobs	1	8s 3d	Servants	083/266
1768	Pewter close-stool pan	1	4s 11½d	Servants	082/428
1769	Flooring brads	52 lb	£1 9s 3¼d	Servants	085/16
1770	Wainscot board	1	7s 3d	Servants	085/162
1770	Pewter close-stool pans	2	12s 2d	Servants	085/162
1770	Flooring brads	20 lb	11s 3d	Servants	085/295
1771	Flooring brads	31 lb	17s 5d	Servants	086/144
1771	Padlocks for the Castle closets	2	14s 4d	The Castle	086/307
1771	Brass closet lock	1	5s 6½d	Hospital	086/321
1771	Mortice locks with brass knobs	13	£4 10s 5½d	Servants	086/295

Prices are as stated in the store accounts. Flooring brads to servants held at about 4½d a pound from 1755 to 1766 and had risen to about 6¾d a pound by 1769-1771.

A single wainscot board cost a servant as much as a week of a soldier's day labour. Flooring a room in boards and brads was therefore a real outlay. A brass-knobbed parlour lock at 8s 3d cost more than a week of soldiers' day labour at 1s a day.¹⁸⁴⁴

Interpretations

The evidence suggested a house plan that settled early and changed little. A front room and a back or inner room lay on the ground floor, with a kitchen behind and chambers above. Stairs, often with a door beneath them, joined the two floors. The pattern was already present in the 1680s and was still described in the same words in the 1770s.

The naming of rooms probably reflected a slow move towards specialised use. Before 1740 witnesses spoke of the front room, the middle room, the inner room and the chamber. After 1750 they named the parlour, the dining room, the bedchamber, the hall and the pantry. The change was probably one of status as much as of building. Officers and senior servants of the Company lived in larger houses and used the vocabulary of polite English houses.

The kitchen held an ambiguous place in the house. It was a workroom and a store, and it was also where slaves and servants slept. The bed in Heath's kitchen in 1702 and "the kitchen where the blacks lay" in 1760 described the same arrangement. Separation of household slaves from the family probably came through the kitchen rather than through separate quarters in the town.

The problem of floors was a problem of materials. Imported deals were dear and rotted on damp ground, while local stone and earth were cheap. The Company's long struggle to pave the Plantation House floor showed the cost of using boards on a damp site. Earth floors in milk houses and stone floors in prisons and stores probably reflected sensible choices rather than poverty.

Comparisons

The St Helena plan resembled the smaller English town house of the period. Matthew Johnson described the English move from the open hall to houses of front and back rooms with chambers above.¹⁸⁴⁵ Probate inventories in England show the same spread of named parlours and chambers in middling houses after 1660.¹⁸⁴⁶ Lorna Weatherill found that the naming of rooms tracked the spread of new household goods among the middling sort.¹⁸⁴⁷ The St Helena wills and depositions fit that picture closely.

In colonial New England the kitchen was more often a lean-to at the rear of a framed house. Abbott Lowell Cummings traced the addition of such rear kitchens to older houses.¹⁸⁴⁸ William Beale's petition of 1707 for a back kitchen behind his house was a close parallel. Richard Bushman linked the parlour and the dining room in America to a new culture of gentility after 1700.¹⁸⁴⁹ The Powell house of 1757, with its upstairs dining room and lower front room for tea, showed that culture on St Helena.

Bermuda offers the nearest island parallel. Its stone houses had detached or rear kitchens and small yards, and slaves often slept in the kitchen or the house.¹⁸⁵⁰ At the Cape, early VOC houses grew from one or two rooms into houses with a front room and side rooms, and slaves slept in kitchens and outbuildings.¹⁸⁵¹ Nigel Worden described the same use of kitchens and lofts as sleeping places for Cape slaves.¹⁸⁵²

The punch houses of Jamestown matched the English alehouse in their front drinking rooms and back rooms.¹⁸⁵³ The verandas painted at the Lieutenant Governor's house in April 1759 point the other way, towards Company India.¹⁸⁵⁴ In Bengal the British adopted the veranda and the separate cookhouse in the same decades.¹⁸⁵⁵ P. J. Marshall described Calcutta houses of the period with servants housed in outbuildings round a compound.¹⁸⁵⁶ St Helena stood between these models, with an English plan, Indian touches and a temperate climate that made the veranda a matter of fashion more than necessity.

9. Damp, Decay, Vermin and Fire

Four enemies wore down the houses of St Helena and the goods inside them. Damp rotted timber floors and sank houses into wet ground. Rain came through roofs, and floods off the high ground broke walls in the valleys. Rats, mice and moths ate stored food, cloth, leather and paper. Fire was the sudden danger in a town roofed almost wholly with thatch. The Company's records follow each of these from the 1670s to the 1770s, with the repairs, traps and engines set against them.

Damp Ground and Rotting Timber

The first plain case of damp ground ruining a house came in 1692 or 1693. A dwelling on the high place had belonged to Thomas Smout and was taken by the Company for his store debts. It stood on damp ground and had sunk despite frequent repairs, so the council ordered it stripped and its materials carried to the Company's garden.¹⁸⁵⁷ A second decayed house nearby had once belonged to a man executed for rebellion. It had become a night shelter for runaway slaves, its boards were already stolen and it was ordered pulled down.¹⁸⁵⁸

Repair was a duty written into some of the earliest leases. In November 1688 Edward Bloxfoe took 1.5 acres for an orchard beside a house still to be built. He covenanted to keep the dwelling "in good and sufficient repair" through a term of 21 years and to leave it sound at the end.¹⁸⁵⁹ The same idea returned in a stricter form 80 years later. In August 1768 Captain Henry Bazett took a plot of 20 feet by 40 feet. His lease forbade him to let "any building put up there, fall into ruin or decay."¹⁸⁶⁰

Decay on a much wider scale appeared in a council letter of about 1708. The storehouse, the plantation fort house, the huts, the sutling house and the barracks were all decayed. Those still standing were "propped up with shores and stilts" and in danger of collapse.¹⁸⁶¹ The council added that "the same situation prevailed for most of the planters' houses across the island."¹⁸⁶² The Company's storehouse was itself condemned in a letter of 5 March 1712. It was "greatly decayed and of slight construction" and boarded with weak deal, so it lay open to fire and forced entry.¹⁸⁶³

Demolition was sometimes cheaper than repair. On 3 September 1701 the council found a country house rotten and ordered it pulled down while its owner was off the island. He complained, and in July 1711 the council replied. It had acted "to spare the children the charge of keeping it in repair, which would otherwise have run them into debt."¹⁸⁶⁴ The materials were sold for the children.¹⁸⁶⁵

Decay could hide behind a sound face. A jury considered the sale of Richard Beale's demolished house in about 1714, which had fetched £51 0s 9d. It found the sale fair. The jury noted "several of the boards and timbers being much worm-eaten, rotten and damaged, which looked fair enough to the eye."¹⁸⁶⁶ This is the only clear finding of woodworm in a St Helena house in the records.

The new council of 1714 found the storehouse "very rotten and leaky and ready to fall."¹⁸⁶⁷ It hired houses from the planters to hold the newly landed cargo. It also planned a new storehouse on higher and drier ground, "as damp would spoil many kinds of goods."¹⁸⁶⁸ Here damp was a reason for choosing a site, not only a fault to be mended later.

Imported deal did poorly as a roof covering. In about 1719 the council wrote that boards laid in place of thatch "rotted at the island and were good for nothing in six years' time."¹⁸⁶⁹ Green timber failed in another way. In December 1760 the council reported that unseasoned elm had decayed on the voyage out. It complained that the island's sun "tore to pieces any carriage made of green wood."¹⁸⁷⁰

Mortar decayed too where builders had used sea water. In September 1742 the new fortification mortar was mixed with fresh water carried down from Chapel Valley in casks towed behind boats. In the older sea-water works "a stone or two could be pulled out at the front and the cement would run out like loose gravel."¹⁸⁷¹ The wall at Munden's Point was weak in February 1743 for the same reason. It had been built "entirely with salt water and in some places extremely thin."¹⁸⁷² The merlons of Purling's Battery had decayed in the salt air by 1771.¹⁸⁷³ Earth mortar was a further weakness. In May 1771 the Council reprimanded the master mason because a new wall "had been built with earth instead of lime".¹⁸⁷⁴ It then made lime mortar compulsory for the outer face of all works.¹⁸⁷⁵

The Plantation House Floors and Roofs

No building was fought over with damp for longer than the Governor's country house. The Governor wrote in December 1715 that the house "stood so damp that its floor had rotted through again." The damage reached "not the boards alone but the ground joist beneath."¹⁸⁷⁶ Flooring it had never cost the Company less than 50 boards a year, one year with another. He thought it must be paved with stone.¹⁸⁷⁷ The Directors approved. They noted that the place "stood so damp as to rot both the floor boards and the joists."¹⁸⁷⁸

A council survey of 28 August 1716 was made deliberately in wet weather so that the defects could be seen at their worst. The house stood "just at the foot of a hill." The "great soak of water that came down in rainy seasons" had destroyed its lower part, and a lower floor had already been replaced twice.¹⁸⁷⁹ A follow-up report found the floor boards "rotten again, and the principal rafters were all rotted."¹⁸⁸⁰ The girders and joists on the south-east side were "rotted through and ready to fall from the walls." In high wind the house "shook and rocked" and its walls were almost cracked through.¹⁸⁸¹ The surveyors concluded that "the house looked well on the outside, but could be of no use inside while everyone was afraid to lie in it."¹⁸⁸²

An April storm of 1717 levelled the Company slaves' house at Lufkins. The same gale threw down the Turkey House, a stone building about 50 feet long. It killed several of the turkeys roosting there.¹⁸⁸³ The Plantation House was by then "allowed to fall into ruin." The council could not say "who might be found to fit a new roof and to tile it."¹⁸⁸⁴

The stone floor had still not been laid in about 1718. The Governor's answer was to make every slave leaving work at Sandy Bay on a Saturday carry home one paving stone. Later each man brought a bag of lime as well. The slaves were let off two hours early for it when they came for their weekly yams.¹⁸⁸⁵ In the meantime the floor was filled with earth to save scarce boards.¹⁸⁸⁶

The stone did not end the trouble. On 9 March 1737 Governor Pyke reported that the kitchen chimney stack had blown down. It had been in perfectly good repair and now had to be rebuilt.¹⁸⁸⁷

The new Plantation House of the 1750s failed at the roof. A survey of 25 June 1764 found a three-span roof behind parapets, with lead gutters between and round the spans. Its hall beams had broken soon after roofing. Two parts had been reroofed in 1759 and twice since under the master mason John Bland, yet the roof still leaked.¹⁸⁸⁸ Lead of 10 lb to the square foot had "blistered all over."¹⁸⁸⁹ In July the council called the house "continually leaking from the roof, which was very defective in many places."¹⁸⁹⁰

The engineer Mitchell found in September 1765 that the house "did not contain a single room fit to live in." Its timbers were decaying so fast that it would soon be past saving.¹⁸⁹¹ In November he reported that the gutters had been laid almost flat and poorly covered with lead, which had cracked and blistered.¹⁸⁹² He proposed to line them with terras, a waterproof mortar, laid to a proper fall. The council would "test the terras on a single gutter of the Plantation House" before spending more.¹⁸⁹³ In the quarter to 30 September 1766 soldiers spent 65 days as masons on the gutters at 1s 6d a day. They also did 257½ labourers' days and eight painters' days there.¹⁸⁹⁴

The repairs bought little time. In October 1766 the roof "leaked so badly in the recent rains that the main timbers were at risk."¹⁸⁹⁵ Mitchell re-tiled part of it and put terras in the second valley.¹⁸⁹⁶ The Directors were told in January 1769 that the house was "in a very indifferent condition."¹⁸⁹⁷ In July 1769 the council concluded that "the old roofs could never be made watertight."¹⁸⁹⁸ The new house was pulled down. Single-pitch roofs of slate were proposed, since slate's long life would repay its higher first cost.¹⁸⁹⁹ Bland was blamed for the failure. He was said to have left the Company's buildings "with many failures, blunders and shallow repairs."¹⁹⁰⁰

Leaking Roofs, Storms and Floods

Rain through a roof spoiled goods as surely as it rotted timber. In February 1743 "the recent rains had penetrated the roofing of the storehouses in several places."¹⁹⁰¹ Some goods were "totally spoiled" and went to public sale.¹⁹⁰² Among them were 19 blankets, 19 pairs of bellows, 38 lanterns, 20 candlesticks and 17 hair sieves.¹⁹⁰³ A dry warehouse had already become "very leaky" in the later 1720s. One of its girders had broken, and its pillar was too weak for the earth and tiles laid over the roof.¹⁹⁰⁴

The Secretary's office was "in all rainy times very leaky" in 1724 or 1725. Its "books and papers were subject to damage and damp" and could not be kept in order.¹⁹⁰⁵ The council moved the office into the upper part of the guard house rather than build anew.¹⁹⁰⁶

The Castle was patched for years before it was reroofed. Tar went for "roping leaks in the Castle" in June 1762, and 69 lb of pitch for its roof covering in March 1764.¹⁹⁰⁷ A survey of 2 July 1764 found the south wall sinking, with 6 inches of settlement. Rafters were propped and tiles rotten, and part of the roof was covered with canvas.¹⁹⁰⁸ Patches of lime, sugar and pitch held only briefly. "The current rains were coming through into almost every room of the Castle."¹⁹⁰⁹ The whole roof was to be renewed under the carpenter John Robinson.¹⁹¹⁰

Other Company houses leaked too. The Lieutenant Governor's house in the valley leaked in February 1767. There the "rain came down as far as the second floor."¹⁹¹¹ A survey of his town house in March found the thatch "in very bad condition and badly torn by vermin" where rain lodged behind the chimney.¹⁹¹² The council chose to patch it and remove the chimney top rather than reroof in tile.¹⁹¹³ By April 1766 the Company's other houses, "which leaked badly and were much out of repair," had been thoroughly refitted.¹⁹¹⁴ Tiles were no sure cure. In May 1761 the masons John Boland and Thomas Townsend found a shipment from England "so soft and shallow that they would decay within a few years."¹⁹¹⁵

Floods were the most violent danger in the steep valleys. A torrent in October 1753 washed away the Lemon Valley guard house.¹⁹¹⁶ Eight single deals, a double deal, a baulk and a rafter were issued to rebuild it for £1 7s 4d.¹⁹¹⁷ In June 1756 a flood broke down James Valley. It breached the Company garden wall and ran down the public street into houses and some barracks.¹⁹¹⁸ Behind the houses next to Ladder Hill it "destroyed almost every person's yard walls on that side, threw down some buildings and carried away many others." One person was hurt and another killed.¹⁹¹⁹

The council called it a flood "such as had never been remembered by the oldest person then living on the place."¹⁹²⁰ Soldiers were paid £93 11s 5d for clearing the watercourse and rebuilding back walls, houses and garden walls.¹⁹²¹ Another £51 1s 6d went on the fortifications and the water course.¹⁹²² John Adamson defended a wall he had built from a neighbour's back building to the watercourse. He said it was flood work and would also stop "irregularities" by soldiers and the slaves of neighbouring houses.¹⁹²³

Floods came again in 1763. They damaged the Lemon Valley fortification, the garden wall at Plantation House and several Company plantations.¹⁹²⁴ Men were paid £5 10s 6d "for [...] days repairing Company houses damaged by heavy rains."¹⁹²⁵ A further 254 days went on flood damage to the plantation and wells.¹⁹²⁶ In April 1764 the council thanked the Directors for their concern at "the sufferings of many people from the great floods."¹⁹²⁷

Private men offered their own defences. In February 1767 the carpenter John Robinson warned that "the houses standing below the burial ground in the valley were in danger from a heavy flood."¹⁹²⁸ He offered to wall them off if given the ground. He received a strip "64 feet long and 15 feet wide, at £0 3s 0d a year."¹⁹²⁹ In April 1772 the grand jury presented a choked channel in James's Valley. It complained of "the bridge too small to let through the floodwater that heavy rain often sent down the valley."¹⁹³⁰

Neglect finished what weather began. Jane Mudge's long illness in 1718 left her plantation and its old house in Stocks Valley to "run to ruin" for several months.¹⁹³¹ In August 1757 the widow Seale's house at Sandy Bay was "in such poor condition it was close to falling down."¹⁹³² John Seale bought the lease for £100, removed a hill and rocks below the house and fenced the ground.¹⁹³³ In 1767 the grand jury presented the parish house, where disorderly women were confined. It was "so insecure and in such poor repair" that rioters could get in.¹⁹³⁴ The Lieutenant Governor's house at Longwood "had fallen entirely into decay" by January 1769.¹⁹³⁵ Public buildings fared no better. In September 1770 the churchwardens reported that they "had been forced to use five of them to repair the workhouse, which was falling down".¹⁹³⁶ They had used five of the six ship timbers in their charge.¹⁹³⁷

The Company's slave houses suffered worst. A council representation of April 1723 admitted that "the Company's slaves had for some years been scarcely sheltered."¹⁹³⁸ The slave house at the plantation had stood ruined for many years. The black house at the Peak was only about two years old, yet its walls were "so bruised and so full of large cracks" that the slaves were endangered every night.¹⁹³⁹ In February 1768 the houses of the Company's slaves in the country "had fallen almost to ruin." They were repaired in stone.¹⁹⁴⁰ Repairs went on in timber as well. In January 1770 John Robinson was paid £3 15s for 75 rafters "to repair the slaves' house at Maldivia Garden".¹⁹⁴¹ The Black Square needed 60 rafters with laths and binders in September 1770.¹⁹⁴²

Rats and Mice

Rats were a charge on the Company from its first decades on the island. Hides kept at the Slaughter were found damaged "by rats and other causes" in 1688. The tanner Benjamin Seale was paid £2 to tan about a dozen of the usable ones.¹⁹⁴³ In October 1694 tanned leather in the storehouse was in danger from rats. The store labourer agreed to make it into shoes and pumps before it was lost.¹⁹⁴⁴

Paper suffered as badly as leather. An old register "unbound and decayed by rats" was recopied before witnesses at Fort James on 18 December 1707.¹⁹⁴⁵ About the same time the council found that "most of the wills had been much eaten by rats and moths."¹⁹⁴⁶ An inventory of April 1715 listed one volume of Company orders as "gnawed with the rats."¹⁹⁴⁷ The Directors ordered the land and will registers kept in a proper repository at the Fort, "to prevent the papers being damaged by rats, mice, wet or any other cause."¹⁹⁴⁸ A yard of "parchment skin cut by the rats" was entered in the later 1720s.¹⁹⁴⁹

Stored food and cloth drew them most. In June 1713 the Directors ordered canvas and piece goods protected "from rats and other vermin."¹⁹⁵⁰ Candles from the Godolphin were "damaged by rats" in January 1754.¹⁹⁵¹ "Pease 2 bushels eaten by rats" stood in the waste account of 1758, and "Pease, ½ bushel eaten by rats" in that of 1759.¹⁹⁵² In 1766 rats ate "27 hundredweight 2 quarters 6 pounds of paddy" in the Company's stores.¹⁹⁵³ In 1762 they destroyed 58 sandbags at Sandy Bay and 199 at the Main Fort, against only 30 put to use.¹⁹⁵⁴ A thief in 1763 found stolen gingerbread under iron pots and sacks in a warehouse. He "traced it by the smell released where rats had been gnawing at it."¹⁹⁵⁵

The Directors accepted the loss as part of the place. In the 1730s they defended the storekeeper over damaged goods. It was no surprise, they wrote, that some were spoiled "in a country full of moths and rats and other mischievous vermin." The best goods had lain in the stores near 30 years.¹⁹⁵⁶

The countermeasures grew more varied over time. The earliest was poison. In 1684 the Directors sent 20 lb of finely ground glass powder with Captain Knox. He and Mr Coxe were instructed in its use, alongside the rat-catching means already supplied.¹⁹⁵⁷ In June 1765 the surgeon indented for "oatmeal and nux vomica, part of the ingredients in a receipt for destroying rats."¹⁹⁵⁸

Rats were also kept out of rooms and away from goods. A supply list of about 1715 asked for 40 yards of wire mesh for warehouse windows. It was to be "woven close enough to keep out the rats."¹⁹⁵⁹ It also asked for 20 "large wire rat traps, called dish traps," which the council said were "much wanted."¹⁹⁶⁰ In the later 1720s Captain Goodwin had counters made because goods lay "exposed to the damage of rats."¹⁹⁶¹ Two sheets of tin were bought for 1s 4d "to stop the rat holes."¹⁹⁶² Two "rat shovels" cost 7s 6d in May 1728.¹⁹⁶³

Traps became ordinary household ironmongery. An iron rat trap ended the list of plantation-house ironware in April 1715.¹⁹⁶⁴ Single rat traps were priced at 2s 6d in October 1716 and 1s 6d in September 1719.¹⁹⁶⁵ A double mouse trap cost 3s 4d and a single one 5s in February 1725.¹⁹⁶⁶ A mousetrap stood among Governor Goodwin's kitchen goods in 1741 or 1742.¹⁹⁶⁷

The store accounts of the 1750s and 1760s show two kinds of rat trap. The wire trap was the dearer, at 5s 6d to 6s at cost. The spring trap came in after 1762 at about 1s 6d to 1s 8d.¹⁹⁶⁸ Not all of them worked. The inventory of November 1742 held "4 steel rat traps, broken and good for nothing."¹⁹⁶⁹

Table 11. Stated prices of rat and mouse traps in the Company's store, 1716-1771
Year	Item	Buyer or use	Quantity	Stated amount	Source
1716	Rat trap	Store account	1	2s 6d	024/106
1719	Rat trap	Store account	1	1s 6d	027/428
1725	Double mouse trap	General charges	1	3s 4d	034/406
1725	Single mouse trap	General charges	1	5s	034/406
1753	Rat trap	Servants	1	6s 1d	062/106
1753	Rat trap	Sold at 40 per cent	1	7s 9d	062/291
1753	Wire rat traps	In store	9	£2 9s 6d	062/311
1755	Rat trap	Planters	1	7s	066/56
1763	Wire rat trap	Planters	1	7s 10d	071/393-396
1763	Spring rat traps	Servants	14	£1 3s 4d	075/68
1765	Spring rat traps	In store	31	£2 14s 3d	077/153
1766	Single mouse traps	Servants	5	3s 4d	078/77
1766	Double mouse trap	Servants	1	1s 3½d	078/77
1769	Spring rat traps	Servants	11	18s 1d	084/182
1769	Mousetraps	Servants	10	6s 8d	084/182
1769	Wire rat traps	In store	9	£2 14s	084/401-402
1769	Wire rat trap	Servants	1	6s 3¾d	085/12
1769	Spring rat trap	Servants	1	1s 3¾d	085/12
1770	Spring rat traps	In store	29	£2 2s 9d	085/440
1770	Mousetraps	In store	29	16s 4d	085/440
1770	Spring rat traps	Servants	8	13s 4d	086/31
1771	Wire rat traps	Planters	2	17s 8½d	086/301
1771	Wire rat traps	The Castle	6	£1 17s 9d	086/308

Prices are as entered in the store accounts. Servants paid cost plus 10 per cent and others 40 per cent, so the same trap could carry three different prices in one year.

Traps went wherever the Company kept food or goods. Two went to the Castle in January 1755.¹⁹⁷⁰ Six spring traps went to the Castle in September 1766 and six to Plantation House in December 1765.¹⁹⁷¹ The Plantation House garden drew 13 spring rat traps and three double mousetraps in June 1767.¹⁹⁷² In December 1768 Plantation House received 12 spring rat traps and 12 mousetraps.¹⁹⁷³ Two wire traps at 12s went to the Lieutenant Governor's house in September 1769.¹⁹⁷⁴ Servants and planters bought them by the quarter, often with frying pans and locks.¹⁹⁷⁵ The spread continued in 1770 and 1771. In December 1769 the plantation drew four wire rat traps for the gardens and pastures and five spring traps for the Plantation House garden.¹⁹⁷⁶ The plantations and gardens took 12 mousetraps and eight spring rat traps in June 1770.¹⁹⁷⁷ Longwood had a wire trap and a spring trap in September 1770.¹⁹⁷⁸ Even the barracks drew a spring rat trap.¹⁹⁷⁹ The Castle received four spring rat traps in December 1770 and six wire rat traps in June 1771.¹⁹⁸⁰ The store held 29 spring rat traps and 29 mousetraps in September 1770.¹⁹⁸¹

The council turned to a bounty on 28 November 1768. Rats and mice did "great damage to the Company's stores and gardens and to the houses and gardens of the inhabitants."¹⁹⁸² A halfpenny was paid for a rat and a farthing for a mouse. The constable saw the heads cut off before the marshal. The bodies were then buried, burned or thrown into the sea.¹⁹⁸³ Slave owners in the country sent weekly counts of what their slaves killed.¹⁹⁸⁴

The first payment, for about a month, came to £6 18s 2d.¹⁹⁸⁵ At a halfpenny each, that sum stood for 3,316 rats, or twice as many mice. The constable Joseph Chamberlain received £1 18s 6d for the quarter to March 1769.¹⁹⁸⁶ Later payments were £2 3s 6d for April to June and £1 17s 10d for the quarter to September.¹⁹⁸⁷ The sums went on falling. The constable drew £1 5s 0½d for the quarter to December 1769 and only 15s for the quarter to March 1770.¹⁹⁸⁸ He drew £1 0s 5½d in June 1770.¹⁹⁸⁹ The falling sums suggest the first rush of killing thinned the rats near the town for a time. They did not stay down. In the quarter to March 1771 the constable was paid £5 14s 1d "for the heads of rats and mice destroyed".¹⁹⁹⁰ At a halfpenny a head that sum stood for 2,738 rats, nearly as many as in the first month.¹⁹⁹¹

Moths, Wet and the Wearing Out of Goods

Moths attacked wool and paper. Audoward asked in 1719 to have his deed for an acre registered again. He explained that "the paper being already very much damaged by damp and moth."¹⁹⁹² In February 1725 "a parcel of blankets in the store had been much damaged by moth, so that no one cared to buy them at the settled price."¹⁹⁹³ Captain Goodwin proposed selling them cheaper "to the inhabitants for their slaves."¹⁹⁹⁴ The inventory of November 1742 counted "5 blankets, good, and 16 blankets moth eaten" at 1s 6d.¹⁹⁹⁵ Cotton druggett was moth-damaged and fine dimity "old and decayed."¹⁹⁹⁶

The storekeeper fought moths with pepper. In October 1759, 4 lb of pepper was "strewn among the woollen stuffs in the stores to prevent the moths damaging them."¹⁹⁹⁷ Brimstone may have served a like end in houses. In March 1766, 4 lb of brimstone went to the Lieutenant Governor's house for 10d.¹⁹⁹⁸ Another 23 lb went there with whiting, rosin and tar in March 1767.¹⁹⁹⁹ Plantation House drew paint and brimstone in December 1766.²⁰⁰⁰ Servants bought 12 lb of brimstone in September 1767.²⁰⁰¹ Burning brimstone was a common way to smoke out vermin, but the accounts never say why it was issued. The store also held 15 louse combs at 3s 9d in October 1755.²⁰⁰²

Wet spoiled goods at sea and on landing. From the Prince of Wales in 1766 came "9 hair sieves, spoiled by wet and useless."²⁰⁰³ Linen from the Duke of Richmond in 1768 was "damaged by wet and worthless."²⁰⁰⁴ A mop from the Culloden was spoiled by damp in 1763, and soldiers' shirts from the Tilbury by wet in 1768.²⁰⁰⁵ Ticking, deals and coals damaged on the Triton in 1760 were charged to her captain at £34 6s 8½d.²⁰⁰⁶ Soap lost weight "through drying" on every voyage.²⁰⁰⁷ In June 1770 three blankets from the British King were found rotten.²⁰⁰⁸ Seven blankets and nine hair sieves from the Harcourt were spoiled by wet in the same month.²⁰⁰⁹

The Company treated household goods as things that wore out. Each year the storekeeper wrote off waste. In November 1754 the waste came to £62 0s 9¼d, mostly spirits lost by drawing. It included nearly 2 cwt of soap and 2 cwt 21 lb of candles.²⁰¹⁰ In October 1768 it was £69 19s 5d, including 15 panes of window glass and two decanters.²⁰¹¹ In October 1756 five feet of barrack glass were "broke by a stone falling from the top of one of the cellars."²⁰¹²

Worn-out house furniture was struck off the books in the same way. In October 1754 the list held three china mugs, a set of sea china, two old roasting jacks and seven old pewter dishes.²⁰¹³ In October 1759 it held "1 set cherry derry curtains, £1 5s 0d," tablecloths, nine dozen diaper napkins and 79 plates, worth £45 9s 3d.²⁰¹⁴ In 1760 the Directors accepted a write-off of £120 19s 8d. These were goods "which must from their nature be subject to decay and breakage."²⁰¹⁵ In January 1760, 112 garrison blankets were "worn out and unserviceable" and replaced from store.²⁰¹⁶ Spoiled goods were sold at public auction for cash, as in December 1765 for £18 3s 2d.²⁰¹⁷

Fire in a Thatched Town

Fire was the sudden ruin of a house. The first recorded house fire destroyed the house and goods of James Eastings early in 1679.²⁰¹⁸ The council recommended his case to the whole island. Collectors went from house to house in the East and West Divisions, to report by 24 March 1679.²⁰¹⁹

Thatch was the common roof from the start, and disputes over it reached the council. In about 1682 John Homon complained that John Starling had failed to supply thatch for his roof and stone for a chimney and an oven. Starling said he had supplied thatch enough.²⁰²⁰ On 9 January 1684 drunken soldiers and seamen climbed the fort wall by night to steal beer. They set a child's stock alight in a balcony and threw it onto a thatched house.²⁰²¹ William Wells admitted the disorder but denied meaning to fire the house.²⁰²²

The threat of fire was serious enough for gossip and the courts. In 1685 Thomas Porke said that John Nicholes had hired one of the Company's black men to burn his house.²⁰²³ The man denied it under examination. Porke was found to have defamed Nicholes and paid two dollars and costs.²⁰²⁴

The council named the cause of danger on 7 April 1691. Many chimneys in the town "had been built too low and stood directly beneath the thatch of several houses."²⁰²⁵ Six inhabitants were named to inspect the town and report which chimneys must be raised. They were Henry Coles, William Price, Richard Gurding, Thomas Allis, one Gardnworth and Thomas Cudale.²⁰²⁶ In August the Company sold a house in Chapel Valley rather than repair it. "Like others in that row, it was low built and thatched, despite recent orders intended to prevent such danger."²⁰²⁷ It was offered with a yard 15 feet deep behind, at an opening bid of £40.²⁰²⁸

Tobacco and drink were a danger indoors. In about 1702 Rypon Wills let others drink punch and smoke tobacco in the sergeant's room. Thomas Dixon's bedding had been left there in his keeping, "by which means the bedding caught fire."²⁰²⁹ Wills paid Dixon 20s for the bedding and a separate fine of 10s.²⁰³⁰

Guns were another. In Governor Boucher's time, between 1711 and 1714, the slaves' house at the Company's plantation burnt down. The cause was "his man Caesar firing a gun upon the thatch thereof."²⁰³¹ The surviving remainder was patched up and still in use, too small, in 1723.²⁰³²

Hearth fires did the most harm. One Christmas Day in about 1718 some lodgers "made a bigger fire than ordinary, and the thatch took fire."²⁰³³ "The house was immediately burnt down to the ground, and several of his goods in it."²⁰³⁴ The tenant had to hire another house "not much better than the former," some 220 yards from the fort.²⁰³⁵ The record adds that "all the island's houses were thatched except the storehouse, the parson's house and Mrs Carne's."²⁰³⁶

The council asked for tiles in about 1719 so that the slaves' houses could be tiled. Tiles "would expose them less to the danger of fire than thatching."²⁰³⁷ It wanted the store ship ballasted with tiles instead of coal. "Thatched houses lay so open to such accidents that the Council thought it a great mercy the town, which was all thatched, had stood as long as it had."²⁰³⁸ Every planter able to build "would be glad to have tiles at a reasonable price."²⁰³⁹

Embers carried through the streets were a further hazard. In about 1723 the council noted that people "frequently carried fire from one house to another in the town." In windy weather "the blowing of a spark might set a house on fire, the roof would be unavoidably consumed, and many persons ruined."²⁰⁴⁰

The Company's answer was to train its own tile makers. In 1731 the council asked leave to send "a black boy in order to be put out to learn to make files [tiles]." On St Helena "the Houses are every where covered with Thatch which is very dangerous & apt to take fire."²⁰⁴¹ In 1732 the boy went to England. He was "one of the biggest" boys the Company had.²⁰⁴² The council cited the Cape of Good Hope as its model. After "many of their Thatched houses burnt down" there, the Cape authorities "will permit no house to be built or repaired in the Cape Town unless they are Tiled."²⁰⁴³ Even the house "built by Governor Roberts for himself" was "only covered with Thatch," so that "the Fort it Self in Such a Case would be in hazard too."²⁰⁴⁴

Thatch held on for decades after this. Cordage for thatching the church and the woodhouse was issued in June 1763.²⁰⁴⁵ In December 1768, 106½ lb of cordage went "for thatching in place of wood."²⁰⁴⁶ A house in the wood burnt by accident was repaired by soldiers in 1759.²⁰⁴⁷ The Company's own slaves still lived under thatch in 1770, when 14 lb of cordage were issued "for thatching the slaves' house".²⁰⁴⁸

Arson, Fire Engines and the Deadwood House

The clearest case of arson came in 1759 at Deadwood. A Company house there sheltered some slaves and the Company's poultry. It had been built in place of one "burnt down on 22 August last" and was itself fired on 13 November.²⁰⁴⁹ The Governor ordered its occupants Drake and Clanston to keep constant watch by turns.²⁰⁵⁰

The examination of 26 November shows how such a house was used and how it burned. It was thatched and shared by the free watchman Drake, his wife Mary and the Company slaves Islington and Wednesday. It had a chimney and hearth, a room door that locked, a bed and windows.²⁰⁵¹ Fires began in the thatch under the eaves and inside near the chimney. Someone "found some balls of tow in the thatch."²⁰⁵² On 9 November Islington and Drake had put out one fire with a ladder, water and a wetted blanket.²⁰⁵³ Suspicion fell on Thomas Byrne, a convict condemned at Bombay for burglary, who was said to keep Mary.²⁰⁵⁴

Byrne was shipped off the island. The Directors approved the removal of "that villainous incendiary Thomas Byrne."²⁰⁵⁵ In January 1760, 16 pieces of timber were issued to rebuild the black house, with three stock locks for it.²⁰⁵⁶

A second deliberate fire struck a house in the town in 1770. A public notice of 6 August declared that "the house of William Jenkins appeared to have been deliberately set on fire on the night of Saturday 4 August".²⁰⁵⁷ The Council offered £20 for information.²⁰⁵⁸ It also promised a pardon to any accomplice who named the others, except the one who had lit the fire.²⁰⁵⁹

Against fire the island had little beyond buckets, ladders and its engines. A fire engine valued at £5 15s 6d stood in the store inventory of October 1753.²⁰⁶⁰ In August 1759 "the water engines, which were unserviceable" were shipped home in the Admiral Watson to be mended.²⁰⁶¹ They were the only means of fighting fire, and no one on the island could repair them.²⁰⁶² "The two fire engines sent out by the Admiral Watson were repaired" and came back by the Royal Duke in 1760.²⁰⁶³ The council valued them chiefly "if the island were attacked."²⁰⁶⁴ Two poles for the engine were short delivered from the same ship.²⁰⁶⁵

Keeping the engines in order was a steady small charge. Two deals made shafts for the water engine in December 1762, with copper plate, tar and 6½ lb of sole leather.²⁰⁶⁶ In September 1763 some of 14 pairs of dovetail hinges went to the engine shed.²⁰⁶⁷ Tar was issued for the engines in 1764, with 6 lb of tallow for greasing them and the carts.²⁰⁶⁸ Sole leather was issued for the engine in June 1765.²⁰⁶⁹ Canvas for fire buckets was issued for the Castle in March 1768.²⁰⁷⁰

The engines were worn again by 1766, though "still of some small use." Two new ones were ordered, and the old were to stay until the new arrived.²⁰⁷¹ The Directors sent "two fire engines, and they were accordingly sent, one on each ship," so that one wreck could not lose both.²⁰⁷² A fire-engine pipe went home for repair in June 1769 to its maker Bristow of Ratcliff Highway.²⁰⁷³

Fire also stood among the ordinary hazards of property. The rules of the Company's library in July 1768 held the chaplain liable for lost books "unless it was caused by age, fire, theft or some other accident he could not foresee."²⁰⁷⁴ Thieves used fire too. In January 1774 the runaway slave boy Billy broke into the kitchen of the cooper Griffiths. "He set it on the fire and burned a hole through it to reach what was inside" a chest of clothes.²⁰⁷⁵

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that damp was a problem of siting more than of climate. Houses failed where they stood on wet ground or at the foot of a slope. The Plantation House floor rotted because water came off the hill behind it. The council's answer of 1714, to move the storehouse to higher and drier ground, showed that this was understood early. Yet the remedy in practice was nearly always repair: stone paving, earth floors, props and patches.

The long failure of the Plantation House probably owed as much to design and workmanship as to weather. Flat lead gutters, a three-span roof behind parapets and shallow repairs were faults of building. The move to single-pitch roofs and slate in 1769 reflected a judgement that the form of the roof, not its upkeep, was at fault.

Rats were almost certainly the largest and steadiest cause of loss to households and stores alike. The response moved from poison and rat catchers in the 1680s to screens, counters and tin in the 1710s and 1720s. Cheap spring traps sold by the dozen followed in the 1760s, and then a public bounty. The bounty of 1768 made rat killing a duty of the whole island, including slave owners in the country. It probably reflected the scale of loss in the gardens as well as the stores, since the order named both. The large payment of 1771 suggested that the bounty checked the rats only for a time.

Fire was a known risk that the island lived with for a century. Low chimneys under thatch, embers carried between houses and overlarge hearth fires were all named before 1725. The council chose regulation by inspection and the slow training of tile makers rather than a ban on thatch. The main reason was probably cost. Tiles had to be shipped or made, and many still thatched with local rushes and cordage into the 1770s. The pattern suggested that the island's freedom from a great fire owed much to luck, as the council itself admitted.

Floods appeared in the record only from the 1750s. The pattern perhaps reflected the clearing of the high ground and the building of more houses on valley floors in Jamestown. The flood of 1756 was beyond the memory of the oldest living person, which suggested a change in the land rather than a return of old conditions.

Comparisons

In England a thatched town was a recognised fire risk throughout the period. Many towns burned in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and many responded by banning thatch and requiring tile or slate.²⁰⁷⁶ The slow shift from thatch to tile in English houses also followed rising incomes and the spread of brick.²⁰⁷⁷ St Helena's inspection of low chimneys in 1691 resembled English town orders on chimneys and thatch, but it stopped short of a ban.

English parishes had long paid bounties for vermin under the Tudor statutes. Churchwardens' accounts record payments for the heads of many kinds of animal into the eighteenth century.²⁰⁷⁸ The St Helena bounty of 1768 followed the same method of paying by the head before an officer. It was aimed at rats and mice, which English parish lists rarely named.

In colonial Massachusetts the towns acted against fire much earlier and more firmly. Boston forbade wooden chimneys and thatched roofs from the 1630s. Later orders required new building in brick or stone with slate or tile roofs.²⁰⁷⁹ St Helena faced the same danger with fewer people and fewer means of enforcement.

Bermuda, another small Atlantic island, suffered a plague of rats in its first years of settlement. Rats there destroyed crops and stores on a scale that threatened the colony.²⁰⁸⁰ Bermudian builders also turned early to stone walls and stone-slab roofs, partly against storms and rot.²⁰⁸¹

At the Cape the VOC banned thatch in Cape Town after repeated fires, as the St Helena council noted in the 1730s. Thatched roofs nonetheless remained common in the town and its hinterland for many years.²⁰⁸² The Cape's slave lodges and outbuildings were often the most neglected structures, as the Company's slave houses were on St Helena.²⁰⁸³

Clearance of the forest on St Helena has been linked to soil loss and to flooding in the valleys during the eighteenth century. The Company's own officers came to recognise the connection.²⁰⁸⁴ The floods of 1753, 1756 and 1763 fall within the decades of heaviest clearance. In Company India Europeans faced damp, white ants and fire in thatched bungalows on a far greater scale. Thatch remained common there because it was cheap and cool.²⁰⁸⁵

Part Two: Holding and Housing

The first part followed the house from its ground to its roof. This part turns to the people who held houses, and on what terms. It treats first the sale, lease and letting of private houses. It then turns to the Company's own residences, to barracks and lodgings and to the houses in which the Company kept its slaves.

10. Buying, Selling and Letting Houses

Registration and the Company's Hold on Every Sale

The Company controlled the market in houses from the first years of settlement. Its instructions of 1673 ordered a register of every grant, alienation and sale that a planter made of his house and plantation, so as to prevent disputes and fraudulent conveyances.²⁰⁸⁶ No planter was to sell a house or land until he or his heirs had lived on it and improved it by planting for 7 years.²⁰⁸⁷ A restatement of the same instructions tied the grant of house ground in the valleys to the same 7 years of residence before any sale.²⁰⁸⁸ The rule was meant to fix settlers to the island and to stop the quick resale of Company grants.

The penalties grew sharper in the 1680s. A letter of 1 August 1683 declared that no sale or transfer of a house or land was valid unless it was registered.²⁰⁸⁹ A seller who had dealt in secret forfeited treble toll to the Company, and his buyer paid a double registration fee.²⁰⁹⁰ The building code of about 1683 called the register a Book of Bargains. Under it an unregistered sale forfeited its whole value to the Company.²⁰⁹¹ The register itself suffered from the island's pests. In December 1707 the clerk of the council recopied entries from an older register book that had come unbound and been decayed by rats.²⁰⁹²

By the middle of the eighteenth century the rule was applied to every transfer of leasehold ground. A seller had to petition the Governor and Council for leave before he could pass his house to a buyer. In June 1753 Major Jackson, attorney for the absent Henry Wise, asked leave to sell Wise's house to Nathan Sample.²⁰⁹³ In August 1754 Robert Mason obtained leave to sell his house and its plot by the burial ground to the marshal Thomas Harper.²⁰⁹⁴ Solomon Jacobs needed the same leave in July 1755 to assign the rest of his lease of a house in James Valley to William Paddon.²⁰⁹⁵ Even a plot changing hands within an estate required the Council's consent.²⁰⁹⁶ The practice held in 1770 and 1771. In January 1770 Henry Bazett asked the Council "to accept Julio Fabiano as tenant of the plot in his place".²⁰⁹⁷ Thomas Harper had leave in June 1770 to sell "the house he lived in".²⁰⁹⁸ Lieutenant John Shelley needed the same leave in December 1770 to pass his ground in James Valley to his sister.²⁰⁹⁹ Henry Bazett's ground went to Lieutenant John Bazett in August 1771 by the same procedure.²¹⁰⁰

Buyers who had bought outright also registered their bills of sale. Mary Burnham, who signed with her mark, registered her purchase of a house and land in the valley from John Legg in September 1759.²¹⁰¹ Matthew Purling of council had "five bills of sale registered for houses and lands he had lately bought" in July 1762.²¹⁰² Richard Goodwin registered the bill of sale for his house in the valley in September 1767, which gave him public proof of title.²¹⁰³ Robert Ballard registered his conveyance of a house and land bought from Thomas Bazett's widow in August 1758.²¹⁰⁴

A transfer made outside the register could be overturned. In September 1754 the Council set aside Richard Gawling's unregistered deed of gift of his house at Francis. It held that a leaseholder could not convey beyond his term or without leave.²¹⁰⁵ The deed would also have defrauded his third wife of her jointure. One witness reported Gawling's promise that "he would send for it and that she should see it burnt".²¹⁰⁶ The courts also protected possession. In 1742 a judge told a jury that the Company forbade dispossessing anyone of houses or lands without a jury's verdict. Nobody was to lose such rights "before a due trial was held".²¹⁰⁷

Houses Bought and Sold, 1688-1741

The earliest stated house prices were modest. On 25 January 1688 the planter Robert Tomps sold a stone house in Chapel Valley near Fort James to Thomas Allis for £8 10s.²¹⁰⁸ In about 1705 the free planter James Draper sold a messuage house in Chapel Valley to Corporal Samuel Maxwell for £18.²¹⁰⁹ The house was joined to the houses of Richard Leach and John Stitt on either side. Half the price was paid in live cattle and half in Spanish dollars at 6s the dollar.²¹¹⁰

Some houses can be followed through more than one sale. In April 1704 John Hemon senior, a soldier, sold a dwelling house with a back kitchen in Chapel Valley to Richard Alexander for £25.²¹¹¹ The ground ran back to the watercourse behind it. On 16 March 1710 Alexander sold the same house, kitchen and ground to George Dweight for £30.²¹¹² In January 1740 Benjamin Pledger, as trustee, sold John Collins a narrow house in James Valley for £75.²¹¹³ It was 65 feet 6 inches deep on only 14 feet 9 inches of frontage.²¹¹⁴ A house of identical dimensions, with Gabriel Harper's heirs again named as neighbours, was conveyed by Thomas French in December 1753.²¹¹⁵ That later deed named every room, chamber, window and passage that passed with the house.²¹¹⁶

The Company bought and sold houses on its own account. An undated order of the early eighteenth century required the purchase of Mr Johnson's house if it stood in the way of new barracks.²¹¹⁷ In 1691 the Company sold a house in Chapel Valley that it had bought from Matthew Browney before he left for Bombay with his family.²¹¹⁸ The house was low built and thatched like the others in its row, and needed repair. The Council added a yard 15 feet deep behind it to attract bidders and opened the bidding at £40.²¹¹⁹

Houses were also sold for their materials. At an outcry of the Beale orphans' house about 1710, buyers paid 11s for the chimney and £2 14s 6d for a girder, joist and door.²¹²⁰ Others paid more than £5 each for boards alone.²¹²¹ A second Beale house was demolished and sold for £51 0s 9d. A jury later found the sale fair, since many of its boards and timbers were worm-eaten beneath a sound appearance.²¹²² Ground with a ruined house still had value. In April 1715 the widow Mary Conway sold Sergeant Thomas Southern the plot in Southwark Street called Conway's Wash Yard, where only the ruins of a house survived.²¹²³ The sale carried the right of a party wall that had been paid for earlier.²¹²⁴

Prices rose sharply in the 1720s and 1730s. In April 1723 Sergeant Thomas Dutch sold Elizabeth Marsh a dwelling house in Southwark Street with 34 acres of land and its household goods for £80.²¹²⁵ In January 1724 Richard Gurling sold Captain John Goodwin several parcels of gumwood land with a dwelling house on it for £300.²¹²⁶ The bargain was tied to a promise that Goodwin and his wife would raise Gurling's two daughters until they married or reached 21.²¹²⁷ In May 1720 the surgeon of the Barrington offered for sale the house and ground once owned by Governor Joseph Johnson. He acted under a power of attorney from Johnson's eldest son in India, and Governor Pyke was then living in the house.²¹²⁸

Credit was part of the larger bargains. In November 1738 John Goodwin junior sold Thomas Greentree a dwelling house in James Valley for £250.²¹²⁹ Only £72 was paid at sealing, and the remaining £178 was deferred to 24 June 1745.²¹³⁰ The plot was fixed against a plan annexed to the deed, with the chimney of a neighbour's house as one boundary mark.²¹³¹ In May 1741 Joseph Bates sold his leasehold interest in three acres in Sandy Bay Valley, with its houses and plantations, to John Swindles for £147.²¹³² The price was far above the value of the ground alone and must have rested chiefly on the buildings.²¹³³

Table 12. Stated prices of houses sold, bought or valued, 1688-1757
Year	Property	Parties	Price	Source
1688	Stone house, Chapel Valley	Tomps to Allis	£8 10s	007/48
about 1705	Messuage house, Chapel Valley	Draper to Maxwell	£18	007/34
1704	Dwelling house and back kitchen, Chapel Valley	Hemon to Alexander	£25	007/69
1710	Same house resold	Alexander to Dweight	£30	007/69
1691	Company house, Chapel Valley (opening bid)	Company at auction	£40	011/328
1723	House, Southwark Street, with 34 acres and goods	Dutch to Marsh	£80	033/53
1724	Dwelling house with gumwood land	Gurling to Goodwin	£300	033/68
1738	Dwelling house, James Valley	Goodwin to Greentree	£250	039/30
1740	Narrow house, James Valley	Pledger (trustee) to Collins	£75	039/100
1741	Leasehold of 3 acres with houses, Sandy Bay	Bates to Swindles	£147	039/66
1742	House in James Valley (Goodwin estate)	at auction to Richard Gurling	£24 15s	046/53
1742	House with 69 acres freehold and 5 leased	at auction to Powell	£620	046/53
1742	House called Frances with 44 acres	at auction to Powell	£205	046/53
1743	Ground with the Company slaves' house	Johnson to the Council	£100	047/131-133
1743	7 acres and half a house (Bradley orphans)	at outcry to Semple	£25	047/166-167
1754	Richard Gawling's house (valuation)	inventory	£90	063/166-171
1757	Samuel Falconer's house, the valley	at auction	£291	067/359
1757	Lease of 7½ acres with house, Sandy Bay (bought before 1744)	Vaughan to Seale	£100	067/379-382

Prices are as stated in the deeds, auction accounts and inventories. Sales that included land or goods are marked; the house alone was rarely priced.

Auctions, Estates and Debts, 1742-1771

The death of Governor John Goodwin brought the largest sale of houses in the records. In July 1742 the Council advertised "the remaining part of the estate of the late John Goodwin, at the Company's storehouse in the valley".²¹³⁴ At the auction George Gabriel Powell bought 69 acres of freehold, 5 acres of leasehold and the house on them for £620.²¹³⁵ He also bought the house called Frances, with 28 acres of leasehold and 16 of freehold, for £205.²¹³⁶ Richard Gurling bought a house in James Valley for £24 15s, and Charles Steward a garden above the slaughter house for £36.²¹³⁷ The whole sale came to £3,237 5s 2d, and the secretary was ordered to prepare bills of sale for the lands and houses.²¹³⁸ Goodwin's son John took a fresh 21-year lease of three acres he had bought at his father's auction.²¹³⁹

The same months saw the Company buy a house site of its own. It had rented the ground under its slaves' house beside the Company's garden at £6 a year.²¹⁴⁰ Bazett and Wrangham sold that ground to Joshua Johnson on 14 October 1742, and Johnson assigned it to the Council on 1 February 1743.²¹⁴¹ Each conveyance was for £100.²¹⁴² The money came from the townsmen, who paid for a strip of ground behind their back yards.²¹⁴³

Orphans' and widows' houses often came to auction. In February 1743 Samuel Semple bought seven acres of freehold land and half the house of the Bradley orphans for £25.²¹⁴⁴ In August 1753 the widow Susanna Pledger and her husband's executors petitioned to "dispose of a house in the valley, situated between the houses of Matthew Pauling and James Greentree".²¹⁴⁵ In April 1759 the guardian of a dead soldier's child sold "a small estate consisting of a house and other effects" and lodged the money in the Company's cash.²¹⁴⁶ Wills sometimes ordered a town house sold to meet debts. Marton Harper directed in 1754 that creditors be paid by first selling "his house and ground in James Valley with all the household furniture".²¹⁴⁷

Officers leaving the island sold up. Lieutenant Onesiphorus Beale put his leasehold house and back yard in the valley up to the highest bidder in July 1756.²¹⁴⁸ John Goodwin was "selling all his effects on the island" before his departure in July 1757.²¹⁴⁹ Thomas Kirkpatrick, dismissed by the Court of Directors, had leave in April 1769 to auction 14 acres of leasehold and "some land next to his house in James's Valley".²¹⁵⁰

The house of the late surgeon Samuel Falconer shows a house serving first as security and then as the means of paying a debt. In August 1756 Falconer would neither pay a ship captain's debt "nor give security upon his house".²¹⁵¹ The Lieutenant Governor, John Adamson, "insisted on immediate payment of the money or a mortgage of Falconer's dwelling house".²¹⁵² After Falconer's death his house was advertised for public sale in April 1757, with six months' credit at interest of £5 per cent a year.²¹⁵³ The Company's cash account recorded £291 received for the sale.²¹⁵⁴ The minute of the auction names the buyer as John Adamson, at a sum entered as £2,491, which was probably a slip for £291.²¹⁵⁵

Valuations of planters' estates give some sense of what a house was worth beside its land. Richard Gawling's inventory of 1754 valued his house at £90 and his house and land together at £454.²¹⁵⁶ His household furniture was valued at £78 10s.²¹⁵⁷ The house alone was thus worth little more than the goods inside it. A proposal of November 1770 gives a later measure of a good town house. The inhabitants' meeting suggested that a townsman might keep one guard dog if he owned "a house in the valley worth £200 0s 0d or more, but no land in the country".²¹⁵⁸ Soldiers without property and blacks were to keep none.²¹⁵⁹

Houses still changed hands with country estates. In November 1770 John Seale reported that "He had recently bought a house and plantation at Sandy Bay".²¹⁶⁰ He asked for about 2 acres of waste ground beside it to make a sound fence against straying stock.²¹⁶¹

Inheritance law shaped what could be sold. In 1753 the island argued over whether leasehold was real or personal estate. The executors of Gabriel Harper held that "leasehold was generally regarded on the island as real property".²¹⁶² The claimant, by contrast, said that "by the custom of the island leasehold land was deemed personal estate".²¹⁶³ The opinion sent from England in April 1754 settled that "leasehold lands were by the law of England deemed personal estate".²¹⁶⁴ A widow could therefore claim her third of a leasehold house, and executors could sell it like other goods. Mary Swaite's will of 1758 accordingly treated her leasehold lands as "settled by the Company as personal estate".²¹⁶⁵

Wills of 1770 and 1771 show how houses were kept in families or sold. Orlando Bagley senior left his widow Martha "the use of his dwelling house, for the rest of her life, on condition that she stayed his widow".²¹⁶⁶ His son John was to have the house in James Valley after her interest, holding half of it from his father's death.²¹⁶⁷ John Desfountain left his wife a third of his dwelling house for life and the rest to his son James.²¹⁶⁸ Isaac Knipe gave his sons first refusal of his land "with the houses on it and the yam grounds" at a valuation.²¹⁶⁹ Everything else of his was to be sold at public auction.²¹⁷⁰ Mary Burnham, who had registered her purchase of a house in the valley in 1759, made her will in May 1771.²¹⁷¹ She ordered all her estate sold "except her dwelling house in James's Valley", which she left to her executors' judgement.²¹⁷²

Leases, Covenants and Lives

Most houses in the town stood on ground leased from the Company. The earliest repair covenant appears in a lease of 29 November 1688. Edward Bloxfoe agreed to fence 1.5 acres as an orchard and to keep his new dwelling house in good repair for the whole 21-year term.²¹⁷³ He was to leave it and all improvements in proper condition at the end.²¹⁷⁴

The standard form had settled by the 1740s. In August 1742 Frances Junge took a lease of 15 acres for 21 years.²¹⁷⁵ It bound him "to keep up and maintain in good order and sufficient and legal repair" every building and fence.²¹⁷⁶ He was also to keep a tenth of the land in wood and pay 5s at Michaelmas.²¹⁷⁷ Robert Gurling's lease of 1.5 acres in October 1742 carried the same covenant at 2s a year.²¹⁷⁸ Benjamin Pledger's lease of seven acres at Sandy Bay in 1742 carried a like covenant at 4s a year.²¹⁷⁹ Governor Powell's lease of Goodwin's lands in 1743 bound him in the same words.²¹⁸⁰

Town leases conveyed the house as well as the ground. Nathan Sample's lease of September 1742 granted his plot in James Valley "together with the messuage or tenement then built or erected by Sample".²¹⁸¹ The grant took in its cellars, chambers, rooms and outhouses.²¹⁸² He was to surrender the buildings in good repair at the end of 21 years.²¹⁸³ Ebenezer Leach's lease of a plot 23 feet square in November 1742 made any buildings revert to the Company in repair when the term ended.²¹⁸⁴ In law, therefore, a leaseholder who built a house built it for the Company in the long run. In 1756 the Lieutenant Governor described the lease of Governor Goodwin's town house. It granted every cellar, chamber and room, with the wells, gutters and watercourses belonging to it.²¹⁸⁵

Some leases ran for lives rather than years. The executors of Captain John Alexander took a fresh lease of their holding at Sandy Bay in 1742 for two lives and two after.²¹⁸⁶ A tenant could add or replace a life by paying a fine of half a year's rent. In October 1759 Francis Wrangham senior had a new life put into two leases and four leases renewed.²¹⁸⁷ The renewal was "granted upon his paying the usual fine of half a year's rent, being £5 5s 0d".²¹⁸⁸ Richard Bayley paid £5 5s for renewing the lives in one lease in the same year.²¹⁸⁹ In 1769 the executors of Thomas Greentree paid £7 9s to renew two lives in leases of 33½ and 3 acres.²¹⁹⁰ William Wrangham paid £4 12s 6d in December 1769 "for renewing one life in two leases".²¹⁹¹

The Company was reluctant to enforce forfeiture on such leases. In October 1756 Adamson claimed that Francis Wrangham had forfeited his lease of Jepson's former ground.²¹⁹² His fault was "not having yet erected a substantial dwelling house thereon according to the terms of the lease".²¹⁹³ Wrangham, then in his 70th year, answered that the materials had been ready but that Governor Goodwin had taken "most of the deals upon the Honourable Company's account".²¹⁹⁴ Several rooms had been put up all the same.²¹⁹⁵ The governor cited the Directors' letter of 10 January 1745 and held the lease not forfeited.²¹⁹⁶ In his words, "the Honourable Company's masters were too indulgent to their tenants to take any advantage of them".²¹⁹⁷

Widows' leases carried the same terms as men's. In August 1757 the widow Mary Seale reported "her house on the land was in such poor condition it was close to falling down".²¹⁹⁸ Her family had held the ground since 1726, and her husband John had bought the lease from James Vaughan for £100.²¹⁹⁹ The renewed lease bound the widow and orphans to keep the buildings in repair and not to assign it without leave.²²⁰⁰ The widow Sarah Junge was granted an acre at the Writing Stones in January 1757 "so she could build a house there".²²⁰¹ Her minute gave the rent as 3s a year, but the lease itself said 5s.²²⁰²

Clauses varied a little over time. Julio Fabiano's town lease of December 1765 bound him to repair every wall and building and not to move the fences that marked his plot.²²⁰³ Captain Henry Bazett's lease of 1768 was stricter. It forbade him to let the ground "or any building put up there, fall into ruin or decay".²²⁰⁴ By 1785 some leases kept the fence clause and dropped the repair clause altogether.²²⁰⁵

Building Ground in James Valley, 1742-1789

The Company let small plots of its waste ground in the valley as house ground. In August 1742 Nathan Sample asked for "50 feet in front and 60 feet backwards in Chapel Valley on which to build a house".²²⁰⁶ He was granted it at 2s 6d a year.²²⁰⁷ Ebenezer Leech hired a piece about 26 feet square behind his yard at the same rent in October 1742.²²⁰⁸ In December 1747 Lieutenant John Barton took a plot 105 feet square in James Valley at 18s a year. His lease required him to build a footbridge over the water run facing the Great Barracks.²²⁰⁹

Each petition was viewed before a grant. In October 1757 Corporal Clough and the quarter gunner John Jacks each asked for ground "on which to erect a dwelling house with a small yard".²²¹⁰ Jacks pleaded that he was married and had no intention of leaving the island.²²¹¹ Ground beside a public building was refused if it interfered with its use. Sergeant Shirley's request for a strip between his house and the parish house was turned down in October 1767 as it was "found to interfere with the workhouse".²²¹²

From 1765 the leases were copied into a separate register, which survives as volume 080. It records each plot by its frontage and depth and by the houses on either side. Rents were fixed by frontage. John Price's plot of 80 feet by 52 feet was let in December 1766 at £1 a year, which was 3d a foot of frontage.²²¹³ James Goudy's 40 feet and George Bird's 60 feet, let in January 1767, paid 10s and 15s.²²¹⁴ Henry Bazett's 18 feet beside his billiard house paid 4s 6d, "exactly 3d a foot".²²¹⁵ A plot of 60 feet frontage at 15s a year was the usual charge for a house plot.²²¹⁶

Tradesmen were prominent among the new tenants. The mason William Holbrook petitioned in August 1765 because "he wanted to rent a small plot of unused Company land in the valley so that he could build a house on it".²²¹⁷ He received 40 feet by 68 feet at 15s a year.²²¹⁸ The stonemason Thomas Townsend and the carpenter Joseph Chamberlain had plots of 60 feet frontage each in October 1764.²²¹⁹ George Bird, a joiner, took 60 feet by 55 feet in January 1767, and a house and back yard stood on it by 1771.²²²⁰ The mason's mate John Preston asked for ground in January 1769. "He had a family to support, and house rent was very expensive."²²²¹ He paid the full 15s a year, more than an officer had paid for a like plot three weeks earlier.²²²²

Officers, publicans and humbler men took plots as well. Lieutenant Solomon St Maurice built up a cluster of plots in the valley between 1764 and 1786.²²²³ Captain Henry Prozett took 60 feet by 44 feet in December 1765 to build a house.²²²⁴ The tailor James Pritchard renewed his expired lease of 50 feet by 40 feet on the Southwark side in June 1771, at 7s a year.²²²⁵ A private soldier, Richard Bickerstaff, took 80 feet of frontage beside the watercourse in April 1778.²²²⁶ The jailer John Price, who signed by his mark, added a second plot in 1772.²²²⁷ Widows and executors held plots in trust for children. Mary Harper renewed her lease of a house plot 60 feet square in March 1771 at 12s a year.²²²⁸ She held it "but only as trustee for the children of her dead husband Thomas Jarvis".²²²⁹

The first 21-year leases of the 1740s fell in about 1770, and their holders came back for renewal. Captain Richard Beale reported in July 1770 that "His lease of a small piece of ground in James's Valley had run out".²²³⁰ The renewed lease described a plot 82 feet deep and 14 feet wide at 5s a year.²²³¹ In October 1770 Robert Leech and Ann McKown renewed "a plot of ground 26 feet square in James's Valley at a rent of £0 2s 6d a year".²²³² That was the size and rent of the piece Ebenezer Leech had hired behind his yard in 1742.²²³³ The steward Robert Leech and Jane Wilson renewed another small plot the same month.²²³⁴ The widow Margaret Alcock renewed an acre in James Valley at 5s a year in August 1771.²²³⁵

New grants continued on a small scale. In November 1770 George Bird had "a small piece of the Company's waste ground next to his house in the valley" at 2s a year.²²³⁶ His signed lease of February 1771 gave it as 53 feet long and 14 feet deep.²²³⁷ The publican Roderick Merchant asked in September 1770 for the vacant plot between the widow Kennedy's house and Richard Harper's.²²³⁸ He received a 20-foot frontage, 60 feet deep, at 3s a year.²²³⁹ Not every petition succeeded. Lieutenant John Shelley was refused the strip between the new burial ground and the hospital in September 1770, though he wanted it "so that he could build a house there".²²⁴⁰ The trustees of the widow Martha Jacks were refused a strip 6½ feet by 60 feet beside her house.²²⁴¹ The Council only "allowed the trustees to use the passage leading to the back building on sufferance".²²⁴²

The rent rolls show how widely town ground was held. From the 1760s the roll entered ground rent on house plots in a separate column.²²⁴³ In 1766 these rents ran mostly from 5s to 15s a year.²²⁴⁴ Tradesmen and officers such as Chamberlain, Frost and Pritchard paid ground rent alone, with no farmland.²²⁴⁵ In 1768 the sums ran from 2s 6d for Margaret Alcock and Roderick Merchant to 45s for St Maurice.²²⁴⁶ The whole roll stood at £564 3s 6d in 1753 and £606 5s 0½d in 1769, most of it rent of country land.²²⁴⁷ It reached £620 7s 3½d in October 1770 and £825 0s 3d in September 1771.²²⁴⁸ Before the rent day of 1770 every household had to return "an exact signed account of their families, land and cattle".²²⁴⁹ The roll of 1771 again listed townspeople who held no acres at all.²²⁵⁰ Joseph Chamberlain the carpenter, Michael Frost and Julio Fabiano paid 15s each.²²⁵¹ John Price the publican paid 35s, John Preston the mason 15s and Solomon St Maurice 50s.²²⁵² The Society paid 4s for its house plot in the valley.²²⁵³

Householders also leased the waste behind their houses. In October 1764 several townsmen on one side of James Valley petitioned for the strip behind their houses, since "none of their houses had a back door".²²⁵⁴ The Council found the ground useless to the Company but valuable to the petitioners, "whose own yards were very small".²²⁵⁵ Six leases followed in November 1764 at a combined £5 a year.²²⁵⁶ The same strips, with the same measurements, were let again in 1786 and 1787 when the first 21-year terms had run.²²⁵⁷

Table 13. Ground behind houses in James Valley, let in 1764 and relet in 1786-1787
1764 holder	Size (feet)	Yearly rent	1786-1787 holder	Size (feet)	Yearly rent	Source
Matthew Warling	37 by 108	£1 4s 2d	Lieutenant Thomas Greentree	37 by 108	£1 4s 2d	076/77; 080/266
Francis Wrangham	22 by 101	14s 4d	John Goodwin	22 by 101	illegible, 4d	076/77; 080/267
Martha Scott	19 by 110	12s 5d	Lieutenant Richard Knipe	19 by 110	12s 5d	076/77; 080/268
James Greentree	30 by 95	£1 0s 3d	Captain Lieutenant Thomas Statham	31 by 95	£1 0s 3d	076/77; 080/269-270
Jonathan Doveton	24 by 107	15s 3d	Benjamin Mason junior	24 by 109	15s 8d	076/77; 080/271-272

The 1764 rents ran at close to 8d a foot of frontage, well above the 3d charged for open building plots. The second set of holders were the occupiers of the same houses some 22 years later.

Some odd pieces of ground were let for special uses. In 1767 the carpenter John Robinson took a strip 64 feet by 15 feet at 3s a year for a flood wall.²²⁵⁸ The wall was to guard "the houses standing below the burial ground in the valley".²²⁵⁹ Six members of the Society for spirituous liquors took a tapering slip by the watercourse at 4s in December 1769.²²⁶⁰ The highest town rent in the register was paid by Captain John Torbett in 1788. He paid £2 5s for 45 feet beside the Company's Black House, a shilling a foot.²²⁶¹ The register was kept on into the nineteenth century, and its later rolls still charged most town leases at 3d a foot.²²⁶²

Letting Houses and Rooms

Houses and rooms were let for rent throughout the period. In one undated case a Christmas Day fire burned down a thatched house let to lodgers. The Governor refused its tenant another house. He hired another, though one not much better than the first.²²⁶³ The Company itself hired houses from planters to store goods when its own storehouse was rotten and leaking.²²⁶⁴ In 1725 the Governor had let a house "for a set term" to Joshua Johnson, and he refused to turn Johnson out for a suspended councillor.²²⁶⁵

The arrival of ships raised rents sharply. In August 1742 the Company's officers and covenanted servants complained that "the rents of houses at the island were so exorbitant that it was morally impossible that they should pay".²²⁶⁶ They added that "in the time of the shipping the inhabitants let their rooms at eight shillings a day".²²⁶⁷ The Council found that no lodging could be had under £10 a year.²²⁶⁸ The customary island price for diet and lodging together was 6s a day, each man finding his own liquor.²²⁶⁹

Disputes over short lets show the gap between yearly and daily rates. In July 1758 Captain Venner of the Egmont complained of being charged 26s for 26 days in a small house in the valley.²²⁷⁰ The owner, Samuel Rice, answered that Venner had offered a year's rent and that he had let that part of the house at £15 a year.²²⁷¹ The Council judged the charge "a very exorbitant price".²²⁷² The Company paid 6s a day in 1766 for the lodging of a Russian passenger from the Talbot.²²⁷³ The stonemason Thomas Townsend boarded and lodged the two mates of the Fly at 4s a day each in 1763.²²⁷⁴

The Company rented private houses when its own buildings were full. In March 1757 it hired two small houses with eight rooms between them for sick soldiers, at £16 a year.²²⁷⁵ William Moore was paid £4 a quarter for them for several years.²²⁷⁶ The Company also paid £1 a quarter for a room for the Malay boat master it maintained.²²⁷⁷ In May 1771 the master mason rented a house at £20 a year, because "The Company owned no house in which to lodge him."²²⁷⁸ The pay list confirms that Edward Daniels, the newly arrived master mason, drew house rent at that rate from 3 April 1771.²²⁷⁹

Public houses commanded the highest rents. In June 1768 one punch house keeper paid Mr Kennedy £50 a year for his house, and Burnham paid his mother £40 a year.²²⁸⁰ Lieutenant Governor Corneille argued that such rents drove keepers to sell outside the licensed hours.²²⁸¹ Under the revised licence of 1769 John Price could keep a public house in his own dwelling at £8 a year. After tattoo he was to let no one stay in the house "except people lodging with him".²²⁸²

Households also let single rooms. The carpenter Thomas Levins "had let a room to Stanley" in 1757, and the two men fought over a slave woman found in it.²²⁸³ In 1759 an aged widow meant to let a schoolmaster only "the use of a room in her house to teach school".²²⁸⁴ His written agreement claimed far more, with lodging, board and £10 a year as overseer of her land and slaves.²²⁸⁵

Sub-letting and quick building appear together. In November 1755 the widow Sarah Reynolds sublet to the carpenter Thomas Levinz the ground between her house and Nathan Sample's, with 13 years of her 21-year lease to run.²²⁸⁶ Four months later Levinz assigned "a parcel of ground with a house on it" to Lieutenant John Clark.²²⁸⁷ The carpenter had built a house on the plot and sold it within a few months.

Rented houses also appear in the court records. In 1779 James Collins rented his house from Stewart, and two runaway slaves broke into it on separate nights.²²⁸⁸ On the second night Collins came home to find a window forced. "He found the window forced open and four panes of glass broken".²²⁸⁹ William Smith "had been renting a house from Captain St Maurice for the previous six months" when two chests in it were forced in 1782.²²⁹⁰ Wills passed on the rent of houses as income. Richard Mason left the rent of one house to his granddaughter's sister in 1755.²²⁹¹ William Moore reserved half the rent of his house in James Valley to his daughter in England.²²⁹² Francis Wrangham directed his executors to let his land and leasehold property at the best yearly rent.²²⁹³

Mortgages and Credit on Houses

Houses served as security for debt from the 1730s at least. The deferred payment of £178 on Greentree's house in 1738 was in effect a loan by the seller to the buyer.²²⁹⁴ In April 1753 Thomas French and his sister Sarah "agreed to assign over their houses for that purpose", to secure a share of an estate pending the Directors' approval.²²⁹⁵ Adamson's demand for a mortgage of Falconer's house in 1756 shows the same use.²²⁹⁶

Mortgages were entered in the Council's register. Lieutenant John Clark produced a mortgage for registration in March 1760.²²⁹⁷ Captain John Howard "applied to have a mortgage bond entered in the register" in November 1765.²²⁹⁸ Neither entry names the property charged. In September 1770 the treasurer of the island's Widows' Fund "asked for a mortgage bond held by the fund to be registered".²²⁹⁹ The fund lent at interest on settlers' property, and this bond again left the property undescribed.²³⁰⁰ A public sale on credit was itself a form of mortgage. Falconer's buyer in 1757 had to give security and pay interest at £5 per cent a year on the price.²³⁰¹

The same instruments outlasted the Company's rule. In 1837 a widows' fund held mortgages on houses and land worth well over £1,000, and many lacked their title deeds.²³⁰² One house in Jamestown secured £450 lent to William Carrol.²³⁰³

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that two different prices governed a St Helena house. The ground rent was a fixed charge set by the Company, at 2s 6d for a plot in 1742 and 3d a foot of frontage by the 1760s. It bore no relation to what the house on it would sell or let for. A plot first let in 1742 at 2s 6d was renewed at the same rent in 1770, when a good valley house was reckoned at £200. A plot paying 15s a year could carry a house let at £15 or £20 a year, or a punch house let at £50. The value of a town house therefore lay almost wholly in the building and in the Company's leave to occupy the ground.

The rise in stated prices probably reflected two changes. The first was the shift from thatched houses of battens and loose stone to substantial stone houses with chambers, cellars and kitchens. The second was the growth of shipping, which made rooms in the valley a source of income for several months of the year. A house that could be let at 8s a day to ships' officers was worth far more than its materials. The £8 10s of 1688 and the £291 of 1757 were not prices for the same kind of thing.

The Company's insistence on registration and leave to sell probably served more than one purpose. It protected the Company's revenue and kept a record of who held its ground. It also gave the Council a hand in the composition of the town, since every new occupier of a plot was known and approved. The repeated petitions for "leave" suggested a market that was real but closely supervised.

The ruling of 1754 that leasehold was personal estate probably mattered a good deal in practice. Most town houses stood on leasehold ground. Treating them as personal estate let widows claim a third and let executors sell them quickly to pay debts. The large number of auctions of houses after a death, often at the house itself, fitted this pattern.

The lists of new plot holders after 1764 suggested a widening of house ownership. Masons, carpenters and joiners built houses on Company ground at modest rents. So did tailors, a jailer and at least one private soldier. Preston's plea that "house rent was very expensive" gave the motive plainly. A man who could build his own house escaped rents that his wages could not easily bear.

Comparisons

In England most town houses were held by lease rather than freehold, and leases for lives were common in the west and south-west. Repair covenants of the St Helena kind were standard in English leases of the period.²³⁰⁴ The St Helena covenant to keep every building and fence in repair followed English conveyancing practice closely. The island's insistence on leave to assign was stricter than most English landlords required, and more like the control of a manorial lord over copyhold.

English alehouses were very often held by tenants who paid rent to a brewer or a landlord. The high rents for St Helena's punch houses, and the complaint that they drove keepers to break the licensing hours, echoed arguments heard in England.²³⁰⁵

Bermuda offered a closer island parallel. Its land was first held in shares under the Somers Isles Company, and many early inhabitants were tenants rather than owners.²³⁰⁶ After the Company's dissolution in 1684 Bermudians held their land more freely. St Helena's town ground, by contrast, stayed leasehold of the Company throughout the period.

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company also granted town plots in Table Valley to its burghers and servants. Houses there passed between owners by registered transfer, and several were let to ships' officers and passengers during the shipping months.²³⁰⁷ The St Helena complaint of rooms let at 8s a day when the ships were in had its Cape counterpart in the lodging trade of Cape Town. At the Cape slaves were also commonly sold with or alongside houses in estate auctions, as at Goodwin's sale.²³⁰⁸

In Company India the servants at Calcutta and Madras commonly bought houses and let them to one another at high rents. A house was one of the chief forms in which a servant held his savings.²³⁰⁹ The officers' petition of 1742 at St Helena and the house rent allowance that followed belonged to the same pattern of Company servants living in rented private houses. The scale differed greatly, however. A St Helena house rarely sold for more than £300, while Calcutta houses changed hands for far larger sums.

11. The Castle, Plantation House and Officers' Houses

The Company kept three kinds of official dwelling on St Helena. The Governor lived in the Castle, the house within the fort at the sea front of James's Valley. He also had a country house in the interior, known as the plantation house and later as Plantation House. The Lieutenant Governor, the chaplain and other covenanted servants were lodged in a small stock of Company houses. Those left without one were paid an allowance in its place. These buildings were furnished, lit, repaired and rebuilt from the Company's store, so that their history survives in unusual detail in the quarterly accounts.

The Fort House and the Castle before 1742

The earliest descriptions of the Governor's quarters are incidental. In 1704 a night-time disturbance at the fort showed a house with a gallery, rooms opening off it and doors that could be bolted. Madame Poirier, frightened and unwell, asked her servant "to lock and bolt all the doors very fast".²³¹⁰ The fort house was evidently a building of some size, but it was poorly heated. In 1717 the Governor reported that he had built two small rooms in the castle, one with a chimney, there having been "no other chimney in the fort but the kitchen".²³¹¹

Like the rest of the town, the Governor's residence was roofed with thatch. When the Council cited the Cape's rule that every new house there must be tiled, it added that even the house "built by Governor Roberts for himself" was "only covered with Thatch". In consequence "the Fort it Self in Such a Case would be in hazard too".²³¹²

Earlier Governors had also lived in houses of their own. A house formerly Governor Joseph Johnson's was offered for sale in May 1720 by Mr Crane, surgeon of the Barrington, under a power of attorney from Johnson's eldest son. By then it was the house in which Governor Pyke lived.²³¹³ In the 1680s John Johnson already held "the Company's former great house" in Chapel Valley and was granted some 17 rods of ground beside it.²³¹⁴ The Company's own residence and the Governor's private house were therefore not always the same building.

The first full account of the Castle's contents was taken on 29 May 1741, after the death of Governor John Goodwin. It listed cane, matted, leather and elbow chairs with a couch and china chairs. There were also two clocks and a hanging glass. The tableware included nine dozen ivory-handled knives and forks and nine dozen china soap plates.²³¹⁵ The Governor's closet held the Company's cash chest. Duke Crispe described it in May 1742 as "very low, with the lock in the middle of the lid and not very easily opened".²³¹⁶

Plantation House, 1711-1752

The country house stood within the Company's plantation. Its goods were inventoried when they were taken from Captain Edward Mashborne on 10 July 1711. The list ran to two elbow chairs, 13 rattan chairs and three old chairs. There were an oval table, a long square table and two small tables. There were also a Turkey carpet, two feather beds with bolsters and pillows, a curtained bedstead and a large dressing glass. Light came from a globe lanthorn, a brass lamp, two brass candlesticks and two pairs of brass sconces. Three pairs of andirons, fenders and tongs served the fires.²³¹⁷ The kitchen held 54 pewter dishes, four dozen pewter plates and a copper still and worm. The dairy had 28 tin milk pans, three churns and five powdering tubs for salting meat.²³¹⁸ A second inventory, taken by Mr Bazett and Mr Tovey in April 1715, counted 31 old and new cane chairs and "1 iron rat trap".²³¹⁹

The farm buildings round the house were poor. In July 1711 the Governor ordered a cowhouse for at least 50 cows, with a proper dairy. He remarked that "it was a burning shame" that for seven or eight years the Company's hog sties and dairy had hardly matched the planters'. He added that "no wash house had even been built".²³²⁰ Governor Butcher was later accused of having stripped the house and let the plantations and gardens fall into ruin. He had also built a riding shed costing £184 11s 6d.²³²¹ A shed built by the late Governor was valued at £181 4s 6d and ordered taken down, its rafters and thatch to roof a slave house.²³²²

Damp was the house's chief enemy. The Directors approved an order to pave the ground floor with stone, "since the place stood so damp as to rot both the floor boards and the joists".²³²³ In December 1715 the Governor reported that the floor had rotted through again, "not the boards alone but the ground joist beneath". Flooring the house had never cost less than 50 boards a year.²³²⁴ A survey of August 1716, made on purpose in wet weather, found the house set "just at the foot of a hill". The principal rafters, window frames, girders and joists were rotten. In blowing weather the house "shook and rocked". It "looked well on the outside, but could be of no use inside while everyone was afraid to lie in it".²³²⁵

The stone paving was still not laid in 1717. The Governor then ordered every slave leaving the Sandy Bay works on Saturdays to carry home one paving stone, and later a bag of lime, when he came for his weekly yams. Meanwhile the floor was filled with earth to save boards.²³²⁶ An April storm of 1717 levelled the Company's slave house at Lufkins and threw down the stone Turkey House. The plantation house itself had been "allowed to fall into ruin", and the Council could not say who might "fit a new roof and to tile it".²³²⁷ Its re-roofing waited on tiles, which the Council asked to have shipped as ballast in place of coal.²³²⁸ In March 1737 the kitchen chimney stack blew down although it had been in good repair.²³²⁹

The inventories of 1741 and 1742 show a better furnished house. On 29 May 1741 it held a pier glass, a sconce glass and a chimney glass, two sets of chintz curtains, window valances and bed curtains. There were a wainscot table, a china-pattern table, tea tables and a fire grate with tongs, shovel and poker.²³³⁰ On 4 May 1742 the list added chamber tables, a china lacquered table and 11 cane chairs. It also named a large easy chair, a settee, a corner cupboard and "a picture of Aaron and Moses".²³³¹ Brass cocks made from a broken copper pump of the arrack stills had been sent up to the house in Governor Pyke's time but left off the inventory.²³³²

By 1744 the house was judged not worth repairing. Its roof, floors and windows were all bad, and it was too small for a family. The Company sent out two masons from England on five-year contracts, John Bland as master mason at £70 a year with diet and house rent and Mark Hawkins at £50.²³³³ Once assured that the walls were sound, being laid in lime mortar, the Court chose to enlarge the house and allowed up to £200 for two more rooms. Portland stone and marble dust were ordered to floor the hall and offices, as cheaper and more durable than deals.²³³⁴

The New Plantation House, 1753-1771

A new house was building by 1753. The store accounts list the materials delivered to it quarter by quarter. Deals, Riga timber and baulks made up most of the cost. Nails, lead, paint, hinges and locks made up the rest.

Table 14. Stores delivered for building Plantation House, 1753-1755
Quarter ending	Principal materials stated	Value stated	Source
11 July 1753	Nails, 293 single and 30 double deals, 29½ pieces of Riga timber, 39 baulks	£117 15s 3d	062/223
11 October 1753	3 pieces of Riga timber, linseed oil, 50 lb white lead, brushes for the cornice	£5 10s 3d (timber)	062/300
11 January 1754	Nails, 3½ pieces of Riga timber, 16 lead water pipes and 4 heads	£22 10s 10d	062/374-375
11 April 1754	Lead, 51 single and 3 double deals, ½ piece of Riga timber, pitch	£27 13s 1d	063/25
11 July 1754	44 double and 26 single deals, 2 pounded locks, 12 panes of glass	£36 19s 8d	063/128-129
11 October 1754	60 lb flooring brads, 154 single and 58 double deals, 7 baulks	£28 5s 9d	063/226
11 January 1755	17 wainscot boards, 115 double and 57 single deals, 24 dozen dovetail hinges	£29 10s 3½d	063/298
11 April 1755	109 double and 10 single deals, a Guinea board, 12 pairs of HL hinges	£25 11s 10d	063/421]]
*The values are those entered in the store accounts for the house alone; the October 1753 figure is for its Riga timber only

The house had a painted cornice and panelled rooms. In October 1753 two paint brushes were issued "for the cornice", and 17 wainscot boards for panelling followed in January 1755.²³³⁵ Samuel Cater was paid £12 in October 1754 for glazing the windows of "the East Plantation House" and the hospital.²³³⁶ Rocks on the site were blasted with 12 lb of powder in 1756.²³³⁷ A great flood that year damaged several large pieces of the garden walls.²³³⁸ Soldiers spent 256 days building a stable at the house in 1757, at 1s a day.²³³⁹ In 1759 they carried sand up Ladder Hill for 85 days for the house.²³⁴⁰ A dog was kept "as a guard for the Plantation House".²³⁴¹ Nine number 2 iron rimmed locks were fitted in January 1760, at £1 5s 4d.²³⁴²

The roof soon failed. A survey of June 1764 found a roof of three spans behind parapets, with lead gutters between and round them. The hall beams had broken soon after roofing, and two parts had been reroofed in 1759 and twice since, yet still leaked. The gutters, "laid with sheet lead weighing 10 lb to the square foot, had blistered all over". The Council blamed every defect on the master mason.²³⁴³ It proposed to raise the back rooms a storey under one roof, and the plans went home by the Havannah.²³⁴⁴ Cordage and nails for thatching the house were issued that June.²³⁴⁵

The engineer Archibald Mitchell gave a bleak account in September 1765. The house had been badly designed and its roof was thought impossible to fix. It was left unfinished and "did not contain a single room fit to live in".²³⁴⁶ He proposed to line the almost flat gutters with terras, a water-resisting mortar. The Council resolved to "test the terras on a single gutter" first.²³⁴⁷ In 1766 Roderick Merchant supplied 64 gallons of beer at 2s a gallon to be mixed into a cement for the gutters.²³⁴⁸ Part of the roof was re-tiled after it "leaked so badly in the recent rains that the main timbers were at risk".²³⁴⁹ In April 1766 the house employed 32 men and boys, among them two slave masons with four boy apprentices, a white brickmaker with five boys and three white plasterers.²³⁵⁰

The effort was abandoned in 1769. The Court heard in January that the Governor's country house "was in a very indifferent condition".²³⁵¹ The engineer held that "the existing house could never be made fit to live in".²³⁵² In his first quarterly report Thomas Bazett said the workmen had "taken the roof off Plantation House".²³⁵³ The house was then pulled down by overseers, carpenters and labourers.²³⁵⁴ The Council proposed a new house with single-pitch roofs of slate, since "the old roofs could never be made watertight".²³⁵⁵ The Court approved new country houses for the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor in January 1770 and asked how many squares of glass were wanted.²³⁵⁶ Windows, sashes, balusters and slate were requested from England, the slate to be packed in cases.²³⁵⁷ Furniture for the Castle and Plantation House was sent out in 1772.²³⁵⁸

Not every building on the site came down. In 1770 and 1771 the store still charged window glass, paint, nails and brads to "the plantation house".²³⁵⁹ A bath house was built there in the quarter to September 1770, together with repairs to the house, for 146 days' labour at £7 6s.²³⁶⁰ Smiths spent four days at the house that December.²³⁶¹ Masons and labourers repaired its stable in March 1771 for £3 6s 6d.²³⁶² Blank keys were cut for it in June 1771.²³⁶³ Some part of the Governor's country establishment therefore stayed in use while the new house waited on plans and slate from England. Slates did reach the island in April 1771, but a third of those in the Duke of Richmond broke in landing.²³⁶⁴

Throughout these years the house remained the centre of the Company's farm. Its garden had espaliers and a gardener was wanted, without whom the garden was "of small use".²³⁶⁵ The garden was trapped for vermin with 13 spring rat traps and three double mousetraps in 1767.²³⁶⁶ Five more spring rat traps went to the Plantation House garden in December 1769.²³⁶⁷ Its garden chairs were painted with verdigris and turpentine in 1770.²³⁶⁸ In 1768 a carpenter's mate, Mariot, "had taken a door lock from Plantation House, carried it down to the valley and fitted it to his own door". He was dismissed.²³⁶⁹

The Castle Repaired and Refurnished, 1742-1772

The Castle was altered piecemeal. Duke Crispe fitted 10 sash windows belonging to Mary Alexander "in a new room of the Castle". Her husband had paid £9 5s for them at Pyke's auction, but three Governors in turn failed to pay.²³⁷⁰ The Company settled in February 1743 at the English prime cost of £44 15s 6d with 5 per cent commission, £47 3s 3¾d in all.²³⁷¹ In the 1740s the Company also paid for shutters, doors and glazing at the castle, including glazing brads for the windows of the great round house.²³⁷² A later consignment named 270 panes of quarry glass for the castle and crown glass for the Lieutenant Governor's house.²³⁷³

The mid-century accounts show small, steady works. In 1754 pumps for the Castle well cost £12 5s.²³⁷⁴ Shelves were put up in the porter's lodging and sugar was mixed with lime for repairs.²³⁷⁵ In January 1756 a piece of Riga timber went "for rebuilding a room for the servants in the Castle".²³⁷⁶ Canvas was issued for the Castle's umbrelloes, awnings or sunshades over the windows.²³⁷⁷ Wainscot boards made "frames for window blinds in the castle" in 1759.²³⁷⁸ In 1762 a 5-inch oak plank was issued for the stairs in front of the Governor's house.²³⁷⁹

By 1764 the roof was failing. A survey of July found the south wall, built at a different time from the others, sinking daily, 6 inches in all. The rafters were propped, the tiles rotten and part of the roof covered with canvas. Patches of lime, sugar and pitch held only briefly, and "the current rains were coming through into almost every room of the Castle".²³⁸⁰ The Council put the reroofing under John Robinson, carpenter.²³⁸¹ Robinson's salary was raised to £100 a year in 1765, since it "was much less than the master masons though he was equally serviceable".²³⁸²

The repair took two years of garrison labour. Soldiers worked 995½ days at the Castle in the quarter to December 1764 and 97¾ days "tiling and sawing" there.²³⁸³ In the next quarter they spent 1,022 days repairing it.²³⁸⁴ By June 1765 Mitchell reported the work far enough advanced to release most of the workmen.²³⁸⁵ In September he described the Castle as "a small square fort" behind the line, containing the Governor's residence.²³⁸⁶ He added that "The Castle and the servants' houses had recently been fully repaired".²³⁸⁷ An account of 1767 put the stores used between 1764 and 1766 at £281 10s 9½d, chiefly 316 double and 76 single deals with laths and Riga timber. Cash paid from July 1764 to June 1766 came to £421 11s 6d, including £47 1s 1d for tiles and £32 3s 10d for window frames.²³⁸⁸

The Governor then went further. The engineer's account of £122 14s 9d covered "a porch, enclosing a staircase that led to the upper storey of the Castle, in place of an old one that was beyond repair". It also covered pulling down the old parapet and merlons that blocked the sea view, levelling the mount and a new flagstaff.²³⁸⁹ The Court objected that the work was done "by the Governor's orders alone" and that its cost was blended with other articles in the books.²³⁹⁰ It ordered every article issued for Castle repairs to be shown separately.²³⁹¹

Governor Skottowe defended himself in June 1767. He said the roof had been "in constant danger of collapse". The porch still lacked windows and the staircase lacked a door onto the mount.²³⁹² His apartment, he argued, ought to be at least as convenient as any Company servant's house. He had 20 deal chairs made to "replace some old leather-bottomed chairs taken from the Castle hall and moved into the new dining room upstairs".²³⁹³ Captain Kirkpatrick called it "a repair his house needed so badly, for reasons of necessity, decency and comfort".²³⁹⁴

Repairs went on at a lower level after 1769. In the quarter to December 1769 painters spent 49½ days on the portico and the Castle, with carpenters and plumbers.²³⁹⁵ The store issued 74 lb of blue paint for £8 3s 5d, with white lead and deals for the Castle and the Lieutenant Governor's house.²³⁹⁶ That quarter's repairs came to £44 2s 8d, and the next quarter's to £21 5s 10d.²³⁹⁷ In the quarter to December 1770 masons, smiths, painters and plasterers repaired the Castle for £15 13s 4d. The work took 185½ labourers' days and 21 days of lime burning.²³⁹⁸ A further £4 13s 9d of labour followed by March 1771, when a hank of sash line was issued for the Castle's windows.²³⁹⁹

The Castle's furniture was renewed in the same years. Adam Evans was paid 17s 6d in 1765 "for colouring and mending 18 chairs in the castle", and 16 yards of silk for covering chairs cost £5 10s.²⁴⁰⁰ In November 1766 Joseph Chamberlain, a former carpenter's mate, made "20 Windsor chairs for the hall in the Castle" at 5s each.²⁴⁰¹ Longcloth was issued "for stuffing curtains and for the sideboards at the Castle" in 1768.²⁴⁰² The Castle library had an iron-rimmed lock with brass knobs and shelves of Riga timber.²⁴⁰³ A mahogany tea table for the Council was bought for £4 5s and a silver inkstand for the Council table for £8 10s.²⁴⁰⁴ The Castle had mahogany tables by 1770, when three brushes were issued for them.²⁴⁰⁵ Green serge was issued "for covering tables in the Castle" in June 1771.²⁴⁰⁶ Brass chair nails were issued for its chairs, and two padlocks were fitted to its closets.²⁴⁰⁷ Its beds took six fine blankets at £3 13s 6d and 15 yards of ticking at £2 6s 11d in 1770.²⁴⁰⁸ Even so, in 1771 the Council wrote that "The furniture in the Castle was extremely old and poor, and there was very little of it".²⁴⁰⁹

The Governor's Household: Table, Lights and Linen

The Castle was also the Company's dining hall. Senior servants ate at "the general table", and the Governor drew an allowance for servants of £31 14s 9d a quarter.²⁴¹⁰ When Governor Lambert died on 20 July 1742, the Council resolved that his widow and three daughters be kept at the general table. It ordered "that the table at the Castle be served so sparingly that the diet expenses might not exceed the usual bounds".²⁴¹¹ Sundries bought from the shipping "for the general table and household" that July cost £110 5s 6d.²⁴¹² The diet expenses for the last quarter of 1742 came to £166 4s 11¾d.²⁴¹³ A Governor could also be accused of a shortfall. Crispe kept "three of his own servants" at the house without charge, he said, sparing the Company three men from the fortifications at 3s a day.²⁴¹⁴

Lighting the Castle was a large recurring cost. Wax candles came from Bengal by the chest. In 1753 the Council found the usual five chests too many and asked for four maunds a ship, with "70 of shum cotton for castle wicks".²⁴¹⁵ By 1770 each Bengal ship brought four chests of wax candles, 8 maunds at 75 rupees a maund.²⁴¹⁶ In May 1770 the Council told Fort William that "The candles received for some time had been very poor".²⁴¹⁷ The store issued candles to the Castle and the Council chamber every quarter, as Figure 2 shows.

Figure 2. Candles issued from the Company's store for the Castle each quarter, 1753-1771, in pounds weight. Some later entries include candles for the Council. The accounts for 1760-1762 are incomplete.

Quarterly issues to the Castle ran at 100 to 140 lb in 1753 and 1754.²⁴¹⁸ They fell below 60 lb in 1759, and in late 1764 only 38 lb went to the Castle itself while an officer slept there "while the Governor was in the country".²⁴¹⁹ From 1767 the issues rose sharply. The Castle drew 317 lb in the quarter to September 1769, with 110 lb for the Council and 30 lb for the chaplain.²⁴²⁰ The level held in 1770. The Castle drew 302 lb in the quarter to March, 309 lb to June and 288 lb to September.²⁴²¹ Its issues dipped to 180 lb and then 112 lb over the next two quarters. They rose again to 318 lb in the quarter to June 1771.²⁴²² The Council's share stood at 100 to 120 lb a quarter throughout.²⁴²³ By 1767 each councillor drew 50 lb a quarter.²⁴²⁴ The chaplain was allowed 30 lb because "his profession obliged him to spend much of his time reading and writing by candlelight".²⁴²⁵

The table was set with glass and china in quantity. In July 1754 the Castle received five dozen wine glasses, two pairs of decanters and a large roasting jack at £1 10s 2d.²⁴²⁶ A middling jack for the Castle cost £4 18s in 1764, and another roasting jack for the Company's table cost £8 10s in 1768.²⁴²⁷ A china service of June 1762 included 26 meat dishes, 48 soup plates and 119 meat plates.²⁴²⁸ Octagonal porcelain arrived in 1767, and a new service of 1769 cost £10 15s 11d.²⁴²⁹ The Castle's china was renewed again in March 1770 for £11 3s 4d, with 40 meat plates, 48 cups and saucers and four chamber pots.²⁴³⁰ Another octagonal service of June 1771 cost £8 4s and included 36 soup plates, 40 meat plates and three tureens.²⁴³¹ Breakage in transit was constant. Boxes from the Plassey in 1770 yielded 72 broken pieces, and those from the Kent in 1771 about 60.²⁴³² In December 1769 the Castle received 12 pairs of brass candlesticks and two dozen ivory-handled knives and forks.²⁴³³ In June 1770 it had seven dozen wine glasses, 18 tumblers and four pint decanters. Four dozen green-handled knives and forks came with them at £7 18s 4d.²⁴³⁴ A cream ewer was bought for the Castle for £2 2s.²⁴³⁵ The copper kitchenware was retinned regularly, and Dobson was paid a guinea "for tinning the kitchen furniture belonging to the Castle".²⁴³⁶ Solder and sal ammoniac for the purpose were issued almost every quarter in 1770 and 1771.²⁴³⁷ George Bird coloured and gilded a sunflower "from which to hang a candle branch at the Castle" for £1 4s.²⁴³⁸

Table linen came from India. Fort St George was asked in 1756 for tablecloths and napkins, including "one dozen napkins of a larger size to lay upon the tablecloths".²⁴³⁹ A bale from Madras on the Hector in 1768 held 24 tablecloths and 12 napkins, and went to the Castle at £34 16s.²⁴⁴⁰ Table linen was also bought on the island. In March 1771 two tablecloths, two overlays and 24 napkins cost £15, and four more tablecloths £8 8s.²⁴⁴¹ Six pieces of huckaback for table linen and napkins followed in June 1771 at £21 9s.²⁴⁴² Irish linen was issued for shirts for the Castle in 1770.²⁴⁴³ The linen was washed with soap, starch, indigo and smalt issued every quarter. In 1769 the Castle received 12 box irons "for pressing linen" at £4 14s 4d.²⁴⁴⁴

Worn goods were written off in batches. In 1759 these included a set of "cherry derry curtains", nine dozen diaper napkins and 79 plates, £45 9s 3d in all.²⁴⁴⁵ Old silver plate worth £45 18s 8½d was written off by troy weight in 1757. It comprised three salvers, spoons, castors, two bowls and a tankard.²⁴⁴⁶ In 1763 six diaper tablecloths and two feather beds were struck off as worn out, and two silver salt cellars as stolen.²⁴⁴⁷ The Castle's strong room was not secure. In March 1760 "a room in the Castle was broken into, and a chest broken open in the room", and £49 was taken.²⁴⁴⁸ The Council later named Grewen, a Company slave who escaped on the departing ships, as the thief.²⁴⁴⁹

Company property in a Governor's hands was hard to account for. The Council found that Crispe had charged the Company £99 10s for furniture said to be delivered to the Castle or Plantation House, which had stayed in his own house.²⁴⁵⁰ He replied that the Company "wanted many goods for the furniture of the Castle and their house in the country". He claimed to have "supplied them in part, as his predecessors had done before him".²⁴⁵¹ The bill against him charged £9 9s 10d for furniture not delivered and £83 10s 1d for a deficiency in household goods.²⁴⁵² In 1759 the Court found no record of what furniture Lieutenant Governor Adamson had been entrusted with. It laid down that "inventories signed by both parties and held by each" should cover all Company goods in anyone's charge.²⁴⁵³

The Lieutenant Governor's Houses

The Lieutenant Governor had two residences, a house in the town valley and rooms at Longwood. On appointing Nicholas Dunbar in January 1759, at £250 salary and £100 diet money, the Court gave him "both the house in the valley and the rooms at Longwood". He also had the use of Company slaves.²⁴⁵⁴ John Skottowe and Daniel Corneille were housed on the same footing.²⁴⁵⁵

The valley house was known as the great house. In March 1753 the chaplain and several officers drew house rent from the day each "left the Great House".²⁴⁵⁶ The new Lieutenant Governor John Adamson was paid from his arrival on 21 March, the same day.²⁴⁵⁷ The house appointed for Adamson had belonged to the late Mr Goodwin. Its lease conveyed every part of the property, in the words "cellars, chambers, rooms, edges, entries, backsides, houses, buildings, springs, wells, gutters, watercourses".²⁴⁵⁸ Goodwin's James Valley house had been sold to the Company for £500 against his debt, to lodge its servants.²⁴⁵⁹ Adamson made alterations to the yard and swore that a back wall "must not come down".²⁴⁶⁰

The great house was large enough to hold officers above the Lieutenant Governor. In 1762 Skottowe complained that the "officers apartments over his own in the great house" disturbed him, "especially in the night time". The three officers were moved out on house rent.²⁴⁶¹ The house had verandas by 1759, a well in the yard, a stable and a drain to the back yard.²⁴⁶² Soldiers spent 46 days in 1759 "building a chimney for the use of the officers at the Lieutenant Governor's".²⁴⁶³

The valley house was still thatched in the 1760s. Stephen Young was paid £1 13s in 1763 "for thatching the Lieutenant Governor's house".²⁴⁶⁴ In February 1767 rain "came down as far as the second floor".²⁴⁶⁵ A survey in March found "the thatch was in very bad condition and badly torn by vermin" where rain lodged behind the chimney. The Council chose a patch and removal of the chimney top over a new roof of tile.²⁴⁶⁶ The house was repaired in 1769 under that order. It took 754 lb of sheet lead at £7 17s 1d and 38 days of plumbers' work.²⁴⁶⁷ In the last quarter of 1769 carpenters spent 32 days and labourers 109 days on the house, with cordage for scaffolds.²⁴⁶⁸ Painters spent 58 days there in the quarter to March 1770, at 2s 6d and 3s a day. That was well above the 1s 6d paid to painters on the batteries.²⁴⁶⁹ The painters were also given 4 gallons of arrack.²⁴⁷⁰ In the quarter to September 1770 the house received sheet lead, hinges and a brass door lock with brass handles at 7s 6d.²⁴⁷¹ The armourer John Robins was paid £1 5s for another lock that December.²⁴⁷² Stonecutters spent 72 days at the house in the same quarter, and window sills were prepared for it at the quarry.²⁴⁷³ In March 1771 labourers spent 74 days "repairing a fishpond in the Lieutenant Governor's yard".²⁴⁷⁴ In October 1770 the Council found that the house and the hospital "had never had their own entries in the books". It ordered both to be entered among the Company's assets.²⁴⁷⁵ James Donavan was paid 2s 6d in 1768 "for cleaning the windows of the Lieutenant Governor's house".²⁴⁷⁶ In 1780 a plot was let bounded "on the north by the Company's house in which the Lieutenant Governor lived".²⁴⁷⁷

The Longwood house was a country base for overseeing the Company's lands and stock. In 1757 John Desfountain supplied "tile rafters and 4 loads of kinders to cover Mr Adamson's house in the Long Wood".²⁴⁷⁸ A fowl house and a dairy room stood nearby.²⁴⁷⁹ By 1769 "The house at Longwood assigned for the lieutenant governor had fallen entirely into decay".²⁴⁸⁰ The Council sent home a plan for a compact new house and an order for sashes, frames and balusters. It argued that "the Company built far more cheaply than any private person".²⁴⁸¹ The old house was patched in the meantime. Carpenters spent 60 days, labourers 74 and painters 14 repairing it in the quarter to September 1770, at £9 5s.²⁴⁸² The Directors then ordered a new house at Longwood. In July 1771 preparation was planned a year ahead, with an enclosure planted with trees for shelter on the windy upland.²⁴⁸³ It was reported that "The mortar at Longwood was very poor". Most of it would have to be fetched from the valley.²⁴⁸⁴

Company Houses for Officers and Servants

The Company's housing for its civil servants was small. In August 1742 the Council reported that "The Company had six houses or apartments". They were held by Godfrey, Dixon, the chaplain Alcock, Doctor Clarke and Lieutenants Scott and Clarke.²⁴⁸⁵ Houses built for members of council were assigned by rank.²⁴⁸⁶ In November 1742 Lieutenant James Scott was moved out on an allowance of £10 a year so that the factor Joshua Twyman could have his house. The writer Joseph Darvall was to share it, and "Mr Darvall must have one half of the apartment".²⁴⁸⁷ Those without a Company house drew house rent instead.²⁴⁸⁸

These houses were repaired from the store year by year. Henry Savage was paid 10s 6d a day for 15 days' plastering "the Honourable Company's house" in 1742.²⁴⁸⁹ In 1754 Samuel Estes whitewashed Mr Clark's house for eight days. Charles Stokes painted "the windows, staircases and ceilings" at 2s a day.²⁴⁹⁰ The soldier Samuel Cales repaired the house "where Mr Purling the storekeeper lives" in January 1755.²⁴⁹¹ The chaplain's house was painted in stone colour, Venice red, Thye blue and mahogany in 1754, and Thomas Mason was paid £1 19s 6d for the work.²⁴⁹² Captain John Clark was repaid £112 in 1763 "for repairing and making several additions to the house on the island allotted for his use".²⁴⁹³

The houses were overhauled with the Castle. Masons worked 159 days at 3s a day in 1765 repairing "the Company's houses occupied by the chaplain and officers".²⁴⁹⁴ The engineer reported in April 1766 that the Company's other houses, "which leaked badly and were much out of repair, were thoroughly refitted".²⁴⁹⁵ Several were thatched with rafters, laths and binders supplied by John Robinson and Elisha Jeakes in 1768.²⁴⁹⁶

The work continued into the 1770s. In April 1770 Thomas Bazett reported that the men had "repaired several of the Company's buildings".²⁴⁹⁷ The chaplain's house was painted that year with white lead, stone ochre, Prussian blue and chocolate.²⁴⁹⁸ The adjutant's house was painted with it.²⁴⁹⁹ In the quarter to March 1771 stone layers and labourers spent over 700 days making a new watercourse. They also enclosed a piece of waste ground "beside one of the Company's houses", at £43 16s in all.²⁵⁰⁰

The pay lists of 1769-1771 show how far the stock fell short. In each quarter the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the storekeeper Matthew Purling and the chaplain drew no house rent, since the Company housed them.²⁵⁰¹ Between 11 and 14 civil servants drew £2 10s a quarter instead, or £10 a year.²⁵⁰² Most garrison lieutenants drew the same.²⁵⁰³ Robert Gibson, an artillery lieutenant on half pay, drew half, £1 5s.²⁵⁰⁴

Other lodgings were found as needed. The two observers of the transit of Venus coming on the Prince Henry were to be given "diet and apartments" at the Company's expense in 1760.²⁵⁰⁵ An observatory was built for them in the country with Company materials and workmen.²⁵⁰⁶ The chaplain's lodging was "an apartment or an allowance for it".²⁵⁰⁷ In 1771 the Council admitted that the engineer was badly placed and "thought an engineer ought to have a house".²⁵⁰⁸ The new engineer James Tippet had been allowed house rent at £10 a year from 9 May 1770.²⁵⁰⁹ In September 1771 he said "he had been very badly off for a house ever since he arrived on the island". He asked for a plot once allotted to slaves, but it was kept back for future Company building.²⁵¹⁰ In 1776 the Court asked for a survey of the Company's houses, "showing who occupied each, whether any rent was charged and at what rate".²⁵¹¹ In 1777 it allotted them to council members and senior officers "on condition that they kept them in sufficient repair".²⁵¹²

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the Company's official houses were less secure and less comfortable than their status implied. Plantation House was rebuilt or reroofed in almost every generation and was pulled down in 1769 before it was finished. Even then the site kept its stable, a new bath house and some rooms fit for repair. The causes were the same as in planters' houses: a damp site, thatch and imported timber that rotted quickly. The new house of the 1750s added a further fault. Its three-span roof with flat lead gutters behind parapets probably followed an English pattern that the island's heavy rains defeated.

The Castle's history probably reflected a change in what a Governor's residence was for. Before 1740 it was a fort house with few hearths, a gallery and thatch. By the 1760s it had a hall, an upstairs dining room, a library, a porch with a new staircase and a view to the sea cleared of merlons. The disputes of 1766 and 1767 turned on whether such work was "necessity, decency and comfort" or ornament. The Court's demand for a separate repairs account suggested that it saw the house as Company property to be costed, while Governors saw it as their own home.

The pattern of furnishing probably reflected the Company's trade. Chairs, glasses and plated candlesticks came from England. China, wax candles and table linen came from Bengal, Madras and China. Some of the plainer pieces, such as the Windsor chairs of 1766, were made on the island. The repeated writing off of worn linen, beds and plate showed goods treated as stores that wore out rather than as heirlooms.

Comparisons

In England the houses of officials and gentry in the early eighteenth century were being remodelled with symmetrical fronts, sash windows and dedicated dining rooms.²⁵¹³ The Castle's new dining room upstairs, its sash windows and its hall of Windsor chairs followed that model at a distance. Its furnishings matched those of wealthy English households in the range of china, glass and looking glasses recorded in inventories.²⁵¹⁴

In colonial America the residences of royal governors became public stages for display, and their furnishing was an issue between governors and assemblies.²⁵¹⁵ The dispute between Skottowe and the Court over the Castle porch was of the same kind, though here the paymaster was a trading company rather than a colonial legislature. In Bermuda official and private houses alike were built of local stone with stepped roofs suited to catching rain.²⁵¹⁶

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company's governor lived within the Castle of Good Hope and also used country estates. Early houses there were thatched until fire led the authorities to require tiles in the town.²⁵¹⁷ St Helena's Council cited that rule directly, and its own Governor kept the same division between a fort house and a country house.

In Company India senior servants at Madras and Calcutta likewise combined quarters within the fort with garden houses outside it. Company officials there often furnished their houses at their own cost and sold the goods on departure.²⁵¹⁸ The country retreat at a distance from the fort became a standard form of official dwelling throughout the Company's Asian settlements.²⁵¹⁹ Plantation House and the rooms at Longwood belonged to that pattern on a far smaller scale. On a temperate island their purpose was farming rather than escape from the heat.

12. Barracks, the Hospital, Lodgings and House Rent

The Company housed a great many people who were not householders. Soldiers slept in barracks and guard rooms. The sick lay in the hospital or in hired houses. Officers and civil servants either lived in Company apartments or drew money to rent rooms in the town. Visitors from the ships lodged with inhabitants at a price. This section follows each of these arrangements in turn. The pay lists of 1742-1771 give the house rent allowances quarter by quarter, while the store accounts and the criminal courts show what barrack rooms, cots and sick quarters were like.

Lodging with Planters and the First Barracks, 1674-1741

The first answer to the want of houses was lodging with neighbours. In December 1674 the Company ordered that new planters should lodge with those who already had houses until their own cottages were built.²⁵²⁰ The same despatch told the Council to encourage cottage building and to let the Company's slaves help the newcomers.²⁵²¹ Lodging in another's house was soon ordinary. Richard Honeywood lodged with a landlady in 1683, and she kept a key to her own house separate from his.²⁵²²

Barracks for soldiers appear in an undated order on building standards from the early 1700s. The Council was told to buy Mr Johnson's house if it stood in the way of the barracks, having regard to the public convenience.²⁵²³ Before then soldiers lived in rooms in the fort and in houses of their own. In 1702 Thomas Dixon left his bedding in the sergeant's room while he was unwell, and it caught fire while others drank punch and smoked there.²⁵²⁴ The Council made Rypon Wills pay Dixon 20s for the bedding and fined him 10s more.²⁵²⁵

Visitors from the ships were expected to keep to lodgings ashore. In May 1704 a party of ships' gentlemen refused to keep to their lodgings and spent a night throwing stones at doors and windows in the valley.²⁵²⁶ When the storehouse was used for lodging in June 1713, the Company ordered a kitchen built beside it in a secure place.²⁵²⁷

The fabric of these early military buildings was poor. In a letter of about 1708 the Council reported that the storehouse, the fort house, the huts, the sutling house and the barracks were all decayed.²⁵²⁸ Those still standing were "propped up with shores and stilts".²⁵²⁹ A later letter asked for 1,200 deal boards for the barracks alone.²⁵³⁰

Lodgers in private houses could lose everything to fire. On one Christmas Day in the 1710s lodgers "made a bigger fire than ordinary, and the thatch took fire".²⁵³¹ The house burnt to the ground with several of the tenant's goods in it. Refused another house by the Governor, he hired one about 220 yards from the fort, "though not much better than the former".²⁵³²

Company servants who were not housed soon began to ask for money instead. The chaplain Mr Thomlinson renewed "his earlier request for house rent" in the late 1710s.²⁵³³ He was later given some new buildings, but the Council said a parsonage house depended on the Governor.²⁵³⁴ In the 1720s a suspended councillor named Hawkes complained that he had been refused a particular house.²⁵³⁵ The Council answered that it had been let to Joshua Johnson long before, and that Hawkes already had "a decent, convenient apartment".²⁵³⁶

Doctor Brown's House and the Crowded Barracks, 1742-1753

The records become much fuller in 1742. In August that year 11 officers and covenanted servants petitioned about their lodging.²⁵³⁷ They said the Company had always given its servants a house or a rent allowance. They added that "the rents of houses at the island were so exorbitant that it was morally impossible that they should pay".²⁵³⁸ Officers sent from England had been promised apartments, but they were scattered in rooms about the valley, some far from the main guard.²⁵³⁹

The Council agreed that the barracks could take no more. In its words, "The barracks upon the main guard and at Doctor Brown's were little enough for the soldiers, some of whom were very much crowded."²⁵⁴⁰ It found that no lodging could be had under £10 a year.²⁵⁴¹ It therefore allowed each petitioner £10 a year until proper apartments were built after the works at Banks and Rupert's.²⁵⁴² Lieutenant Scott's allowance of £10 a year in lieu of a Company house was granted on the same terms.²⁵⁴³

The barracks at Doctor Brown's had been a private house. Governor Lambert ordered that "the house of the late Doctor Brown should be divided between the two companies".²⁵⁴⁴ The lieutenants tossed for first choice of rooms.²⁵⁴⁵ The First Company took the two first rooms on the right, the privates in the larger and two serjeants in the small room.²⁵⁴⁶ A quarrel followed in November 1742, when a Second Company serjeant "had locked the room door and taken the key in his pocket".²⁵⁴⁷ In the dark the adjutant Hayes stumbled over a chest left in the passage.²⁵⁴⁸ A sick First Company serjeant lay in a Second Company room because it was nearer the doctor's lodging than the hospital.²⁵⁴⁹

Some soldiers lived in ordinary houses in the town. Depositions of September 1742 describe two soldiers who went to their own beds and quarters in a house where John Jones also lived.²⁵⁵⁰ Jones slept upstairs and came down at the cry of murder to find Thomas Watson at the kitchen door.²⁵⁵¹ The soldier Pridgeon confessed that he had "got up out of his chamber and gone into Watson's room in the dark" and struck him with an iron bar.²⁵⁵² His goods were sold in October for £5 9s 6d in all.²⁵⁵³ They included a coat and bed for 14s 6d, an oval table for 2s 9d, three forms and a fire chest for 13s 6d.²⁵⁵⁴

Company houses were assigned by rank. In November 1742 the factor Twyman was given a vacant council house on condition that "Mr Darvall must have one half of the apartment".²⁵⁵⁵ The Council hoped to save the rent allowances by building apartments once the fortifications allowed.²⁵⁵⁶ A man in a Company house could not take in whom he chose. In December 1742 the Governor warned Dixon that the dismissed Lieutenant Clarke "should not live in the Company's house with him".²⁵⁵⁷

The out forts were also crowded. At Munden's Point a stone house for the officer, 20 feet wide, had taken all but seven of the battery's 27 feet.²⁵⁵⁸ Powell "had built a little room for the officer on top of the soldiers barrack" instead.²⁵⁵⁹ By 1747 a building called the Great Barracks stood in James Valley.²⁵⁶⁰ Lieutenant John Barton's lease of that year required him to build a footbridge over the water run "facing the Great Barracks".²⁵⁶¹

The officers' apartments in the Great House were given up in March 1753. The chaplain William Lisle drew house rent at £16 a year "from 1 March inclusive, the day he left the Great House".²⁵⁶² Stephen Herbert, William Kennedy and Onesiphorus Beale left it on 21 March and drew rent from that day.²⁵⁶³ Beale's allowance was 6d a day.²⁵⁶⁴

Building the New Barracks, 1754-1772

The Directors ordered new barracks in 1754. In September the Governor appealed to the soldiers to clear the ground and build without pay. The Directors wanted "larger barracks to be built than the men then had, so that they might be better and more conveniently lodged than at present".²⁵⁶⁵ In November 1754 the Court loaded the Exeter wholly with timbers and materials for the barracks and hospital.²⁵⁶⁶ The Peter followed in November 1755 with as much as she could carry.²⁵⁶⁷ The Griffin and the Oxford took the rest in October 1755.²⁵⁶⁸ With war threatening, the Court allowed the Council to pay soldiers extra for labouring on the barracks.²⁵⁶⁹

The materials in store showed the scale of the plan. In October 1755 the barracks stock held 252 pieces of fir timber, 540 square feet of 8 by 10 glass and 576 square feet of 6 by 8.²⁵⁷⁰ It also held 79 locks and 172 pairs of hinges, valued with the nails at £38 11s.²⁵⁷¹ The paint was white lead, pearl colour and chocolate.²⁵⁷² The same stock was carried unchanged in October 1756 and October 1757 at £248 9s 7d.²⁵⁷³

Clearing the site took several years. Eight ditching shovels and six wheelbarrows were issued in April 1755 for clearing the ground.²⁵⁷⁴ The storekeeper entered "Powder for blowing the rocks to level the ground for the new barracks, 6lb" in March 1755.²⁵⁷⁵ Soldiers were paid £41 18s 6d for the quarter to July 1755 for labouring at the site and the forts.²⁵⁷⁶ They had £26 5s more for levelling the ground in the quarter to April 1756.²⁵⁷⁷ In June 1756 a flood down James Valley overflowed the ground prepared for the barracks and reached into some barracks already standing.²⁵⁷⁸ Powder was spent again in January and February 1758, 14 lb on each of five days.²⁵⁷⁹

The building rose between 1758 and 1763. Soldiers were paid £131 2s 3d for 2,747½ days at the new barracks, forts and quarries in the quarter to July 1758.²⁵⁸⁰ In the next quarter they had £93 7s 10½d for 1,867⅞ days at 1s a day.²⁵⁸¹ Thomas Mawer painted the window frames of the new barracks, and six named carpenters were paid between £1 6s and £4 3s 9d.²⁵⁸² The stores issued 1,147 single deals, 13 stock locks and 378 squares of glass in the quarter to October 1758.²⁵⁸³ In July 1759 the barracks took 141 deals, 85 lb of iron and 26 pairs of hinges.²⁵⁸⁴ In October 1759, 15 double deals made tables and forms for the new barracks.²⁵⁸⁵

The roofs were thatched by Company labour. In April 1760 Benjamin Mason supplied 102 rafters at 1s 6d each, laths, binders and 104 loads of rushes at 6d a load.²⁵⁸⁶ These were "for the Company's black bricklayer at the barracks", a slave craftsman.²⁵⁸⁷ Garrison men spent 24½ days "covering the new barracks" in the quarter to June 1762.²⁵⁸⁸ Other men did 107 days at the officers' rooms that quarter at 1s a day.²⁵⁸⁹ Riga timber worth £32 2s 1d went to the officers' rooms at the new barracks in September 1763.²⁵⁹⁰ Men were still fetching stone and mortar for the new barracks in mid-1763.²⁵⁹¹

The older barrack buildings stayed in use beside the new. The long barracks was thatched with cordage in January and July 1757.²⁵⁹² A stock lock was fitted in January 1757 "to prevent the soldiers from going the back way to the barracks".²⁵⁹³ The gunners had their own barracks, given shutters in January 1758 and new paint on its doors and window frames in March 1764.²⁵⁹⁴ A barracks was repaired in 1759 for use as a prison, at 132 days' labour.²⁵⁹⁵ The courts of the 1760s spoke of the Old Barracks and the New Barracks as separate places.²⁵⁹⁶

The new barracks were still too small. The engineer Mitchell reported in September 1765: "The barracks were too cramped for the garrison and had to be enlarged."²⁵⁹⁷ He added that the officers' quarters had been started but never finished.²⁵⁹⁸

The garrison outgrew the barracks again by 1770. In June that year the Council found "the barracks held only 200 men, and those were badly crowded".²⁵⁹⁹ They could not have held two-thirds of the garrison if the men on the works had not slept out.²⁶⁰⁰ The Council ordered a second square to hold 500 men, with eight officers' quarters.²⁶⁰¹ It was to use carpentry prepared long before for Mr Hutchinson's plan, still lying in store.²⁶⁰² Captain Tippet, the engineer, was told meanwhile "to go on levelling the ground for the barracks".²⁶⁰³

The siting caused a dispute in July 1770. Corneille argued that the chosen line meant raising foundations more than 16 feet and much filling.²⁶⁰⁴ He wanted part of the Maldivia walk taken in, which he said would save £300 to £400.²⁶⁰⁵ The Governor and Purling wished to keep the walk, made for the inhabitants over 30 years before.²⁶⁰⁶ On Tippet's figures the foundation was moved 24 feet inward, saving about £200.²⁶⁰⁷ The parade left was 88 by 250 feet, which Corneille thought too small.²⁶⁰⁸

The work went fast once the batteries were done. Blasting for the slaughterhouse and the barracks used 82 lb of powder in July 1770.²⁶⁰⁹ In October the Council ordered the engineer to press on with the additional barracks as quickly as he could.²⁶¹⁰ The quarter to September 1770 cost £171 16s 9d in wages, including 2,806¾ labourers' days.²⁶¹¹ The quarter to December cost £313 13s 7d, with 4,210½ labourers' days and 469¼ masons' days.²⁶¹² The quarter to March 1771 cost £339 16s 10d.²⁶¹³ A separate barracks account was opened in the stores in September 1770.²⁶¹⁴ It drew 33 wheelbarrows and cart wheels for £29 5s 10d by December.²⁶¹⁵ In the quarter to March 1771 it took 600 double deals for £101 17s 6d, as the work moved to floors and roof.²⁶¹⁶

The men's barracks were nearly done by April 1771. They "would be finished in eight or ten days, apart from the window glass, which was badly needed".²⁶¹⁷ The officers' barracks were put off in favour of defence works.²⁶¹⁸ By July the engineer had "enlarged the churchyard and glazed the new barracks".²⁶¹⁹ The final fitting took 100 squares of 6 by 8 glass, 80 of 8 by 10, paint and 26 stock locks.²⁶²⁰ Wages fell to £79 10s 9d in the quarter to June 1771.²⁶²¹ In October 1771 the old barracks were under repair.²⁶²² The engineer was then to start gathering materials for a new church and the officers' barracks.²⁶²³ The masonry of the officers' barracks was nearly finished only in March 1772.²⁶²⁴

Inside the Barrack Room

The new barracks were built round a square. Witnesses of July 1764 saw two soldiers "come together into the square of the new barracks".²⁶²⁵ The square held a tap room and was entered through a barrack gate.²⁶²⁶ The rooms were numbered. Barrack 19 was a corner barrack of Captain Bazett's company and opened onto the square.²⁶²⁷ Each room had a door with a key, a window, cots and a bench.²⁶²⁸

Soldiers slept close together. A witness of January 1763 spoke of "seven or eight men sleeping in the same barrack".²⁶²⁹ Their cots stood two and a half feet apart and men often shared a cot.²⁶³⁰ A lamp was put out at night.²⁶³¹ In 1770 one witness said "his own cot was beneath the window and the prisoners' cot faced it", about nine feet away.²⁶³² At tattoo a comrade made up the beds, and after roll call the light was put out.²⁶³³ When John McCormick was struck in October 1781 his comrades carried him to the barracks. "They put him on his cot and left him there."²⁶³⁴

Each man kept his goods in a chest. Luke kept his money and linen in a locked chest in April 1768, with the key in his waistcoat pocket while he slept.²⁶³⁵ Eustace White kept a small locked box inside his chest in the Old Barracks, and found the chest forced in 1766.²⁶³⁶ His messmate found the front door "jammed shut from inside by a piece of tin".²⁶³⁷ Stolen timber was found in January 1764 "under a cot, hidden beneath some jackets".²⁶³⁸ In 1763 a sergeant found three pieces of iron "in the corner of the chimney" of a barrack room.²⁶³⁹ The rooms therefore had hearths.²⁶⁴⁰ Deserters robbed the artillery barracks on 27 July 1770.²⁶⁴¹ They took muskets, a frying pan, a watch coat, a blanket, shoes and 55 pieces of salt meat.²⁶⁴² "The deserters had also broken open Corporal Witherall's chest and taken his clothes."²⁶⁴³

A soldier's whole estate was small. The matross Edward Jennings died in August 1763.²⁶⁴⁴ He left £11 to the chaplain and shirts, stockings, shoes, coats and breeches to his comrades.²⁶⁴⁵ He held no household goods beyond his clothing.²⁶⁴⁶ William Dicks left "his linen, his other garments and his chest, to James Shad" in 1764.²⁶⁴⁷ Two soldiers agreed in 1760 that "whichever of them outlived the other should have the other's effects".²⁶⁴⁸

Not every soldier slept in barracks. The corporal Erasmus Purling lodged in Thomas Harper's house, and left Harper his estate in 1755 for nursing him.²⁶⁴⁹ Corporal Stedman had a room opening off Sarah Walker's back yard in 1766.²⁶⁵⁰ The soldier John Simpson died in 1759 owning "a small estate consisting of a house and other effects".²⁶⁵¹ In 1782 William Smith had rented a house from Captain St Maurice for six months.²⁶⁵² He locked its front door when the drums beat at nine and went to the barracks.²⁶⁵³ Fullwood had once been confined to the barrack square for a fortnight "for sleeping out of barracks".²⁶⁵⁴

The cot was the soldier's bed, a frame of deal with a canvas bottom laced with twine.²⁶⁵⁵ Five recruits had blankets in January 1753, and 12 double deals were issued for cots for the recruits of the Grantham in April 1754.²⁶⁵⁶ In 1754 William Davis made "21 sacking bottoms for cots for the garrison at 4d each".²⁶⁵⁷ Cots for 60 recruits were made in April 1757.²⁶⁵⁸ In November 1758 the Council found itself "short of cots for the last batch of recruits".²⁶⁵⁹ It ordered 71 double deals, 330 yards of English canvas and 198 yards of osnaburg.²⁶⁶⁰ In September 1762 "many of the soldiers cots wanted canvas to new bottom them".²⁶⁶¹ The soldier Baron Delof was paid 13s 2d for sewing 79 canvas beds.²⁶⁶²

The work of making cots was steady. Garrison carpenters spent 118½ days making and repairing cots in the quarter to September 1766, at 1s 6d a day.²⁶⁶³ William French, a private, fitted sacking to 165 cots and made 26 more in February and March 1767.²⁶⁶⁴ He was paid 3¾d a cot for the sacking.²⁶⁶⁵ In December 1769 French had £1 1s 3d "for making 63 sackings for the garrison's cots", about 4d each.²⁶⁶⁶ The artillery used a pound of felt "for sewing the sacking of the cots" in March 1770.²⁶⁶⁷ Cot making became a regular charge on the works. In the quarter to June 1770 it took 68 carpenters' days at 1s 6d, with smiths, sailmakers and sawyers, £6 15s in all.²⁶⁶⁸ Smiths spent 73¾ days and carpenters 24 days making cots in the quarter to December 1770.²⁶⁶⁹ The stores issued 62 single deals "for cots, coffins and bedsteads" and four pieces of canvas for cots in March 1770.²⁶⁷⁰ Officers had cots too. A cot was made for the officers' guard room in January 1757 from 29 yards of canvas and 13 single deals.²⁶⁷¹

Blankets were issued from the store as Company property. The garrison drew 185 blankets for £44 14s 2d in April 1756.²⁶⁷² In January 1760 the Council replaced 112 blankets "worn out and unserviceable".²⁶⁷³ The Court approved, but asked for economy.²⁶⁷⁴ In June 1763 the June rains set in and 251 blankets were ordered.²⁶⁷⁵ The store charged 252 blankets that quarter at 5s each, £63 in all.²⁶⁷⁶ They were marked with 7½ lb of Venetian red "ready mixed for marking blankets".²⁶⁷⁷ The companies drew 204 ordinary blankets for £37 16s in June 1769.²⁶⁷⁸ With the clothing of June 1770 they had 101 ordinary blankets for £29 9s 2d, marked with chocolate paint, white lead and verdigris.²⁶⁷⁹ Another 204 ordinary blankets cost £39 10s in September 1770.²⁶⁸⁰ Recruits drew 128 blankets for £38 18s 8d in June 1771.²⁶⁸¹ A slave named Neptune was given 100 lashes in 1759 for stealing one.²⁶⁸²

The barrack kitchens drew their own stores. In July 1754 the barracks took 10 frying pans, 16 iron pots, 53 wooden platters and 39 bowls "for the barracks and cook's tools".²⁶⁸³ In June 1765 the barracks and guards drew 6 iron pots of 13 gallons, 6 of 8 gallons, 3 of 6 gallons and 3 of 4 gallons.²⁶⁸⁴ The six largest cost £3 13s.²⁶⁸⁵ Eight iron pots were bought for the officers' quarters in August 1762, since none had come from England.²⁶⁸⁶ Lamp oil was the largest regular charge. The garrison drew 82 gallons of train oil and 29 tin lamps in July 1754.²⁶⁸⁷ By December 1769 the quarter's issue was "142 gallons of train oil for the several guards and the barracks, £23 1s 6d".²⁶⁸⁸ The barracks and guards drew 147 gallons for £23 17s 9d a year later.²⁶⁸⁹ In September 1770 the outguards and barracks were fitted with five iron pots weighing 193 lb, 32 frying pans, 57 wooden bowls, 60 platters and 24 lamps.²⁶⁹⁰ The new barracks and the sea guards had 11 more iron pots, 19 frying pans and 17 small lamps in June 1771.²⁶⁹¹ Soldiers made tables and benches for the barracks in 1765 at 1s 6d a day.²⁶⁹²

Guard Houses, Out Posts and Camps

The guard houses were small barracks of their own. Each had a guard bed, a fire, a lamp and cooking pots. At Lemon Valley four men kept a wood fire in the guard room on the battery in November 1755.²⁶⁹³ The Lemon Valley guard house had been washed away by a torrent in October 1753.²⁶⁹⁴ It was rebuilt with eight single deals, a baulk, a rafter and a double deal costing £1 7s 4d.²⁶⁹⁵ Matthew Bazett supplied 38 rafters for it at £1 18s.²⁶⁹⁶

The costs of a guard house at Sandy Bay in 1759 show how such buildings were made. Richard Bagley's party gave 100 days' labour at 1s 6d a day.²⁶⁹⁷ A mason did 17 days at 3s a day, which came to £2 11s.²⁶⁹⁸ The party also used six loads of bushes at 3d a load, 32 rafters at 1s each, a load of laths and five days of a carpenter.²⁶⁹⁹ The East Flying Party's guard house was repaired in 1756 with "10 solids of rushes at 5s per solid".²⁷⁰⁰ In January 1759, 13 baths were issued for new roofing guard rooms at Rupert's and Prosperous Bay.²⁷⁰¹

The Sandy Bay guard room had a kitchen below it. In January 1763 a soldier "through a gap in the floorboards, watched Finn and other men of the guard cutting up a hog in the kitchen".²⁷⁰² The post also had an officers' room and messes.²⁷⁰³ A guard bed was a plank bench, and deals for "enlarging the guard bed at Sandy Cape" were issued in April 1759.²⁷⁰⁴ The main guard had a new guard bed in 1766, made in 12¼ days at 1s 6d a day.²⁷⁰⁵ Officers at the guard room had "a hanging bed" of canvas in June 1763.²⁷⁰⁶ Guard beds were still being made in 1770. Nails were issued "for making cots, coffins and guard beds" in March 1770.²⁷⁰⁷ In June 30 double and 70 single deals went to guard beds and coffins.²⁷⁰⁸ The main guardhouse took 20¾ days of labour in the quarter to March 1770.²⁷⁰⁹ Nails and 40 deals went to Banks's guard house and to repairing cots in December 1770.²⁷¹⁰ The guard rooms at Prosperous Bay and Munden's Point were repaired in the quarter to June 1771, for 14s in all.²⁷¹¹

The guards slept where they could. During the store robbery of March 1771 the guard slept in the guardroom and under the Castle archway on their blankets.²⁷¹² In October 1771 deserters stripped the Lemon Valley guard room while Harrison drew the corporal aside.²⁷¹³ "On searching the post, they found the men had plundered everything they could lay hands on."²⁷¹⁴

The officers objected to their guard room at the main fort. In January 1755 the lieutenants petitioned that it was cramped beside the smith's forge, "divided only by a common partition wall".²⁷¹⁵ They offered £10 a year for the former guard room.²⁷¹⁶ The Governor noted that officers now stood guard one day in eight and judged their fears for their health to be fancy.²⁷¹⁷

On nights of alarm the men had no roof at all. In April 1756 the Council bought a ship captain's tent for £6 6s, "a tent to pitch on the line to shelter the officers in bad weather".²⁷¹⁸ Two sailmakers were paid for 20 days at 6s a day "making a tent for the soldiers to lie under in the night time on double alarms".²⁷¹⁹ Captain Samson sold 174 yards of old canvas at 6d a yard for another tent.²⁷²⁰

Large works needed camps. The engineer reported in July 1766 that "Some time was lost at the start in building quarters for so large a workforce" at Sandy Bay.²⁷²¹ Of 44 Company slaves there, 11 lay in hospital and most of the rest suffered from the cold stormy weather.²⁷²² The camp drew 178 single and 77 double deals and 141 pounds of nails.²⁷²³ John Robinson supplied 100 cabbage tree sticks and 32 rafters at 1s each for its buildings.²⁷²⁴ The men lodged there had 32 blankets in September 1766, and the officer 8 lb of candles.²⁷²⁵ In April 1769 the Council ordered tents for men walling up distant gullies, because "Several of those gullies lay far from any house".²⁷²⁶

The Hospital and Sick Quarters

A hospital was in use by 1742. Its regulation of September 1742 stopped 6d a month from each salaried man.²⁷²⁷ The steward was to keep the quilted banyans, caps, sheets and cots.²⁷²⁸ An ensign was to visit every morning to see "whether the nurses did their duty in keeping the house and people clean and sweet".²⁷²⁹

The Company sent materials for a new hospital with those for the barracks.²⁷³⁰ The materials on the Exeter came without values, and the island's best workmen were asked to value them in December 1757.²⁷³¹ The hospital stock in October 1757 held 288 squares of 8 by 10 glass, 11 locks and 50 pairs of hinges.²⁷³² John Desfountain supplied 13 rafters, laths and 16 ground joists for the hospital in July 1756.²⁷³³ In January 1757 the carpenters were given nails for its windows and shutters.²⁷³⁴ Tables and forms for the hospital followed in April 1757.²⁷³⁵

The old hospital could not hold the sick in 1757. In March the Council resolved "to hire two small houses containing eight rooms for their reception, at £16 a year".²⁷³⁶ William Moore was paid £4 a quarter for them from July 1757 into 1760.²⁷³⁷ The entry for October 1759 gives 4s, which is probably a slip for £4.²⁷³⁸

Sick seamen were a separate problem. In February 1762 the Court complained that men from the ships were "constantly quartered in French houses assigned them for sick quarters".²⁷³⁹ It blamed Company servants who profited from those houses.²⁷⁴⁰ The Council answered in June 1762 that the only lodging for sick seamen had been the public house.²⁷⁴¹ It had since built a new and larger hospital.²⁷⁴² Soldiers were paid for 135 days at the new hospital in the quarter to June 1762.²⁷⁴³ The rule did not last. In December 1774 the Court allowed the sick to go to private rooms again, since "many of the inhabitants had been at great expense in building rooms to accommodate the sick seamen".²⁷⁴⁴

The hospital was a thatched building. In December 1767 it had 7 lb of cordage "for thatching the hospital", and men spent 23 days cutting rushes for it.²⁷⁴⁵ Soldiers did 112½ days of repairs there in 1763 at 1s a day.²⁷⁴⁶ Its windows were glazed in 1754 by Samuel Cater.²⁷⁴⁷ The store issued 12 panes of 10 by 12 glass in June 1768.²⁷⁴⁸ The hospital had never been valued as Company property. In October 1770 the Council ordered it and the Lieutenant Governor's house entered in the books among the Company's assets.²⁷⁴⁹ The ground beside it was kept back. Lieutenant John Shelley asked in September 1770 for the strip between the new burial ground and the hospital "so that he could build a house there".²⁷⁵⁰ The Council refused, keeping the ground for the Company's possible use.²⁷⁵¹

The furnishing of the wards improved in the 1760s. In May 1765 the Council issued 30 blankets and cloth for sheets.²⁷⁵² It added osnaburg for 30 mattresses and pillows, to be filled with wool from the Company's sheep.²⁷⁵³ The hospital drew 26 copper saucepans, two pewter close-stool pans and two bedpans in June 1765.²⁷⁵⁴ It made its own mattresses in 1766 from 49 yards of osnaburg.²⁷⁵⁵ Samuel Kitson was paid 1s 6d a day for 13 days carding wool for them.²⁷⁵⁶ The hospital's ordinary issues each quarter were train oil, tin lamps, wooden bowls, platters and china sneakers.²⁷⁵⁷ They continued so through 1770.²⁷⁵⁸ In June 1770 the wards also took 12 ordinary blankets for £3 10s, 12 yards of flannel and 30 yards of canvas.²⁷⁵⁹ Four pewter close-stool pans cost £1 2s 2d in September 1770.²⁷⁶⁰ The hospital had 60 yards of English canvas "for cots" in March 1771.²⁷⁶¹ It was refitted in June 1771 with 96 squares of 8 by 10 glass, 14 lamps, two iron pots, a brass closet lock and two stock locks.²⁷⁶²

The Company's slaves had their own hospital. Two stock locks and a hatchet were issued for the black house in the Great Wood and the black hospital in April 1759.²⁷⁶³ In September 1765, 24 single deals went to the Black Hospital.²⁷⁶⁴ Six pounds of powder were used blasting stone for it in November 1765.²⁷⁶⁵ In April 1766 the engineer reported that the materials for a slave hospital had been set aside.²⁷⁶⁶ Its door cases and window sashes were lent for a private billiard room in 1768.²⁷⁶⁷ By 1770 the slave hospital was standing and in need of repair. It took baulks, five single deals and 31 lb of nails in March 1770.²⁷⁶⁸ Labourers spent 35 days repairing it that quarter, at a cost of £2 13s.²⁷⁶⁹

House Rent and Lodging Allowances

House rent was part of the pay of every Company officer who was not housed. The rates varied in 1742.²⁷⁷⁰ John French, master gunner, had house rent at £6 a year.²⁷⁷¹ Ensign Thomas Easthope had £12 a year, and Ensign Eastley 6d a day.²⁷⁷² The surgeon's mate James Dubois drew £10 a year.²⁷⁷³ Several 1742 entries give 10s a year, which is probably a slip for £10.²⁷⁷⁴

By 1753 the rate had settled at £2 10s a quarter, or £10 a year. The accountant John Goodwin, the factors and the surgeon Samuel Falconer each drew £2 10s that January.²⁷⁷⁵ So did the lieutenants Joseph Kendall, Thomas Easthope and Thomas Kirkpatrick.²⁷⁷⁶ The building tradesmen drew less.²⁷⁷⁷ The master mason John Bland had £1 10s a quarter and the mason Mark Hawkins £1.²⁷⁷⁸ The carpenter Thomas Levinz drew 15s a quarter from October 1755.²⁷⁷⁹ The master gunner Thomas Hall drew £2 10s from October 1753, but in January 1756 he received only salary and diet money.²⁷⁸⁰

The allowance followed the man and stopped when he did. Lieutenant Kendall drew £10 a year to his discharge on 30 March 1754.²⁷⁸¹ Stephen Herbert drew £1 0s 3d to his death on 17 August 1757.²⁷⁸² Lieutenant Bridgewater's rent was stopped after 12 days on his dismissal in 1766.²⁷⁸³ Lieutenant Welch's stopped at his death on 21 August 1769.²⁷⁸⁴ Some junior officers drew nothing. George Hay, second lieutenant of the Fourth Company, was allowed no rent through 1754 and 1755.²⁷⁸⁵ Such officers were probably quartered.²⁷⁸⁶

Senior men drew more.²⁷⁸⁷ The chaplain William Lee had £15 for the quarter to January 1757.²⁷⁸⁸ Matthew Purling of council drew £8 10s for the quarter to July 1759.²⁷⁸⁹ From April 1760 post lieutenants were allowed house rent at 6d a day.²⁷⁹⁰ Thomas Fitzpatrick drew £7 3s for 264 days on that basis.²⁷⁹¹ When four lieutenants were made captains in 1759, they had 10s a day "in full for diet and house rent".²⁷⁹²

The allowance was a substitute for an apartment, and either could be given. In October 1762 the Lieutenant Governor John Skottowe complained of the officers lodged above him in the great house.²⁷⁹³ He said "it was inconvenient to him to have the officers apartments over his own in the great house, as they disturbed him, especially in the night time".²⁷⁹⁴ The Council moved the three officers out and paid them house rent instead.²⁷⁹⁵ The Court approved the change in November 1763.²⁷⁹⁶ New chaplains were sent out "with an apartment or an allowance for it".²⁷⁹⁷ The Governor and Lieutenant Governor, housed by the Company, drew none.²⁷⁹⁸

By the mid-1760s the list was long and stable. In September 1765, 18 officers drew £2 10s a quarter, for whom the Company had no quarters.²⁷⁹⁹ They included two councillors and the engineer.²⁸⁰⁰ The secretary, the storekeeper, the surgeon, his mate and the lieutenants of all five companies drew it too.²⁸⁰¹ Some entries for June 1765 call it an "allowance for lodging".²⁸⁰² The engineer Archibald Mitchell had £10 a year from 1764.²⁸⁰³ His successor Tippet had the same in 1770.²⁸⁰⁴ James Tippet drew it from 9 May 1770, £1 9s for the part quarter.²⁸⁰⁵ John Congreve, judge advocate and schoolmaster, began to draw rent from the same day.²⁸⁰⁶

The list grew longer still by 1770. In the quarter to December 1769, 11 civil servants drew £2 10s each, including the secretary, the factors and the surgeons.²⁸⁰⁷ The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, Matthew Purling and the chaplain drew none, being housed by the Company.²⁸⁰⁸ The junior writer William Doveton also drew none.²⁸⁰⁹ The lieutenants of the companies and the artillery drew £2 10s each.²⁸¹⁰ Robert Gibson, a lieutenant on half pay, drew half rent, £1 5s.²⁸¹¹ By December 1770, 14 civil servants and one lieutenant drew rent, and 11 more lieutenants in the companies.²⁸¹² The same names recur in each quarter of 1771.²⁸¹³ George Bazett, clerk of the works, was paid £6 16s in May 1769 for house rent owed since July 1768.²⁸¹⁴

Tradesmen sent from England had to find houses out of their wages. The master mason William Colebrook was engaged in December 1764 at £120 a year "in full for wages, diet money, house rent and all other allowances whatever".²⁸¹⁵ The carpenter's mate Peter Monit was hired at £60 on the same terms in 1768.²⁸¹⁶ The mason John Preston asked for a plot in January 1769.²⁸¹⁷ He told the Council, "He had a family to support, and house rent was very expensive."²⁸¹⁸ He was given ground at 15s a year to build his own house.²⁸¹⁹ In May 1771 a new master mason rented a house at £20 a year.²⁸²⁰ The Council explained, "The Company owned no house in which to lodge him."²⁸²¹ He was Edward Daniels, and his allowance ran "from 3 April 1771 at £20 0s 0d a year".²⁸²² This was twice an officer's rate.²⁸²³ The engineer was refused ground to build a house in September 1771, though the Council agreed he "ought to have a house".²⁸²⁴

The Company also paid rent for people it maintained. From 1758 it paid Charles Gissing £1 a quarter for a room for a Malay prisoner, Naquida Faccolem.²⁸²⁵ The same nakhoda, under many spellings, had £1 a quarter house rent into 1768.²⁸²⁶ In 1769 Pasquala Pascoline and Mafungo each drew £1 a quarter house rent, so both lived in houses of their own choosing.²⁸²⁷ They were still paid £1 a quarter each in 1770, under spellings such as Noqueda Soocolum and Massapunge.²⁸²⁸ From December 1770 the rent was paid with their food, as "their allowance for salt meat and house rent", £6 11s a quarter.²⁸²⁹ Night watchmen were paid "a quarters allowance" of 2s 6d a week in January 1759.²⁸³⁰

The table sets out the stated rates.

Table 15. House rent and lodging allowances stated in the Company's pay lists, 1742-1771
Holder	Rate	Date	Source
John French, master gunner	£6 a year	June 1742	046/45
Officers and covenanted servants	£10 a year	August 1742	046/68
Thomas Easthope, ensign	£12 a year	September 1742	047/8
Thomas Eastley, ensign	6d a day	December 1742	047/106
James Dubois, surgeon's mate	£10 a year	December 1742	047/112
William Lisle, chaplain	£16 a year	April 1753	062/120
Accountant, factors and surgeon	£2 10s a quarter	January 1753	062/27
Lieutenants	£2 10s a quarter	January 1753	062/30
John Bland, master mason	£1 10s a quarter	January 1753	062/28
Mark Hawkins, mason	£1 a quarter	January 1753	062/28
Thomas Levinz, carpenter	15s a quarter	October 1755	066/132-133
William Lee, chaplain	£15 a quarter	January 1757	067/147-148
Night watchmen	2s 6d a week	January 1759	068/375
Matthew Purling, of council	£8 10s a quarter	July 1759	069/101-102
Captains, diet and house rent together	10s a day	December 1759	064/115
Post lieutenants	6d a day	April 1760	069/377-388
Malay nakhoda, rent of a room	£1 a quarter	January 1760	069/302
Archibald Mitchell, engineer	£10 a year	November 1764	065/220
Civil servants and lieutenants	£2 10s a quarter	December 1769	085/49
Robert Gibson, lieutenant on half pay	£1 5s a quarter	December 1769	085/66
James Tippet, engineer	£10 a year	June 1770	085/329
Malay nakhoda and companion, salt meat and house rent	£6 11s a quarter	December 1770	086/78
Master mason, rent of a house	£20 a year	May 1771	079/289-290
Edward Daniels, master mason	£20 a year	June 1771	086/360

The rates are those written in the pay lists and letters. Several entries of 1742 give 10s a year, perhaps for £10, and are left out.

Lodgers, Lodging Houses and Visitors

Lodging was a trade on the island. In May 1742 Crisp claimed for 387 days of diet, lodging, washing and liquor.²⁸³¹ He stated that "the customary price at the island for diet and lodging was six shillings a day, with every man finding his own liquor".²⁸³² Inhabitants let rooms to visitors in the shipping season at 8s a day.²⁸³³ Fremans Nichols, chief mate of the Halifax, stayed to recover his health in 1742 and lodged at John Bazett's house, where he died.²⁸³⁴

Lodgers and their landlords appear in the estate accounts. In 1755 Solomon Jacobs charged the estate of John Hensford 12s for lodging and diet.²⁸³⁵ Hensford's effects were only a pair of handkerchiefs, a coat and a waistcoat.²⁸³⁶ James Torbett was paid £2 17s for the diet and lodging of Samuel Powell in 1757.²⁸³⁷ Jonathan Higham lived and laboured in John French's household.²⁸³⁸ French said he had "taken Higham into his own family out of charity".²⁸³⁹ Wills could make lodging a charge on an estate. In June 1770 John Desfountain directed that "his sister, Rebecca Desfountain, be kept from his estate in food, drink, washing and lodging for as long as she remained single".²⁸⁴⁰

The rents of single rooms could cause trouble. In 1757 the carpenter Levinz complained that "he had let a room to Stanley", who brought a slave woman there nightly.²⁸⁴¹ In July 1758 Captain Venner of the Egmont complained that Samuel Rice charged him 26s for 26 days in a small house in the valley.²⁸⁴² Rice said he had let that part of the house at £15 a year, and the Council called the charge "a very exorbitant price".²⁸⁴³ In 1765 the chaplain Thackeray lodged in the surgeon Barclay's house and kept money in a drawer of his bureau.²⁸⁴⁴ James Harper and his wife were lodging in John Whaley's house in 1779.²⁸⁴⁵

The Company paid for the lodging of its visitors. Thomas Townsend, the stonemason, boarded and lodged two mates of the Fly for 83 days in 1763 at 4s a day each.²⁸⁴⁶ James Grantree was paid £9 for lodging two Russian gentlemen in 1764.²⁸⁴⁷ Mr Dubasoff, a Russian passenger from the Talbot, had 15 days' lodging ashore in 1766 at 6s a day.²⁸⁴⁸ The astronomers sent to observe the transit of Venus were given "diet and apartments at the Company's expense".²⁸⁴⁹ Gardeners sent out in 1765, 1769 and 1770 were "lodged and dieted at the Company's expense".²⁸⁵⁰ In March 1769 the Company paid Gabriel Jeakes £1 for 13 weeks' lodging for Lieutenant Thomas Bazett at Lemon Valley.²⁸⁵¹

Dutch visitors found the charges high. In 1767 a Dutch captain and his party lodged at the adjutant's house and were billed £2 3s.²⁸⁵² The captain objected "to be charged 12s 0d for a single night's lodging for his second mate".²⁸⁵³ By 1769 ships' commanders and officers kept lodging houses ashore during their stay.²⁸⁵⁴ Arrack taken there "for the commanders' or officers' own use at their lodging houses" was now charged duty at 3d a gallon.²⁸⁵⁵ Captain Reed refused to pay it in August 1769, saying "he needed some arrack at his lodgings for himself and his servants".²⁸⁵⁶

Public houses were lodging houses too. John Price was licensed in May 1769 to keep a public house in his own dwelling at £8 a year.²⁸⁵⁷ After tattoo he was to let no one stay "except people lodging with him".²⁸⁵⁸

Table 16. Stated rents and lodging charges paid to inhabitants, 1742-1771
Lodging	Charge	Date	Source
Diet and lodging, customary island rate	6s a day	May 1742	046/23
Rooms let in the shipping season	8s a day	August 1742	046/68
Cheapest lodging for an officer	£10 a year	August 1742	046/68
Lodging and diet of John Hensford	12s	June 1755	066/23
Two small houses of eight rooms for the sick	£16 a year	March 1757	067/201
Diet and lodging of Samuel Powell	£2 17s	June 1757	067/283-284
Small house in the valley	26s for 26 days	July 1758	068/175
Part of a house in the valley	£15 a year	July 1758	068/175
Board and lodging of a ship's mate	4s a day	September 1763	075/59
Lodging of a Russian passenger	6s a day	June 1766	078/124
Lodging of a Dutch second mate	12s a night	September 1767	082/169-171
Lodging of Lieutenant Bazett	£1 for 13 weeks	March 1769	084/79
House for a master mason	£20 a year	May 1771	079/289-290

Charges are as stated in the accounts, claims and consultations.

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the Company never built enough housing for the men it employed. It lodged soldiers in decayed sheds about 1708 and in a dead doctor's house in 1742. In 1765 the new barracks were already judged too cramped. By 1770 they held only 200 men. The second square, built for 500 men in 1770-1771, was probably the first barracks planned with room to spare. Even then the officers' barracks were deferred again. The house rent allowance was the cheaper answer. An allowance of £10 a year for each officer cost less than building apartments. It also pushed the problem onto the town.

The allowance probably shaped the town as much as the barracks did. About 18 officers drew house rent each quarter in the 1760s, and about 25 in 1770 and 1771. Each of them needed a room or a house in James Valley. The rents they paid supported the inhabitants who let rooms, and the officers' complaint of "exorbitant" rents in 1742 suggested a tight market. The scale of the allowance followed rank closely. Masons and carpenters had less than lieutenants, and chaplains and councillors had more.

The soldiers' barrack room was probably close to a ship's berth deck. Men slept on canvas cots close together, kept their goods in chests and ate from wooden bowls and platters. The cot, the hammock and the sea chest all came from shipboard life. The garrison was recruited and supplied by sea, and the habits of the ship seem to have come ashore with it.

The hospital pattern suggested a steady move from improvisation to institution. In 1757 the Company hired private houses for the sick. By 1765 it was stuffing mattresses with its own wool and buying bedpans and copper saucepans. Yet the private sick room for seamen was never suppressed for long. The inhabitants' investment in rooms for the sick probably made them a lobby that the Court could not ignore in 1774.

Comparisons

England had few barracks before 1790. Soldiers were usually quartered on inns and alehouses, and the cost and nuisance of billeting were long-standing grievances.²⁸⁵⁹ John Brewer described the growth of the army and the fiscal-military state that paid for it, with the burden of quartering falling on publicans.²⁸⁶⁰ St Helena had no such reserve of inns, so the Company had to build barracks or pay rent. The island's public houses, with their licensed lodgers, played a smaller part.

English households commonly took in lodgers and servants, and the lodger's room was an ordinary feature of the middling house.²⁸⁶¹ St Helena's planters and townspeople took in soldiers, sick men and ship's officers in the same way. The difference was that the Company was so often the paying party.

In Bermuda the Atlantic shipping trade brought a stream of mariners who lodged with islanders, as visitors did at Jamestown.²⁸⁶² At the Cape the VOC garrison and its slaves were housed in the Castle and the Company's lodge, while burghers let rooms to passing seamen.²⁸⁶³ Antonia Malan showed how early Cape households combined family, servants and lodgers under one roof.²⁸⁶⁴ The St Helena pattern of Company quarters alongside private lodging was very close to the Cape.

In Company India the house allowance was a familiar part of a servant's pay. P. J. Marshall described junior servants in Bengal living in rented rooms or shared houses on small allowances, and seniors in Company quarters.²⁸⁶⁵ The St Helena pay lists show the same system on a smaller scale. A lieutenant's £10 a year was modest by Indian standards, but it rested on the same idea that a Company servant was owed a roof.

13. The Company's Slave Houses

The plantation slave houses, 1713-1723

The Company kept its own slaves apart from those of the planters, and it housed them apart too. The records call their dwellings the slaves' house, the black house or the negro house. Later they speak of the slaves' square. Most stood in the country beside the Company's plantations. One stood in James Valley beside the Company's garden.

The earliest of these houses were thatched and they burned. In Governor Boucher's time the slaves' house at the Company's plantation was burnt down when "his man Caesar" fired a gun upon its thatch.²⁸⁶⁶ In 1714 the Council resolved to take down a shed built by the late Governor, valued at £181 4s 6d by Captain Mashbourne, three planters and a carpenter.²⁸⁶⁷ It hoped "the rafters and thatch would be of some service in covering the slaves' house intended to be built".²⁸⁶⁸ A new slave house was thus to be roofed with second-hand material.

The fire left a lasting mark on the Council's thinking. In 1717 it asked that the store ship be ballasted with tiles instead of coal so that the slaves' houses might be tiled.²⁸⁶⁹ Tiles "would expose them less to the danger of fire than thatching", and "the last slave house thatched burned down about five years ago".²⁸⁷⁰ No tiles came in quantity, and the slave houses stayed under thatch for the rest of the century.

Wind did as much harm as fire. A storm of April 1717 "levelled" the house of the Company's slaves at the plantation called Lufkins.²⁸⁷¹ The Council reported in October that it had since been rebuilt, and that the dwelling at the Huts had also been restored.²⁸⁷² The same gale threw down a stone Turkey House about 50 feet long and killed several of the turkeys roosting in it.²⁸⁷³

The fullest account of the houses came in a council representation entered on 11 April 1723. It admitted that "the Company's slaves had for some years been scarcely sheltered".²⁸⁷⁴ At the plantation house the slave house had "stood ruined for many years".²⁸⁷⁵ The part not destroyed by the fire in Governor Boucher's time had been patched until it would serve no longer, and it was now too small for the number of slaves.²⁸⁷⁶ The black house at the Peak had been built only about two years before.²⁸⁷⁷ Already its walls were "so bruised and so full of large cracks that the Company's slaves were endangered every night by the wind and weather".²⁸⁷⁸ The black house at the Hutts was "in the same condition, being indeed very old".²⁸⁷⁹ Governor Pyke had proposed rebuilding it for years without result.²⁸⁸⁰

A great house at the plantation and a slave house in town, 1723-1743

A building programme followed. The Council reported "a building 140 foot long and 100 foot broad" with rooms for the two overseers and two warehouses for hides and plantation goods.²⁸⁸¹ The rest of the building was "the apartment for the Court's slaves".²⁸⁸² A kitchen for the plantation was already finished, and a little house at the Peak was to be begun the following week.²⁸⁸³ The slaves thus shared one long range with their overseers and the Company's stored produce.

Sickness came with crowding. In August 1742 a distemper of three months had killed eight of the best labouring men and two women among the Company's slaves.²⁸⁸⁴ It began with stomach oppression, back pain and fever and killed in four or five days.²⁸⁸⁵ "At present eleven lay very ill in the Company's slave house, duly attended by the doctor".²⁸⁸⁶ A month later "sickness still reigned in the black house", and the Company lost one or more slaves every week.²⁸⁸⁷ Governor Powell insisted that the sick had the best nurses the Castle could provide.²⁸⁸⁸

The Company also kept a slave house in James Valley. It stood on rented ground beside the Company's garden, for which the Company paid £6 a year.²⁸⁸⁹ In February 1743 the Council found a way to buy it outright.²⁸⁹⁰ The townsmen on that side of the valley were allowed to enlarge their back yards by buying "a small strip of ground running up behind the gentlemen's back yards".²⁸⁹¹ Their payments funded the purchase.²⁸⁹²

The deeds set out the bounds of the ground "on which the Company's slaves' house then stood".²⁸⁹³ It was bounded north and east by the Company's garden, south by Samuel Dooton's ground and west by the street.²⁸⁹⁴ Bazett and Wrangham sold it on 14 October 1742 for £100, and Johnson assigned it to the Council on 1 February 1743.²⁸⁹⁵ A stock lock issued in July 1757 "for the slaves house in the garden" shows the house still in use 14 years later.²⁸⁹⁶ A plot "between the Company's Black House and the street leading to the watercourse" was still being let in September 1788.²⁸⁹⁷

The town slave houses still stood in 1771. After the store was robbed in March 1771, suspicion fell first on the Company's slaves.²⁸⁹⁸ The officer in charge "had the slaves' houses in the Fort Garden searched thoroughly, and also the slaves' houses in the valley".²⁸⁹⁹ In September 1771 the engineer James Tippet asked for a plot of Company ground on which to build himself a house.²⁹⁰⁰ He had been "very badly off for a house ever since he arrived on the island".²⁹⁰¹ The ground had once been set aside for the slaves and bought by the Company for £100 many years before.²⁹⁰² It now lay idle, but the Council kept it back for future Company building.²⁹⁰³ The price matched the £100 paid in 1742-1743, and the plot was perhaps the same ground.²⁹⁰⁴

Thatch, rafters and repairs, 1755-1770

The store accounts of the 1750s and 1760s record the upkeep of the country houses item by item. In the quarter ending 11 January 1755 new houses were being built for the Company's slaves at the plantation.²⁹⁰⁵ The store issued 100 lb of cordage "for thatching their new houses at the plantation", costing £1 5s.²⁹⁰⁶ It also issued 13 baulks at £3 11s 9½d and 64 lb of roofing nails in four sizes.²⁹⁰⁷

In April 1755 the Council agreed to reroof several of the Company's slave houses in the country.²⁹⁰⁸ It had to buy rafters and binders from the planters, "the Company having none of either on its own lands".²⁹⁰⁹ Mr Mowatt was paid £12 14s 6d for "500 rafters at 6d each, to cover the Honourable Company's black houses in the country".²⁹¹⁰

The thatch itself came from island growth cut by planters. Joseph Boston was paid £7 10s for "cutting 300 loads flushings" to cover the black houses and other places.²⁹¹¹ Manuel Rodrigues supplied 24 loads of laths at 2s 6d a load for £3.²⁹¹² Elly Gurling supplied 14 loads of binders at the same rate for £1 15s.²⁹¹³ Jonathan Hitchins drew £5 for carpenter's work in the same quarter.²⁹¹⁴ The roof was therefore a frame of rafters and binders, laced with laths and covered with bundles of flushings tied down with cordage.

Repairs ran on quarter by quarter. Deal boards went "for repairs to their houses" in October 1755.²⁹¹⁵ Nails went to repair the black house in the Great Wood in April 1757, and 62 lb of cordage went to thatching.²⁹¹⁶ In October 1757 six single deals and a baulk were issued for coffins and "repair to the slaves' house".²⁹¹⁷ In January 1758 a large issue of 48 single deals included timber for "repairs to a black house".²⁹¹⁸

The work continued through the 1760s. Four baulks were charged "for the blacks house" in April 1760 at £1 8s 6d.²⁹¹⁹ Two-thirds of a baulk, worth 6s 2d, went "to repair an old house" in September 1763.²⁹²⁰ Seven single deals and 11 lb of nails went to repair the slaves' houses in December 1763.²⁹²¹ Nails in the same quarter mended "the slaves' house in the Great Wood".²⁹²² Cordage for "thatching the black" houses appears again in September 1766, and for "thatching the slaves' quarters" in December 1767.²⁹²³

By February 1768 the country houses had worn out again. Governor Corneille reported that "the houses of the Company's slaves in the country had fallen almost to ruin and needed repair".²⁹²⁴ They were now repaired in stone, and he expected the work to last many years.²⁹²⁵ In June 1768 the Black House received half a wainscot board, and cordage was issued for it and the Lieutenant Governor's house.²⁹²⁶

Thatch and rafters were still needed in 1770, so the stone repairs had perhaps not reached every house. On 20 January 1770 John Robinson was paid for "75 rafters to repair the slaves' house at Maldivia Garden", at £3 15s.²⁹²⁷ In the quarter ending September 1770 the store issued 14 lb of cordage "for thatching the slaves' house", costing 4s 5d.²⁹²⁸ In the same quarter the paymaster bought 60 rafters at 1s each, with four loads of laths and five of binders.²⁹²⁹ These were "for repairing the Black Square" and cost £4 2s 6d together.²⁹³⁰ A further eight loads of binders went to the plantation house and the Black Square.²⁹³¹ The square therefore still carried roofs of thatch on rafters and binders, as the country houses had in 1755.²⁹³²

Rooms, the slaves' square and the camps, 1758-1778

From the late 1750s the Company built separate rooms and smaller houses for its slaves. In April 1758 the store issued 10 single deals and two baulks "for a Blacks' and fowl house at Longwood".²⁹³³ In July 1758 doors were made for the Blacks' house and the dairy room, with nails for the Blacks' house door.²⁹³⁴ Soldiers were paid in the same quarter for 125½ days at the Castle Garden, the Black's house and the stables.²⁹³⁵

The soldiers' labour grew larger. In the quarter ending 11 January 1760 soldiers at 1s a day spent 507 days "building 3 rooms for slaves at the Plantation stores".²⁹³⁶ Their pay came to £25 7s.²⁹³⁷ In the same quarter soldiers spent 130 days on stone at Perkins's, where a black house was rebuilt.²⁹³⁸

The largest work came in 1765 and 1766. In the quarter ending 31 December 1765 the Company paid "for 687¾ days' labouring at the slave house", £34 7s 9d.²⁹³⁹ A further 32½ days of stone blasting at 1s 6d a day were spent there.²⁹⁴⁰ In the following quarter soldiers worked 132 days bringing rafters and materials and 46 days hewing timber.²⁹⁴¹ They spent 160 days plastering and 982 days labouring, 1,320 days in all, at a cost of £71 3s.²⁹⁴² This was a new building or a thorough enlargement, plastered within, rather than a repair.

The accounts soon named a compound. Iron pots and frying pans went "for the Black Square" in June 1766.²⁹⁴³ In March 1768 nine double deals were issued "for repairing the slaves' square", with oil and paint.²⁹⁴⁴ Carpenters were paid 1s 6d a day for 11 days repairing it, 16s 6d in all.²⁹⁴⁵ Two stock locks went to "the Blacks' Square" in December 1768.²⁹⁴⁶ A lamp and four stock locks were fitted there in September 1769.²⁹⁴⁷ Six birch brooms went "for the slaves' square" in December 1769, at 2s 6d.²⁹⁴⁸ In 1778 the Company slave Billy Daniel was said to live at Plantation House Square, the Company slaves' quarters.²⁹⁴⁹

A hospital for the slaves was planned beside the square. The store issued 24 single deals "for the Black Hospital" in September 1765, and 6 lb of powder blasted stone for it in November.²⁹⁵⁰ The engineer reported in April 1766 that the materials collected for a slave hospital had been set aside.²⁹⁵¹ In December 1768 two door cases made for the slaves' hospital were found standing in the slaves' house.²⁹⁵² Stone and earth had been stored "in and around the Black Square" and were said to have gone into a private billiard house.²⁹⁵³

The hospital was in use by 1770. In the quarter ending March 1770 the store issued 2½ baulks, five single deals and 31 lb of nails "for the slave hospital".²⁹⁵⁴ The timber and nails cost £2 10s 1d in all.²⁹⁵⁵ Labourers spent 35 days repairing the slave hospital in the same quarter, at a cost of £2 13s.²⁹⁵⁶ A further 19 lb of nails went to the hospital in December 1770.²⁹⁵⁷

Some country houses held slaves and free people together. The house at Deadwood was "lately built for some slaves and poultry of the Honourable Company in place of the one burnt down on 22 August" 1759.²⁹⁵⁸ It was set on fire again on 13 November 1759.²⁹⁵⁹ The inquiry showed a thatched house shared by the free watchman Drake, his wife Mary and the Company slaves Islington and Wednesday.²⁹⁶⁰ It had a chimney and hearth, a room door that locked, a bed and windows.²⁹⁶¹ Fires began in the thatch under the eaves and inside close to the chimney, and witnesses "found some balls of tow in the thatch".²⁹⁶² On 9 November Islington and Drake put one fire out with a ladder, water and a wetted blanket.²⁹⁶³ The black house was rebuilt afterwards with 16 pieces of timber and three stock locks.²⁹⁶⁴

The Company also built temporary quarters for gangs sent to distant works. At Sandy Bay in 1766 "some time was lost at the start in building quarters for so large a workforce".²⁹⁶⁵ Of 44 Company slaves there, 11 lay in hospital and most of the rest suffered from the cold stormy weather.²⁹⁶⁶ The engineer Mitchell repeated that "quarters for the workmen were built first".²⁹⁶⁷ John Robinson supplied 100 cabbage tree sticks and 32 rafters at 1s each for the buildings.²⁹⁶⁸ The camp drew a padlock for a house, 25 panes of window glass and 32 blankets for the men lodged on site.²⁹⁶⁹ In 1767 a further 30 blankets went to the slaves camped at the works.²⁹⁷⁰ Stolen linen was found that year "in a room there where the black workers slept".²⁹⁷¹

Locks, keys and night inspection

The Company locked its slave houses and inspected them by night. Stock locks were issued for the slaves in January and April 1756, at 3s 8d for two.²⁹⁷² In July 1756 two stock locks went "for the St George and the blackhouse".²⁹⁷³ A lock "for the Blacks' house door" cost 2s 4d in July 1758, and the same again in January 1759.²⁹⁷⁴ Two stock locks went "for the black house in the Great Wood" in April 1759 at 4s.²⁹⁷⁵ Three locks for the negro house cost 9s 6d in January 1760.²⁹⁷⁶

The price of the lock rose a little over the period. A lock for one of the slaves' houses cost 2s 8½d in December 1764 and again in March 1765.²⁹⁷⁷ Two for the Blacks' Square cost 5s 9d in December 1768.²⁹⁷⁸ Four for the slaves' square cost 10s 10d in September 1769.²⁹⁷⁹ Two more went to the Black Square in December 1769 and two in September 1770.²⁹⁸⁰ By then a stock lock cost 2s 11d, and two cost 5s 10d.²⁹⁸¹ A stock lock and a blank key were issued "for the black guard" in December 1770.²⁹⁸² Another stock lock went to "the slaves' guard" in March 1771, again at 2s 11d.²⁹⁸³ The guard was perhaps a lock-up for slaves under punishment. In the same quarter 12 fishing lines were issued "for punishing slaves".²⁹⁸⁴

Inspection began in 1765. A padlock was issued "for the slaves' house" at 1s 6d in September 1765.²⁹⁸⁵ With it came candles and a riveted horn lantern for the overseers to inspect the house at night.²⁹⁸⁶ In December 1765 a blank key was cut "for the slave house" for 8d, and half a pound of candles was issued for inspecting it.²⁹⁸⁷ Another blank key cost 9d in September 1767.²⁹⁸⁸

The candles then became a standing quarterly charge. The store issued "1 lb of candles for the overseer to inspect the slaves' house" in March 1766 at 2s.²⁹⁸⁹ Four pounds went "for inspecting the slaves' houses" in June 1766 and three pounds in December 1766.²⁹⁹⁰ One pound a quarter followed through 1767.²⁹⁹¹ In December 1767 the pound was "for examining the slaves".²⁹⁹² In March 1768 it was for "examining the slaves' square".²⁹⁹³ In March 1769 two pounds went "for searching the Blacks' Square".²⁹⁹⁴ The words moved from inspecting a house to searching a compound. In March 1771 the town slave houses were searched again, this time for goods stolen from the store.²⁹⁹⁵

Furnishing the slave house: blankets, platforms, pots and lamps

The slaves slept on benches, platforms and cots. In April 1755 the store issued 13 single deals and a bench "for benches to their houses", at £3 6s 11d.²⁹⁹⁶ Nails "for cots and coffins" went out in September 1764.²⁹⁹⁷ When new slaves arrived in June 1765 the store issued "19 single deals to build a sleeping platform for the new slaves and to make a coffin".²⁹⁹⁸ Two planks for the platform cost a further 17s 8d, and a lamp was issued for the new slaves.²⁹⁹⁹ A deal to make a cot appears in September 1769.³⁰⁰⁰ Canvas "for a cot for a slave" was issued in September 1770.³⁰⁰¹

Blankets were the chief bedding. They arrived in small numbers most quarters and in large numbers after the arrival of new slaves. Two coarse blankets cost 9s 4d in June 1742, or 4s 8d each.³⁰⁰² In October 1754 the store charged £4 13s 4d for 20 blankets, at the same rate.³⁰⁰³ By 1763 the rate was 5s, and in 1765 it reached 5s 11d.³⁰⁰⁴ The largest issue was 168 "ordinary blankets" in the quarter ending September 1769.³⁰⁰⁵ In June 1770 the slaves received 51 ordinary blankets for £14 17s 6d, or 5s 10d each.³⁰⁰⁶ In June 1771 they received 27 blankets for £8 4s 3d with their annual clothing.³⁰⁰⁷ The larger issues are set out in Table 17.

Table 17. Large issues of blankets to the Company's slaves, 1754-1771
Quarter ending	Blankets	Stated cost	Source
11 Oct 1754	20	£4 13s 4d	063/222
21 Jul 1756	73	£12 12s 10d	066/456
11 Oct 1758	58	£14 4s 0d	068/293-294
30 Jun 1763	37	£9 5s 0d	071/406-407
31 Dec 1763	40	£10 0s 0d	075/153-154
31 Mar 1765	30	£8 17s 6d	076/234-235
30 Jun 1765	77	£22 15s 7d	076/377-378
30 Sep 1765	130	£35 15s 0d	077/132-133
30 Jun 1766	67	£17 3s 4d	078/98
30 Sep 1769	168	£47 12s 0d	084/378-380
30 Jun 1770	51	£14 17s 6d	085/319-320
30 Jun 1771	27	£8 4s 3d	086/314-315]]
*Issues of fewer than 20 blankets in a quarter are omitted. The accounts for 1760-1762 are incomplete

Lesser goods were thought good enough for slaves. In February 1725 a parcel of blankets in the store had been "much damaged by moth".³⁰⁰⁸ Captain Goodwin proposed selling them cheaper "to the inhabitants for their slaves".³⁰⁰⁹ In April 1755 servants bought "12 negro cups and saucers" for 4s 2d, a cheaper ware for slaves' use.³⁰¹⁰

The slaves cooked and ate in common. In 1742 they were issued a "yam kettle" for boiling their staple food.³⁰¹¹ The store issued iron pots of 2 to 12 gallons nearly every quarter from 1756.³⁰¹² In December 1763 four iron pots were issued "for cooking in common".³⁰¹³ A large iron kettle costing £2 5s 1d served as a communal pot in December 1765.³⁰¹⁴ In June 1769 the store issued 33 iron pots for £6 13s 4d, with 23 wooden bowls, 21 platters and 10 small frying pans.³⁰¹⁵ The issues went on in 1770. A 16-pound iron pot went to the slaves in December 1769, and "Iron pot weighing 17 lb for the Black Square" cost 3s 3d in March 1770.³⁰¹⁶ Two small frying pans followed for the square in September 1770, with an iron pot for the Angola slaves.³⁰¹⁷ Wooden bowls and platters were issued again in March 1771.³⁰¹⁸ The slaves ate from turned platters and wooden bowls, not from pewter or china.³⁰¹⁹

A few goods marked out the sick, the aged and women in childbirth. The sick had tea, sugar, a lamp and a pewter close-stool pan.³⁰²⁰ Women "lying in" had long cloth and duffel.³⁰²¹ In March 1769 the aged slaves were given china: two small bowls and six round soup plates for 3s 7d.³⁰²² In December 1769 a sick woman received "1 lamp for a sick woman", a pint saucepan and half a piece of long cloth.³⁰²³ Train oil and a wooden bowl went to the sick slaves in September 1770.³⁰²⁴ Half a piece of long cloth for women lying in appears again in September and December 1770 and in March 1771.³⁰²⁵

The Malays held by the Company were furnished on a different scale. In December 1769 they received a fine blanket and china worth 19s 7d, including soup plates, saucers and a teapot.³⁰²⁶ In September 1770 they drew a brass tea kettle, two pewter chamber pots, 16 glasses and china worth £1 12s 9d.³⁰²⁷ They also drew 12 to 20 lb of candles a quarter for their own use.³⁰²⁸ Three of them, Nuquada, Pocalun and Masfanger, received £6 11s a quarter "for salt meat and house rent".³⁰²⁹ They thus lodged in rented houses of their own and not in the slave square.³⁰³⁰

The houses were lit by lamps burning train oil. In January 1756 the slaves received a lamp at 9d and 4½ gallons of train oil.³⁰³¹ In January 1757 oil went "for lamps for the blacksmiths and stock kept in the black houses".³⁰³² Tin lamps for the slaves cost 9d each in September 1767.³⁰³³ Train oil was still issued in 1770 and 1771, with two tin lamps in June 1770 and 3¾ gallons of oil in March 1771.³⁰³⁴ Birch brooms appear from 1763, and soap was issued to wash clothes.³⁰³⁵

Some quarters also give the size of the population being housed. Clothing went to 110 men and 26 boys in June 1763.³⁰³⁶ It went to 112 men and 22 boys in June 1764.³⁰³⁷ In June 1767 it went to 163 men and 28 boys.³⁰³⁸ The Company sent home a yearly list of its slaves from at least 1759, but the lists were not copied into the letter books.³⁰³⁹

Slaves in planters' houses

Planter-owned slaves lived under their masters' roofs or close by. In about 1713 the Council heard that some freemen kept a large share of their slaves at distant plantations rather than near their houses.³⁰⁴⁰ This was blamed for thefts of poultry and cattle from neighbours.³⁰⁴¹ The Council proposed that the slaves return to their masters' houses each night.³⁰⁴²

The Council also guarded the planter's house against other men's slaves. In 1682 it ordered that no slave enter any house without the express leave of the owner or occupier.³⁰⁴³ Slaves had been entering on slight pretexts, such as asking for a light for a fire, when the owner was away or only children were at home.³⁰⁴⁴ In January 1759 Thomas Swindale was whipped for harbouring runaway slaves "at his house in the country".³⁰⁴⁵

Within the planter's house the kitchen was the slaves' usual sleeping place. In March 1760 a witness at Henry Easthope's house "went down into the kitchen where the blacks lay".³⁰⁴⁶ In the same house a slave woman shared the widow Mary Herbert's bed, and a slave girl slept in her room.³⁰⁴⁷ At Stephen Young's house in 1762 the slave woman Moll called her master into the kitchen as he passed.³⁰⁴⁸ In January 1769 the slave Solomon was found asleep in his owner Mrs Kennedy's kitchen.³⁰⁴⁹ His wife lived at Sample's house and kept a chest there.³⁰⁵⁰

Larger households had a separate room or outbuilding. At the widow Desfountain's house in 1765, the slave Lewis said that Pat "slept in the hall, while he himself slept in the slaves' quarters".³⁰⁵¹ In February 1754 Purling's slave Caesar "stopped at a hut belonging to John and William Seale to see a slave of theirs who lived there".³⁰⁵² At Green Hill in 1778 the slaves George and Happy slept in their master's house.³⁰⁵³

A slave house could be a dwelling with its own fastenings. James Greentree's slave Scarborough lived in a thatched slave house at Sandy Bay.³⁰⁵⁴ He locked the door and fastened the windows at night.³⁰⁵⁵ In 1771 he "believed Roger had got in through a small hole in the thatched roof" and taken yams left beside the cooking pot.³⁰⁵⁶

Planters' slaves kept their few goods in chests and trunks. In 1775 Mary Beale's slave Will had a trunk "beneath the dresser in the kitchen" and a chest in an upstairs room.³⁰⁵⁷ The chest held coins from several countries with a ring, a brooch and clothes, together worth £11 3s.³⁰⁵⁸ In 1782 the slave Simmo hid stolen tablecloths in "the place where Simmo normally slept in the household".³⁰⁵⁹ Planters valued their slaves as part of the house and land: Richard Gawling's eight slaves were valued at £130 in 1754, beside a house at £90.³⁰⁶⁰

Interpretations

The evidence suggested two phases in the Company's housing of its slaves. Before about 1755 the houses were large thatched sheds attached to each plantation. They were built cheaply from salvaged timber and then left to fall down. The council representation of 1723 was an unusually frank admission of that neglect.

After about 1755 the store accounts recorded a steady and more careful regime. Roofs were renewed, benches and sleeping platforms were made, and blankets, pots and lamps were issued every quarter. The pattern probably reflected the growth of the Company's slave force and the new practice of accounting for every issue by name and purpose.

The locks and candles of 1765-1771 pointed to a further change. The Company now treated its slave house as a place to be shut at night and searched. The movement in the wording from "inspecting the slaves' house" to "searching the Blacks' Square" probably reflected a compound of several buildings round a yard. The great labour of 1765-1766 was perhaps spent on building that square.

The goods issued showed a household organised for a gang, not for families. Pots were for "cooking in common", and platforms held many sleepers at once. The few marks of individual care went to the sick, the aged and women in childbirth. Planter-owned slaves slept instead in their masters' kitchens, halls and huts. Some kept locked chests of their own.

Comparisons

The closest parallel was the Slave Lodge of the Dutch East India Company at the Cape. There the Company's slaves lived in one large building in Cape Town, locked at night and counted by officials.³⁰⁶¹ Cape farm slaves, like St Helena's planter slaves, often slept in kitchens and outbuildings of the farmhouse.³⁰⁶² Early Cape houses also show slaves lodged in kitchens and lofts beside the household.³⁰⁶³

In Bermuda most slaves lived in small households, often within or beside the master's house.³⁰⁶⁴ St Helena's planter households resembled Bermuda more than the sugar islands. On Caribbean sugar estates slaves usually built their own huts in a village near the works.³⁰⁶⁵ The Company's long communal ranges and locked square on St Helena were closer to a barracks than to such a village.

In the Chesapeake and the Carolina lowcountry, slaves on large plantations lived in quarters of small cabins.³⁰⁶⁶ On smaller holdings they slept in kitchens and lofts of the master's house, as on St Helena.³⁰⁶⁷ Virginia planters also used the placing of quarters to display order and control across the landscape.³⁰⁶⁸

The Company's slave square on St Helena stood nearest to the corporate lodge of the Cape. Both were the work of trading companies that owned slaves as a body, fed them from a store and housed them together under lock.

Part Three: Inside the House

Part Three moves from the fabric of the house to the things kept inside it. It begins with furniture, the largest and most costly class of household goods. It then follows bedding and linen, lighting and the kitchen. It ends with the water and stores that served the household. The sources are wills, inventories, auction accounts and the quarterly accounts of the Company's store, with the depositions of the island's courts filling in how rooms were used.

14. Furniture and Looking Glasses

Furniture reached St Helena by three routes. Most of it came out from England in the Company's ships. A smaller but growing share came from India and China through the Company's Eastern trade. A third share was made on the island by joiners, carpenters and soldiers whenever timber allowed. The records follow every kind of furniture from the first shipments of the 1670s to the refurnishing of the Castle in 1772. They show plain island chairs at 5s beside walnut escritoires at £13. They also show the Company's own furniture decaying, being mended and at times being stolen by the men placed in charge of it.

The First Furniture, 1678-1720

The earliest furniture known to have reached the island came in March 1678. The Johanna carried 50 sets of beds, pillows and rugs at 11s the set, packed in three cases.³⁰⁶⁹ In about 1694 a store account for the fort recorded 30 chairs issued alongside nails, hinges and iron bars.³⁰⁷⁰ These were Company goods for the garrison and its officers rather than for planters.

The first private furniture appears in the division of a planter's estate in November 1693. Mary Charleworth's portion included a desk valued at £3, the highest-priced piece of furniture in the list.³⁰⁷¹ A chest with a drawer was valued at £1 and a table with its frame at 14s.³⁰⁷² A second table with frame and a chair together came to 14s 6d.³⁰⁷³ Her feather bed and bolster were worth £3, but the bedstead under them only 10s.³⁰⁷⁴ An older bedstead with its own old quilt was valued at 6s and 4s.³⁰⁷⁵ A further table, frame and "damask case" were kept separately at the family's fort house.³⁰⁷⁶

Mary Dixon's will, made in about 1696, names a furniture maker's work for the first time. She left her daughter Sarah Clifton a table with two drawers, a form and a chest of drawers "of local manufacture".³⁰⁷⁷ Her other daughter, Anne Gurling, received an Indian bedstead with its curtains and valance.³⁰⁷⁸ One will thus set an island-made chest beside an Indian bed. Katherine Fensdale left her daughter a house in Chapel Valley "with all the furniture" in October 1699.³⁰⁷⁹ The daughter also had a feather bed, bolster and bedstead of her own.³⁰⁸⁰

Michael Morris's will of February 1703 placed furniture in a named room. His daughter Rebecca Gurling received "the long table standing in the middle room" with a chest of drawers and a trunk.³⁰⁸¹ A younger daughter's portion included a cot with its bed, bolster and quilt.³⁰⁸² Witnesses in the courts gave the same furniture in use. In about 1699 a man described sitting on a bench behind a table at a plantation at night.³⁰⁸³ In about 1702 one witness was "lying in bed in the kitchen" of Edward Heath's house.³⁰⁸⁴ In a night riot in Butt Alley in 1701, stones were thrown at people sitting at a table, and Josias Grimsby hid under her bed.³⁰⁸⁵

The poorest of these households owned very little. The goods of William French, sold at an outcry in July 1711, included a flock bed at 9s 6d and a low wooden chair at 4s.³⁰⁸⁶ A small table with its carpet fetched 15s, the highest price in the sale.³⁰⁸⁷ On the same day an account was taken of the Company's moveables at the plantation house from Captain Edward Mashborne.³⁰⁸⁸ It listed two elbow chairs, 13 "Ratland" or rattan chairs and three old chairs.³⁰⁸⁹ There were an oval table, a long square table, two small tables and a Turkey carpet.³⁰⁹⁰ Two feather beds, a bedstead with curtains and a large dressing glass completed the furniture.³⁰⁹¹

Chairs and looking glasses were ordered from England in 1713. The council's list of necessaries of 9 April 1713 asked for six large looking glasses, two dozen cane chairs and two clocks for chambers with one for the fort.³⁰⁹² The same letter admitted that no clock yet served the workmen, the hour being told "by sand glasses".³⁰⁹³ The Company's reply of 18 June 1713 sent only half the small looking glasses, as a trial of what such goods would yield.³⁰⁹⁴ They were to be priced at the Governor's discretion rather than at the modest advance used for necessaries.³⁰⁹⁵ No large looking glasses were sent at all. The Directors lacked a description of their size and doubted that the inhabitants would pay the price.³⁰⁹⁶ They thought a large quantity of cane chairs already sent by the Susannah more than enough.³⁰⁹⁷ A clock and two dials did go out, at Mashborne's request.³⁰⁹⁸

An inventory of the plantation house of 12 April 1715 shows those cane chairs in place. It lists 31 old and new cane chairs and three old chairs, with deal tables, bedsteads and a cott.³⁰⁹⁹ At about the same time the council asked for 20 bedsteads with sacking bottoms.³¹⁰⁰ It added that only the timber need be sent for a joiner to make 40 more.³¹⁰¹ The council said it "could keep two or three joiners busy on the island making household goods for the planters".³¹⁰² Those goods were window sashes, cupboards and chests of drawers, with chests, boxes and tables.³¹⁰³ The same indent asked for 200 pairs of hinges for chests and boxes and nine dozen cupboard locks.³¹⁰⁴ Two children's cradles appear in another supply list of the same years.³¹⁰⁵ The laws of the early 1700s directed that the most skilful slaves be taught joinery and carpentry.³¹⁰⁶

Thomas Free's inventory of 4 May 1720 shows how far a planter's house had filled by then. He had eight cane chairs, six "wooden cane" chairs, five tea tables and four looking glasses.³¹⁰⁷ A desk, a chest of drawers at £2 and "a parcel of pictures" at £4 6s stood among them.³¹⁰⁸ His goods were sold on 2 November 1721, with each buyer named.³¹⁰⁹ Mr Byfield paid £5 10s for the escritoire. Captain Alexander took a large chest and a couch, and Joseph Bates a round table.³¹¹⁰ Sergeant Dutch bought six "island chairs", made locally and distinct from the cane chairs.³¹¹¹ Two backgammon tables found no buyer.³¹¹²

Chairs, Tables and Couches

Cane chairs were the commonest seat in the better houses for most of the century. Deputy Governor John Alexander left his wife six cane chairs in the room over the kitchen in about 1738.³¹¹³ Thomas Free had 14 cane chairs of two kinds in 1720.³¹¹⁴ Richard Gawling, a planter who died in 1754, had nine cane chairs, an elbow chair and a couch.³¹¹⁵ At his auction John Clark bought three cane-bottom chairs.³¹¹⁶ A cane-bottom couch there sold for £1 10s and a cane-bottom elbow chair for 14s.³¹¹⁷ A Bencoolen councillor, William Coles, who died on the island, left a mahogany elbow chair sold at auction in 1744.³¹¹⁸

Governor John Goodwin's estate of 1741 held the widest range of seating on the island. His inventory listed cane, walnut-tree, rush-bottom and leather-bottom chairs.³¹¹⁹ There were black elbow cane chairs, a crimson damask elbow chair and a silk elbow chair.³¹²⁰ One was named a "Boston chair", a seat of New England make or pattern.³¹²¹ At his sale in August 1742, 12 cane chairs fetched £8 and 10 leather-bottom chairs £5 5s.³¹²² A dozen rush-bottom chairs also sold for £5 5s, and two large easy chairs for £2 5s and £3.³¹²³ Dixon paid £2 1s for six leather-bottom chairs.³¹²⁴ A rattan couch went for 8s and another couch for £1 9s.³¹²⁵ A close stool chair, a commode in chair form, fetched £1 10s 6d.³¹²⁶

Tables changed in kind as well as number. The tables of the 1690s were plain tables "with frame".³¹²⁷ By 1720 Thomas Free had five tea tables in one house.³¹²⁸ The Goodwin sale offered a large mahogany table at £13 1s and a mahogany card table at £5.³¹²⁹ A table with brass handles fetched £6 5s and a sideboard table £1 1s.³¹³⁰ George Gabriel Powell paid £2 10s 6d for a japan lacquered tea table.³¹³¹ An oval folding wainscot table went to Dixon for £1.³¹³² Plantation House had a china-pattern table in May 1741 and a "china lacquered table" a year later.³¹³³ The council itself bought a mahogany tea table from Captain Mears for £4 5s in September 1768.³¹³⁴

Gaming tables marked the richest houses. Thomas Free owned two backgammon tables in 1721.³¹³⁵ Jonathan Doveton's estate of 1744 included a billiard table with all its appurtenances and two pairs of backgammon tables.³¹³⁶ Samuel Doveton's house in James Valley had its own billiard room by 1749.³¹³⁷ In July 1766 the council licensed a billiard table at £4 a year.³¹³⁸ It refused the house of entertainment that was to hold it, fearing it "might lead to a good deal of disorder".³¹³⁹ Lieutenant De Laune's goods sold in October 1768 included a backgammon table.³¹⁴⁰

Plainer seats and tables were made on the island for the Company. In January 1755 John Strange was paid 15s for making a table for the Company.³¹⁴¹ In the same month Captain Oliver sold the Company eight chairs at 7s 6d each.³¹⁴² In November 1766 Joseph Chamberlain, the former carpenter's mate, made 20 Windsor chairs for the hall in the Castle at 5s each.³¹⁴³ Deals were issued for a table for the officers in April 1753, at 13s 10½d.³¹⁴⁴ The barracks, the hospital and the guardrooms received tables and forms made from deals in most years after 1757.³¹⁴⁵ Soldiers were paid 10s 6d for seven days making tables and benches for the barracks in 1765.³¹⁴⁶ New benches were made for the jury in 1764.³¹⁴⁷ In April 1755 the Company's slaves were given deals "for benches to their houses".³¹⁴⁸

Chairs were mended and re-covered rather than replaced. Tacks were issued "to mend chairs in the Castle" in June 1762.³¹⁴⁹ In June 1765 Adam Evans was paid 4s for covering six chairs in the Castle.³¹⁵⁰ He had 17s 6d "for colouring and mending 18 chairs in the castle".³¹⁵¹ The paymaster then bought 16 yards of silk for covering chairs in the Castle for £5 10s.³¹⁵² Evans was paid £1 16s for covering and mending two dozen more.³¹⁵³ A piece of chelloes, an Indian cotton, was issued for covering chairs at 9s 10d.³¹⁵⁴ Evans made 13 pairs of chair straps for £1 in March 1766.³¹⁵⁵ The store held 2,000 brass nails for chairs in 1764, valued at 7s 8d.³¹⁵⁶ Servants bought them in large lots and by the dozen through the late 1760s.³¹⁵⁷ In 1769 garden chairs at the plantation were painted in stone colour and stone ochre.³¹⁵⁸ In June 1770 they were painted again, this time with 4 lb of verdigris and turpentine costing 15s 8d.³¹⁵⁹

The sale of chair nails went on into the 1770s. Servants bought 1,500 brass chair nails in December 1769 and 750 in March 1770.³¹⁶⁰ More were sold in September 1770, and the store still held a stock of them.³¹⁶¹ The Castle drew brass chair nails for its own chairs in March 1771 and 2 lb more in June 1771.³¹⁶²

Tables were kept polished and covered. In June 1770 the store issued "Brushes for mahogany tables for the same houses", three for the Castle and the Lieutenant Governor's house at 2s 6¾d.³¹⁶³ Servants bought mahogany table brushes in June and December 1770, three costing 2s 9d.³¹⁶⁴ The store held seven table brushes in September 1770.³¹⁶⁵ In June 1771 green serge was issued "for covering tables in the Castle", 2½ yards for 11s 9d.³¹⁶⁶ A yard of green broadcloth issued to the Castle in March 1771 was perhaps for the same use.³¹⁶⁷

Chests, Desks, Escritoires and Bureaus

The chest was the one piece of furniture almost every household owned. Soldiers, sailors and slaves kept everything they had in one. The soldier John Dove left a chest worth 9s 9d and a looking glass in 1754.³¹⁶⁸ A French prisoner who died in the hospital in 1763 left "an old chest and a few other items worth very little".³¹⁶⁹ The gardener James Gordon's chest sold for £1 0s 6d in 1769.³¹⁷⁰ Soldiers in the barracks each had a chest that comrades could see into.³¹⁷¹ Eustace White kept a small locked box inside his.³¹⁷² Luke kept the key to his in his waistcoat pocket while he slept.³¹⁷³ When deserters robbed the artillery barracks in July 1770, they "had also broken open Corporal Witherall's chest and taken his clothes".³¹⁷⁴

Chests stood in kitchens and front rooms as well as chambers. The laundress Sarah Lake kept her clothes and the soldiers' washing in a chest in her front room, with a blanket on top.³¹⁷⁵ Two chests stood in John Whaley's kitchen in 1776, one holding clothes and the other meat and yams.³¹⁷⁶ Slaves kept chests of their own. The constable found a stolen bed and blanket in the chest of the slave Cato in 1772.³¹⁷⁷ The slave Will kept his trunk "beneath the dresser in the kitchen" of his mistress's town house in 1775.³¹⁷⁸ A free Malay servant in Mathew Burling's house had her own room and box in 1762.³¹⁷⁹

The kinds of chest multiplied in the inventories of the 1740s. The Goodwin sale offered large teak chests at £4 13s and £4 1s.³¹⁸⁰ A wainscot chest fetched £3 15s, a fork chest 17s and small fir chests 7s 6d to 12s 6d.³¹⁸¹ Robert Wright's effects of June 1742 included a sea chest and a clothes chest.³¹⁸² The soldier Pridgeon's goods included a "fire chest" at 13s 6d.³¹⁸³ James Rydell's estate of 1744 also held two fire chests.³¹⁸⁴ De Laune's sale of 1768 listed a red chest and a blue chest.³¹⁸⁵ Chests were still made on the island. In January 1764 the carpenter Julio Fabiano was making a chest for Captain Fea when a board for it was stolen.³¹⁸⁶ The Company's own cash chest stood in the Governor's closet at the Castle in 1742.³¹⁸⁷ It was described as "very low, with the lock in the middle of the lid and not very easily opened".³¹⁸⁸

Drawers came in with the chest of drawers in the 1690s. Mary Dixon's island-made chest of drawers was the first.³¹⁸⁹ Michael Morris left one in 1703 and Thomas Free owned one in 1720.³¹⁹⁰ John Alexander had a chest of drawers and "a small cabinet or nest of drawers".³¹⁹¹ Richard Gurling paid £3 6s and £3 for two old chests of drawers at the Goodwin sale.³¹⁹² James Greentree left his widow a mahogany chest of drawers in 1766.³¹⁹³ Chamber tables with drawers sold at £1 3s and 10s in 1742.³¹⁹⁴ In 1764 a chest lock was issued for a table drawer at the Castle.³¹⁹⁵

Desks for writing and keeping papers rose from one in 1693 to several in a single house by 1742. Mary Charleworth's desk was valued at £3.³¹⁹⁶ Thomas Free's escritoire sold for £5 10s in 1721.³¹⁹⁷ Goodwin's estate had an escritoire, a walnut-tree escritoire and hand escritoires.³¹⁹⁸ At his sale Charles Steward paid £13 for the walnut escritoire.³¹⁹⁹ A large escritoire with a bookcase fetched £4 5s and a hand escritoire 19s 6d.³²⁰⁰ John Bazett left his widow a mahogany desk in January 1743.³²⁰¹ Rydell's estate of 1744 held both a mahogany and a wainscot bureau.³²⁰² Richard Gawling had two bureaus and a hand escritoire in 1754.³²⁰³ An old bureau of his sold for £2 5s 6d.³²⁰⁴ James Powell left his daughter a mahogany bureau "of India wood".³²⁰⁵ Greentree's widow kept a small rosewood writing desk and a mahogany bureau she had bought from George Gabriel Powell.³²⁰⁶

The escritoire and the bureau were where money was kept. When Hemmens Nichols died in 1742, £166 7s 3¾d was "found in his escritoire at the time of his death".³²⁰⁷ His escritoire itself sold at the outcry for £2 1s 6d.³²⁰⁸ In March 1743 Joseph Long broke open a large escritoire in Francis Wrangham's house.³²⁰⁹ He took out a hand escritoire and broke that open for buckles and a gold ring.³²¹⁰ The chaplain Thackeray kept two-guinea pieces in a drawer of his bureau in 1765.³²¹¹ A cooper named Griffiths left a Chinese escritoire holding 25 pagodas in his front-room window overnight in 1773.³²¹² In 1778 thieves broke open "the upper part of a bureau and a small portable writing desk" in Lieutenant Gosling's house.³²¹³ The store kept locks made for such pieces. It held 10 bureau drawer locks with brass knobs at £3 15s in September 1767.³²¹⁴ Servants bought bureau locks with cupboard and chest locks in the same quarter.³²¹⁵ Such sales continued. Servants bought seven chest locks and three cupboard locks in December 1769.³²¹⁶ They bought 15 chest locks for £2 11s 3d in September 1770 and nine more in June 1771.³²¹⁷ A cupboard lock cost 3s 1½d in March 1771.³²¹⁸ The store held seven brass chest locks in September 1770.³²¹⁹ The Castle drew a chest lock and a cupboard lock in December 1770.³²²⁰

Several inventories of 1770 were sworn without their contents being copied. Those of Elizabeth Greentree, Richard Beale senior and Orlando Bagley senior were laid before the Council and ordered to be registered.³²²¹ The master mason William Holbrook's effects sold at auction on 4 April 1770 for £23 10s 6d, but the lots were not listed.³²²²

Cupboards and shelves held the rest. Goodwin's widow asked for a corner cupboard among the goods she wished to keep in October 1741.³²²³ Corner cupboards sold for £1 3s and 18s 6d at the Goodwin sale.³²²⁴ Plantation House had a corner cupboard in May 1742.³²²⁵ In the surgeon Barclay's house in 1766 the back-door key normally lay "on the dresser in the kitchen".³²²⁶ In 1768 a maidservant left sugar and arrack "in the hall and the sideboard" for the servants.³²²⁷ An earthquake on 27 May 1763 "threw china and other objects off the shelves in people's houses".³²²⁸ In 1768 the Company's carpenters spent 10 days making a frame for a library, with shelves of Riga timber.³²²⁹

Bedsteads, Cots and Hammocks

The bedstead was the frame, and it was always worth less than the bed upon it. Mary Charleworth's two bedsteads were valued at 10s and 6s against £3 for the feather bed.³²³⁰ Lieutenant De Laune's bedstead fetched £1 13s in 1768, against £3 14s for the bed, bolster, pillow and blanket.³²³¹ Complete beds with bedstead, curtains and rail sold for £5 12s and £5 4s at Gawling's auction in 1754.³²³² The finest bed at the Goodwin sale was a feather bed "and fine chintz furniture", bought by Frances Wrangham senior for £13 15s.³²³³ Other complete beds there fetched £4 to £9 1s.³²³⁴ A bedstead with its curtains and rod alone went for £1 6s.³²³⁵

A good bed was the piece most often named in wills. John Bagley left his widow "whichever feather bed she thought proper" in 1754, and a feather bed to each daughter.³²³⁶ William Harrold gave his wife the choice of a feather bed "and its furniture".³²³⁷ William Burnham left his son "one small feather bed and quilt with the bedstead, over and above his equal share" in 1756.³²³⁸ William Duffin freed his slave Anne in 1760 with her clothes, a small bed and two pillows.³²³⁹ Bedding with mosquito curtains was valued at £8 in an inventory of 1739.³²⁴⁰ Bed screws, the iron bolts that held a bedstead together, were sold to servants at four for 7s 11d in December 1767.³²⁴¹ In 1765 a deep-sea line was issued "for a bed cord at the Castle".³²⁴²

Lighter beds served the sea-going and the soldier. Nichols left a hammock with a small bed and pillows in 1742, and Thomas Bapek a hammock with a feather bed.³²⁴³ The Goodwin sale included four "glass cots" with their bedding at 11s 1d to £1 6s 6d.³²⁴⁴ Gawling's cradle was valued at 8s and sold at his auction for 4s 9d.³²⁴⁵ In January 1735 five sailors from the Princess Louisa and the Mary wrecked a tavern.³²⁴⁶ They threw the chairs into the street and the bed out of an upstairs window, and "pulled the bedstead apart".³²⁴⁷

The soldiers slept on cots, framed canvas beds made in the island's own workshops. In July 1754 William Davis was paid 7s for "making 21 sacking bottoms for cots for the garrison at 4d each".³²⁴⁸ In November 1758 the council found itself "short of cots for the last batch of recruits".³²⁴⁹ It ordered 71 double deals, 330 yards of English canvas and 198 yards of osnaburg for new cots.³²⁵⁰ The charge came to £80 5s 1½d.³²⁵¹ In September 1762 the soldier Baron Delof was paid 13s 2d for sewing 79 canvas beds.³²⁵² Many of the soldiers' cots "wanted canvas to new bottom them" that month.³²⁵³ Garrison carpenters spent 118½ days making and repairing cots in one quarter of 1766, at 1s 6d a day.³²⁵⁴ In 1767 William French was paid 3¾d each for "making sacking for 165 cots for the garrison".³²⁵⁵ He was paid £1 1s 3d "for making 63 sackings for the garrison's cots" in December 1769, about 4d each.³²⁵⁶

Cot making grew with the garrison in 1770 and 1771. In the quarter ending March 1770 the store issued 62 single and 25 double deals and 11 baulks for cots, coffins and bedsteads.³²⁵⁷ The timber cost £14 16s 9d, and four pieces of canvas for cots cost £11 1s 6d.³²⁵⁸ Nails worth £3 11s 4d went to cots, coffins and guard beds.³²⁵⁹ The artillery even recorded a pound of felt "for sewing the sacking of the cots".³²⁶⁰ Carpenters spent 26¾ days on cots that quarter.³²⁶¹ In the next quarter cot making took 68 carpenters' days at 1s 6d, with smiths, sailmakers and sawyers, £6 15s in all.³²⁶² Carpenters spent 30 more days in the quarter ending September 1770.³²⁶³ In December 1770 smiths worked 73¾ days and carpenters 24 days "making cots for the garrison", at a cost of £7 6s 8d.³²⁶⁴ The smiths' share suggested that the cots perhaps had iron fittings. The hospital received 60 yards of English canvas and twine for cots in March 1771.³²⁶⁵ Canvas, deals and nails for cots were issued again in June 1771.³²⁶⁶

Evidence from the courts shows how close the cots stood. In 1763 soldiers slept on cots two and a half feet apart, seven or eight men to a barrack room.³²⁶⁷ Two men often shared one cot.³²⁶⁸ One soldier in 1770 said "his own cot was beneath the window and the prisoners' cot faced it".³²⁶⁹ A barrack room in 1768 held only its cots and a bench.³²⁷⁰ Guardrooms had a guard bed, a plank bench on which the watch lay.³²⁷¹ A carpenter spent 12¼ days making one for the main guard in 1766.³²⁷² In June 1770 the store issued 30 double deals and 70 single deals with seven baulks "for making guard beds and coffins".³²⁷³ Officers on guard had a "hanging bed" of canvas in 1763.³²⁷⁴

The Company's slaves had less still. In June 1765 the council issued 19 single deals "to build a sleeping platform for the new slaves".³²⁷⁵ Two planks went to the same platform, with 77 blankets.³²⁷⁶ In May 1765 the hospital was to have 30 mattresses and pillows filled with wool from the Company's sheep.³²⁷⁷ Two men were named as mattress-makers at St Helena in 1757, John Shirtley and Joseph Drite.³²⁷⁸ A slave was given canvas for a cot in September 1770, a rare sign of a single bed in the slave house.³²⁷⁹

Looking Glasses, Clocks and Pictures

Looking glasses were scarce at first and treated as luxuries. The Directors sent only a trial quantity in 1713 and refused the large glasses outright.³²⁸⁰ Within 30 years the larger houses held many. Goodwin's estate counted at least 15 glasses, including two chimney glasses made to hang over a fireplace.³²⁸¹ Gilt-framed glasses and sconce glasses, mirrors with candle branches, were among them.³²⁸² At his sale Robert Greentree paid £19 10s for two large glasses in walnut frames.³²⁸³ George Gabriel Powell paid £5 for "1 large chimney glass" and £5 for a pair of sconces.³²⁸⁴ Smaller chamber and swing glasses sold at 7s 6d to £1 6s 6d.³²⁸⁵ Plantation House had a pier glass, a sconce glass and a chimney glass in both 1741 and 1742.³²⁸⁶ The acting Governor Crisp's own large looking glass was valued at £3 3s in 1742.³²⁸⁷ His "pair of Japan copper sconces" were valued at £5 5s.³²⁸⁸

Lower down, a looking glass was small and cheap. Robert Wright left "2 small chamber looking glasses" in 1742.³²⁸⁹ The soldier Pridgeon's looking glass sold for 3d in October 1742.³²⁹⁰ John Dove's fetched 2s 6d in 1754.³²⁹¹ Gawling's small chamber looking glass was valued at 6s.³²⁹² De Laune's two old looking glasses sold together for 2s 6d in 1768.³²⁹³

Clocks spread more slowly. The island had no clock for its workmen in 1713.³²⁹⁴ A clock and two dials were sent out that year.³²⁹⁵ The Castle had two clocks in 1741.³²⁹⁶ Goodwin owned three, including a repeating clock that struck the hours on demand.³²⁹⁷ Powell bought "1 repeating clock" for £8 10s at the sale, with a microscope for £2 5s.³²⁹⁸ Joseph Kendall paid £2 5s for a clock in a fir case.³²⁹⁹ A servant in John Adamson's house in 1757 said that "there being a clock in the room", he looked to see how late it was.³³⁰⁰ De Laune left a wooden clock in 1768.³³⁰¹

The Company paid a man to keep its clocks. Michael Frost, a sergeant, was paid £1 5s a quarter "for cleaning the clocks" from 1754.³³⁰² He held the post until 1764, when he was styled keeper and cleaner of clocks and instruments.³³⁰³ Samuel Perry, a private soldier, had it in 1765 and John Joyce in 1769, at the same pay.³³⁰⁴ Joyce still drew £1 5s a quarter "for cleaning clocks and instruments" in 1770 and 1771.³³⁰⁵ An hourglass was issued to the guards in March 1770, so sand glasses still told the hours of the watch.³³⁰⁶ In October 1758 Charles Brankland was paid 10s for repairing one of the Company's clocks.³³⁰⁷ Two old clocks were sent home in June 1767 with Captain Cotton, because "the old ones were unfit for use".³³⁰⁸ In January 1768 the Directors promised they "would be returned with new cases".³³⁰⁹

Pictures hung in the wealthier houses from 1720. Thomas Free's "parcel of pictures" was valued at £4 6s.³³¹⁰ Goodwin's sale included pictures in gilt frames at 10s and three for 12s 6d.³³¹¹ Plantation House had "a picture of Aaron and Moses" in May 1742.³³¹² Gawling owned 11 old pictures in frames and five china pictures, valued at 10s and 2s 6d.³³¹³ The chaplain John Dobie's estate of 1755 included framed portraits of Newton and Pope and two broken plaster of Paris busts.³³¹⁴ De Laune left framed prints in 1768.³³¹⁵

Table 18. Stated prices of furniture, looking glasses and clocks, 1678-1768
Year	Item	Kind	Price	Source
1678	Set of bed, pillows and rug	Shipped	11s	001/65
1693	Desk	Valuation	£3	012/90b
1693	Chest with a drawer	Valuation	£1	012/90b
1693	Table with frame	Valuation	14s	012/90b
1693	Bedstead	Valuation	10s	012/90a
1711	Low wooden chair	Outcry	4s	019/154
1711	Small table and carpet	Outcry	15s	019/154
1720	Chest of drawers	Valuation	£2	031/212
1721	Escritoire	Auction	£5 10s	031/217,219
1742	Walnut-tree escritoire	Auction	£13	046/54-56
1742	Large mahogany table	Auction	£13 1s	046/54-56
1742	Mahogany card table	Auction	£5	046/54-56
1742	12 cane chairs	Auction	£8	046/54-56
1742	10 leather-bottom chairs	Auction	£5 5s	046/54-56
1742	Two large glasses in walnut frames	Auction	£19 10s	046/54
1742	Large chimney glass	Auction	£5	046/54
1742	Repeating clock	Auction	£8 10s	046/55
1742	Clock in a fir case	Auction	£2 5s	046/60
1742	Old chest of drawers	Auction	£3 6s	046/59
1742	Oval table, a soldier's	Auction	2s 9d	046/148
1742	Looking glass, a soldier's	Auction	3d	046/148
1743	Escritoire	Outcry	£2 1s 6d	047/166
1754	Old bureau	Auction	£2 5s 6d	063/175-180
1754	Cane-bottom couch	Auction	£1 10s	063/175-180
1755	Chair bought by the Company, each	Purchase	7s 6d	063/404
1755	Table made for the Company	Wage	15s	063/404
1766	Windsor chair made on the island, each	Wage	5s	078/334
1768	Mahogany tea table for the council	Purchase	£4 5s	083/254
1768	Bedstead	Auction	£1 13s	083/222-226
1768	Bureau	Auction	6s	083/222-226]]
*Prices are as stated in each source. Valuations were made by appraisers for division of an estate; auction and outcry prices were what buyers paid; wage entries are the price paid to the maker

Company Furniture at the Castle and Plantation House

The Company furnished its two great houses and charged its governors with the goods. Detailed inventories were taken at the Castle and Plantation House on 29 May 1741 and again on 4 May 1742.³³¹⁶ The Castle had cane, matted, leather and elbow chairs, a couch and "china chairs".³³¹⁷ It had two clocks and a hanging glass.³³¹⁸ Plantation House in 1742 had wainscot and chamber tables, 11 cane chairs, matted chairs, a large easy chair and a settee.³³¹⁹

The supply of this furniture lay open to fraud. An inquiry into Governor Duke Crispe found he had charged the Company £99 10s for furniture "at an immoderate rate".³³²⁰ The furniture had been used in his own private house and never reached the Castle or Plantation House.³³²¹ He was ordered to repay the sum.³³²² In May 1742 the council charged Crisp £9 9s 10d "for household furniture charged but not delivered".³³²³ It charged a further £83 10s 1d for a deficiency in household goods.³³²⁴ Crisp replied that he had supplied furniture for the Castle and the country house "as his predecessors had done before him".³³²⁵ His own furniture was then seized and valued: bed curtains at £2 5s, four chairs at £2, the looking glass and the sconces.³³²⁶

A second case came under Lieutenant Governor John Adamson. In December 1759 the Directors condemned "his offensive embezzlement and sale of some furniture and old iron, the Company's property".³³²⁷ No account had been kept of the furniture placed in his charge.³³²⁸ The Directors ordered that every holder of Company goods should sign "inventories signed by both parties and held by each".³³²⁹ Adamson had also left night bolts for chamber doors and pewter inkstands with his attorneys to be sold as his own.³³³⁰ In December 1760 the Court allowed £120 19s 8d of household furniture, books and boats to be written off.³³³¹ Such goods, it agreed, "must from their nature be subject to decay and breakage".³³³²

The Castle's furniture was kept up with oil and small repairs. In January 1757 38 gallons of linseed oil were used "to rub tables, chairs and doors in the Castle".³³³³ Sweet oil was issued for "dressing tables and chairs in the Castle" in April 1760.³³³⁴ Eight double deals were issued for an arms chest and bedsteads for the Castle in September 1767.³³³⁵ Nine more made beds for the Castle in June of that year.³³³⁶

Governor John Skottowe furnished his own rooms at the Castle in the 1760s. In June 1767 he told the Directors that he had bought furniture out of his own pocket.³³³⁷ He had charged the Company only for 20 deal chairs, made to "replace some old leather-bottomed chairs taken from the Castle hall and moved into the new dining room upstairs".³³³⁸ These were probably Chamberlain's 20 Windsor chairs of November 1766.³³³⁹ Small upkeep went on meanwhile. In 1770 and 1771 the store issued brushes for the Castle's mahogany tables, serge to cover its tables and brass nails for its chairs.³³⁴⁰ By May 1771 the council reported that "the furniture in the Castle was extremely old and poor, and there was very little of it".³³⁴¹ The Governor added chairs, tables and looking glasses to the order for England.³³⁴² In January 1772 the Directors replied that the indent "for furniture for the castle and plantation house was completed".³³⁴³

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that furniture on St Helena was drawn from three sources at once. English chairs, glasses and clocks came in the Company's ships. Teak chests, lacquered tables, chintz bed furniture and a Chinese escritoire came from the East. Island chairs, chests of drawers, tables and cots were made locally whenever deals or Riga timber could be spared. The Boston chair in Goodwin's house added a fourth, Atlantic source, though only once.

The furniture of the richest houses was probably bought chiefly from ships' officers and private trade rather than the Company's store. The store sold the fittings for furniture, such as chair nails, bed screws and drawer locks, but seldom the furniture itself. The council's own purchases came from Captain Oliver and Captain Mears. The pattern suggested a market in which a planter furnished a parlour from passing ships and had it mended by island craftsmen.

The prices showed a very wide gap between households. A walnut escritoire at £13 cost more than a soldier's entire possessions. A soldier's looking glass sold for 3d. The chest was the common ground of all classes. For soldiers, slaves and servants it served as wardrobe, strongbox and the whole of their furniture. Its lock marked the one space a slave or soldier could call his own, and the court records show how often that space was forced.

The Company's furniture in its great houses probably decayed faster than it was replaced. The write-offs, the oiling, the mending of chairs and the report of 1771 together suggested a steady wearing out. Governors filled the gap with their own goods. That habit made it hard to separate the Company's furniture from a governor's, and the cases of Crispe and Adamson grew from that confusion.

Comparisons

In England the period saw a rapid spread of new furniture among middling households. Lorna Weatherill found looking glasses and clocks rising steadily in inventories between 1675 and 1725, led by London and the larger towns.³³⁴⁴ The St Helena evidence fits that timing, with glasses first refused in 1713 and plentiful by 1741. Mark Overton and his colleagues traced the same arrival of chests of drawers, tea tables and cane chairs in Kent and Cornwall.³³⁴⁵ Matthew Johnson linked such goods to the division of houses into parlours and chambers.³³⁴⁶

In colonial America the tea table, the card table and the looking glass marked the arrival of gentility after 1700. Richard Bushman described the parlour furnished for tea and cards as the setting of the new refined manners.³³⁴⁷ Thomas Free's five tea tables of 1720 and the Goodwin card table of 1742 belonged to the same culture. Abbott Lowell Cummings showed how sparsely the early framed houses of New England were furnished before 1725.³³⁴⁸ The St Helena houses of the 1690s, with a table, a chest and one or two bedsteads, looked much the same.

Bermuda offers the nearest island comparison. Michael Jarvis described a maritime society that built its ships and much else from its own cedar.³³⁴⁹ St Helena had no such timber, so its joiners depended on imported deals. At the Cape the VOC inventories show a similar mixture of Dutch, Asian and locally made furniture in houses of the early eighteenth century.³³⁵⁰ Nigel Worden described Cape slaves housed in kitchens and outbuildings with few possessions of their own.³³⁵¹

In Company India the British furnished their houses with teak, rattan and lacquer made by local craftsmen. P. J. Marshall described the large sums Company servants in Bengal spent on furniture and plate as signs of rank.³³⁵² The rattan chairs of 1711, the teak chests and the "china lacquered" tables of St Helena came from that world. The island's furniture thus stood between England and India, much as its ships did.

15. Bedding, Linen, Curtains and Laundry

Textiles were the softest, most portable and most perishable part of a St Helena household. Almost all of them came by sea, from England or from the Company's settlements in India. Beds were the most valued single goods in most estates, and wills named them before almost anything else. Blankets, ticking and table linen passed through the Company's store in large numbers from the 1740s. Washing and ironing were paid labour, done by women in yards, at springs and in a few wash houses.

Beds and Bed Furniture before 1740

The first bedding on record came out from England. In March 1678 the Johanna carried 50 sets of beds, pillows and rugs at 11s the set, packed in three cases.³³⁵³ Bedding was then priced as a set rather than piece by piece.

Mary Charleworth's share of her father's estate, valued in November 1693, gives the earliest priced bed on the island.³³⁵⁴ Her feather bed and bolster were valued at £3, a quilt at £1 and two feather pillows at 8s.³³⁵⁵ A set of bed curtains with valances was worth £2 15s, far more than the bedstead at 10s.³³⁵⁶ She also had two "bungany" sheets at £1 2s and a carpet at 5s with its own case at 3s.³³⁵⁷

Wills of the 1690s and 1700s named beds ahead of most other goods. Mary Dixon left her daughter Sarah Clifton a feather bed with its bedstead, a quilt, three pillows and a pair of sheets.³³⁵⁸ Her daughter Anne Gurling received an Indian bedstead with its curtains and valance.³³⁵⁹ In October 1699 Katherine Fensdale left her daughter Mary Foster a feather bed, bolster, bedstead and quilt with all the table and other linen.³³⁶⁰ In February 1703 Michael Morris, a free planter, left his daughter Rebecca Gurling a feather bed with bedstead and furniture.³³⁶¹ A younger daughter's portion was payable at 18 or on marriage.³³⁶² It included a cot and bed with a bolster, pillow, sheet and quilt.³³⁶³ In July 1719 Mary Sich left her granddaughter Mary Bright a feather bed at the fort with all its furnishings.³³⁶⁴

Linen was lent between households and reclaimed from estates. In 1704 George and Mary Hoskison recovered a pair of sheets and pillowcases they had lent to a captain who had since died.³³⁶⁵ Bedding was also at risk from carelessness. In about 1702 Thomas Dixon's bedding caught fire in the sergeant's room while others drank punch and smoked tobacco there.³³⁶⁶ Rypon Wills, who had allowed the drinking, paid Dixon 20s for the loss and a separate fine of 10s.³³⁶⁷ In January 1735 five drunken seamen at a tavern threw the bed and bedding out of an upstairs window and pulled the bedstead apart.³³⁶⁸

The Company's house at the plantation set the upper standard. Its inventory of 10 July 1711 listed two feather beds with bolsters and pillows, a bedstead with curtains and a Turkey carpet.³³⁶⁹ A second inventory in April 1715 listed bedsteads, a cott and a feather bed and bolster under the heading of upholstery ware.³³⁷⁰ A modest household looked very different. The debts claimed against the late William French in July 1711 included one flock bed at 9s 6d.³³⁷¹

Thomas Free's inventory of 4 May 1720 marked a new richness.³³⁷² It valued a corded wool bed and bolster at £4 and two feather beds with pillows and a carpet at £4 10s.³³⁷³ It also named a palampore, a painted Indian bed cover.³³⁷⁴ Sheets, tablecloths, napkins and towels were listed with it.³³⁷⁵ At the sale of his effects on 2 November 1721 John Bagley junior paid £13 for one lot.³³⁷⁶ It held a large chest, a feather bed with bolster and pillows, an old quilt and a set of china curtains.³³⁷⁷ A china counterpane was sold separately.³³⁷⁸ By September 1739 a probate inventory valued old bedding with mosquito curtains at £8.³³⁷⁹

Feather Beds, Quilts and Palampores at Mid-Century

The estate of Governor John Goodwin, inventoried in 1741, was the richest in soft furnishings of the whole period.³³⁸⁰ It held about a dozen sets of bed and window curtains, each named by its fabric.³³⁸¹ They were of ordinary and fine Madras chintz, sea-sucker, a china pattern, Bengal taffety and blue gauze.³³⁸² His household linen was listed by fabric as huckaback, diaper, damask, long cloth and gingham.³³⁸³ By use it ran to tablecloths, sideboard cloths and napkins, with towels, sheets and pillowcases.³³⁸⁴

The sale of Goodwin's goods in August 1742 put prices on this bedding. Frances Wrangham senior paid the highest sum, as the sale book recorded: "1 feather bed and fine chintz furniture, purchased by Frances Wrangham senior, £13 15s 0d".³³⁸⁵ Other complete beds with bedstead, curtains, bolster and quilt fetched between £4 and £9 1s.³³⁸⁶ Sheets of diaper, long cloth and gingham were sold with pillowcases and a stitched counterpane.³³⁸⁷ Thomas Easthope bought two sets of bed curtains for 11s.³³⁸⁸ The lumber yielded four glass cots with bedding at 11s 1d to £1 6s 6d.³³⁸⁹ Eight more beds with bolsters, pillows, quilts or curtains went at £2 1s to £3 16s.³³⁹⁰ One entry read "1 glass cot, bed, bolster and quilt, purchased by Edward Bates, £1 6s 1d".³³⁹¹

Lesser estates of the same years show the same goods on a smaller scale. A pair of bed curtains among Crisp's seized furniture was valued at £2 5s in May 1742.³³⁹² The Nichols inventory of September 1742 listed seven old coarse and nine dressed sheets and three English damask curtains.³³⁹³ It also named a palampore and quilts, a set of mosquito curtains and "1 hammock, 1 small bed and three pillows".³³⁹⁴ Thomas Bapek's outcry in October 1742 included mosquito curtains, a large palampore, a quilt, sheets and pillowcases.³³⁹⁵ One lot went as "1 hammock, feather bed and 3 pillows, Mr Barton".³³⁹⁶ Robert Wright left a small stock bed and white quilt with a bedstead.³³⁹⁷

Jonathan Doveton's estate of 1744 ran to 15 feather beds and bedsteads.³³⁹⁸ It also held chintz and soosey quilts, damask napkins and doosooty sheets.³³⁹⁹ William Coles, a councillor from Bencoolen who died on the island, left remnants of chintz and taffety, sold at auction in 1744.³⁴⁰⁰

Richard Gawling's inventory of September 1754 valued his house furniture at £78 10s.³⁴⁰¹ It included four feather beds with curtains, rails and bedsteads, a mattress, blankets and sheets.³⁴⁰² One bed was entered as "1 feather bed, 2 pillows, 1 under bed, 1 quilt, 1 bolster, curtains, rail and bedstead, £5 10s 0d".³⁴⁰³ At the auction Thomas Evans and Erasmus Rowling bought furnished feather beds at £5 12s and £5 4s.³⁴⁰⁴ A complete bed of this kind thus held its value at about £5 across the middle of the century.

Poorer men's beds were worth a fraction of this. Thomas Jones, a tailor, left "1 bed, blanket, quilt, pillow and bolster, £1 8s 0d" in November 1754.³⁴⁰⁵ In June 1755 the effects of Thomas Cheesborough, probably a carpenter's mate, were sold.³⁴⁰⁶ One lot was "1 flock bed, blanket and hammock, Stephen Young, £0 2s 6d".³⁴⁰⁷ The soldier Samuel Powell left a pillow, a quilt and a hammock in 1757.³⁴⁰⁸ The gardener James Gordon's chest held two pairs of checked sheets with pillowcases in August 1769.³⁴⁰⁹ One was sold as "1 pair of checked sheets and a pillowcase, £0 7s 6d".³⁴¹⁰

Wills kept the bed at the head of a widow's or daughter's share. William Harrold gave his wife for her lifetime the choice of a feather bed and its furniture.³⁴¹¹ James Powell left his daughter Margaret a complete bed and furniture.³⁴¹² In September 1754 John Bagley allowed his widow Deborah "to take whichever feather bed she thought proper".³⁴¹³ His daughters Ann Peache and Margaret Alexander each had a feather bed.³⁴¹⁴ In May 1756 William Burnham, an invalid sergeant, gave his son Thomas "one small feather bed and quilt with the bedstead, over and above his equal share".³⁴¹⁵ In June 1760 William Duffin freed his slave Anne with "all her wearing apparel, a small bed and two pillows".³⁴¹⁶ In October 1766 Thomas Greentree left his widow "a feather bed with whatever bedding and hangings she chose".³⁴¹⁷ He also left two nieces, Ann Burdett and Temperance Swailes, "£30 0s 0d each to buy linen".³⁴¹⁸

Indian bed covers came in large numbers. In May 1740 the council ordered from Bombay "a hundred good sweet quilts" for the coming year.³⁴¹⁹ In July 1757 Bombay sent 44 quilts meant for the factory at Tellicherry, which were landed at St Helena in error.³⁴²⁰ The store held 376 palampores in six price grades in November 1742, worth £120 14s 4½d in all.³⁴²¹ The commonest grade was entered as "169 pallampores at 4s".³⁴²² Two were sold that year at 6s each.³⁴²³ By 1753 a palampore cost the Company's servants 13s 4d, and 67 remained in store valued at £48 1s 7d.³⁴²⁴ Palampores also turned up among stolen goods, in a passenger's bag in December 1759 and in Whitchurch's shop in October 1769.³⁴²⁵

Blankets, Ticking and Mattresses from the Store

Blankets were the commonest bedding in the Company's accounts. They spoiled easily in store. In February 1725 Captain Goodwin reported that a parcel of blankets had been much damaged by moth.³⁴²⁶ Nobody would buy them at the settled price, so he proposed selling them cheaper to the inhabitants for their slaves.³⁴²⁷ The store inventory of November 1742 counted "5 blankets, good, and 16 blankets moth eaten".³⁴²⁸ Another 19 blankets were among the damaged goods sent to public sale in February 1743.³⁴²⁹

From 1753 the quarterly sales show blankets sold at different prices to different classes of buyer. The Company's servants paid 10 per cent above cost, planters 25 or 40 per cent and others 40 per cent or more.³⁴³⁰ The Company charged its own departments, the garrison and its slaves at about cost. The table gives stated quantities and sums from these accounts.

Table 19. Blankets sold or issued from the Company's store, 1742-1771
Year	Buyer or use	Quantity	Stated sum	Each	Source
1742	Sale, buyer not stated	4	£1 16s	9s	047/83
1753	Dutch gentleman at 50 per cent	5	£2 12s 6d	10s 6d	062/18
1754	Company servants	18	£4 13s	5s 2d	063/112-113
1754	Buyers at 40 per cent	8	£2 13s 4d	6s 8d	063/217
1754	Company slaves	20	£4 13s 4d	4s 8d	063/222
1756	Garrison	185	£44 14s 2d	4s 10d	066/342-343
1759	Company servants	11	£3 0s 6d	5s 6d	069/166-172
1759	Buyers at 40 per cent	12	£4 2s	6s 10d	069/174-178
1763	Garrison	252	£63	5s	071/404-405
1763	Planters at 40 per cent	8	£2 16s	7s	075/71-72
1769	Company servants, fine	12	£6 19s	11s 7d	084/179
1769	Company servants, ordinary	12	£3 15s	6s 3d	084/179
1769	Planters at 40 per cent, fine	11	£8 3s 2d	14s 10d	084/365
1769	Castle, fine	12	£6 6s	10s 6d	084/200
1769	Company slaves, ordinary	168	£47 12s	5s 8d	084/378-380
1769	Company servants, fine	11	£6 7s 3d	11s 7d	085/10
1769	Planters at 40 per cent, fine	4	£2 19s 4d	14s 10d	085/21
1770	Company servants, ordinary	9	£2 17s 9d	6s 5d	085/301
1770	Garrison, ordinary	101	£29 9s 2d	5s 10d	085/317
1770	Company slaves, ordinary	51	£14 17s 6d	5s 10d	085/319-320
1770	Hospital, ordinary	12	£3 10s	5s 10d	085/323
1770	Castle, fine	6	£3 13s 6d	12s 3d	085/419-420
1770	Garrison companies, ordinary	204	£39 10s	3s 10½d	085/422-423
1771	Company servants	10	£3 4s 2d	6s 5d	086/142
1771	Garrison recruits	128	£38 18s 8d	6s 1d	086/312
1771	Company slaves	27	£8 4s 3d	6s 1d	086/314-315

The price each is the stated sum divided by the stated quantity, rounded to the nearest penny or halfpenny. The 1742 sum is entered as four at 9s each. The accounts of 1771 no longer name the grade.

The price of an ordinary blanket stayed between about 4s 8d and 7s for most of the 1750s and 1760s. It held within that band in 1770 and 1771. The gap between buyers was set by the store's advance, not by the blanket. In 1769 the store began to separate fine blankets from ordinary ones.³⁴³¹ A fine blanket then cost a servant almost twice as much as an ordinary one.³⁴³² In September 1769 the store still held 54 fine blankets valued at £28 7s.³⁴³³

The two grades were kept apart through 1770. In December 1769 servants bought 11 fine blankets, entered as "11 fine blankets, £6 7s 3d".³⁴³⁴ Planters at 25 per cent paid £3 13s 9d for six that quarter.³⁴³⁵ The garrison, the slaves and the hospital all had ordinary blankets at 5s 10d in June 1770.³⁴³⁶ A servant paid 6s 5d for the same blanket.³⁴³⁷ The 204 ordinary blankets for the companies in September 1770 came to only 3s 10½d each.³⁴³⁸ The store inventory of that month opened with 199 ordinary blankets at £58 0s 10d and two damaged fine ones.³⁴³⁹ Two fine blankets fetched 16s at the auction of damaged goods in December 1770.³⁴⁴⁰ From December 1770 the sales entered blankets without a grade.³⁴⁴¹ In 1771 servants paid 6s 5d each and the garrison and slaves 6s 1d.³⁴⁴²

Blankets still spoiled on the voyage. In June 1770 three blankets from the British King were found rotten.³⁴⁴³ Seven from the Harcourt were spoiled by wet.³⁴⁴⁴ The Malays held by the Company were supplied as a separate household. They had a fine blanket in December 1769 and two more in September 1770.³⁴⁴⁵

Most blankets went to the garrison. In June 1763, as the June rains set in, the council ordered blankets for almost the whole garrison.³⁴⁴⁶ The order read "The garrison needed 251 blankets".³⁴⁴⁷ The 252 then drawn were marked as Company property with "7½ pounds of Venetian red ready mixed for marking blankets".³⁴⁴⁸ In January 1760 the council replaced 112 blankets that were worn out and unserviceable.³⁴⁴⁹ The Court approved such issues but asked for thrift.³⁴⁵⁰ In August 1758 the council ordered 120 blankets from store for the recruits of the Prince Henry.³⁴⁵¹ In July 1759 French prisoners landed from the Worcester had nothing to cover themselves with.³⁴⁵² The council "ordered each of them a blanket".³⁴⁵³ A blanket was worth stealing. In April 1759 Neptune, a slave of Thomas Greentree, was ordered 100 lashes for stealing one of the soldiers' blankets.³⁴⁵⁴

The garrison's issues continued on the same scale in 1770 and 1771. In March 1770 recruits received eight fine blankets for £4 4s with their clothing.³⁴⁵⁵ With the annual clothing of June 1770 the garrison drew two fine and 101 ordinary blankets.³⁴⁵⁶ These were marked with chocolate paint, white lead and verdigris.³⁴⁵⁷ The 204 blankets issued in September 1770 were marked with linseed oil and paint.³⁴⁵⁸ In June 1771 the garrison drew "Blankets for recruits, 128, £38 18s 8d".³⁴⁵⁹ Deserters who robbed the artillery barracks in July 1770 took a blanket with their muskets and salt meat.³⁴⁶⁰ During the store robbery of 1771 the Castle guard slept in the guardroom and under the archway on their blankets.³⁴⁶¹

Ticking for bed cases came from England by the piece. In October 1755 the store held five pieces of fine ticking and one of coarse.³⁴⁶² In January 1754 a servant bought a ready bed tick, entered as "Ticking, 1 pair, £1 10s 10d".³⁴⁶³ By September 1763 the store held 364⅞ yards of ticking for mattresses and pillows.³⁴⁶⁴ It was valued as "364⅞ yards of ticking, £44 0s 6d".³⁴⁶⁵ Servants bought 35¾ yards that quarter for £4 15s 4d, or 2s 8d a yard.³⁴⁶⁶ By March 1769 a single yard cost a servant 3s 6d.³⁴⁶⁷ The price eased a little in 1770. Servants bought "Ticking, 30¾ yards, £5 5s 7d" in March 1770, about 3s 5¼d a yard.³⁴⁶⁸ The Castle took 15 yards at £2 6s 11d in September 1770 and the Malays six yards for 18s 9d.³⁴⁶⁹ By then the store held only 2½ yards.³⁴⁷⁰ In April 1760 three pieces of ticking damaged on the Triton were charged to her captain.³⁴⁷¹

Mattress making was a trade on the island. In January 1757 Timothy Wilson left "John Shirtley, mattress-maker, all his wearing apparel, both linen and woollen".³⁴⁷² Joseph Drite, also a mattress maker, died on 19 July 1757.³⁴⁷³ In 1759 Mary Dowton was paid £3 in an entry that seems to include six mattresses.³⁴⁷⁴

Other bed cloths came through the same store. In June 1762 servants bought 143 sentinels' sheets for £36 5s 10d.³⁴⁷⁵ In December 1765 they bought a pair of brown holland sheets and "2 pairs of Irish linen sheets, £3 11s 2d".³⁴⁷⁶ In September 1765 the store held 600 yards of ticklenburg, a coarse linen used for bedding and slave clothing.³⁴⁷⁷ The Company also wrote off its own worn bedding. Two feather beds and a bolster of the Company's house furniture were struck off in October 1753.³⁴⁷⁸ Two more feather beds used in the Governor's household were written off in September 1763 as "worn out and beyond use".³⁴⁷⁹ Sheeting came increasingly from Madras. In June 1771 the Vansittart brought 30 pieces of superfine long cloth at 13⅕ pagodas and 15 of fine at 6⅗ pagodas.³⁴⁸⁰ All of it had been washed before packing, for the island's shirting and sheeting.³⁴⁸¹

Cots, Hammocks and the Bedding of Soldiers, Patients and Slaves

Soldiers slept on cots of canvas slung on wooden frames. In November 1758 the council was "short of cots for the last batch of recruits" and found many old ones in need of repair.³⁴⁸² It ordered 71 double deals with 330 yards of English canvas and 198 yards of osnaburg to make them.³⁴⁸³ In September 1762 "many of the soldiers cots wanted canvas to new bottom them".³⁴⁸⁴ The soldier Baron Delof was paid 13s 2d "for sewing 79 canvas beds".³⁴⁸⁵ In 1767 William French was paid for "making sacking for 165 cots for the garrison at 3¾d each".³⁴⁸⁶ A soldier named Patrick Riley was paid £3 in 1762 for bedding he should have received on embarking at Gravesend.³⁴⁸⁷

Cot making grew into a regular charge in 1770. In December 1769 William French was paid "for making 63 sackings for the garrison's cots, £1 1s 3d", about 4d each.³⁴⁸⁸ The artillery entered a pound of "Felt for sewing the sacking of the cots" in March 1770.³⁴⁸⁹ That quarter the store issued 62 single and 25 double deals with 11 baulks for cots, coffins and bedsteads.³⁴⁹⁰ Four pieces of canvas for cots cost £11 1s 6d.³⁴⁹¹ Making cots took 68 carpenters' days at 1s 6d in the June quarter of 1770, with smiths, sailmakers and sawyers.³⁴⁹² In December 1770 smiths spent 73¾ days and carpenters 24 days on cots for the garrison.³⁴⁹³ Deals, English canvas and twine went to repairing soldiers' cots at the same time.³⁴⁹⁴ Guard beds were made too. In June 1770 the store issued "Double deals for making guard beds and coffins, 30, £5 1s 10½d".³⁴⁹⁵

Barrack rooms were crowded. Evidence in January 1763 described cots two and a half feet apart, often with two men to a cot.³⁴⁹⁶ A witness spoke of men "With seven or eight men sleeping in the same barrack".³⁴⁹⁷ Men shared cots three or four times, according to witnesses in a case of October 1765.³⁴⁹⁸ In October 1770 a soldier described how "his own cot was beneath the window and the prisoners' cot faced it".³⁴⁹⁹

The hospital was furnished on a larger scale in the 1760s. In September 1742 its steward was made responsible for quilted banyans, caps, sheets and cots.³⁵⁰⁰ In May 1765 the council issued 30 blankets and cloth for sheets for the hospital.³⁵⁰¹ It also gave osnaburg for 30 mattresses and pillows, to be filled with wool from the Company's sheep.³⁵⁰² The hospital drew 165 yards of osnaburg and 92 of English canvas for mattresses that quarter.³⁵⁰³ In March 1766 it made more mattresses from "49 yards of Osnaburg canvas for making mattresses, £1 18s 9d".³⁵⁰⁴ Samuel Kitson was paid 1s 6d a day for 13 days carding wool for the hospital mattresses.³⁵⁰⁵ In March 1769 Samuel Shilton was paid the same rate "for carding wool for the Castle, 23 days at 1s 6d a day".³⁵⁰⁶ The Castle had its own pair of wool cards in June 1770.³⁵⁰⁷ That month the hospital drew 12 ordinary blankets, 12 yards of flannel and 30 yards of canvas.³⁵⁰⁸ In March 1771 it had "English canvas for cots, 60 yards, £3 18s 9d" with twine.³⁵⁰⁹

The Company's slaves received blankets every quarter, usually at the lowest price in the accounts. In October 1754 they had 20 blankets for £4 13s 4d.³⁵¹⁰ In July 1756 the issue was recorded as "Blankets, 73: £12 12s 10d".³⁵¹¹ In September 1765 the slaves' account received 130 blankets at £35 15s.³⁵¹² Between July and September 1769 the slaves had 168 ordinary blankets for £47 12s.³⁵¹³ They received 51 ordinary blankets in June 1770 and 27 with their annual clothing in June 1771.³⁵¹⁴ In September 1770 the slaves' account carried canvas for a cot for one slave.³⁵¹⁵ Half a piece of long cloth was issued for women lying in during 1770 and again in 1771.³⁵¹⁶ In June 1765 the store issued "19 single deals to build a sleeping platform for the new slaves and to make a coffin, £2 11s 11d".³⁵¹⁷ In November 1764 the Court sent blankets from England for slaves bought on the Guinea coast.³⁵¹⁸

Planters' slaves slept wherever room could be found. At Henry Easthope's house in 1760 a slave woman shared the widow Mary Herbert's bed and a slave girl slept in her room.³⁵¹⁹ A witness "went down into the kitchen where the blacks lay".³⁵²⁰ In January 1765 the slave Pat was found dead on a bed covered with a blanket.³⁵²¹ In 1772 the constable found a boy's bed with a blue cover, a blanket and a sheet in the slave Cato's chest.³⁵²²

Table Linen and the Castle

The Company's own table was the largest user of linen on the island. In December 1742 the store issued "2 yards of blue at 16s to cover the Company's table".³⁵²³ In January 1753 two pieces of double dowlas went to the Castle for table linen.³⁵²⁴ In October 1755 the Court judged that table linen could be had more cheaply from Madras than from England.³⁵²⁵ In May 1756 the council ordered tablecloths 7 yards by 2½ and 4 yards by 2½ from Fort St George.³⁵²⁶ It also asked for "one dozen napkins of a larger size to lay upon the tablecloths".³⁵²⁷ The Madras linen never came. In January 1759 the Court shipped the whole requisition from England instead.³⁵²⁸ The council acknowledged its arrival in August 1759.³⁵²⁹

Linen wore out at the Castle table quickly. In October 1759 the council wrote off large tablecloths at £15 16s 10d and small ones at £5 1s 11d.³⁵³⁰ Nine dozen diaper napkins at £11 1s 5d went with them.³⁵³¹ Six diaper tablecloths and seven damask napkins were written off in September 1763.³⁵³² In March 1765 the store issued "Whited-brown thread for mending table linen at the Castle, 1 lb, £0 6s 2d".³⁵³³ In March 1766 the council wanted "enough fine diaper from Cuddalore to make two dozen tablecloths and 12 dozen napkins".³⁵³⁴ The bale that came on the Hector in February 1768 held "8 tablecloths 4 yards long by 3 yards wide at 8 pagodas each".³⁵³⁵ These 24 tablecloths and their napkins went to the Castle at £34 16s.³⁵³⁶ By 1771 the Castle was buying table linen on the island. In March 1771 it paid £15 "for 2 tablecloths, 2 overlays and 24 napkins".³⁵³⁷ Four more tablecloths were bought on 28 March 1771 for £8 8s.³⁵³⁸ In June 1771 six pieces of huckaback for table linen and napkins went to the Castle at £21 9s.³⁵³⁹

Lesser tables had cheaper cloth. In March 1763 the store issued "6 pieces of dosooties for the servants' tablecloths, £2 18s 6d".³⁵⁴⁰ Two pieces of long cloth went for the Company's table at the same time.³⁵⁴¹ Green broadcloth covered the council table, issued again in 1757, 1766 and 1768.³⁵⁴² In June 1771 the store issued "Green serge for covering tables in the Castle, 2½ yards, £0 11s 9d".³⁵⁴³ Chelloes, dosooties and long cloth were cut into rubbers and cleaning cloths for the Castle.³⁵⁴⁴

Private table linen was valued and bequeathed with care. Goodwin's table cloths and napkins of diaper, huckaback, damask and long cloth were sold in small lots in August 1742.³⁵⁴⁵ Gawling had damask and calico tablecloths and napkins in 1754.³⁵⁴⁶ Lieutenant Thomas Easthope's will of 1751 left his daughter Mary "one large tablecloth, 18 napkins and one small tablecloth".³⁵⁴⁷ A tablecloth and 12 napkins could be bought from the store for £3 3s 6d in March 1764.³⁵⁴⁸ The tablecloth was entered as "1 tablecloth, £0 19s 6d".³⁵⁴⁹ In September 1769 servants bought 70¾ yards of huckaback for towels.³⁵⁵⁰ Roller towels were also sold.³⁵⁵¹ Servants took 4½ yards of huckaback towelling in December 1769.³⁵⁵² In June 1771 they bought Russia diaper and huckaback for napkins and tablecloths worth £18 15s 1d.³⁵⁵³

The Castle's bedding was also drawn from store. In October 1757 the store issued "Chelloes, 1 piece for covering a bed for the Castle".³⁵⁵⁴ A single deal had gone in April 1754 "for a bed for the lieutenant governor's house".³⁵⁵⁵ Long cloth was issued for sheets for the Lieutenant Governor and the Castle in 1765 and 1766.³⁵⁵⁶ In 1767 the store issued "9 double deals for making beds for the Castle, £1 10s 4d".³⁵⁵⁷ It also gave "32½ yards of English canvas for making mattresses for the Castle, £1 18s 3d".³⁵⁵⁸ In June 1769 the Castle received 12 fine blankets for £6 6s.³⁵⁵⁹ Six more fine blankets and 15 yards of ticking went there in September 1770.³⁵⁶⁰ In December 1770 the Castle drew "Long cloth for sheeting at the Castle, grade T, 2 pieces, £2 18s 6d".³⁵⁶¹ The Castle's chairs were covered in cloth too. In June 1765 the paymaster bought "16 yards of silk for covering chairs in the castle, £5 10s 0d".³⁵⁶² Adam Evans was paid £1 16s for covering and mending two dozen chairs.³⁵⁶³

Window Curtains, Carpets and Blinds

Window curtains came late to St Helena houses. Accounts of night thefts in 1691 and 1704 described windows with bars, rails and shutters but no curtains.³⁵⁶⁴ In the 1720s the planters asked for deals "to make their doors, window shutters and other necessary repairs".³⁵⁶⁵

The earliest window curtain on record was stolen. On a Saturday evening in May 1740 John Mills of the Walpole and William Gray of the Lynn broke open Mrs Vanosten's door.³⁵⁶⁶ Gray came back about midnight and was beaten off at a window with a cane.³⁵⁶⁷ He pulled down a curtain hanging there and took it away.³⁵⁶⁸ Goodwin's estate of 1741 held window curtains among its dozen sets of hangings.³⁵⁶⁹ Plantation House had two sets of chintz curtains and window valances in May 1741.³⁵⁷⁰ At the Goodwin sale Edward Bates bought "1 set window curtains, purchased by Edward Bates, £0 3s 1d".³⁵⁷¹ A fabric was bought in 1753 to curtain the windows of the church.³⁵⁷² Gawling's window curtains were sold by name at his auction in 1754.³⁵⁷³

By the 1760s window curtains were part of a furnished room. In August 1759 Thomas Greentree proved that the curtains for a room of three windows took a whole piece of damask.³⁵⁷⁴ The record stated: "The curtain was part of a set that furnished a room with three windows, the whole taking up a full piece of damask".³⁵⁷⁵ Samuel Bowers, a free black man, was ordered to pay the full value of £4 10s for cutting one curtain.³⁵⁷⁶ In October 1759 the Company wrote off "1 set cherry derry curtains, £1 5s 0d".³⁵⁷⁷ When two slaves broke into Gabriel Isaacke's house in December 1759, the losses included "1 bed and curtains torn".³⁵⁷⁸ The Castle had long cloth for window curtains in December 1764 and June 1765.³⁵⁷⁹ One issue read "½ piece of long cloth, sort K, for window curtains in the castle, £0 9s 11d".³⁵⁸⁰ In December 1768 six pieces of long cloth were issued "for stuffing curtains and for the sideboards at the Castle".³⁵⁸¹ Lieutenant De Laune's sale of October 1768 included gauze curtains, window curtains and palampores.³⁵⁸² In July 1779 the runaway slave Peg was burnt in the hand for taking three chintz window curtains from John Whaley's house.³⁵⁸³

Blinds and awnings kept out the glare at the Castle. In July 1759 the store issued "16 yards osnaburg for bags for the store use and blinds in the castle".³⁵⁸⁴ Canvas was issued for umbrellas, or awnings, for the Castle in 1753, 1756 and 1758.³⁵⁸⁵ In December 1763 the store gave "6½ yards of English canvas for sun awnings for the Castle windows".³⁵⁸⁶ In September 1769 "5¼ yards of coloured shalloon for window blinds at the Castle" were issued.³⁵⁸⁷

Carpets were rare and mostly covered tables rather than floors. Mary Charleworth's carpet of 1693 had its own case.³⁵⁸⁸ William French's small table and carpet together fetched 15s in 1711.³⁵⁸⁹ The Company's plantation house had a Turkey carpet in 1711.³⁵⁹⁰ Free's two feather beds were valued together with a carpet in 1720.³⁵⁹¹ A Turkey carpet from Goodwin's estate sold for £1 6s in August 1742.³⁵⁹² No carpet of any kind appears in the store accounts of 1753-1771.

Washing, Starching and Ironing

The Company's plantation was slow to gain a wash house. In July 1711 the Governor complained that no wash house had even been built there.³⁵⁹³ By 1756 the plantation had one, repaired with "Nails for repairs to the wash house and to the carts in the wood".³⁵⁹⁴ In October 1758 the store issued "½ gallon train for thatching the laundry" with elm plank for repairs of the dairy and laundry.³⁵⁹⁵ Matthew Burling had a wash house in town in 1767, which also served as a store for wine.³⁵⁹⁶

Most washing was done by women for others. When Nichols died in 1742 some of his goods were found at the washerwoman's.³⁵⁹⁷ The inventory added that "The following items were at the washerwoman's and had not been entered in the inventory above".³⁵⁹⁸ In 1742 Crisp claimed 6s a day for his diet, washing, lodging and liquor.³⁵⁹⁹ He noted that "the customary price at the island for diet and lodging was six shillings a day, with every man finding his own liquor".³⁶⁰⁰ In April 1754 iron was issued to make irons for the washerwomen.³⁶⁰¹ Clothes were stolen from Stephen Willoughby's house in October 1753, where they had been left for washing.³⁶⁰² In July 1767 Sarah Lake, who took in soldiers' washing, kept the soldiers' laundry in a chest in her front room.³⁶⁰³

Washing was done outdoors as well as in. In October 1764 a witness "went one evening to the spring where people did their washing".³⁶⁰⁴ In 1773 the slave Judy did the washing inside the back door of Mrs Yates's house.³⁶⁰⁵ In January 1782 the washerwoman Sarah laid out a bundle overnight: "One evening she spread it outside to bleach in the open air".³⁶⁰⁶ The tablecloths stolen from it were known by Mrs Broff's initials and Captain Frazer's name sewn in.³⁶⁰⁷ In January 1778 Lieutenant David Kay lost breeches from a bundle of dirty linen made up for washing.³⁶⁰⁸

Washerwomen knew their customers' linen by its marks. After the store robbery of 1771 the inquiry heard from Sukey, a black woman who washed for Branston and Yates.³⁶⁰⁹ She identified Branston's private mark on the stocking tied round the thieves' crowbar.³⁶¹⁰ Island households also washed for visiting ships. In May 1771 the Europa arrived with measles aboard, a disease unknown on the island.³⁶¹¹ Her people were forbidden "to have any of their linen washed on the island for any reason".³⁶¹²

The government set the price of washing. A notice of July 1764 fixed the most a washer might charge.³⁶¹³ The rates were 6d for a ruffled shirt or shift and 4d for a plain one.³⁶¹⁴ The notice set "Tablecloths and sheets, 3s 0d a dozen" and 2s a dozen for small items.³⁶¹⁵ A later schedule of 1783 priced large and small tablecloths, plain and ruffled sheets and napkins separately.³⁶¹⁶ It also priced pillowcases, shifts, drawers, banyan shirts and children's petticoats.³⁶¹⁷ Laundry was a cost of death too. In October 1768 an estate paid 2s 6d for "Washing the bed and blanket on which he died".³⁶¹⁸

The Castle linen consumed soap, starch and blue every quarter. Typical issues were "Soap, 80 lb, for washing linen" in September 1763 and "100 pounds of soap for washing linen" in September 1768.³⁶¹⁹ In September 1769 the general charges carried 150 lb of soap for washing linen.³⁶²⁰ Poland and common starch were issued "for linen" from 1753.³⁶²¹ In November 1742 the store held "1 hundredweight of starch, good for nothing".³⁶²² Linen was blued with indigo, smalt or Prussian blue.³⁶²³ One issue was "12 pounds of indigo for blueing linen".³⁶²⁴ The Castle's laundry drew 200 lb of soap and 20½ lb of starch in the June quarter of 1770.³⁶²⁵ In 1771 the quarterly issues for laundering linen fell to 85 lb and 90 lb of soap.³⁶²⁶ Servants bought laundry blue in quantity for their own households. They took 40 lb of indigo and 9 lb of smalts in June 1770 and 37 lb of indigo and 29 lb of smalts in March 1771.³⁶²⁷

Ironing needed heavy goods. In January 1753 a servant bought "1 box iron and heaters, £0 11s 9d".³⁶²⁸ By the 1760s a box iron cost a servant 7s 11d and a buyer at 40 per cent 10s 2d.³⁶²⁹ In October 1757 servants bought "2 pairs holy irons, £1 2s 4d".³⁶³⁰ In January 1757 the Castle had "Kersey, 3¾ yards for an ironing cloth".³⁶³¹ In December 1764 it drew "2 blankets, for ironing linen on, £0 11s 10d".³⁶³² In June 1769 the Castle received six large and six small box irons for pressing linen at £4 14s 4d.³⁶³³ Servants bought "Large box irons, 6, £2 19s 3d" in June 1770, or 9s 10½d each.³⁶³⁴ Two more cost them 19s 9d in March 1771.³⁶³⁵ The store still held three large and three small box irons in September 1770.³⁶³⁶ Servants bought laundry baskets, and the Castle had "1 flasket for the Castle" to carry washed linen.³⁶³⁷ Garrison linen was marked with red lead and sugar of lead in June 1765.³⁶³⁸

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the bed remained the chief store of household value throughout the period. A furnished feather bed was valued at about £5 in 1742 and again in 1754. That sum was more than most other single goods in an ordinary estate. Wills treated the bed as a separate legacy, often chosen by the widow herself. The pattern probably reflected both its cost and the long shipping route that made replacement slow.

The sources of bedding and linen appeared to shift over the century. In 1678 beds came as English sets. By the 1720s Indian goods had joined them: palampores, chintz curtains, quilts and long cloth. By mid-century the Company drew table linen from Madras, Cuddalore and England in turn. Its choice was set by price and by which supply actually arrived. The richest households mixed the two sources in a single bedroom.

The late arrival of window curtains was probably real rather than an accident of record. Early accounts of windows spoke of shutters and bars, and curtains first appeared only in 1740. Their spread after that date probably followed the glazing of houses and the cheapening of Indian cotton. Blinds and awnings at the Castle suggested that glare, not cold, was the chief concern.

The store's blanket prices showed a graded market rather than a free one. The same blanket cost a slave's account, a servant and a planter different sums. The difference lay in the advance on cost, not in the cloth. In 1725 moth-eaten blankets were offered cheaply for slaves. The fine and ordinary grades of 1769 likewise suggested a deliberate sorting of quality by the standing of the user. That sorting lasted less than two years, for the accounts of 1771 no longer named the grade.

Washing appeared to be a paid service performed by women, free and slave. Its price was fixed by the government like that of bread or drink. The Castle's large and regular issues of soap, starch and blue suggested a household laundry of some size within the Company's own establishment.

Comparisons

In England the bed and its hangings were usually the most valuable item in a household inventory before 1750.³⁶³⁹ Window curtains spread more slowly than bed curtains, and appeared in a minority of English inventories even in the 1720s.³⁶⁴⁰ St Helena's pattern of beds first and window curtains later matched the English sequence. The island's heavy use of Indian cotton made it unlike most English households of similar rank.

The linen of labouring people in England was often marked, pawned, stolen and laundered by paid washerwomen, much as on St Helena.³⁶⁴¹ The island's maximum washing rates of 1764 had an English parallel in the many local price regulations of the period.

In colonial America the furnished bed was likewise the costliest household good. Curtains and table linen spread as part of a wider refinement of domestic life in the middle decades of the century.³⁶⁴² Bermuda, another small island dependent on shipping, drew its textiles largely through its own seafarers' trade.³⁶⁴³ St Helena depended instead on the Company's ships and store.

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company's settlement also mixed European and Asian textiles. Curtains listed in Cape Town inventories have been used to count the windows of particular rooms.³⁶⁴⁴ Slaves at the Cape commonly slept on mats or platforms with a single blanket, much like the Company's slaves at St Helena.³⁶⁴⁵

In Company India the British households of Madras, Bombay and Calcutta used local chintz, palampores and long cloth as a matter of course.³⁶⁴⁶ St Helena stood between the two worlds. Its beds and blankets were largely English, while its hangings and many of its sheets and table linen came from India.

16. Lighting and Fire-Lighting

Early Supply, 1678-1742

Artificial light reached St Helena with the first regular cargoes of the resettled colony. In March 1678 the Johanna sailed from London with a dozen lanterns and a dozen small lanterns among her tin ware.³⁶⁴⁷ She also carried 2 dozen lamps, each fitted with two brass spouts, priced at 12s the dozen.³⁶⁴⁸ The same consignment brought 58 gallons of lamp oil, packed alongside 100 iron pots and kettles.³⁶⁴⁹ From the start, then, the island burned oil in open spouted lamps as well as candles.

Candles were sometimes bought on the island rather than sent out. A payment of 16d a pound for 265 lb of candles, made in about 1713 or 1714, was questioned by the Directors.³⁶⁵⁰ They held that a timely request would have allowed the candles to be sent from England instead.³⁶⁵¹ English candles, planned for in advance, were thus thought cheaper than a local purchase made in haste.

The Council's long list of "Necessaries Wanting from England" in April 1713 asked for lamps of a new kind. It wanted convex lamps fixed with iron, of the kind then used in the London streets.³⁶⁵² The same letter reported that no clock was yet available for the workmen and that the hour was told by sand glasses.³⁶⁵³ London sent four "Canary lights" that year, to be sold if they were not needed for real use.³⁶⁵⁴ Another supply list of the same years included 6 dozen lamp glasses with a chest of sand-glasses.³⁶⁵⁵

Glimpses of lighting in use survive from the court records. In about 1704 two witnesses watched Thomas Ashley's house in Rupert's Valley by night.³⁶⁵⁶ One looked through the window and saw the candle put out on a couple sitting by the fireside.³⁶⁵⁷ During a night disturbance at the fort in the same years, the servant Mary saw a candle and lantern come out of a room where there had been a scuffle.³⁶⁵⁸ At an inquest of October 1717 the witness felt his way through a dark house to the kitchen. Those who came after him lit a lamp to see by.³⁶⁵⁹

The fullest early account of lighting goods in one house comes from the Company's plantation house. Its moveables were listed on 10 July 1711, when they were taken over from Captain Edward Mashborne.³⁶⁶⁰ The rooms held a globe lanthorn, a brass lamp, two brass candlesticks, a pair of snuffers and 2 pairs of brass sconces.³⁶⁶¹ Private houses of the same date had less. The widow Mary Jewster left her friend Grace Coulson a pair of brass candlesticks in June 1711, with a brass kettle and pewter.³⁶⁶² At the auction of Thomas Free's goods in November 1721 John Swallow bought pewter, a dripping pan and brass candlesticks.³⁶⁶³ A store account of about the same date sold a set of snuffers and stand to the inhabitants among the braziers' ware.³⁶⁶⁴

The papers of Governor John Goodwin, who died in 1741, show how far a rich household could go. His widow Margaret asked to keep candlesticks among the goods she needed while the estate was settled.³⁶⁶⁵ The probate inventory listed sconce glasses, and iron sconces among the kitchen equipment.³⁶⁶⁶ The Plantation House inventories of May 1741 and May 1742 each recorded a sconce glass with the pier and chimney glasses.³⁶⁶⁷ At the Goodwin sale in August 1742 George Gabriel Powell paid £3 5s for "3 large candlesticks and one pair of snuffers".³⁶⁶⁸ James Dubois took nine brass candlesticks for £1 7s and Charles Steward a glass lantern for 10s 6d.³⁶⁶⁹ A silver lamp of 22 oz 12 dwt fetched £6 11s 10d.³⁶⁷⁰ Powell also paid £5 for a pair of sconces.³⁶⁷¹ The furniture seized from Crisp in the same year included "1 pair of Japan copper sconces, £5 5s 0d".³⁶⁷²

Wax Candles from Bengal

By the 1740s most of the island's candles came from India, not England. In May 1740 the Council ordered 20 maunds of wax candles from Fort William. It asked for "twenty maunds of good wax candles of a smaller size than before, five to the pound".³⁶⁷³ The candles for the Company's table were counted by the dozen. The table used 10½ dozen wax candles costing £1 17s in June 1742 and 12½ dozen costing £2 5s in July.³⁶⁷⁴ The August account had 8 dozen for £1 9s.³⁶⁷⁵

The Bengal ships of the 1750s brought candles by the chest. The Wager landed five chests worth 500 rupees in April 1753.³⁶⁷⁶ The Admiral Vernon brought five chests of factory-made candles at 50 rupees a maund in June 1753.³⁶⁷⁷ The Bombay Castle, Chesterfield, Oxford and Godolphin followed within the year.³⁶⁷⁸ The Council soon found it had too many. In April 1753 it told Bengal that the usual five chests were more than the island could use.³⁶⁷⁹ It asked instead for four maunds a ship and "70 of shum cotton for castle wicks".³⁶⁸⁰ A year later it repeated the order: "4 maunds of wax candles, not to exceed that quantity by each ship".³⁶⁸¹ The standing order was fixed at four maunds a ship in April 1755 so that the store would not be overstocked.³⁶⁸²

The quantity ordered then rose again. Two maunds a ship were asked for in May 1756.³⁶⁸³ The figure was six maunds in July 1758.³⁶⁸⁴ In July 1759 the Council feared it had asked for only six hundredweight in all. It now asked that "this quantity be sent by every ship".³⁶⁸⁵ The London, Worcester, Prince George and Bombay Castle each landed 12 chests of wax candles in June and July 1759.³⁶⁸⁶ From 1763 the order settled at eight maunds of good wax candles on each Bengal ship.³⁶⁸⁷ It was renewed in April 1767 and again in April 1769, when the Council asked for "eight maunds of the best wax candles to be sent in each ship".³⁶⁸⁸ The standing indent of April 1771 still asked for "eight maunds of the best wax candles and Madeira wine".³⁶⁸⁹

The ships of 1770 and 1771 kept to that order almost exactly. In 1770 the Ankerwyke, Hampshire, Lioness, Duke of Grafton and Anson each landed four chests of wax candles weighing 8 maunds.³⁶⁹⁰ The Ankerwyke's candles came packed in four mango-wood chests.³⁶⁹¹ The Royal Charlotte brought four chests of "bay candles" of the same weight in April 1770.³⁶⁹² In 1771 the Prince of Wales, Houghton, Duke of Kingston, Europa, Worcester and Lord Mansfield brought the same four chests apiece.³⁶⁹³ One cargo came outside the system. The Britannia, from Madras by way of Mauritius, landed four boxes of candles weighing 5 cwt 1 qr 9 lb in May 1770 with no invoice.³⁶⁹⁴

The price in Bengal climbed over these years. The Admiral Vernon's candles cost 50 rupees a maund in 1753.³⁶⁹⁵ The Dragon charged 65 rupees in November 1754.³⁶⁹⁶ The Montfort brought five chests of white candles weighing 27 cwt 10 lb at 75 rupees a maund in March 1755.³⁶⁹⁷ The Denham's factory-made candles of October 1756 cost 105 rupees a maund.³⁶⁹⁸ The Warwick and Elizabeth charged only 51 rupees in 1758.³⁶⁹⁹ From 1763 the price ran at 61 to 65 rupees.³⁷⁰⁰ The Bute charged 70 rupees in September 1765, and the Grenville and Kent 71 rupees in June 1766.³⁷⁰¹ The Britannia and Nottingham charged 72 rupees in 1767.³⁷⁰² The Admiral Pocock reached 75 rupees in August 1768.³⁷⁰³ The Valentine, Kent, Verelst, Queen and Salisbury all charged 76 rupees in 1769.³⁷⁰⁴ The price eased a little to 75 rupees a maund in 1770 and stayed there through 1771.³⁷⁰⁵ Four chests of eight maunds, 608 rupees, were often the dearest line in a Bengal invoice.³⁷⁰⁶

Quality was a recurring complaint. In January 1759 the Court ordered "wax candles of a better sort than those it had lately received".³⁷⁰⁷ In August of the same year it told its servants in India to send "candles of a better sort than those lately received".³⁷⁰⁸ The Council made the same complaint in May 1768. It wrote that "the candles received for some time past had been extremely poor".³⁷⁰⁹ Two years later the complaint was repeated to Fort William in May 1770: "The candles received for some time had been very poor".³⁷¹⁰ The Council again asked for 8 maunds of the best wax candles in every ship.³⁷¹¹

Candles also suffered on the voyage and in store. Almost every Bengal ship landed its candles short weight, usually by a few pounds.³⁷¹² The pattern held in 1770 and 1771, when most ships were 1 to 6 lb short "through wastage" in sound chests.³⁷¹³ The Worcester's candles were 12 lb short in June 1771 "through drying and similar causes".³⁷¹⁴ The losses were sometimes larger. The Duke of Dorset was 2 maunds 8 seers short in August 1756.³⁷¹⁵ The Warren was "1 hundredweight 10 pounds" short in December 1759.³⁷¹⁶ The Britannia was short 2 cwt 2 qr 17 lb in May 1767.³⁷¹⁷ The Anson was 1 qr 4 lb short in August 1770.³⁷¹⁸ Rats damaged the Godolphin's candles in the store in January 1754.³⁷¹⁹ The storekeeper's waste account of October 1757 wrote off "85 pounds of candles, most of them received this year and being baked and in very bad condition".³⁷²⁰

The Store's Candle Trade and Its Prices

The Company's store sold candles to its servants every quarter at 10 per cent above cost. Planters and other inhabitants paid a higher advance, usually 40 per cent.³⁷²¹ Candles were among the largest non-food items in the servants' accounts. In the quarter to April 1753 the servants bought 651 lb of candles for £51 10s 9d.³⁷²² In the quarter to July they took 680 lb for £53 16s 8d.³⁷²³ Sales reached 500 lb or more in many quarters until 1756.³⁷²⁴ The highest quarter in the run came in July 1756, when the servants took 777 lb.³⁷²⁵

Buying fell away after 1757. The servants took 172 lb in the quarter to October 1757 and 217 lb in the quarter to April 1758.³⁷²⁶ Only 11 lb were sold to them in the quarter to July 1759, when the store was nearly empty.³⁷²⁷ Sales recovered to 314 lb in the quarter to June 1765 and 482 lb in the quarter to September.³⁷²⁸ The quarter to September 1769 was the largest of the 1760s, with 609 lb sold for £73 11s 9d.³⁷²⁹ Sales held up in the next two years. The servants bought 397 lb in the quarter to December 1769 and 250 lb in the quarter to March 1770.³⁷³⁰ They took 340 lb in the quarter to June 1770 and 471 lb in the quarter to September.³⁷³¹ After 277 lb and 365 lb in the following two quarters, sales jumped in the quarter to June 1771.³⁷³² The servants then bought "652 lb, £82 17s 2d", the most in any quarter since 1756.³⁷³³

Planters bought much less. At the 40 per cent rate the store sold 102 lb in the quarter to April 1753 and 82 lb in the quarter to April 1754.³⁷³⁴ Most planters' quarters show 10 to 80 lb.³⁷³⁵ One quarter broke the pattern. In the quarter to September 1766 the planters bought 1,593 lb of candles for £66 7s 6d, at the 10 per cent rate.³⁷³⁶ The servants in the quarter to June 1766 had bought 613 lb for only £17 19s 11d.³⁷³⁷ In the next quarter their purchases fell to 198 lb, as the cheap stock ran short.³⁷³⁸ An old or damaged lot of candles had evidently been cleared at a low price.

The planters' buying stayed small in 1770 and 1771. Buyers at 40 per cent took 82 lb in the quarter to December 1769, 32 lb in the quarter to March 1770 and 85 lb in the quarter to June.³⁷³⁹ In the next two quarters with entries they bought only 2 lb each.³⁷⁴⁰ In the quarter to June 1771 they took 95 lb of candles at what the account called a new 40 per cent rate.³⁷⁴¹ The Court soon gave up the distinction. In January 1772 it ordered the stores sold to all inhabitants "at the rate of ten per cent advance on the invoice".³⁷⁴² The planters, it judged, were few and poor and had drawn very little at the higher rate.³⁷⁴³

The price of a pound of candles can be worked out from most of these entries. Figure 3 sets out every stated price for the years 1753-1771.

Figure 3. The price of candles sold from the Company's store, 1753-1771, in pence a pound. Blue: sales to the Company's servants. Orange: sales to planters and others at the higher advance. The accounts for 1760-1762 are incomplete.

Servants paid about 19d a pound in 1753 and 1754.³⁷⁴⁴ The price rose to 27d in 1756 and to 31d in the first half of 1758.³⁷⁴⁵ It eased to 24d to 26d between 1758 and 1765.³⁷⁴⁶ By 1767-1769 the servants paid 28d to 29d a pound.³⁷⁴⁷ The price reached 2s 6d a pound in 1770 and about 30½d in 1771.³⁷⁴⁸ Buyers at 40 per cent paid about 38½d through 1770.³⁷⁴⁹ At the new rate of June 1771 they paid only about 32d.³⁷⁵⁰ Buyers at the 40 per cent rate paid 24d in 1753, 34½d in 1756 and about 37d by 1757 and 1769.³⁷⁵¹ These were high prices for light. At 29d, a pound of candles cost more than two days' pay for a soldier quarrying limestone at 1s a day.³⁷⁵²

Before the run of Bengal wax, the store's candles cost about the same. In the quarter to June 1742 the inhabitants bought 123 lb of candles at 2s 6d a pound.³⁷⁵³ In the next quarter candles sold at 3s 2d.³⁷⁵⁴ The general table drew 28 lb of candles for £1 17s 9d at the end of 1742.³⁷⁵⁵

The store held large stocks of candles at its yearly stocktakings. Its warehouse inventories give the weight and value of candles in hand in most years.

Table 20. Candles in the Company's store at the yearly stocktaking, 1753-1770
Date	Weight	Value	Source
October 1753	49 cwt 3 qr 14 lb	£407 6s 3d	062/317
October 1754	30 cwt 2 qr 6 lb	£311 6s 3½d	063/243-244
October 1755	40 cwt 2 qr 18 lb	£558 8s 5d	066/180
October 1756	33 cwt 0 qr 19 lb	£383 2s 2d	067/99
October 1757	11 cwt 2 qr 14 lb	£135 12s 6d	067/453
October 1758	not stated	£32 19s 9d	068/310-313
September 1762	8 cwt 2 qr 3 lb	£45 2s 0d	071/158-172
September 1763	21 cwt 3 qr 16 lb	£240 1s 10d	075/108-109
September 1764	23 cwt 1 qr 23 lb	£257 4s 6d	076/63-64
September 1765	25 cwt 3 qr 16 lb	£243 14s 6d	077/161
September 1766	14 cwt 1 qr 0 lb	£163 6s 7d	078/260-261
September 1767	11 cwt 3 qr 8 lb	£140 13s 6d	082/253
September 1768	20 cwt 3 qr 19 lb	not stated	083/318
September 1769	25 cwt 1 qr 11 lb	£319 4s 9d	084/410
September 1770	not stated	£508 8s 2d	085/445

Values are the storekeeper's valuations at cost. The inventory of 1759 recorded only a small quantity of candles.

In October 1753 the candles were the largest item in the stock of India goods.³⁷⁵⁶ The stock of nearly 50 cwt was valued at about 17½d a pound.³⁷⁵⁷ The low stocks of 1757-1762 match the poor sales of those years. Only a small quantity of candles remained in October 1759.³⁷⁵⁸ The yearly waste accounts also wrote off candles lost in weighing out. They included 2 cwt 21 lb in 1754, 23 lb in 1756 and 40½ lb in 1767.³⁷⁵⁹ The stock of September 1770 was the most valuable since 1755, at £508 8s 2d.³⁷⁶⁰ The waste account of October 1770 wrote off 27 lb of candles lost in issue, worth £3 1s 10d.³⁷⁶¹

Oil, Lamps and Lanterns

Oil gave the cheaper light. The store sold train oil, rendered from whales or seals, at about 3s a gallon. In 1742 the garrison was charged for "41 gallons and a half of lamp oil at 3s a gallon".³⁷⁶² The servants paid 3s a gallon in 1753 and about 2s 8d in July 1754, when they bought 13 gallons of train oil for lamps.³⁷⁶³ By 1765 and 1769 they paid about 3s 5d to 3s 6d.³⁷⁶⁴ In 1770 and 1771 the servants paid about 3s 7d a gallon.³⁷⁶⁵ They bought between 20 and 94 gallons a quarter.³⁷⁶⁶ Buyers at 40 per cent paid 3s 10d in 1753 and about 4s 7d in 1770.³⁷⁶⁷ The store kept large stocks, 590 gallons of train oil in 1763, 495 gallons in 1769 and 404 gallons in 1770.³⁷⁶⁸

Other oils were also burned. Whale oil appears by that name in the accounts of 1762.³⁷⁶⁹ The Company bought oil caught at the island too. Benjamin Mason sold 8 gallons of sea cow oil at 3s 6d a gallon in May 1763.³⁷⁷⁰ Richard Goodwin supplied another 8 gallons in the same quarter.³⁷⁷¹ Linseed oil sometimes went to the guards' lamps instead of train oil. In January 1753 the guards drew 18 gallons of train oil and 24¼ gallons of linseed.³⁷⁷² The hospital drew boiled oil for its lamps in 1769.³⁷⁷³ From 1771 the barracks and guards drew linseed oil beside their train oil. They had 56¼ gallons of linseed in the quarter to March 1771 and 34 gallons in the quarter to June.³⁷⁷⁴ Captain Riddell sold the Company 37½ gallons of olive oil from the Admiral Pocock in 1768, with 57½ lb of wax candles.³⁷⁷⁵

The ordinary lamp was a tin lamp, cheap and easily broken. The garrison was charged 9d for a tin lamp in 1742.³⁷⁷⁶ Servants bought 19 lamps in July 1755 and 12 lamps for 11s in June 1769.³⁷⁷⁷ Breakages in transit were common. Nine tin lamps from the Griffin were "bruised and broke to pieces through bad packaging" in February 1756.³⁷⁷⁸ The store held 69 tin lamps in September 1767.³⁷⁷⁹ The price barely moved. Servants paid "Tin lamps, 7, £0 6s 5d" in March 1770, about 11d each.³⁷⁸⁰ By June 1771 the store distinguished small tin lamps from lamps with two spouts. Two small ones cost 1s 10½d and two with spouts 1s 1¼d.³⁷⁸¹ The spouted lamp of the first cargoes of 1678 was thus still on sale nearly a century later.³⁷⁸²

Lanterns carried light through doors and along paths. The store inventory of November 1742 listed 53 lanthorns, of which 14 were good for nothing.³⁷⁸³ It also held 20 dark lanthorns and nine Muscovy lights, glazed with mica.³⁷⁸⁴ There were "6 glass lights to hang up, good, at 10s 3½d" and three on stands, with as many broken.³⁷⁸⁵ The store also held 1,628 lanthorn leaves of horn, at 11s 6d a hundred.³⁷⁸⁶ Six damaged Muscovy lights were auctioned for 18s 5d in March 1755.³⁷⁸⁷

Horn and glass lanterns sold at very different prices. Servants paid 5s 6d for two horn lanterns in October 1754.³⁷⁸⁸ A glass lanthorn cost 10s in April 1756.³⁷⁸⁹ In June 1768 a glass lantern was bought for the Castle at 14s and another for the captain of the day at 12s.³⁷⁹⁰ Two horn lanterns for the main guard cost 7s.³⁷⁹¹ By the 1760s the store offered riveted horn lanterns, small hand lanterns and bell glass lanterns.³⁷⁹² The Castle's "1 iron-framed horn lantern for the Castle, £0 2s 3d" was issued in June 1765.³⁷⁹³ Spare horn leaves kept the lanterns in repair. In 1767 the store issued 12 horn leaves to repair the officers' lanterns.³⁷⁹⁴ The store held 56 lantern horns in September 1770, valued at 10s 6d.³⁷⁹⁵ By 1770 glass lanterns came in two sizes. Servants paid 5s 7d for the first size and 4s 2¾d for the second in March 1770.³⁷⁹⁶ A horn lantern cost them 3s 3½d.³⁷⁹⁷ The hand glass lantern appears in 1771, at 6s 1d to servants.³⁷⁹⁸

Grander lamps hung in the Castle and the better houses. A globe lamp was issued for the Castle for 8s 10d in July 1753.³⁷⁹⁹ A pair of globe lamps went to the Castle for 19s 3d in June 1762.³⁸⁰⁰ Servants could buy a globe lamp for 10s 7½d in 1763 and 10s 7d in 1764 and 1769.³⁸⁰¹ The price fell to 9s 4¾d in December 1770 and 8s 3¼d in June 1771.³⁸⁰² The Castle drew globe lamps in June and September 1770.³⁸⁰³ Globe lamps broke easily at sea. Four from the British King and one from the Harcourt were found broken in June 1770.³⁸⁰⁴ The warehouse held two street lamps in October 1754.³⁸⁰⁵ Two street lamps were issued to the Castle in April 1757.³⁸⁰⁶ The same inventory of 1754 held six mourning lights among the tin ware.³⁸⁰⁷

Lamps lit at night needed a lamplighter. In September 1762 James Calcher was paid 10s for lighting the lamps for the quarter.³⁸⁰⁸ John Catcher had the same 10s in the quarter to December 1762.³⁸⁰⁹ James Culsher was paid 10s for lighting lamps in the quarter to March 1763.³⁸¹⁰ All three men paid for glazing, painting and lamplighting in that account were soldiers.³⁸¹¹

Candlesticks, Snuffers and Ornamental Lights

Candlesticks were sold from the store in brass, pewter, tin and steel. In November 1742 the store held 15 flat candlesticks, four brass candlesticks and 38 pewter candlesticks.³⁸¹² Of the pewter ones, 20 were broken and good for nothing.³⁸¹³ The pewter stock also held 18 snuffers and stands.³⁸¹⁴

The servants could buy a pair of brass candlesticks for 6s 5d in 1753.³⁸¹⁵ In July 1754 they bought "10 pairs brass candlesticks, £3 6s 3d".³⁸¹⁶ In October 1755 nine pairs went in a single quarter.³⁸¹⁷ A pair cost 8s 3d from 1759 to 1764 and about 7s 9d in 1766 and 1767.³⁸¹⁸ Servants paid 9s 9d for a pair in December 1770.³⁸¹⁹ A flat candlestick, for carrying, cost 3s 1d in 1753, 3s 9d in 1767 and 5s 8½d in 1769 and 1770.³⁸²⁰ Outside buyers paid 4s 10d for "1 flat-bottomed candlestick" in December 1767.³⁸²¹ The servants also bought a kettle candlestick in January 1753 and two steel candlesticks in October 1756.³⁸²²

Snuffers trimmed the wicks of tallow and wax candles. Steel snuffers sold to servants for 3s 1d in 1753.³⁸²³ They fell to 2s 5d in 1756 and 1758, then rose to 3s 10d in 1759.³⁸²⁴ Outside buyers paid for "Steel candle snuffers, 1 pair, £0 4s 4d" in September 1765.³⁸²⁵ In the quarter to October 1758 the servants bought 20 pairs of snuffers.³⁸²⁶ A pair of 10-inch steel snuffers was sold in June 1769.³⁸²⁷ Servants paid 3s 8d for a pair in June 1770.³⁸²⁸ Planters bought "spring steel snuffers" for 4s 1d in June 1771.³⁸²⁹

Inventories of the dead show how candlesticks spread through ordinary households. The storekeeper Robert Wright left brass candlesticks with snuffers and stand in 1742.³⁸³⁰ Thomas Bapek's outcry of October 1742 included three snuffers.³⁸³¹ Richard Gawling, a planter, had brass candlesticks among his house furniture in September 1754.³⁸³² At his auction a pair of china marble candlesticks and snuffers sold for 16s.³⁸³³ The tailor Thomas Jones left a pair of candlesticks in November 1754.³⁸³⁴ The carpenter Giles Smith owned a brass tinderbox candlestick and a smaller one at his death in 1752.³⁸³⁵ Samuel Doveton's estate of 1749 held 13 candlesticks, each with its snuffers.³⁸³⁶ The chaplain John Dobie had a tin lamp among the goods sold in 1755.³⁸³⁷

The Castle drew candlesticks of several grades. In July 1754 it was issued three horn lanterns, four lamps and a glass lantern.³⁸³⁸ It had two pairs of round and two flat candlesticks at the same time.³⁸³⁹ Three flat candlesticks and "3 steel snuffers for the Castle" cost 19s 3d in 1767.³⁸⁴⁰ In June 1769 the Castle received "2 plated candlesticks, £0 10s 4d" and six pairs of snuffers.³⁸⁴¹ The Malays kept by the Company were given two plated candlesticks with a tea kettle in the same quarter.³⁸⁴² In December 1769 the Castle received 12 pairs of brass candlesticks at once.³⁸⁴³ Steel snuffers went to the Castle in March and December 1770, and a pair to the secretary's office.³⁸⁴⁴ In June 1771 the Castle drew two hand glass lanterns and a lamp with two spouts.³⁸⁴⁵

Shades and branches marked the best-lit rooms. Candle shades, glass chimneys set over a flame, appear in the store from 1765. Servants bought "2 pairs of candle shades, £1 3s 5d" in June 1765.³⁸⁴⁶ A pair cost planters £1 2s in 1767.³⁸⁴⁷ The Castle drew four bell glass lanterns and four candle shades in June 1766.³⁸⁴⁸ Servants bought two candle shades for 14s 8d in December 1769 and five in June 1771.³⁸⁴⁹ Shades were fragile. One was written off in October 1770 and another arrived broken from the Calcutta in April 1771.³⁸⁵⁰ In December 1765 George Bird supplied six tin candlesticks for the Castle.³⁸⁵¹ He was also paid for "colouring and gilding a sunflower from which to hang a candle branch at the Castle, £1 4s 0d".³⁸⁵² A second sunflower was painted, with flowers for two candle branches.³⁸⁵³

Making Light at Home: Tallow, Wick, Tinder and Fire

Not every household bought its candles ready made. From the 1750s the store sold cotton wick and tallow, the materials for home candle-making. In October 1753 the servants bought 36 lb of tallow for 17s 11d.³⁸⁵⁴ In March 1765 they bought 24 lb of tallow.³⁸⁵⁵ In December 1763 employees bought cotton candlewick for making candles at home.³⁸⁵⁶ In March 1764 the servants paid "1¼ lb of cotton wick, £0 5s 5d".³⁸⁵⁷ Cotton wick was sold almost every quarter after that, up to 14¼ lb at a time.³⁸⁵⁸ Planters bought 4½ lb of cotton wick for candles and lamps in September 1766.³⁸⁵⁹ The store held 97 lb of cotton wick for candle making in that quarter.³⁸⁶⁰ The trade continued into the 1770s. Servants bought tallow worth £8 3s 6d in the quarter to March 1770.³⁸⁶¹ They took 5⅜ lb of cotton wick in June 1770 and 5 lb in September.³⁸⁶² Planters bought 3 lb of wick in June 1771.³⁸⁶³ The store held 46 lb of cotton wick in September 1770.³⁸⁶⁴

Candle moulds made the work easier. Richard Gawling's house furniture included lead candle moulds in 1754.³⁸⁶⁵ The store held "12 candle moulds, £0 19s 5d" of pewter in October 1757.³⁸⁶⁶ In January 1758 the Castle received 12 candle moulds.³⁸⁶⁷ The Castle also drew cotton wick for its own lights.³⁸⁶⁸ In 1754 the Council ordered 20 pieces of cloth for candle wicks from Bengal.³⁸⁶⁹ Candles had uses beyond light. The lime works drew a candle for mending lime bags in 1770.³⁸⁷⁰ In December 1770 the store issued "Candles for wax to mend lime bags, 3 lb, £0 6s 11d".³⁸⁷¹

Tallow candles were burned in private houses as well as wax. When Robert Roberts Budd's house was robbed in 1778, 2 lb of tallow candles went from the pantry.³⁸⁷² When Lieutenant Gosling's town house was broken into in the same year, his wife had left wax and spermaceti candles in the writing desk.³⁸⁷³ The two thefts show the three grades of candle side by side in Jamestown houses.

Kindling a flame needed fire, flint and tinder. The record names tinder boxes only from the 1740s. Robert Wright left a tinder box and candlestick and a tin box with a wax light in 1742.³⁸⁷⁴ The storekeeper's estate sale recorded the same tinder box.³⁸⁷⁵ The store held "4 special tinderboxes, £0 1s 2d" in October 1755.³⁸⁷⁶ John Dobie's effects included a tin tinder box in 1755.³⁸⁷⁷ Bellows blew a fire into life. The store had 12 pairs of bellows good for nothing in 1742, and servants paid 4s 3d for a pair in 1753.³⁸⁷⁸

Before tinder boxes were common, households borrowed fire from their neighbours. In about 1682 the Council found slaves entering houses on slight pretexts. One such pretext was asking for a light for a fire.³⁸⁷⁹ The Council forbade any slave to enter a house without the occupier's express permission.³⁸⁸⁰ In about 1723 the Council named the carrying of live fire as a danger. Several people frequently carried fire from one house to another in the town.³⁸⁸¹ Since the houses were all thatched, a spark blown in windy weather might set a roof alight and ruin many people.³⁸⁸² A burning child's stock thrown onto a thatched house by drunken soldiers in January 1684 showed the risk.³⁸⁸³

A light still had to be fetched in an emergency. In January 1763 Leech opened the back door to call for a light when a slave broke into his bedroom.³⁸⁸⁴ In May 1764 Lieutenant Thomas Leech heard a stone fall down his kitchen chimney. He fetched a light while Martin Newman held the intruder.³⁸⁸⁵ In the Powell household in 1757 the slave Sophia went with a candle to fetch her master's clothes from the bedchamber.³⁸⁸⁶ McNolty lit a candle for Hay at his quarters before barring the shutters.³⁸⁸⁷

Light by Rank and by Night

The Company's store divided light by rank. Candles went to the Castle, the Council and the officials. Oil went to the guards, the barracks, the hospital and the slaves. The Castle and Council took about 200 lb of candles a quarter in 1753 and 482 lb in one quarter of 1769.³⁸⁸⁸ In 1770 the issue ran at 453 to 480 lb a quarter.³⁸⁸⁹ The Castle alone took 302 lb in the quarter to March 1770 and 309 lb in the quarter to June.³⁸⁹⁰ Its share fell to 180 lb and 112 lb in the next two quarters, then rose to 318 lb in June 1771.³⁸⁹¹ The Council's share was a steady 100 to 120 lb, the chaplain's 30 lb and the doctor's shop 25 lb.³⁸⁹² Oil also burned at the head of the settlement. The Castle and the Lieutenant Governor's house drew 10 to 39½ gallons of train oil a quarter in 1770 and 1771.³⁸⁹³ By 1767 each councillor drew 50 lb a quarter.³⁸⁹⁴ The chaplain was allowed 30 lb a quarter in May 1768. His profession "obliged him to spend much of his time reading and writing by candlelight".³⁸⁹⁵ The engineer asked for "an allowance of candles" in September 1771.³⁸⁹⁶ The Court "did not think proper to grant his application".³⁸⁹⁷

Smaller allowances lit particular duties. The doctor's shop drew 4 to 10 lb of candles a quarter.³⁸⁹⁸ The officers of the guard had candles from 1756.³⁸⁹⁹ By 1767 the officers on duty drew 25 to 38 lb a quarter.³⁹⁰⁰ In late 1762 an officer slept at the Castle while the Governor was away. He drew "6¼ lb for the officer of the Main Guard to burn while the Governor was away in the country".³⁹⁰¹ Masons building an oven at the Castle in 1765 had 1 lb.³⁹⁰² Candles lit repairs at the gaol in 1769.³⁹⁰³ The officer at the Sandy Bay works drew 8 to 16 lb a quarter in 1766 and 1767.³⁹⁰⁴ The Company's table used 61 candles in April 1765 and 99 in June.³⁹⁰⁵ It used 90 to 130 lb a month in 1767.³⁹⁰⁶ The officers on duty drew 25 to 44 lb a quarter in 1770 and 1771.³⁹⁰⁷ The Malays kept by the Company had their own allowance of 12 to 20 lb a quarter.³⁹⁰⁸

The guards burned train oil in great quantity. The several guards drew 63¼ gallons in the quarter to October 1753 and 103 gallons in the next quarter.³⁹⁰⁹ They drew 108½ gallons in the quarter to January 1755.³⁹¹⁰ In the quarter to December 1763 the guards took 140 gallons.³⁹¹¹ In December 1764 the garrison drew 141 gallons of train oil, costing £22 6s 6d.³⁹¹² The quantities were much the same in 1770. The guards and barracks drew "142 gallons of train oil for the several guards and the barracks" in December 1769.³⁹¹³ They had 99½ to 113 gallons a quarter in 1770 and 147 gallons in the quarter to December 1770.³⁹¹⁴ Tin lamps went out to the guard posts by the dozen. The barracks drew 29 tin lamps in July 1754.³⁹¹⁵ The garrison had 34 lamps in October 1758, 38 in June 1763 and 45 in June 1767.³⁹¹⁶ The outguards and barracks were fitted with 24 lamps in September 1770.³⁹¹⁷ The sea guards and the new barracks received 17 small lamps and a hand glass lantern in June 1771.³⁹¹⁸ The outlying forts and Banks's guard had their own lamps and horn lanterns.³⁹¹⁹ Eight horn lanterns were issued for the alarm houses in April 1757.³⁹²⁰ An iron-framed horn lantern served for the officers' rounds in 1765.³⁹²¹

In the barrack rooms a single lamp burned until the men were settled. A case of January 1763 described seven or eight men to a room, with a lamp put out at night.³⁹²² In October 1770 a witness said that Rogers put out the light after roll call. He saw what followed only by starlight from the window and door.³⁹²³

The hospital burned oil through the night. It drew 8 to 16 gallons of train oil a quarter.³⁹²⁴ In December 1763 it had 13 gallons to light the wards.³⁹²⁵ It also drew lamps and cotton wick.³⁹²⁶ Its oil ran at 8¾ to 17½ gallons a quarter in 1770 and 1771.³⁹²⁷ When the hospital was refitted in June 1771 it received 11 small lamps and three large ones, with 13½ gallons of train oil.³⁹²⁸

The Company's slaves received little light, and some of it was for watching them. Their accounts show one to five gallons of train oil a quarter.³⁹²⁹ In January 1757 they had 3¾ gallons "for lamps for the blacksmiths and stock kept in the black houses".³⁹³⁰ A lamp was issued for the sick in October 1757.³⁹³¹ In December 1769 the store issued "1 lamp for a sick woman, £0 0s 10d".³⁹³² The sick slaves had 2¼ gallons of train oil in September 1770.³⁹³³ Two tin lamps and 3 gallons of oil went to the slaves in June 1770.³⁹³⁴ A lamp went to the new slaves in June 1765, with their sleeping platform.³⁹³⁵ The slaves' square received a lamp and four stock locks in 1769.³⁹³⁶ Other candles lit an inspection. In September 1765 the store issued a padlock for the slaves' house, with candles and a riveted horn lantern. These were for the overseers to inspect the house at night.³⁹³⁷ From then on a pound or two of candles appears every quarter "for inspecting the slaves' house".³⁹³⁸ In 1768 it was "1 lb of candles for examining the slaves' square".³⁹³⁹ In March 1769 the store issued "2 pounds of candles for searching the Blacks' Square".³⁹⁴⁰

Light could also be turned to cruelty. In July 1781 the planter John Worrall was fined £20 for burning his slave Woodberry's hands.³⁹⁴¹ The surgeon was told that "his master placed greased wicks or candles between his fingers and lit them".³⁹⁴² In 1789 the slave Dick was sentenced for theft of a knife and candles. The candles had been stolen from slaves, who could not lawfully own them.³⁹⁴³ As for the knife, "nobody proved it was worth even twopence".³⁹⁴⁴

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that St Helena burned wax far more freely than English households of similar standing. The Company's own trade made this possible. Bengal wax candles came as part of the island's one per cent allowance, on ships that called in any case.³⁹⁴⁵ At 19d to 30d a pound they were not cheap. Yet they were the candles the store kept, and servants bought hundreds of pounds a quarter. Tallow was by contrast a scarce local product, needed for the carts, the boats and the fire engines.³⁹⁴⁶ The pattern probably reflected the island's place on the India route more than any taste for luxury.

The rise of cotton wick, tallow and candle moulds in the store after 1763 pointed in another direction. Households were making their own candles, perhaps when the Bengal stock ran short or rose in price. The cheap lot cleared in 1766 at about 7d to 10d a pound was probably old or inferior stock.³⁹⁴⁷ Home-made tallow candles would have filled the gap between that price and the dearer wax.

The distribution of light followed the ranks of the settlement closely. Candles went to the Governor, the Council, the chaplain and the officers. Train oil in tin lamps went to the soldiers, the sick and the slaves. The Court's refusal of a candle allowance to the engineer in 1772 showed that candles were treated as a privilege of office.³⁹⁴⁸ The candles issued for inspecting the slaves' quarters at night showed light serving discipline as well as comfort.

Fire-lighting probably changed during the period. In the 1680s and 1720s fire passed from hearth to hearth, and slaves came asking for a light for a fire.³⁹⁴⁹ By the 1740s and 1750s tinder boxes appeared in inventories and the store. The evidence suggested that self-sufficient kindling came late to ordinary St Helena houses, though the silence of the earlier record may simply be a gap.

Comparisons

In England the common household candle of this period was tallow, and wax was a mark of wealth.³⁹⁵⁰ Candles were taxed by excise from 1709, which raised the price of both kinds.³⁹⁵¹ The poor relied on rushlights and on firelight, and made their own candles from kitchen fat.³⁹⁵² St Helena's officials, burning Bengal wax by the hundredweight, stood above that common English pattern.

English probate inventories show candlesticks spreading widely through middling households between 1660 and 1760.³⁹⁵³ The pattern of brass candlesticks and steel snuffers in planters' and tradesmen's houses at St Helena matched that spread.³⁹⁵⁴

The night itself was being lit more brightly in the eighteenth century. Street lamps of the London kind, which the Council asked for in 1713, were part of that change.³⁹⁵⁵ Households still fetched lights from neighbours and guarded against fire carried between houses.³⁹⁵⁶

In colonial America better lighting came to signify gentility, as candlesticks multiplied in parlours after about 1750.³⁹⁵⁷ New England's whaling trade made spermaceti candles available by the 1750s, like those found in Gosling's desk.³⁹⁵⁸ Bermudians, like St Helena's islanders, lived on a maritime route and drew oil from local whaling.³⁹⁵⁹

At the Cape, the Dutch East India Company's settlement also depended on imported supplies and on slave labour for its households.³⁹⁶⁰ The night supervision of slave quarters there had parallels with the candles issued for inspecting the slaves' houses at St Helena.³⁹⁶¹ In Company India, Bengal wax candles were an ordinary article of European households. St Helena drew on that supply directly, through the yearly indents to Fort William.³⁹⁶²

17. Kitchen, Cooking and Tableware

Cooking and eating on St Helena drew on two streams of supply. Iron pots, copper kettles, pewter, cutlery and glass came out from England in the Company's ships. Porcelain, tea and some textiles came by way of the Company's trade with India and China. From the 1740s the store's accounts record both streams in detail. They show what the Company's servants, the planters, the garrison and the Company's slaves bought or were issued, and at what price. Wills, sale accounts and depositions before the courts add the kitchens of private houses.

The Kitchen and Its Place in the House

The earliest private kitchens were separate buildings at the back of the house. In April 1704 the soldier John Hemon senior sold a dwelling house "with a back kitchen" in Chapel Valley for £25. The buyer was Richard Alexander, free planter. Alexander sold the same house, kitchen and ground to George Dweight in March 1710 for £30.³⁹⁶³ Not every house had one. In September 1707 William Beale, free planter, petitioned to build a back kitchen, "being without a back kitchen and having no convenience for dressing his food".³⁹⁶⁴ The Council viewed the ground behind his house in Fort James Valley and granted leave.³⁹⁶⁵

Beale's kitchen later caused a dispute with his neighbour. It fronted onto ground belonging to Swallow, and its only door had been built "by the chimney". The Governor ordered Swallow to grant a passage 4 feet wide along the kitchen at a peppercorn rent, to last as long as the kitchen stood or 21 years.³⁹⁶⁶ Kitchen ground continued to be granted separately from house ground. In July 1738 a petition for a plot 40 feet by 100 feet near the fort, "in order to build a kitchen and other buildings there", was granted.³⁹⁶⁷ A plot of 38 feet by 17 feet on Southwark Street, already enclosed for a yard and kitchen, was let to Richard Mason at 5s a year.³⁹⁶⁸ In June 1769 Henry Bazett was leased 18 feet of frontage beside the billiard house for a small kitchen, at 3d a foot.³⁹⁶⁹

The kitchen was also a room in which people slept. In 1702 a witness at Edward Heath's house was "lying in bed in the kitchen of Heath's house" when the door was forced.³⁹⁷⁰ John Alexander, Deputy Governor, kept a nest of drawers and six cane chairs "in the room over the kitchen".³⁹⁷¹ At Henry Easthope's house in 1760 a witness "went down into the kitchen where the blacks lay".³⁹⁷² At Lieutenant Thomas Leech's house in 1764 the bedroom door opened into the kitchen, where Martin Newman slept. A slave named Patna was caught there on "the pole across the chimney".³⁹⁷³

The courts' depositions show how a town kitchen was furnished. In 1766 the key of James Greentree's back door "was normally left on the dresser in the kitchen".³⁹⁷⁴ The cooper Griffiths kept a chest of clothing and a shelf in a kitchen attached to his dwelling.³⁹⁷⁵ Mary Beale's slave Will kept his trunk "beneath the dresser in the kitchen" of her town house.³⁹⁷⁶ Two chests stood in John Whaley's kitchen in 1776, one of clothes and one of meat and yams.³⁹⁷⁷ At a planter's house in 1758 one stolen pig was boiled and the other roasted in the kitchen while the mistress sat reading there.³⁹⁷⁸

The Company's own kitchens were built as part of its other works. In October 1693 Robert Sexton, mason, and John Arden were paid for building a kitchen for the fort.³⁹⁷⁹ In 1713 the Directors ordered a kitchen built at the storehouse if it had no proper means of preparing meals.³⁹⁸⁰ About 1717 the Governor reported that there was "no other chimney in the fort but the kitchen".³⁹⁸¹ The kitchen stack at Plantation House blew down in a storm in March 1737.³⁹⁸² The guard post at Sandy Bay had a kitchen below the guardroom in 1763, whose fire was damped down at night.³⁹⁸³

The First Kitchens, 1678-1725

The Johanna brought the fullest early supply in March 1678. Her tinware included small and large saucepans, stew pans, pudding pans and spoons, each by the dozen.³⁹⁸⁴ Her turners' ware included milk trays, milk sieves, cheese tubs, milk bowls, butter churns and skimming dishes, with iron-bound pails and sieves.³⁹⁸⁵ She also carried 100 iron pots and kettles of numbered sizes. They weighed 27 hundredweight and 17 lb in all and were invoiced at 30s a hundredweight, £40 14s 7d together.³⁹⁸⁶

Goods from the East reached the island within a decade. A letter from Bombay of January 1687 reported China goods and pepper sent to St Helena. Tea came separately from England in the Loyall Merchant in December 1687.³⁹⁸⁷ The first private wills show how pewter and china sat together. In November 1693 Mary Charleworth's portion included "a coarse-pattern china set" valued at £1 4s. Two pewter dishes and a basin were valued at £1 3s.³⁹⁸⁸ Mary Dixon left her daughter two large marked pewter dishes, a smaller pewter dish and six pewter plates, among wills of 1696-1697.³⁹⁸⁹ Michael Morris, free planter, left pewter dishes and plates and a small iron kettle in February 1703.³⁹⁹⁰

The widow Mary Jewster made her will in June 1711. She left Grace Coulson a brass kettle, four pewter dishes, a pewter basin, a pewter porringer and a set of four knives.³⁹⁹¹ She kept back "a small silver dram cup" for her grandchildren.³⁹⁹² A poorer household appears in the outcry of William French's goods the same year. One old wooden bowl fetched 1s, and four china bowls with two china cups fetched 2s together.³⁹⁹³

The Company's plantation house was far better provided. Its inventory of July 1711 listed 54 pewter dishes, four dozen pewter plates, six basins, two pewter tankards and two pewter porringers. There were a tea kettle, a brass kettle, a copper kettle and a copper still and worm. Two frying pans, three gridirons and four iron pots served the hearth, with nine knives and 22 forks for the table.³⁹⁹⁴ The dairy held 28 tin milk pans, seven milk tubs, three churns and five "powdering tubs" for salting meat.³⁹⁹⁵ A second inventory of April 1715 added a rolling pin, a cheese press, andirons with brass heads, gridirons, frying pans and spits.³⁹⁹⁶

A supply indent of about 1715 shows what the Council thought the planters needed. It asked for 30 large iron pots of 20 gallons each to boil yams, and 50 smaller meat pots.³⁹⁹⁷ A further list asked for wooden bowls, platters, trenchers and ladles by the dozen and the gross.³⁹⁹⁸ A general charges account of February 1725 bought tin and copper saucepans, a pewter basin and a sieve with the soap and scrubbing brushes.³⁹⁹⁹

Tea-drinking had reached the island's better houses by 1719. In July of that year the widow Mary Sich left her granddaughter her "tea equipage". It comprised a large china pot with a silver cover and every other pot, cup, saucer and teaspoon then remaining.⁴⁰⁰⁰ A store account of about the same date sold the inhabitants 42 china cups and two china bowls for £1 3s 6d. Its braziers' ware included a brass skillet and frame, a skimmer, three copper saucepans and three tea kettles, £4 14s 7d in all.⁴⁰⁰¹ Thomas Free's inventory of May 1720 listed "china ware in the country" at 13s, five tea tables and 12 pewter dishes at £2 8s.⁴⁰⁰² At his sale in November 1721 John Swallow bought his pewter, a dripping pan and brass candlesticks.⁴⁰⁰³

Pots, Pans, Spits and Jacks

Most cooking was done in iron pots over an open fire. The store sold and issued them both by weight and by capacity. In 1742 a small pot of 27½ lb sold at 1½d a pound.⁴⁰⁰⁴ Two large pots weighing 2 hundredweight 1 quarter 4 lb were issued to the garrison the same year at 19s 4d a hundredweight.⁴⁰⁰⁵ By the 1750s pots were stated by the gallon. The store held four pots of 12 gallons, two of 6 gallons and three of 1 gallon in October 1753, valued at £3 8s 6d.⁴⁰⁰⁶ In 1763 it held five large iron kettles and 47 iron pots from 1 to 13 gallons, worth £19 16s 8d.⁴⁰⁰⁷ Sales by weight continued into the 1770s at a higher rate. In December 1769 the servants bought 12 iron pots weighing 493½ lb for £5 2s 9d.⁴⁰⁰⁸ A single pot of 45 lb cost a servant 9s 4d in September 1770, about 2½d a pound.⁴⁰⁰⁹ Buyers at the 40 per cent advance paid 18s 2d for a pot of 67 lb in March 1770.⁴⁰¹⁰

Supply from England did not always keep pace. In August 1762 the Council bought eight iron pots for the officers' quarters at £2 5s 8d, "since there were no iron pots sent last year".⁴⁰¹¹ In 1770 the Directors cut the shipment for want of tonnage, and "sent only half the iron pots".⁴⁰¹² Pots also broke on the voyage. Five iron pots arrived broken from the Prince Henry in May 1758.⁴⁰¹³ Six from the Earl of Middlesex came "broken and worthless" in April 1767.⁴⁰¹⁴ In April 1771 an iron pot from the Calcutta was found broken. A pot of 71 lb from the Duke of Richmond was missing and one of 19 lb broken.⁴⁰¹⁵ A 32 lb pot from the Pigot arrived broken in September 1771.⁴⁰¹⁶ In 1742 Mr Bazett admitted that "several pots and kettles were delivered for the fortifications, the garrison and other people, which he believed were never brought to any account".⁴⁰¹⁷

Frying pans were the commonest small piece of kitchen iron. The store held eight dozen and eight large frying pans in November 1742, valued at 5s 5d each.⁴⁰¹⁸ Small frying pans were issued to the slaves and the garrison in 1753 at 1s 8d each.⁴⁰¹⁹ In 1767 the store still held 80 frying pans.⁴⁰²⁰ The servants bought 16 frying pans in the single quarter to June 1771.⁴⁰²¹ Gridirons, spits and pothooks completed the hearth. The store held 30 gridirons in 1742.⁴⁰²² Governor Goodwin's sale of August 1742 included three spits, a dripping pan, a skimmer and 15 pothooks.⁴⁰²³

Copper and brass vessels were dearer and lasted longer. In the 1742 inventory the braziers' ware included 40 ladles, six copper saucepans with covers, a copper fish pan at £1 6s and 40 good chafing dishes at 6s 1d.⁴⁰²⁴ The store held two copper kettles of 12 gallons and two of 6 gallons in 1754, valued at £8 14s 9d.⁴⁰²⁵ An inventory of 1762 counted 15 lidded copper saucepans of ½-2 gallons, seven iron kettles and 15 hash pans.⁴⁰²⁶ Copper had to be tinned inside to keep it from tainting food. In 1758 the Company paid 10s for "tinning the utensils belonging to the Honourable Company's kitchen".⁴⁰²⁷ The Castle drew 4 lb of solder for tinning its kitchen vessels in 1764 and 20 lb in 1769.⁴⁰²⁸ In May 1768 Dobson was paid a guinea "for tinning the kitchen furniture belonging to the Castle".⁴⁰²⁹ The servants also bought sal ammoniac and sheet tin for retinning at home.⁴⁰³⁰ The work went on every few months. Solder and sal ammoniac for retinning the Castle's kitchenware were issued in December 1769 and again in June 1770.⁴⁰³¹ In December 1770 two sheets of tin and ½ lb of sal ammoniac were issued to "re-tin the Castle's copper vessels".⁴⁰³² The paymaster bought 10 lb of solder for the same purpose that quarter.⁴⁰³³ The store's brazier's goods in September 1770 included nine pans with covers valued at £12 4s 3d. There were also a warming pan, 14 tea kettles of 3 and 5 pints and seven copper buckets.⁴⁰³⁴

Roasting was the mark of a well-found kitchen. Governor Goodwin's estate in 1741 had a smoke jack, a device turned by the hot air of the chimney, with meat spits and a gridiron.⁴⁰³⁵ His sale included "an old jack" and a brass mortar.⁴⁰³⁶ The store held a jack valued at 33s 4d in 1742.⁴⁰³⁷ In July 1754 the Council bought a large roasting jack with its chain for the Castle kitchen at £1 10s 2d.⁴⁰³⁸ By 1762 the store held a large roasting jack valued at £7 10s 2d. It also held two middling and four small jacks with their chains, wheels and weights. Nine roasting spits went with them.⁴⁰³⁹ A middling jack went to the Castle in 1764 at £4 18s.⁴⁰⁴⁰ Another roasting jack was bought "for the Company's table" in August 1768 for £8 10s.⁴⁰⁴¹ A small roasting jack sold to a servant in 1769 for £2 15s 6d, the dearest piece of ironware that quarter.⁴⁰⁴² Others followed at £2 15s 8d in September 1770 and at £3 1s in December 1770, each with its wheels and chain.⁴⁰⁴³ The store's inventory of September 1770 still valued its large roasting jack at £7 10s 2d and its middling one at £4 18s.⁴⁰⁴⁴ These were probably the same jacks that had stood unsold since 1762. The store also held nine sets of spare jack wheels, eight jack chains and nine roasting spits.⁴⁰⁴⁵

The newer drinks brought their own equipment. A coffee roaster was sold to the servants in April 1753.⁴⁰⁴⁶ Coffee mills sold to them at between 6s 7½d and 10s 2½d in 1757-1766.⁴⁰⁴⁷ In April 1756 the Castle drew a chocolate pot at 10d, a coffee pot and a pestle and mortar.⁴⁰⁴⁸ The tin ware of 1742 included 27 coffee pots with colanders, pepper boxes, dredging boxes and graters.⁴⁰⁴⁹ Patty pans, pudding pans and dripping pans recur in almost every quarter's sales.⁴⁰⁵⁰ The servants bought 23 tin saucepans in a single quarter of 1756.⁴⁰⁵¹ They were still buying two coffee mills a quarter in December 1769.⁴⁰⁵² In September 1770 they took three covered saucepans of 3 gallons, eight quart saucepans, six pudding pans and four dripping pans.⁴⁰⁵³ An iron turbot kettle was sold to a servant in December 1770.⁴⁰⁵⁴ Brass tea kettles sold every quarter. A kettle holding 5 quarts cost a servant 18s 5½d in December 1769.⁴⁰⁵⁵ In the quarter to June 1771 the servants bought six tea kettles for £4 11s 3d.⁴⁰⁵⁶

Pewter, Wood and Earthenware

Pewter was the ordinary table metal of the first half of the century. The store's pewter in November 1742 included cheese plates, washbowls, tankards, salts, quart and gallon pots, covers for dishes, cruets, saucers, tea plates, dishes and soup plates. It was valued at £85 12s 4¼d.⁴⁰⁵⁷ At Governor Goodwin's sale in August 1742 Godfrey bought most of more than 60 dozen pewter spoons, in lots of 5 dozen at about 5s a lot. Pewter plates went by 2 or 3 dozen at 13s to £1 4s.⁴⁰⁵⁸

Probate records of the 1740s and 1750s show pewter in many ranks of household. Jonathan Higham's estate of 1744 held five pewter dishes, several iron pots and a frying pan with his stone-cutting tools.⁴⁰⁵⁹ Jonathan Doveton's household of the same year had a full china cabinet as well as pewter.⁴⁰⁶⁰ Samuel Doveton's estate of 1749 listed five iron pots and a coffee mill.⁴⁰⁶¹ An inventory of the Castle and Plantation House kitchens taken in 1747 listed seven kettles, four saucepans and pewter meat dishes.⁴⁰⁶² The chaplain John Dobie's kitchen in 1755 held two copper boiling pots, pewter meat dishes and soup plates, and china teacups and saucers.⁴⁰⁶³

By the 1750s pewter served chiefly for basins, pots and chamber ware. A pewter dish sold to a servant in April 1754 at 7s 2d.⁴⁰⁶⁴ The store held 21 pewter dishes in 1753 and 14 in 1763.⁴⁰⁶⁵ In December 1765, 14 pewter dishes spoilt in store were sold at auction for £3 19s 3d.⁴⁰⁶⁶ Pewter water plates for keeping food warm then came into use. The Castle drew 12 of them in September 1767 at £3 0s 6d.⁴⁰⁶⁷ By 1770 chamber ware was the main pewter trade. In June 1771 the servants bought 23 pewter chamber pots for £3 12s 10d, with seven basins and two funnels.⁴⁰⁶⁸ The store's whole stock of pewter in September 1770 was valued at £28 16s 11d. It held pots from a pint to a gallon, with nine colanders, 11 basins and 20 water plates. A close-stool pan and a worm tub and still made up the rest.⁴⁰⁶⁹ That was about a third of the value of the pewter in store in 1742.

Wooden ware served the poorer table and the kitchen. The turners' ware in store in 1742 included 122 quart bowls, 83 large tureen bowls from the Cape and the Duke Lorraine, 51 platters and 42 washing dishes. Of the hair sieves 517 were good for nothing, and the store held "114 hair sieves, pretty good, at 20d".⁴⁰⁷⁰ Bowls and platters were issued to the garrison in 1742 at 8d each.⁴⁰⁷¹ In 1755 the store held 50 platters, 53 bowls, 18 straining dishes, 20 punch ladles and a butter print.⁴⁰⁷² In September 1770 it held 81 wooden bowls, 74 platters and 68 punch ladles.⁴⁰⁷³

Earthenware was used mainly in the dairy. In July 1753 the Great Wood dairy received 12 earthenware milk pans for 7s 6d.⁴⁰⁷⁴ The store held 113 milk pans in October 1757.⁴⁰⁷⁵ The 1742 inventory listed brown glazed earthen plates.⁴⁰⁷⁶ Delft dishes were sold to the servants in 1758.⁴⁰⁷⁷ An earthenware colander sold to a planter in 1765 for 6s 8d.⁴⁰⁷⁸ Milk pans broke easily in transit. In 1760, 11 arrived broken from the Royal Duke with three glazed earthen pans.⁴⁰⁷⁹ Two more were broken in the Calcutta in April 1771.⁴⁰⁸⁰ The plantation dairy drew six earthenware milk pans for 7s 6d in December 1770, with a churning stick.⁴⁰⁸¹ The store held 35 milk pans and 14 earthenware close-stool pans in September 1770.⁴⁰⁸²

Earthenware teapots appeared in the store from 1770. The servants bought 12 of them in June 1770, and six more in September.⁴⁰⁸³ In June 1771 they bought 19 cream-coloured teapots and 22 red teapots in three sizes.⁴⁰⁸⁴ The planters bought a cream-coloured teapot that quarter.⁴⁰⁸⁵ Red and cream-coloured teapots went to the Castle at the same time.⁴⁰⁸⁶ The cream-coloured ware was probably English creamware. It competed with the china teapots landed from Canton, which sold to a servant for as little as 9d.⁴⁰⁸⁷

China from Canton

From the 1740s porcelain came to the island by the Company's China ships, which called on their homeward voyage. In April 1740 the Houghton landed 200 blue and white saucers, 320 half saucers and 700 coffee cups for island use.⁴⁰⁸⁸ The Walpole landed "536 coffee cups, blue and white, 8 mace 0 candareens each" with saucers, less 2 per cent.⁴⁰⁸⁹ The invoices were made out in Chinese silver weights of taels, mace and candareens.⁴⁰⁹⁰

The consignments grew in the 1750s. In March 1753 the Houghton landed chests 31 and 32 of blue and white china. They held 11 sets of plates and dishes valued at £20, 100 half-pint cups at 1s 4d, 50 tankards and 12 sauce boats at 3s each, "less 9 per cent for breakage".⁴⁰⁹¹ A chest from the Prince George that month held four sets of dishes and plates at £8 and 12 chamber pots at £2.⁴⁰⁹² The Godolphin brought three chests from Canton in April 1757, with 15 sets of dishes and plates, 100 pairs of cups and saucers and 50 bowls of several sizes.⁴⁰⁹³ The Tavistock brought in January 1760 "1 complete set blue and white, 120 pieces".⁴⁰⁹⁴ The Egmont brought nine chests in April 1764, with 317 punch bowls, 300 cups and saucers and 100 teapots.⁴⁰⁹⁵ The Plassey and the Glatton each landed six boxes of blue and white china in February 1770. Between them they brought 25 octagonal table sets, 30 chamber pots, 30 guglets and basins and 300 pint sneakers.⁴⁰⁹⁶ The Kent brought 12 boxes in April 1771. They held 25 "blue and white dinner services of 37 pieces each", with 30 washbasins and guglets, 30 chamber pots and 200 pint sneakers.⁴⁰⁹⁷

Table 21. Porcelain landed for the island's store from China ships, 1740-1771
Year	Ship	Principal pieces stated	Value stated	Source
1740	Houghton	200 saucers, 320 half saucers, 700 coffee cups	2 taels 4 mace each (saucers)	044/4
1753	Houghton	11 sets of plates and dishes, 100 half-pint cups, 50 tankards, 12 sauce boats	less 9 per cent for breakage	062/54
1753	Prince George	4 sets of dishes and plates, 12 chamber pots, 50 pint basins	£15 7s 6d	062/67
1757	Godolphin	15 sets of dishes and plates, 100 pairs of cups and saucers, 50 bowls	59 taels 9 mace	067/205
1760	Walpole	40 sets of bowls and dishes, 24 guglets and basins, 24 chamber pots	121 taels 0 mace 3 candareens	069/432
1763	Albion	50 sets of dishes and plates, 300 sneakers, 300 cups and saucers, 100 teapots	208 taels 2 mace 5 candareens	071/379
1764	Egmont	150 bowls, 317 punch bowls, 300 cups and saucers, 100 teapots	181 taels 4 mace 9 candareens 5 cash	075/275
1767	not named	20 octagonal table sets, 36 pairs of guglets and basins	5 taels a set	078/409
1769	London	10 table sets, 150 pint basins, 150 pairs of cups and saucers	77 taels 4 mace	084/91
1770	Plassey	12 octagonal table sets, 150 pint sneakers, 15 chamber pots, 100 pairs of breakfast cups and saucers	3 taels 9 mace a set	085/94-96
1770	Glatton	13 octagonal table sets, 150 pint sneakers, 15 chamber pots, 150 pairs of cups and saucers	95 taels 2 mace 8 candareens 6 cash	085/98-99
1771	Kent	25 dinner services of 37 pieces, 30 chamber pots, 30 washbasins and guglets, 200 pint sneakers	3 taels 9 mace a set	086/124]]
*Values are as written in the invoices. Taels, mace and candareens were Chinese silver weights, not sterling

Breakage was a constant loss. The Canton invoices allowed 2 per cent, but the island often found more. The Leyton's chest of 1755 was found much broken, "the outside package being no ways damaged".⁴⁰⁹⁸ Of the Albion's porcelain in 1763, 93 pieces were broken.⁴⁰⁹⁹ In 1767, 30 of 256 pieces from the Prince of Wales arrived broken, nearly one in eight.⁴¹⁰⁰ The same year 54 pieces from the Deptford were broken, mostly from dinner services.⁴¹⁰¹ In February 1770, 72 pieces of the Plassey's china were broken. They were "found broken when the packages were opened, though the packages themselves were in good condition".⁴¹⁰² The Glatton's boxes were also sound, yet 49 pieces inside were broken.⁴¹⁰³ About 60 pieces of the Kent's porcelain were broken in 1771, among them 29 cups and saucers.⁴¹⁰⁴ The storekeeper wrote off broken cups, saucers, bowls and teapots every year in his waste account.⁴¹⁰⁵

The island ordered its china from Canton by an indent sent with the China ships. In October 1755 the supercargoes were asked "to comply with the island's indent for chinaware and the other articles desired from Canton".⁴¹⁰⁶ The Directors complained in 1757 that "the sorts and numbers of the canvas and chinaware were still left out".⁴¹⁰⁷ In March 1766 the Council asked that the next year's table china "should be of the oblong pattern".⁴¹⁰⁸ In May 1768 it asked that saucers be sent to match breakfast cups already supplied, and that they be of good china.⁴¹⁰⁹

The dinner service had become a standard unit by the 1760s. A long octagonal table set of 1767 comprised "each of 5 dishes, 1 tureen with cover and stand, 20 plates and 12 soup plates".⁴¹¹⁰ The London's 10 table sets of 1769 were of the same make-up, at 3 taels 9 mace a set.⁴¹¹¹ Such sets sold to the servants at 17s 3d in January 1753 and at £1 each in December 1766.⁴¹¹² Nine sets of octagonal dishes and plates sold to the servants in June 1769 for £11 11s.⁴¹¹³ The Plassey's sets of 1770 each held three dishes, 20 plates and 12 soup plates.⁴¹¹⁴ Four octagonal sets cost the servants £5 14s 4d in March 1770.⁴¹¹⁵ In June 1771 they paid £11 2s 6d for 11 sets, about £1 a set.⁴¹¹⁶

The store's stock of china was large. In September 1763 it held 270 meat dishes and 1,671 plates, valued together at £50 8s. There were also 412 soup plates, 18 soup tureens, 316 cups and saucers and 73 teapots.⁴¹¹⁷ A year later it held 408 meat dishes and 1,651 plates valued at £63 10s.⁴¹¹⁸ In a single quarter of 1754 the servants bought 1,917 plates for £8 8s, with 55 bowls and 49 meat dishes.⁴¹¹⁹ Sneakers, which were small bowls, sold most often beside the plates. Guglets and basins came next. A guglet was a porous water bottle that kept drinking water cool.⁴¹²⁰ Sales were heavier still in 1771. In the quarter to June 1771 the servants' china came to £29 13s 10d. It included 189 cups and saucers, 144 sneakers, 23 guglets and basins and 11 teapots.⁴¹²¹ They also bought 126 octagonal soup plates and 24 china chamber pots that quarter.⁴¹²² The stock was turned over fast. In September 1770 the store's china was valued at only £38 11s 6d, most of it in 394 octagonal soup plates.⁴¹²³

Porcelain spread well beyond the Company's own servants. Planters bought 120 cups and saucers, 10 chamber pots, eight guglets and basins and eight sets of dishes and plates in a quarter of 1765, for £18 13s 3d.⁴¹²⁴ In April 1755 the servants bought "12 negro cups and saucers, £0 4s 2d", a cheaper ware meant for slaves.⁴¹²⁵ In December 1770 a planter paid 9s 1d for a china tureen and dish.⁴¹²⁶ Planters bought 12 octagonal soup plates for 8s 2d in March 1771.⁴¹²⁷ The publican William Paddom was fined £5 in 1756 for boarding a Swedish ship against orders. There "he had brought from her for himself five china bowls and three china mugs, which he got for a pair of buckles".⁴¹²⁸

Households kept their china on open shelves. An earthquake on 27 May 1763, strongest in the south of the island, "threw china and other objects off the shelves in people's houses".⁴¹²⁹ China was also among the goods most often stolen. In December 1742 two slaves confessed to "robbing Mr Twyman the night before of some china and other goods".⁴¹³⁰ The slave Winkity was whipped in 1765 for taking a china cup and saucer valued at 6d each.⁴¹³¹ The slave girl Pegg was convicted the same year of taking a teapot, a sneaker, six cups, five saucers, a sugar bowl and a mug from Richard Goodwin's town house.⁴¹³²

Knives, Glass, Silver and the Company's Table

Knives and forks were sold by the dozen in several grades. In November 1742 the store held 4 dozen "number 3" knives and forks at 6s 3d.⁴¹³³ In July 1754 the servants paid £1 18s 6d for two dozen stag horn and £1 11s 4d for a dozen ivory knives and forks.⁴¹³⁴ Buyers at the 40 per cent advance paid £2 for a dozen ivory.⁴¹³⁵ The store held 40 dozen cheaper "bay handled" knives and forks in 1756, valued at £3 6s.⁴¹³⁶ Dessert knives and forks appear from 1766.⁴¹³⁷ The Castle drew 2 dozen ivory-handled knives and forks for the Governor's table in June 1769 at £2 19s 8d.⁴¹³⁸ Emery was issued "to clean knives and forks" at the Castle in 1757.⁴¹³⁹ Prices barely moved over 16 years. A dozen ivory-handled knives and forks cost a servant £1 12s 10d in December 1770.⁴¹⁴⁰ The Castle drew 2 dozen ivory at £2 19s 7d in December 1769, a penny less than in June.⁴¹⁴¹ Green-handled knives and forks appeared in 1770. The Castle drew four dozen in June 1770 for £7 18s 4d.⁴¹⁴² The store held 8 dozen in September 1770, valued at £15 16s 2d. It also held 12 chopping knives and a cook's knife.⁴¹⁴³ Planters bought horn-handled knives and forks by the set in March 1771.⁴¹⁴⁴

Drinking glass came from England with the window glass. In 1742 the store held 11 decanters and four glass milk jugs. Eight of the decanters were broken.⁴¹⁴⁵ The Castle table received five dozen wine glasses, two pairs of decanters, six tumblers, six wine and water glasses and a pair of cruets in July 1754.⁴¹⁴⁶ The Council bought "3 dozen wine glasses, £2 3s 0d" from the captain of the Oxford for the Company's table in May 1756.⁴¹⁴⁷ In a single quarter of 1768 the servants bought 102 wine glasses, 15 tumblers, eight beer glasses and two quart decanters.⁴¹⁴⁸ The Castle received seven dozen wine glasses, 18 tumblers and four pint decanters in June 1770, for £2 13s 5d.⁴¹⁴⁹ In the quarter to June 1771 the servants bought 144 wine glasses and 16 decanters. They also took 10 pairs of glass salt cellars and five candle shades.⁴¹⁵⁰

Silver plate marked the wealthiest households. Several pieces of Governor Goodwin's plate, a punch bowl, three salvers and table spoons among them, bore "Mr Goodwin's arms".⁴¹⁵¹ At his sale silver was sold by weight. The entry for the largest piece read "1 silver punch bowl, 79oz 19dwt at 5s 6d per ounce, purchased by John Bagot, £10 3s 11d".⁴¹⁵² A tankard of 42 oz 6 dwt went to Frances Wrangham for £12 6s 9d.⁴¹⁵³ John Bazett left his wife a silver teapot in 1743.⁴¹⁵⁴ Charles Steward and Mary Steward left silver cruets and casters.⁴¹⁵⁵ The widow Mary Goodwin left a silver tankard of 26 oz 12 dwt and a silver teapot in 1762.⁴¹⁵⁶

The fullest silver bequests came in the 1760s. James Greentree's widow received a silver stand with cruets, a milk pot and 12 silver teaspoons with tongs and strainer in 1766. She might also buy 12 silver-handled knives and forks, 12 silver spoons and a marrow spoon in a shagreen case at a valuation.⁴¹⁵⁷ In 1769 Elizabeth Greentree left a silver bowl, a large silver salver, six silver salt cellars, a silver coffee pot and a silver mug.⁴¹⁵⁸ Smaller pieces reached humbler families. The widow Mary Burnham, who signed her will with a mark in May 1771, left £10 and a silver teaspoon to each of her seven grandchildren.⁴¹⁵⁹ The Castle plate was kept bright with whiting, and "16 pounds of whiting for cleaning the Castle plate, £0 4s 0d" were issued in December 1769.⁴¹⁶⁰ The Company's own plate wore out. Old salvers, spoons, castors, bowls and a tankard were written off in 1757 at a rate per ounce.⁴¹⁶¹ In 1764 the worn-out plate, "written off its books at several times", was boxed and shipped to London.⁴¹⁶² Silver also attracted thieves and receivers. Two silver salt cellars were stolen from the Governor's household in 1763.⁴¹⁶³ John Baptist Mitchland, a soldier and silversmith, was "often suspected of buying stolen silver spoons and other items and melting them down".⁴¹⁶⁴

The Governor, Council and covenanted servants ate at the Company's "general table". Its diet account in 1742 drew china cups and dishes, two dozen patty pans, lamp oil and candles.⁴¹⁶⁵ Blue broadcloth was issued "to cover the Company's table".⁴¹⁶⁶ In 1713 Mr Cock, second of Council, was allowed £30 a year as diet money for his large family instead of eating at the general table.⁴¹⁶⁷

The Castle kitchen was re-equipped almost every quarter. In July 1753 it drew two copper saucepans with covers for £1, a tea kettle at £1 15s 3½d and two brass ladles.⁴¹⁶⁸ In July 1754 it drew three iron pots, two wash pans, three copper saucepans and a tea boiler at £1 8s.⁴¹⁶⁹ Two copper pudding pans went to the Castle in January 1754 for £1 1s 6d.⁴¹⁷⁰ A hammered iron hash pan was issued in January 1760 at 15s 11d.⁴¹⁷¹ Plate iron was issued in 1764 "for a kitchen fender".⁴¹⁷² A hand hatchet for the Castle kitchen, a pair of kitchen bellows and a coffee mill at 8s 6d followed.⁴¹⁷³ Train oil was issued each quarter "for the daily use of the kitchen and bakehouse".⁴¹⁷⁴

The Castle's china was renewed in sets. In April 1760 it received a service valued at £4 10s. Besides cups, saucers, dishes and plates it had two tureens, six salts and four sauce boats.⁴¹⁷⁵ In June 1762 it drew 26 meat dishes, 48 soup plates and 119 meat plates with tureens and sauce boats, valued at about £11 6s 7d.⁴¹⁷⁶ In March 1769 a new service worth £10 15s 11d included six sets of octagonal dishes and plates, 36 soup plates, three tureens, 36 teacups and 24 breakfast cups.⁴¹⁷⁷ Smaller things were bought locally. In May 1769 two large trays at 7s 6d each, two small trays and a bread basket were bought for the Castle.⁴¹⁷⁸ In August 1769 the Council bought 46 dozen bottles for it at 1s 6d a dozen.⁴¹⁷⁹ Six bottle stands were bought for the Governor's table in 1767.⁴¹⁸⁰ In March 1770 the paymaster bought a dozen plates for the Company's table at 7s.⁴¹⁸¹ A cream ewer for the Castle cost £2 2s in June 1770, with 22 dozen empty bottles.⁴¹⁸²

The renewals went on into 1771. In March 1770 the Castle drew four octagonal china sets, 12 soup plates and four tureens.⁴¹⁸³ Its china that quarter came to £11 3s 4d, with 40 meat plates, 48 cups and saucers and four guglets and basins.⁴¹⁸⁴ In June 1771 it took a further service worth £8 4s. This had three sets of octagonal dishes and plates, 36 soup plates, 40 meat plates, three tureens and five dozen cups and saucers.⁴¹⁸⁵ Table linen came with it. Six pieces of huckaback for table linen and napkins cost £21 9s that quarter.⁴¹⁸⁶ The servants bought Russia diaper and huckaback for napkins and tablecloths worth £18 15s 1d at the same time.⁴¹⁸⁷

Worn-out goods were struck off the books. In October 1754 the house furniture condemned included three china mugs, a set of sea china, two old roasting jacks and seven old pewter dishes.⁴¹⁸⁸ In October 1759 it included 79 plates, a china soup dish and a tureen.⁴¹⁸⁹ The year's waste written off in October 1770 included 13 china soup plates, three salad dishes, a chamber pot and 12 glasses.⁴¹⁹⁰

Cooking for the Garrison and the Slaves

Soldiers cooked in messes at the barracks and the guard posts. In July 1753 the garrison drew 20 iron pots, 38 wooden bowls, 37 platters and 16 frying pans "for the barracks and outposts".⁴¹⁹¹ In July 1754 the barracks kitchens received 10 frying pans, 16 iron pots, 53 wooden platters and 39 bowls, "for the barracks and cook's tools".⁴¹⁹² In June 1767, 51 recruits were each issued a blanket, a wooden bowl and a platter.⁴¹⁹³ The outguards drew 34 small frying pans, 11 wood axes and 26 hand hatchets in 1768, to cook and cut firewood at their posts.⁴¹⁹⁴ Pots "for boiling rice for the men" were bought in October 1758.⁴¹⁹⁵ Cooks at the fortifications were paid 1s 6d a day in 1768, the same as masons and carpenters.⁴¹⁹⁶ In September 1770 the outguards and barracks were fitted with five iron pots weighing 193 lb, 32 frying pans, 57 wooden bowls and 60 platters.⁴¹⁹⁷ The sea guards and the new barracks received 11 iron pots weighing 198 lb in June 1771, for £2 1s 3d. With them went 19 frying pans, 21 bowls and 18 platters.⁴¹⁹⁸ The hospital drew china sneakers almost every quarter, with wooden bowls and platters for the sick.⁴¹⁹⁹

A soldier's own cooking gear was slight. At Sandy Bay in 1763 a soldier of the guard boiled salt pork next morning in the same pot as his messmates.⁴²⁰⁰ In 1779 the tailor Clough had to borrow a pot from Sergeant Johnson to boil two stolen kids. "Clough asked to borrow a pot to boil them in, and Johnson lent him one".⁴²⁰¹ When deserters robbed the artillery barracks in July 1770 they took a frying pan and 55 pieces of salt meat with the muskets.⁴²⁰²

The Company's slaves were issued cooking pots for use in common. In September 1742 they received "1 yam kettle, weight 3 quarters 23 lb", for cooking their staple.⁴²⁰³ In April 1757 they had an iron pot of 12 gallons at 13s and one of 2 gallons at 4s.⁴²⁰⁴ In December 1763 four iron pots of 2 and 8 gallons were issued "for cooking in common".⁴²⁰⁵ In June 1769 the slaves' account received 33 iron pots for £6 13s 4d, with 23 wooden bowls, 21 platters and 10 small frying pans.⁴²⁰⁶ Small frying pans went to particular quarters, such as the slaves at Sandy Bay and the Black Square.⁴²⁰⁷ Issues in 1769-1771 were smaller and more particular. A 16 lb iron pot and a frying pan went to the slaves in December 1769.⁴²⁰⁸ A pot of 17 lb was issued "for the Black Square" in March 1770 at 3s 3d.⁴²⁰⁹ The Angola slaves had an iron pot of their own in September 1770.⁴²¹⁰ A pint saucepan and a lamp were issued for a sick slave woman in December 1769.⁴²¹¹

Some slaves received china as well. Two china plates were issued to the slaves in July 1757.⁴²¹² In March 1769 the aged slaves were given two small bowls and six round soup plates.⁴²¹³ The Malays kept by the Company were supplied as a separate small household. In June 1763 they drew six plates, two dishes, two bowls, six saucers and a teapot. They also had a quart saucepan and an iron frying pan. Their kettle was entered as "1 tea kettle holding 3 quarts, £0 12s 3d".⁴²¹⁴ In 1767 they received old china, six old meat plates, two old meat dishes, six stoneware saucers and two bowls.⁴²¹⁵ Their china in December 1769 was worth 19s 7d, with six soup plates, six saucers, two soup dishes and a teapot.⁴²¹⁶ A 12 lb iron pot at 2s 3d and two wine glasses came with it.⁴²¹⁷ In September 1770 the Malays received three saucepans, a 20 lb iron pot and a brass tea kettle at 12s 4d. They also had 16 glasses and china worth £1 12s 9d.⁴²¹⁸ Six octagonal soup plates and six sneakers followed in March 1771.⁴²¹⁹

Cooking pots were valuable enough to steal. In May 1764 the runaway slave Peter took an iron pot from Constable Harper's kitchen. Harper knew it again by a distinctive mark.⁴²²⁰ In 1771 James Greentree's slave Scarborough lived in a thatched house at Sandy Bay. A thief got in through the roof and took yams left beside the cooking pot.⁴²²¹ At Green Hill in 1778 a runaway "took some yams from a cooking pot and carried them outside" at midnight.⁴²²² The runaways grilled mutton over a fire of ebony wood in their hiding place.⁴²²³

Table 22. Stated prices of kitchen and table goods, 1678-1771
Item	Year	Buyer or use	Price stated	Source
Iron pots and kettles, by weight	1678	Company's import	30s a hundredweight	001/70
Large iron pots, by weight	1742	issued to the garrison	19s 4d a hundredweight	046/132
Small iron pot of 27½ lb	1742	store sale	1½d a pound	047/85
Iron pot of 6 gallons	1757	Company's servants	7s 9d	067/165
Iron pot of 12 gallons	1757	issued to the slaves	13s	067/249-250
Iron pot of 12 lb	1769	issued to the Malays	2s 3d	085/39
Iron pot of 45 lb	1770	Company's servants	9s 4d	085/409
Iron pot of 67 lb	1770	buyers at 40 per cent	18s 2d	085/164
Small frying pan	1753	issued to the slaves	1s 8d	062/23
Copper saucepan	1742	store sale	6s 6d	047/83
Tea kettle of 3 quarts	1763	Company's servants	13s 6d	071/386-393
Tea kettle of 3 quarts	1763	planters	17s 2d	071/393-396
Tea kettle of 5 quarts	1769	Company's servants	18s 5½d	085/18
Tea kettle of 3 quarts	1771	Company's servants	18s 5d	086/145
Tea kettle of 2 quarts	1771	planters	£1 3s 6d	086/302
Chafing dish	1742	store valuation	6s 1d	047/42
Coffee mill	1763	Company's servants	9s 4d	071/297-302
Large roasting jack	1762	store valuation	£7 10s 2d	071/158-172
Small roasting jack	1769	Company's servants	£2 15s 6d	084/183
Small roasting jack	1770	Company's servants	£3 1s	086/31
Wooden bowl or platter	1742	issued to the garrison	8d each	046/132
Pewter dish	1754	Company's servants	7s 2d	063/12
Set of china dishes and plates	1753	Company's servants	17s 3d	062/10
Set of china dishes and plates	1766	Company's servants	£1	078/300
Octagonal china dishes and plates, 11 sets	1771	Company's servants	£11 2s 6d	086/293
Guglet and basin	1757	Company's servants	3s	067/162
China guglet and basin	1770	Company's servants	2s 7½d	086/34
Earthenware teapots and a milk pan, 13	1770	Company's servants	19s 11d	085/301
Ivory knives and forks, 1 dozen	1754	Company's servants	£1 11s 4d	063/107
Ivory knives and forks, 1 dozen	1754	buyers at 40 per cent	£2	063/114-115
Stag horn knives and forks, 1 dozen	1754	Company's servants	19s 3d	063/214
Ivory-handled knives and forks, 12	1770	Company's servants	£1 12s 10d	086/32
Green-handled knives and forks, 4 dozen	1770	the Castle	£7 18s 4d	085/313
Earthenware milk pans, 12	1753	issued to the dairy	7s 6d	062/221-222
Earthenware milk pans, 6	1770	issued to the dairy	7s 6d	086/49]]
*Prices to the Company's servants carried the lowest advance on cost; planters and others paid more. Single sales and issues only; no averages are taken

Interpretations

The evidence suggested a kitchen that changed little in its basic tools between 1678 and 1771. Iron pots, frying pans, gridirons and copper kettles appeared in the Johanna's cargo of 1678. The same tools filled the plantation house of 1711 and the store of the 1760s. The open hearth remained the centre of cooking throughout. What changed was the scale of supply and the refinement of the richest kitchens. The roasting jack, the coffee mill and the copper stew pan reached the Castle and some private houses from the 1740s.

The table changed more than the kitchen. Pewter dominated the inventories before about 1745. By the 1750s porcelain had largely displaced it for dishes, plates and cups. Pewter was then kept chiefly for basins, pots and chamber ware. The cause was probably the Company's own shipping. The China ships called at the island on their way home and could land porcelain cheaply. A set of china dishes and plates cost the Company's servants about £1, roughly the price of three pewter dishes. By 1770 the store's whole stock of pewter was worth about a third of its value in 1742, and pewter sold mainly as chamber pots and basins. The cream-coloured and red earthenware teapots of 1770-1771 suggested that English earthenware had begun to compete with porcelain at the cheaper end of the tea table.

Porcelain on St Helena was probably not a sign of wealth in the way it was in England. The servants together bought between 126 and 245 china plates in a single quarter in the 1750s.⁴²²⁴ Planters, publicans and even slaves had china of some kind. The cheaper "negro cups and saucers" and the old china issued to the Malays suggested that blue and white ware reached the poorest households. Silver plate, ivory cutlery and table glass marked rank more clearly than porcelain did.

The kitchens of the Company's slaves and soldiers were collective. Large iron pots of 6 to 13 gallons were issued for cooking in common, with a bowl and platter for each person. Private households, by contrast, kept their own pots and could lend them. The theft of a single marked iron pot from a constable's kitchen showed how much even ordinary cooking gear was valued.

Comparisons

In England the same period saw a slow spread of new goods into middling households. Lorna Weatherill found that pewter remained almost universal in English inventories before 1725, while china and utensils for hot drinks spread fastest in London and among the trading ranks.⁴²²⁵ St Helena's servants and planters had porcelain sooner and in greater quantity than most English households of similar standing. Their access to the China ships explained the difference. Overton and his colleagues traced the gradual addition of roasting equipment and specialised pans to English kitchens.⁴²²⁶ The island's Castle followed the same pattern with its jacks and stew pans. The detached back kitchen of the early town houses had parallels in English and colonial practice, where kitchens were often moved out of the main house.⁴²²⁷

In colonial America tea equipment and matched table services were taken up as signs of gentility from the 1720s and 1730s.⁴²²⁸ Mary Sich's "tea equipage" of 1719 and the tea tables in Thomas Free's house of 1720 placed the island's leading families early in that movement. In Bermuda, another small Atlantic island dependent on shipping, households drew their goods from passing trade as St Helena did.⁴²²⁹ Bermuda lacked St Helena's direct link to Canton, however.

At the Cape the Dutch East India Company's settlers also combined European metalware with Asian porcelain landed by returning ships.⁴²³⁰ Cape slaveholders likewise issued slaves cooking pots and bowls for use in common in the slave lodge.⁴²³¹ In Company India the servants' tables used porcelain, silver and glass in quantity. Plate there was also a recognised form of savings.⁴²³² The Goodwin and Greentree silver suggested that the island's leading families shared that habit on a smaller scale.

18. Water, Stores and Sanitation

James's Valley was settled along a stream. The town's houses stood in a narrow line between the hills, and the ground behind most of them ran down to a common watercourse. Water for drinking, cooking and washing came from that channel, from springs, from a few wells and from rain caught off roofs. Waste went into privies at the back of the yard, onto dunghills, into the streets or into the sea. Very little of this was described for its own sake. It survives in grants of ground bounded by the watercourse, in quarrels over walls and channels, in soldiers' wages for clearing trenches after floods and above all in the Company's store accounts. From the 1740s those accounts recorded quarterly sales of chamber pots, close-stool pans and bedpans. They also sold guglets and basins, water pots and carrying yokes.

The Run of Water through James's Valley

The watercourse was a boundary of the town from its first years. In the 1680s the Council allowed one Swallow to extend his ground back as far as the watercourse. He was not to hinder Captain Edward Mashborne's light or to block any passage harmful to the public or to neighbours.⁴²³³ In April 1704 the soldier John Hemon senior sold a dwelling house with a back kitchen in Chapel Valley for £25. Its ground ran to the watercourse behind it.⁴²³⁴ The same house and ground fetched £30 in March 1710.⁴²³⁵

By the 1730s the stream ran in a made channel. John Goodwin's grant in James Valley ran 217 feet back from the street to "the new watercourse".⁴²³⁶ A second parcel of 1.5 acres beside the Company's slaughterhouse carried a condition that no building stand within 25 feet of the water channel.⁴²³⁷ In about 1737 the Governor reported that bricks and tiles could at last be made on the island. He intended gutter tiles to carry clear water to the watering places at Lemon Valley and the fort.⁴²³⁸

Fresh water was carried wherever it was needed. In September 1742 the mortar for the new fortifications was made entirely with fresh water. It was brought down from Chapel Valley in casks towed behind boats.⁴²³⁹ Older works laid with sea water had failed: "a stone or two could be pulled out at the front and the cement would run out like loose gravel".⁴²⁴⁰ Soldiers were paid 1s a day in 1742 for carrying "stone, brick, timber, fresh water and lime" to the battery at Munden's Point.⁴²⁴¹

The channel needed constant labour. In July 1754 several people were paid £2 15s for cleaning the water conduits at Windward.⁴²⁴² In 1763 soldiers spent 153 days on the water trench that supplied the town and the shipping.⁴²⁴³ The next year they spent 119 days "building a wall to support the watercourse" that brought fresh water to the town and landing.⁴²⁴⁴ In 1759 soldiers cut a road in the Longwood to the Castle's watering place.⁴²⁴⁵

Animals and builders threatened the supply. In June 1758 the Council complained that hogs roaming the valley rooted in the channel that carried water to the crane.⁴²⁴⁶ Any hog found "loose about the street or behind the houses of the town" was to be impounded.⁴²⁴⁷ In June 1768 builders were found digging earth for mortar on the hill at Munden's Point and undermining the watercourse. The Council set a fine of 40s for each offence, though loose stones could still be taken.⁴²⁴⁸

New building crowded the channel in 1770 and 1771. In July 1770 the Council debated the line of the new barracks beside the watercourse.⁴²⁴⁹ In his dissent Corneille warned that "The foundation walls of the range nearest the watercourse, outer, inner and cross walls alike, would have to be raised more than 16 feet".⁴²⁵⁰ The Council moved the foundation 24 feet inward to save about £200.⁴²⁵¹ Powder was used that July to blast foundations for a new slaughterhouse as well as the barracks.⁴²⁵² The slaughterhouse was finished by October 1770.⁴²⁵³ In the quarter to March 1771 stone layers worked 73¾ days and labourers 654¾ days at a cost of £43 16s.⁴²⁵⁴ They were "making a new watercourse and enclosing a piece of waste ground beside one of the Company's houses".⁴²⁵⁵

The water itself came under suspicion in the 1770s. In April 1772 the grand jury presented the channel through the town as choked and its bridge as too small. It was "too small to let through the floodwater that heavy rain often sent down the valley".⁴²⁵⁶ In December 1775 the Directors agreed to bring water from Chubb's Spring and engaged two plumbers. The spring water was reported "more wholesome than that in the valley".⁴²⁵⁷ Articles "amounting to more than £1,100" were sent out for the scheme in March 1776.⁴²⁵⁸ Lead pipe lost in landing was replaced in November 1776.⁴²⁵⁹

The watercourse remained the back line of the town's house plots for the rest of the century. In March 1767 John Robinson, the master carpenter, took a strip 65 feet by 15 feet between his house and the watercourse at 3s a year.⁴²⁶⁰ His heirs held the same strip at 5s in June 1789.⁴²⁶¹ Small plots "near the main watercourse" went to the heirs of William Young in 1780, to Robert Leech in 1782 and to Thomas Alesworth in 1786.⁴²⁶² One plot of 1780 ran from the street to the main watercourse, with the slaughterhouse on its south side.⁴²⁶³ Butchery, houses and drinking water thus shared the same strip of valley floor.

Floods, Drought and the Dispute of 1756

The valley alternated between too much water and too little. In July 1756 soldiers were paid £51 1s 6d for work on the fortifications and for "repairing the water course, which was greatly damaged by the late high flood".⁴²⁶⁴ In October they were paid £93 11s 5d for clearing the watercourse and rebuilding back walls, houses and garden walls.⁴²⁶⁵ The flood was described as "the late extraordinary and most violent flood, such as had never been remembered by the oldest person then living on the place".⁴²⁶⁶ Heavy rains in 1763 brought another round of repairs to Company houses, wells, watercourses and the water tanks.⁴²⁶⁷

In dry weather there was almost no water. John Adamson noted in October 1756 that much of it was taken for the ships and for the Maldivian and Fort gardens.⁴²⁶⁸ After the flood Adamson had enlarged the watercourse and built walls along it in a direct line.⁴²⁶⁹ One wall, about 5 feet long and 5 feet high, ran from the back building of his neighbours to the watercourse.⁴²⁷⁰ He said it was also meant to "prevent the many irregularities daily committed by the military as well as by slaves belonging to the neighbouring houses".⁴²⁷¹

The neighbours, Wrangham and Beale, complained in September 1756 that the wall blocked their passage and that the bank carrying water to their yards had been cut down. They said "the back yards were rendered almost useless to them".⁴²⁷² They claimed both passage and water by custom.⁴²⁷³ The old channel had run too near the backs of the houses. Five planters had therefore cut a new one close to the hill at their own charge.⁴²⁷⁴ Drains could still be seen in the end walls of the houses.⁴²⁷⁵

The yard water had a practical purpose. Wrangham and Beale needed it to raise plantains and other necessaries for the ships and their families.⁴²⁷⁶ Without a right they would hold water only on sufferance. That would serve badly "if there should happen to be a person of an ill natured turn of mind above them".⁴²⁷⁷ The porous ground also soaked the water away quickly.⁴²⁷⁸ In the end the Governor found the complaint reasonable. He ordered a shorter wall of about 10 feet, "placing a door in it as he had always intended", and let the two men draw water from the main run.⁴²⁷⁹

Water rights were also handed down by will. Richard Mason's will of April 1755 directed that water should run in the lower trenches as it always had.⁴²⁸⁰ Lieutenant Thomas Easthope's will, dated 1 August 1751, left a watering place to be held in common by his heirs to prevent feuds.⁴²⁸¹ The lease to the widow Mary Seale in September 1757 forbade her to divert water from the Company's land.⁴²⁸² Adamson's house had come to him with the lease of the late Mr Goodwin. That lease granted "cellars, chambers, rooms, edges, entries, backsides, houses, buildings, springs, wells, gutters, watercourses".⁴²⁸³

Wells, Pumps, Pipes and Cisterns

Wells and pumps served the Company's houses and a few private ones. In 1742 the store held eight pumps at 14s each and 10 yards of 2-inch lead pipe "for the pumps at 12s 6d".⁴²⁸⁴ Two larger pumps were valued at £12 8s 4d.⁴²⁸⁵ The Company's plantation was charged with a pump and a turned pump box at 3s 8d in June 1742.⁴²⁸⁶ Brass cocks made from a broken copper still pump had been sent up to the plantation house in Governor Pyke's time.⁴²⁸⁷

The Castle had its own well. In April 1754 pumps for the Castle well cost £12 5s.⁴²⁸⁸ Nails were issued that quarter for repairing the pump and making buckets.⁴²⁸⁹ Pump boxes and leather went to the pumps in most years of the 1750s.⁴²⁹⁰ Rope for a well was issued in 1754, 1756, 1764, 1766 and December 1770.⁴²⁹¹ In January 1756 a 4-inch oak plank went "to repair the well in the Lieutenant Governor's yard".⁴²⁹² Two baulks made a curb for the well ropes in the stores.⁴²⁹³ In 1759 soldiers spent 171 days at the wells, and fir timber went to the well at Rupert's.⁴²⁹⁴

Lead carried water into the larger houses. In January 1754 the plantation house received 16 lead water pipes at £7 0s 6d and four heads for them at £3 2s 2d.⁴²⁹⁵ Nine pounds of pitch went "for the pipes in the Castle" in July 1754.⁴²⁹⁶ Pitch was also issued for troughs carrying water to the garden in 1758.⁴²⁹⁷ Lead lined the trough that carried water to the ovens in 1759.⁴²⁹⁸ A piece of Riga timber made "a water spout for the garden" in 1762.⁴²⁹⁹

Taps served the cisterns. In April 1759 "1 large brass cock for the cistern, plant house" was issued, with rosin for the cistern at the plantation stores.⁴³⁰⁰ Company servants bought brass cocks "for casks or cisterns" in 1754.⁴³⁰¹ A large brass tap and a bib tap were sold in September 1768.⁴³⁰² A copper pump at £1 4s 10d went to the stores in 1769.⁴³⁰³ The store still held large brass cocks in September 1770.⁴³⁰⁴ Six brass cocks went to the Castle in June 1771.⁴³⁰⁵

The town's piped supply was a tempting target. In June 1755 Thomas Pledger cut a length of the Company's leaden water pipe from the watercourse and melted it down.⁴³⁰⁶ The pipe was valued at 15s and he was fined £2.⁴³⁰⁷ It was the length "which had a brass cock fixed in it for the convenience of the garrison".⁴³⁰⁸

The store's own reserve of pipe hardly changed. The same 10 yards of 2-inch lead pipe appeared at £4 15s 6d in October 1755, October 1759 and September 1764.⁴³⁰⁹ It stood at £4 13s 6d in 1767 and was still there in 1768 and 1769.⁴³¹⁰ In September 1770 the same "Two-inch lead pipe, 10 yards, £4 15s 6d" was listed again.⁴³¹¹ One pump was valued at £12 13s 5d in every inventory from 1763 to 1770.⁴³¹² The turner's stock held 10 pump boxes in 1770.⁴³¹³ Lead pipe and large pumps were therefore bought for particular works, not sold to householders. Small pumps did reach private hands. In September 1770 a servant bought a "Copper hand pump, 1, £1 6s 4½d".⁴³¹⁴

Fetching and Keeping Water in the House

Most households fetched their water by hand. The store kept tubmen's yokes for carrying it. There were nine yokes in 1763, "9 tubmen's yokes, £0 13s 6d".⁴³¹⁵ There were 19 in 1764, five in 1767, three in 1769 and two in 1770.⁴³¹⁶ Servants bought a "Tubman's yoke, 1, £0 1s 8d" in June 1770.⁴³¹⁷ A carrying yoke for water or milk went to the plantation in 1764, and others to Plantation House and the bakehouse.⁴³¹⁸ Water carts carried water about the island and were repaired with oak plank in 1763.⁴³¹⁹ Cordage tied a water cask to a post at the stable the same year.⁴³²⁰ Large casks called leaguers held water and stores, and two empty ones cost the Company £1 in 1768.⁴³²¹

Tin water pots stood in the kitchen. Servants paid 5s 8½d for a tin water pot in 1753.⁴³²² The store held four water pots in October 1753 and six in 1754.⁴³²³ Watering pots, perhaps for gardens, were also kept.⁴³²⁴ Buckets were made of wood or of canvas. Nails were issued for making buckets for the Castle in 1754, and osnaburg and canvas for buckets in 1763, 1768 and 1769.⁴³²⁵ The store held seven copper buckets worth £2 8s 10d in September 1770.⁴³²⁶ Servants bought 19 labourers' buckets in the quarter to December 1770.⁴³²⁷ Watering pots appeared again in the barracks account in March 1771.⁴³²⁸

Drinking water was kept cool in guglets. These were narrow-necked porous jars, sold with a basin. Three goglets bought for the Company in January 1754 cost 9s.⁴³²⁹ Duke Crisp's chinaware seized in 1742 included four guglets.⁴³³⁰ The Canton ships brought them in quantity. The Godolphin brought "12 pairs of gugglets and basins at 400 candareens" in April 1757.⁴³³¹ The Albion brought "30 guglets and basins at four mace each" in 1763.⁴³³² In 1767 a further 36 pairs of stoneware guglets and basins arrived.⁴³³³ The Plassey and the Glatton each brought 15 guglets and basins in February 1770.⁴³³⁴ The Kent brought "30 washbasins with 30 guglets" in April 1771.⁴³³⁵

Guglets ranged from cheap to costly. Servants paid £2 for 12 guglets and basins in July 1754, or 3s 4d each.⁴³³⁶ A single goglet and basin cost 3s in January 1757.⁴³³⁷ Seven "blue and white water bottles with basins" cost £1 3s 4d in 1763.⁴³³⁸ Decorated pieces cost far more. Five enamelled water bottles with basins went in 1762, and "11 coloured and gilded guglets and basins, £6 1s 0d" in March 1763.⁴³³⁹ In 1767 servants paid £5 17s 4d for 16 stoneware guglets and basins.⁴³⁴⁰ Planters bought "three enamelled water jars with basins" for £2 2s in 1763.⁴³⁴¹ Plain blue and white guglets stayed cheap. A servant paid "China guglet and basin, 1, £0 2s 7½d" in December 1770.⁴³⁴² Servants bought nine guglets and basins in the quarter to March 1770 and 23 in the quarter to June 1771.⁴³⁴³

Washing water was held in basins and jugs. The store held 12 pewter washbowls and stands, valued at £13 4s, in November 1742.⁴³⁴⁴ A coloured and gold china jug and basin cost 10s in 1753 and was still in store in 1755.⁴³⁴⁵ An "ordinary jug and basin" sold for 2s 1d in 1767.⁴³⁴⁶ Pewter basins sold steadily to servants and planters through the 1750s and 1760s.⁴³⁴⁷ Two wash basins arrived broken from the Talbot in 1766.⁴³⁴⁸ Pewter basins still sold in 1771. Servants took seven in the quarter to June 1771 and planters four.⁴³⁴⁹

Bathing became a matter for the Company's own houses. In the quarter to September 1770 men spent 146 days building a bath house and repairing Plantation House, at a cost of £7 6s.⁴³⁵⁰ In June 1771 three single deals were issued "for a bathing tub".⁴³⁵¹

Larger washing took place outside the house. In 1764 the slave woman Moll spoke at "the spring where people did their washing".⁴³⁵² The Company's plantation had a wash house, repaired in April 1756.⁴³⁵³ In 1711 the Governor had complained that no wash house at all had been built there.⁴³⁵⁴

Washing linen was paid labour for many island households. Sukey, a black woman, washed for Branston and Yates in 1771.⁴³⁵⁵ She identified Branston's private mark on a stocking found tied round the crowbar used to break into the store.⁴³⁵⁶ Island households also washed the linen of passing ships. In May 1771 the measles ship Europa was forbidden "to have any of their linen washed on the island for any reason".⁴³⁵⁷ The Castle drew 150 lb of soap and 36½ lb of starch "for washing linen" in the quarter to December 1770.⁴³⁵⁸ Indigo and smalts for laundry blue followed in June 1771.⁴³⁵⁹ Washing was also a charge on an estate. John Desfountain's will of June 1770 provided that his sister Rebecca "be kept from his estate in food, drink, washing and lodging for as long as she remained single".⁴³⁶⁰

Chamber Pots, Close Stools and Bedpans

At night the household used chamber pots and close stools. The Company's plantation house had two pewter chamber pots in July 1711.⁴³⁶¹ At Governor Goodwin's sale in August 1742 three pewter and one earthen chamber pot went for £1 5s.⁴³⁶² The same sale sold "1 close stool chair, purchased by John Goodwin, £1 10s 6d".⁴³⁶³ A close stool was a box or chair holding a removable pan.

The store's stock of such goods was large. In November 1742 it held "16½ close stool pans at 3s 5½d".⁴³⁶⁴ A pewter close-stool pan sold for 6s 9d in September 1742, and a pewter chamber pot went to the general charges at 3s 3d.⁴³⁶⁵ Three pewter chamber pots went to the inhabitants at 5s each in June 1742.⁴³⁶⁶

From the 1750s china replaced pewter for many buyers. Nearly every chest of porcelain from Canton held 12 chamber pots. The Prince George brought "12 chamber pots, £2" in March 1753.⁴³⁶⁷ The Drake and the Suffolk each brought 12 more.⁴³⁶⁸ The Griffin brought "12 chamber pots, gold and colours" in March 1754.⁴³⁶⁹ The Walpole brought 24 in 1760, at 2 mace each.⁴³⁷⁰ The Albion, the Egmont and the Talbot each brought 30 in 1763-1766.⁴³⁷¹ The Talbot's were "30 blue and white chamber pots at 3 mace each".⁴³⁷² The Lord Clive and the Northumberland each brought 15.⁴³⁷³ The Plassey and the Glatton each brought 15 more in February 1770, "15 chamber pots at 3 mace each, 4 taels 5 mace".⁴³⁷⁴ The Kent brought 30 in April 1771.⁴³⁷⁵ Breakage was constant. Two of the Glatton's chamber pots and one of the Kent's were found broken on opening.⁴³⁷⁶

China chamber pots were cheap. Servants paid 1s 6d for one in January 1753 and £1 4s for 16 in July 1754.⁴³⁷⁷ In June 1769 they bought 25 for £2 10s, or 2s each.⁴³⁷⁸ Pewter chamber pots cost about 3s 2d in 1753.⁴³⁷⁹ Buyers at the 40 per cent advance paid 2s for a china chamber pot in 1753 and 1756.⁴³⁸⁰ Fine china chamber pots cost 2s 10d each in 1766.⁴³⁸¹ Servants paid £1 4s 9d for 11 china chamber pots in March 1770, or about 2s 3d each.⁴³⁸² They bought 24 more in the quarter to June 1771.⁴³⁸³

Pewter did not disappear. Servants bought four pewter chamber pots for 12s 10d in December 1769.⁴³⁸⁴ They took 13 for £2 1s 5½d in June 1770, or a little over 3s 2d each.⁴³⁸⁵ A year later they bought "Pewter chamber pots, 23, £3 12s 10d".⁴³⁸⁶ That quarter they bought pewter and china chamber pots in almost equal numbers.⁴³⁸⁷ The Malays kept by the Company received two pewter chamber pots in September 1770 and another in June 1771.⁴³⁸⁸

Table 23. Stated prices of chamber ware in the Company's store and at sales, 1742-1771
Year	Item	Buyer or use	Quantity	Stated amount	Source
1742	Pewter chamber pots	Inhabitants	3	15s	046/121-125
1742	Pewter close stool pans	Store inventory	16½	3s 5½d each	047/54
1742	Pewter close stool pan	Store sale	1	6s 9d	047/86
1742	Close stool chair	Goodwin sale	1	£1 10s 6d	046/56-59
1743	Bedpan and urinal	Outcry	1	4s 3d	047/166
1753	China chamber pot	Servants	1	1s 6d	062/10
1753	China chamber pots	Servants	9	13s 6d	062/204
1754	China chamber pots	Servants	16	£1 4s	063/109
1754	Pewter stool pan for a close stool	Servants	1	5s 3d	063/112-113
1759	Pewter close-stool pan	Servants	1	5s 10½d	069/166-172
1759	Pewter bedpans	Store inventory	6	£2 1s	069/196
1760	Pewter chamber stool pan	Servants	1	5s 6½d	069/354-360
1763	Pewter close-stool pans	Store inventory	6	£1 8s 5d	075/104
1764	Glass urinals	Planters	2	2s 10d	075/346-348
1764	Pewter close-stool pans	Store sale	2	10s 6d	075/342
1764	Earthenware close-stool pan	Store sale	1	3s 8d	076/16
1765	Porcelain chamber pots	Servants	12	£1	076/219
1765	Earthenware close-stool pan	Servants	1	3s 3d	076/352
1767	Porcelain chamber pots	Servants	16	£1 16s	082/204
1767	Pewter close-stool pan	Store sale	1	4s 11½d	082/76
1769	China chamber pots	Servants	25	£2 10s	084/185
1769	Pewter commode pans	Hospital	2	11s 1d	084/212
1769	Earthenware close stool pans	Store inventory	15	£1 6s 4d	084/393
1770	China chamber pots	Servants	11	£1 4s 9d	085/158
1770	Pewter close-stool pans	Servants	2	12s 2d	085/162
1770	Pewter chamber pots	Servants	13	£2 1s 5½d	085/299
1770	Pewter chamber pots	Malays	2	5s 10d	085/425-426
1770	Pewter close-stool pans	Hospital	4	£1 2s 2d	085/427-428
1770	Earthenware close-stool pans	Store inventory	14	£1 4s 6d	085/434-435
1771	China chamber pots	Servants	2	4s 9d	086/144
1771	Earthenware close stool pans	Servants	3	5s 10d	086/291
1771	Pewter chamber pots	Servants	23	£3 12s 10d	086/297]]
*Amounts are as entered. Servants paid cost plus 10 per cent and planters and others up to 40 per cent, so like items carried different prices in the same year

Close-stool pans came in pewter and in earthenware. Pewter pans sold to servants at 5s 3d to 5s 10½d in the 1750s.⁴³⁸⁹ By the late 1760s they cost about 4s 11½d.⁴³⁹⁰ Earthenware pans were cheaper, at 3s 3d to 3s 8d.⁴³⁹¹ The store held 10 earthenware close-stool pans in 1763 and 15 in 1769.⁴³⁹² The store held 14 in September 1770, valued at £1 4s 6d.⁴³⁹³ Servants paid 5s 10d for three in June 1771, under 2s each.⁴³⁹⁴ Servants paid 12s 2d for two pewter pans in March 1770, or 6s 1d each.⁴³⁹⁵ They broke easily. Two of eight in 1765 were broken, and one was "broken on opening" from the Duke of Albany in 1769.⁴³⁹⁶ Another earthenware pan was written off as waste in October 1770.⁴³⁹⁷

Bedpans and urinals belonged to the sickroom. When Nichols died in 1742 a bed pan and a pewter urinal were found at the washerwoman's.⁴³⁹⁸ The council recorded that "The following items were at the washerwoman's and had not been entered in the inventory above."⁴³⁹⁹ Thomas Bapek's effects of 1742 included a bedpan and urinal.⁴⁴⁰⁰ The store held "6 bed pans, £2 1s 0d" in 1759.⁴⁴⁰¹ It sold glass urinals at about 1s 5d each in the 1760s.⁴⁴⁰²

The Company furnished its sick and its slaves. Deals were issued for close stools for the hospital in 1758.⁴⁴⁰³ The hospital drew two pewter close-stool pans and two bedpans for £1 3s 5d in June 1765.⁴⁴⁰⁴ In 1769 it had "2 pewter commode pans, £0 11s 1d".⁴⁴⁰⁵ In September 1770 it drew "Pewter close-stool pans, 4, £1 2s 2d".⁴⁴⁰⁶ The store still held a glass urinal that month.⁴⁴⁰⁷ In December 1763 the Company slaves received a pewter close-stool pan for the sick, with blankets, iron pots and long cloth for women in childbirth.⁴⁴⁰⁸

The Castle drew its chamber pots from the store. Two went in January 1755 and two more in July 1755.⁴⁴⁰⁹ "Porcelain, 4 chamber pots for the Castle, £0 6s 0d" were issued in September 1764.⁴⁴¹⁰ Others followed in 1765, 1766 and 1767, the 1766 pots at 2s each.⁴⁴¹¹ Four more went with the Castle's china in March 1770.⁴⁴¹² The Castle's guglets and basins came the same way.⁴⁴¹³

Privies, Necessary Houses and the Disposal of Filth

Town houses had privies at the back. In October 1717 a witness at an inquest went "through the house" to an outside privy before finding a body in the kitchen.⁴⁴¹⁴ John Goodwin's messuage in James Valley had a brew house and privies when it was granted in November 1738.⁴⁴¹⁵ In 1762 the justice Mathew Burling's house had a privy outside, a cellar door onto the street and an entrance passage.⁴⁴¹⁶

The privy was at the far end of the yard. In January 1766 Sarah Walker's maid called her to "the privy at the back of the yard".⁴⁴¹⁷ A witness, "Crossing the yard, he heard a child crying behind the closed privy door".⁴⁴¹⁸ The same month three slaves burgled James Greentree's storeroom. They threw the empty case bottle into the privy.⁴⁴¹⁹

The Company called its privies necessary houses. Nails were issued for repairing a necessary house in April 1755.⁴⁴²⁰ In April 1757 deals and nails went to building a "necessary house on the line" for the soldiers.⁴⁴²¹ Paint went to "the necessary house in the Castle" the same quarter.⁴⁴²²

Dung and rubbish piled up in yards and streets. In July 1753 bottles were hidden in the Lieutenant Governor's stable by the dunghill.⁴⁴²³ In December 1754 householders in James Valley were found "throwing dirt and rubbish in the streets at night".⁴⁴²⁴ The Council fixed a fine of 5s for each future offence.⁴⁴²⁵ In June 1758 it ordered that all dirt and filth be carried to the sea. It was no longer to go on the road to Munden's Point.⁴⁴²⁶ Loose hogs were to be impounded at a fine of 5s or half a dollar.⁴⁴²⁷

Rain and roof water were drained away from the walls. In January 1759 single deals made a drain "to the Lieutenant Governor's back yard".⁴⁴²⁸ Pitch was issued for a drain in Adamson's yard.⁴⁴²⁹ An entry of July 1757 recorded "service to drains" at £3 4s 1½d.⁴⁴³⁰ Adamson also had a small pond in the back yard of the Company's house cleared after the flood of 1756 to hold water.⁴⁴³¹ His neighbours said he had sunk it to "the loose gravel thrown there when the house was built".⁴⁴³² Standing water was kept for ornament as well as use. Labourers spent 74 days repairing "a fishpond in the Lieutenant Governor's yard" in the quarter to March 1771.⁴⁴³³

Gutters failed at the Governor's country house. In July 1764 the new Plantation House was "continually leaking from the roof, which was very defective in many places".⁴⁴³⁴ Its gutters, "laid with sheet lead weighing 10 lb to the square foot, had blistered all over".⁴⁴³⁵ In November 1765 the mason Mitchell was to line them with terras, a water-resisting mortar, laid to a proper fall.⁴⁴³⁶ The Council tested it on one gutter first.⁴⁴³⁷ In June 1766 Roderick Merchant supplied 64 gallons of beer at 2s a gallon to be "used in a cement for the gutters of the Plantation House".⁴⁴³⁸ Soldiers then spent 65 days as masons on the gutters.⁴⁴³⁹

Household Stores: Storerooms, Cellars and Dairies

Food and drink were kept in back rooms, cellars and outbuildings. Town houses were conveyed with their cellars from the 1730s. Greentree's house of 1738 passed with "chambers, cellars, rooms, entries and yards".⁴⁴⁴⁰ Nathan Sample's lease of 1742 included the messuage "with all its cellars, chambers, rooms, outhouses and easements".⁴⁴⁴¹ Burling's cellar door opened onto the street in 1762.⁴⁴⁴²

Storerooms stood in the yard. James Powell, the assistant storekeeper, kept one at his house in the valley. In September 1755 "a room in the back yard of James Powell's house in the valley had recently been broken into and several cheeses stolen".⁴⁴⁴³ James Greentree's storeroom held case bottles of arrack, biscuit and rice in 1766.⁴⁴⁴⁴ The burglars set the goods "by the oven in the yard" before hiding them.⁴⁴⁴⁵ The back-door key "was normally left on the dresser in the kitchen".⁴⁴⁴⁶ In 1779 James Collins lost salt pork, rice and yams and a jar of fat when his thatched house was broken into.⁴⁴⁴⁷

Jars, casks and tubs held the household's provisions. The Company's plantation house had five powdering tubs for salting meat in 1711.⁴⁴⁴⁸ Its dairy had 28 tin milk pans, seven milk tubs, three milk pails, three churns, a cream tub and a cream jar.⁴⁴⁴⁹ Richard Gawling's house furniture of 1754 included carboys and jars.⁴⁴⁵⁰ At his sale John Clark bought china jars.⁴⁴⁵¹ Stone jars and milk pans were valued together at £1 15s in the store in 1753.⁴⁴⁵²

Dairies and milk houses were cool outbuildings with plain floors. In 1735 water was spilled "onto the earthen floor of the milk house" in the Greentree household.⁴⁴⁵³ The Company built and repaired dairy rooms at Plantation House, Longwood and the Great Wood through the 1750s.⁴⁴⁵⁴ Soldiers spent 199 days building a dairy house in 1759.⁴⁴⁵⁵ Earthenware milk pans went to the dairies almost every year. In 1753 the Great Wood dairy had 12 for 7s 6d.⁴⁴⁵⁶ Servants paid 6s 3d for six in 1767.⁴⁴⁵⁷

The Company kept special places for its own stores. Deals for "the cold hole" were short delivered from the Grantham in 1754.⁴⁴⁵⁸ A salt house was repaired in January 1753.⁴⁴⁵⁹ A smoke house was built at the plantation in January 1758.⁴⁴⁶⁰ In April 1770 the storekeeper James Powell asked for more room for salt provisions. The Council ordered the gap between two storerooms in the square to be roofed over, since "the walls were already built and needed only a covering".⁴⁴⁶¹ A new cellar was dug in the stores the same year. It took 122 deals, iron and nails and 140 days of labour.⁴⁴⁶² Riga timber was issued for covering it in September 1770.⁴⁴⁶³

The dairy goods continued into 1771. The store held 35 earthenware milk pans in September 1770.⁴⁴⁶⁴ Servants paid 10s 4d for seven that quarter.⁴⁴⁶⁵ The plantation dairy received "Earthenware milk pans for the dairy, 6, £0 7s 6d" and a churning stick in December 1770.⁴⁴⁶⁶

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the watercourse shaped the town as much as the street did. Plots were measured from the street back to the channel, and the rule of 25 feet in Goodwin's grant implied a concern to keep buildings off the water.⁴⁴⁶⁷ The later grants of strips beside the watercourse showed that this margin was gradually built over.⁴⁴⁶⁸ The slaughterhouse, the hogs and the rubbish thrown into the streets all lay along the same line. The grand jury's complaint of 1772 and the turn to Chubb's Spring in 1775 probably reflected a growing sense that valley water had become fouled.⁴⁴⁶⁹

Water in the town was a matter of custom more than of law. Wrangham and Beale claimed their water by long use, and the Governor accepted the claim.⁴⁴⁷⁰ The wills of Mason and Easthope treated water as an inheritance to be shared and protected.⁴⁴⁷¹ The pattern probably reflected the scarcity described by Adamson, when ships and gardens took most of the supply in dry weather.⁴⁴⁷²

The store accounts suggested a change in the household's sanitary goods between the 1740s and the 1760s. Chinese porcelain at 1s 6d to 2s 3d joined pewter chamber pots at 3s to 5s.⁴⁴⁷³ The Company's regular orders of 12 to 30 chamber pots a ship made them one of the commonest pieces of porcelain on the island. Porcelain did not displace pewter, however. Servants still bought 23 pewter chamber pots in one quarter of 1771, as many as they bought in china.⁴⁴⁷⁴ The heavier pot probably suited households that wanted one that would not break. Pewter and earthenware survived for close-stool pans and bedpans, where weight and strength mattered more than appearance. The coloured and gilded guglets showed that even drinking water could be a matter of display.⁴⁴⁷⁵

Privies, cellars and storerooms appeared in the records mostly when something went wrong in them. The evidence of theft and assault therefore suggested a common plan for the town house. A street door and passage led to the rooms and kitchen. Behind lay a yard with a storeroom, an oven and a privy.⁴⁴⁷⁶ The privy was probably a simple pit or cesspool, though no record described its construction.

Comparisons

In England most town households drew water from wells, conduits, pumps and water carriers. Probate inventories show close stools and chamber pots spreading widely among middling households between 1660 and 1760.⁴⁴⁷⁷ Studies of Kent and Cornwall inventories record close stools chiefly in the better-furnished chambers.⁴⁴⁷⁸ St Helena's servants bought chamber pots at prices that put them within reach of almost every household.

In colonial New England, houses relied on dug wells in the yard and privies set behind the house. Cellars beneath the house held stored food.⁴⁴⁷⁹ The St Helena town house followed a similar arrangement of yard, cellar and privy, but on steeper and narrower ground. The genteel washing and dressing equipment of the later eighteenth century in America also had a counterpart in St Helena's gilded guglets and basins.⁴⁴⁸⁰

Bermuda had no rivers or springs of any size. Its householders depended on rainwater caught from roofs and stored in cisterns.⁴⁴⁸¹ St Helena's streams and springs spared its people that dependence. Its cisterns served chiefly the Company's plant house and stores.⁴⁴⁸²

At the Cape, Cape Town drew its water from streams off the high ground behind the town. The VOC led the water through channels in the streets, and householders quarrelled over its use much as Wrangham and Beale did.⁴⁴⁸³ Slaves carried water and night soil for Cape households, as St Helena's tubmen's yokes imply for that island.⁴⁴⁸⁴

In Company India the goglet was the ordinary vessel for cooling drinking water. The word probably passed with the object to St Helena through the Company's ships. Europeans in Bengal and Madras relied on servants to carry water and remove waste.⁴⁴⁸⁵ The flooding of James's Valley also belonged to a wider story of forest clearance on the island and its effects on soil and water.⁴⁴⁸⁶

Part Four: Goods, Households and Their Fate

The last part of the report follows household goods from the ship's hold to the grave. It begins with the Company's store, through which almost every pot, pane and blanket on the island passed. It then turns to the inventories and wills that recorded what households held at death, to the thieves who took goods by force and to the households themselves, free and slave.

19. The Store and the Supply of Household Goods

The Store before 1740

From the first years of settlement the Company's storehouse was the island's main source of household goods. In March 1678 the Johanna carried 50 sets of beds, pillows and rugs at 11s the set, packed in three cases.⁴⁴⁸⁷ The same ship brought a dozen lanterns, a dozen smaller ones and two dozen lamps with two brass spouts each, priced at 12s the dozen.⁴⁴⁸⁸ She also carried 100 iron pots and kettles weighing 27 cwt 17 lb at 30s a hundredweight, with 58 gallons of lamp oil.⁴⁴⁸⁹ A London invoice of March 1680 priced stock locks in eight grades, from 7d to 3s 6d each.⁴⁴⁹⁰

The store supplied private inhabitants as well as the Company's own works. When nails ran out in about 1682 the Council stopped issuing them to any inhabitant until a fresh supply arrived.⁴⁴⁹¹ Nailers alone were exempted, and the remaining stock went to officers and soldiers in place of pay.⁴⁴⁹² The Society brought household iron goods, nails and a box of window glass from London in April 1684.⁴⁴⁹³ Goods from the East came by another road. In 1687 Bombay reported China goods and pepper sent to the island, while tea came separately from England.⁴⁴⁹⁴

By 1713 the Court of Committees priced store goods in two ways. Necessaries were sold at a modest advance on their cost.⁴⁴⁹⁵ Window glass and small looking glasses were sent only in half the quantity asked, as a trial of the profit such ornamental goods might yield.⁴⁴⁹⁶ Their price was left to the Governor's discretion.⁴⁴⁹⁷ The same year's supply list set window glass, looking glasses and lamps side by side.⁴⁴⁹⁸ About the same time the Council paid 16d a pound for 265 lb of candles bought on the island.⁴⁴⁹⁹ London objected that timely notice would have let the candles come from England instead.⁴⁵⁰⁰

The island's own requests show what households wanted. An indent of the 1710s asked for 20 bedsteads with sacking bottoms, 30 iron pots of 20 gallons to boil yams and 50 smaller meat pots.⁴⁵⁰¹ It also sought six dozen door latches, six dozen sorted stock locks and nine dozen cupboard locks in ordinary and fine grades.⁴⁵⁰² Store accounts of 1716 and 1719 list rat traps among the ironmongers' ware at 2s 6d and 1s 6d.⁴⁵⁰³ An account of goods sold to inhabitants in about 1719 entered 42 china cups and two china bowls at £1 3s 6d.⁴⁵⁰⁴ Braziers' ware in the same account came to £4 14s 7d, including copper saucepans, tea kettles and snuffers.⁴⁵⁰⁵

Stock that lay too long spoiled. In February 1725 Captain Goodwin reported moth-eaten blankets that no one would buy at the settled price.⁴⁵⁰⁶ He proposed selling them cheaper to the inhabitants for their slaves.⁴⁵⁰⁷ The Court once excused a storekeeper for damaged goods, observing that the most valuable of them had lain in store for nearly 30 years.⁴⁵⁰⁸

Classes of Buyer and the Advance

By 1742 the store held quarterly sales to the inhabitants. The sale of June 1742 raised £91 16s 4½d for European goods and £182 3s 9½d in all.⁴⁵⁰⁹ Household goods in it included four blankets, a large copper kettle at £2 8s and 123 lb of candles at 2s 6d a pound.⁴⁵¹⁰ Inhabitants were warned in July 1742 to draw their necessaries before the stores shut on 31 July.⁴⁵¹¹

By 1753 the accounts divided buyers into classes, each paying a fixed advance on cost. The Company's servants paid least: goods were "sold to the Company servants at ten per cent above cost".⁴⁵¹² Planters bought dowlas and other cloth at 25 per cent above cost.⁴⁵¹³ Soap, candles, china and ironmongery were sold to planters and other inhabitants at 40 per cent.⁴⁵¹⁴ Its list opened with the words "The following goods were sold at 40 per cent above cost".⁴⁵¹⁵ A visiting Dutch gentleman paid 50 per cent in January 1753 for blankets, tea kettles and copper saucepans.⁴⁵¹⁶ The Company's own ships also bought candles, deals and rat traps.⁴⁵¹⁷ In 1766 a fourth class at 50 per cent, probably the ships, took tumblers and 40 lb of wax candles.⁴⁵¹⁸ Bands of 35 per cent and 30 per cent appeared now and then in the later 1760s.⁴⁵¹⁹ The planters' band of 25 per cent survived into 1771, chiefly for fine blankets.⁴⁵²⁰ In December 1769 six fine blankets cost planters £3 13s 9d at that rate.⁴⁵²¹

The difference between the bands was plain on the counter. In December 1767 outside buyers paid 4s 10d for a double deal and 5s 3d for four milk pans.⁴⁵²² Servants paid 3s 9d and 4s 2d for the same goods.⁴⁵²³ Because prices were reckoned on the invoice, a London clerk's error passed straight into the island price.⁴⁵²⁴ In 1766 a lot of 30 pairs of dovetail hinges was overcharged, though "Such hinges were usually invoiced at about 4d a pair."⁴⁵²⁵

The higher rate kept the planters away. Their purchases did rise in 1771, to £82 3s 9d in the quarter to March and £175 8s 6d in the quarter to June.⁴⁵²⁶ Servants spent more than 12 times as much in the same quarter.⁴⁵²⁷ In January 1772 the Court ordered store goods sold to all inhabitants "at the rate of ten per cent advance on the invoice".⁴⁵²⁸ The planters were few and poor and had drawn very little at the higher rate.⁴⁵²⁹ New prices for goods issued to planters and inhabitants were published in May 1772.⁴⁵³⁰

The buyers at the counter were not always the householders themselves. Sarah Walker told a court in 1765 that "she wanted to send him to the East India Company's store to buy some household supplies for her".⁴⁵³¹ The man she sent was a gunner. In January 1769 the slave Betty collected goods from the stores for her master and was carrying them to his country property.⁴⁵³² Women's, girls' and boys' shoes sold to servants in 1764 point to families behind the servants' accounts.⁴⁵³³

Some households were furnished by the Company directly. The Malay exile Mallay received soap, candles, a blanket and china plates and bowls each quarter at the Company's charge.⁴⁵³⁴ In June 1769 the Malays' account included a three-quart tea kettle and two plated candlesticks.⁴⁵³⁵ In September 1770 they received two fine blankets, a brass tea kettle, two pewter chamber pots and 16 glasses.⁴⁵³⁶ Their quarterly issue in 1771 ran to 20 lb of candles and 16 lb of soap, with octagonal china soup plates and sneakers.⁴⁵³⁷ The Castle drew a new china service in June 1771, with "Octagonal china meat plates for the Castle, 40, £1 0s 2d".⁴⁵³⁸ Two tablecloths, two overlays and 24 napkins were bought for it for £15 the same year.⁴⁵³⁹ The hospital was refitted in June 1771 with 96 panes of window glass, 14 lamps, wooden bowls and platters.⁴⁵⁴⁰ A 17 lb iron pot went to the Black Square in March 1770, and six birch brooms to the slaves' square.⁴⁵⁴¹ When 16 French prisoners were landed from the Worcester in July 1759 the Council ordered each a blanket from the stores.⁴⁵⁴² The Company's own slaves drew two 6-gallon iron pots in January 1758.⁴⁵⁴³

The Quarterly Sales

The quarterly sale lists were set out under the old trade heads. Braziers' ware covered brass and copper; ironmongers' ware covered locks, hinges and frying pans.⁴⁵⁴⁴ Turners' ware meant brooms, brushes, bowls and platters.⁴⁵⁴⁵ Tin ware, glass ware, china ware and pewter each had their own heading.⁴⁵⁴⁶ Food and drink were listed first and took most of the money.⁴⁵⁴⁷

The servants' sales grew through the period. They came to £829 7s 0d in the quarter to April 1753.⁴⁵⁴⁸ They passed £1,000 in April 1756 and reached £1,515 0s 6d in September 1767.⁴⁵⁴⁹ They came to £1,774 10s 0d in December 1769 and £2,173 1s 10d in June 1771.⁴⁵⁵⁰ Sales at 40 per cent were far smaller and seldom exceeded £260 a quarter.⁴⁵⁵¹ The table gives the totals for quarters in which both lists survive.

Table 24. Store sales by class of buyer, selected quarters, provisions and drink included
Quarter ending	Servants at 10 per cent	Others at 40 per cent	Source
April 1753	£829 7s 0d	£148 7s 0d	062/108; 062/111
July 1753	£774 4s 7d	£248 17s 1d	062/208; 062/212
January 1754	£769 7s 8½d	£260 15s 7½d	062/362; 062/366
July 1754	£852 15s 4½d	£174 15s 1d	063/112-113; 063/116-117
July 1756	£903 5s 2½d	£164 13s 2½d	066/450; 066/452
October 1757	£967 9s 5½d	£194 1s 5d	067/414-415; 067/416-418
January 1759	£1,282 2s 5½d	£123 1s 5½d	068/336-343; 068/343-346
December 1764	£1,211 16s 6d	£89 6s 8d	076/105; 076/106-109
June 1766	£1,338 18s 3d	£181 0s 0d	078/82; 078/87
September 1767	£1,515 0s 6d	£103 3s 10d	082/205; 082/209-210
December 1769	£1,774 10s 0d	£132 8s 11d	085/19; 085/24
September 1770	£1,714 13s 7d	£59 3s 9d	085/415-417
March 1771	£1,740 19s 8d	£82 3s 9d	086/148; 086/150
June 1771	£2,173 1s 10d	£175 8s 6d	086/297; 086/302]]
*The 40 per cent column includes the planters' purchases at 25 per cent in some quarters. Arrack, salt meat and flour made up much of both columns

Within these totals the household goods moved in steady quantities. Servants bought 680 lb of candles in the quarter to July 1753 and 609 lb in the quarter to September 1769.⁴⁵⁵² They took 642 lb of soap in the quarter to March 1765.⁴⁵⁵³ In September 1764 they bought 509 panes of window glass, 346 of them 8 by 10 inches.⁴⁵⁵⁴ China sold steadily: 245 plates, 60 soup plates and 13 chamber pots went in one quarter of 1756.⁴⁵⁵⁵ In 1769 servants bought 25 chamber pots and 162 cups and saucers from the season's Canton china.⁴⁵⁵⁶

The sales of 1770 and 1771 kept the same pattern on a larger scale. In the quarter to June 1771 servants bought 652 lb of candles for £82 17s 2d.⁴⁵⁵⁷ They also took 240 panes of 8 by 10 glass, 144 wine glasses and 16 decanters.⁴⁵⁵⁸ The same quarter's china included 11 sets of dishes and plates, 126 soup plates and 24 chamber pots.⁴⁵⁵⁹ Pewter chamber pots sold beside the china ones: "Pewter chamber pots, 23, £3 12s 10d".⁴⁵⁶⁰ Earthenware teapots appeared in numbers, 19 cream-coloured and 22 red in that quarter.⁴⁵⁶¹ Kitchen goods grew more elaborate. A small roasting jack with chain, weight and pulley sold for £2 15s 8d in September 1770.⁴⁵⁶² Servants bought six large box irons in June 1770 and an iron turbot kettle that December.⁴⁵⁶³ Brushes for mahogany tables and a tubman's yoke for carrying water point to the furnishing and labour of the better houses.⁴⁵⁶⁴ Laundry goods sold steadily, with indigo and smalts for blueing linen.⁴⁵⁶⁵ Russia diaper and huckaback for napkins and tablecloths came to £18 15s 1d in June 1771.⁴⁵⁶⁶

Ironmongery sold in lots of 20 to 30 locks a quarter. In September 1765 servants bought 25 locks of several kinds, from door and closet locks to padlocks.⁴⁵⁶⁷ A 10-inch iron rim lock with brass knobs cost £3 5s 3d in 1766.⁴⁵⁶⁸ Servants also bought 1,620 brass nails for covering chairs and trunks in the quarter to June 1766.⁴⁵⁶⁹ The sales followed the pace of house building. In the quarter to December 1766 servants bought only five deals, and candles fell to 198 lb as cheap stock ran short.⁴⁵⁷⁰

The stock behind the counter was large. European goods in store were valued at £6,919 2s 0d in November 1742.⁴⁵⁷¹ European and India goods remaining came to £3,772 2s 1d in October 1753 and £4,060 7s 2½d in October 1755.⁴⁵⁷² With provisions included the whole store stood at £9,035 1s 9½d in 1759 and £12,823 16s 2d in 1769.⁴⁵⁷³ The count of 1769 was taken while the stores were closed.⁴⁵⁷⁴ In 1763 the store held 1,396 panes of window glass in eight sizes.⁴⁵⁷⁵ It also held china worth £101 6s 3d, with "270 meat dishes and 1,671 plates together, £50 8s 0d".⁴⁵⁷⁶ More than 280 locks of many patterns lay in store the same year.⁴⁵⁷⁷ By 1768 the locks were graded by size from A to M.⁴⁵⁷⁸ European goods in store came to £11,155 14s 8d in September 1770.⁴⁵⁷⁹ That count listed 199 ordinary blankets, 1,075 double deals and 241 blank keys.⁴⁵⁸⁰ It also listed four roasting jacks, the largest valued at £7 10s 2d.⁴⁵⁸¹ Glass in store was down to 208 panes in 13 sizes.⁴⁵⁸² Candles were valued at £508 8s 2d and the china at only £38 11s 6d.⁴⁵⁸³

The store itself was not secure. In March 1771 thieves broke through its wall by night with a crowbar and took £355 12s 11¼d.⁴⁵⁸⁴ "A stocking had been found tied round a crowbar, which had plainly been used to break a hole through the wall of the store".⁴⁵⁸⁵ The slaves' houses in the Fort Garden and the valley were searched first.⁴⁵⁸⁶ The loss was written off in April rather than charged to the storekeeper.⁴⁵⁸⁷ In June the matross Pidcock confessed, and his belongings were auctioned for £2 13s 6d.⁴⁵⁸⁸ Of the sum taken £170 10s 4d was recovered.⁴⁵⁸⁹

Prices of Common Household Goods

Store prices changed little from quarter to quarter, because each was fixed by the invoice and the advance. The table gives prices for common goods at several dates, worked from the stated quantity and sum.

Table 25. Prices of common household goods at the Company's store, 1742-1771
Item	Year	To servants	At 40 per cent	Source
Candles, a pound	1742	2s 6d	-	046/121-125
Candles, a pound	1753	1s 7d	2s 0d	062/202; 062/289
Candles, a pound	1765	2s 2½d	2s 9½d	077/198-199; 077/120
Candles, a pound	1769	2s 5d	3s 1d	084/348; 084/45
Candles, a pound	1770	2s 6d	3s 2½d	085/155; 085/164
Candles, a pound	1771	2s 6½d	-	086/289
Soap, a pound	1753	10½d	1s 1½d	062/280; 062/289
Soap, a pound	1765	8¾d	11d	076/215-216; 077/119
Soap, a pound	1769	7½d	9½d	084/348; 084/45
Soap, a pound	1770	7¾d	10d	085/408; 085/303-304
Blanket	1742	9s 0d	-	047/83
Blanket	1759	5s 6d	6s 10d	069/166-172; 069/174-178
Fine blanket	1769	11s 7d	-	084/179
Fine blanket	1770	11s 7d	-	085/157
Ordinary blanket	1769	6s 3d	-	084/179
Ordinary blanket	1770	6s 5d	-	085/301
Blanket	1771	6s 5d	-	086/290
Stock lock	1742	1s 3d	-	046/121-125
Stock lock	1753	2s 2½d	2s 10½d	062/284; 062/291
Stock lock	1765	3s 1½d	4s 0d	077/111; 077/207-209
Stock lock	1770	3s 2½d	4s 1d	085/413; 085/415-417
Window pane, 8 by 10 inches	1754	7½d	-	063/108
Window pane, 8 by 10 inches	1764	8d	10d	076/99; 076/106-109
Window pane, 8 by 10 inches	1770	7¾d	-	085/158
Window pane, 8 by 10 inches	1771	6¾d	-	086/296
Wine glass	1753	5¾d	7¼d	062/14; 062/111
Wine glass	1769	5½d	-	084/180
China chamber pot	1754	1s 6d	2s 0d	063/109; 063/17
China chamber pot	1768	2s 2½d	2s 10d	083/271; 083/273-276
China chamber pot	1771	2s 3d	-	086/293
Set of china dishes and plates	1756	16s 0d	-	066/331
Set of china dishes and plates	1766	£1 0s 0d	£1 5s 7d	078/300; 078/305
Tea kettle of 3 quarts	1763	13s 6d	17s 2d	071/386-393; 071/393-396
Tea kettle of 3 quarts	1770	13s 7d	17s 4d	085/163; 085/306
Spring rat trap	1764	1s 8d	2s 2d	076/12; 076/106-109
Spring rat trap	1771	1s 8d	-	086/295
Small iron pot, a pound	1742	1½d	-	047/85
Iron pot, a pound	1770	2½d	3¼d	085/409; 085/164]]
*Prices are the stated sums divided by the stated quantities. The 1742 sales were made before the classes of buyer were separated. The 1763 tea kettle in the right-hand column was sold to planters

Goods from England held their price. A pane of 8 by 10 glass cost a servant 7½d in 1754 and 8d in 1764.⁴⁵⁹⁰ The same pane cost only 6¾d in 1771.⁴⁵⁹¹ A wine glass cost 5¾d in 1753 and 5½d in 1769.⁴⁵⁹² Soap fell from 10½d a pound in 1753 to 7½d in 1769, and stood at 7¾d in 1770.⁴⁵⁹³ A three-quart tea kettle cost a servant 13s 6d in 1763 and 13s 7d in 1770.⁴⁵⁹⁴ A spring rat trap cost 1s 8d in both 1764 and 1771.⁴⁵⁹⁵ Candles, which came from Bengal, rose from 1s 7d to 2s 5d a pound between 1753 and 1769.⁴⁵⁹⁶ They then held at about 2s 6d in 1770 and 1771.⁴⁵⁹⁷ The rise and the pause both followed the Bengal price, discussed below. Stock locks and china chamber pots rose by about a third between the 1750s and the later 1760s.⁴⁵⁹⁸

The two bands stood in a constant ratio. A pound of candles at 1s 7d to servants cost 2s to others in 1753, and the same gap held in 1769.⁴⁵⁹⁹ In 1770 candles cost 2s 6d to servants and 3s 2½d to others.⁴⁶⁰⁰ A stock lock the same year cost 3s 2½d and 4s 1d.⁴⁶⁰¹ A china set at £1 to servants cost £1 5s 7d at 40 per cent in 1766.⁴⁶⁰²

Supply from England: Packing, Breakage and Waste

The store ships from England brought glass, ironmongery and pewter, with brass, tin and turnery. They also carried blankets, soap and coals. In December 1762 two ships were needed for the season's requisitions, with "Deals, timbers, glass and earthenware, 99 tons".⁴⁶⁰³ Tonnage was always short. In November 1770 the Court reported of the indent that "It sent only half the iron pots".⁴⁶⁰⁴ When none had come the year before, the Council bought eight iron pots for the officers' quarters in August 1762 at £2 5s 8d.⁴⁶⁰⁵ Some private glass came in beside the Company's. In June 1771 the Company itself bought 211 panes of 12 by 16 glass from George Bazett at 1s 6d each.⁴⁶⁰⁶ The size was larger than any then in store.⁴⁶⁰⁷ Late store ships in May 1770 threatened to halt the Company's building works and bring hardship to most of the inhabitants.⁴⁶⁰⁸

Much arrived broken or short. From the Walpole in April 1753 came "44 mops, damaged by the package being wet".⁴⁶⁰⁹ In April 1754 a Black man helping in the stores dropped a chest of crown glass, "breaking twenty-five squares more".⁴⁶¹⁰ The Griffin landed "9 tin lamps bruised and broke to pieces through bad packaging" in February 1756.⁴⁶¹¹ In 1760 the Triton landed 70 squares of glass broken inside "packages which were all in good order".⁴⁶¹² The Egmont brought 75 broken panes in April 1763 and the Northumberland 106 in April 1767.⁴⁶¹³ Six blank keys from the Speke were ruined in 1769 by sal ammoniac packed in the same cask.⁴⁶¹⁴ The British King and Harcourt brought broken globe lamps, milk pans and glasses in June 1770.⁴⁶¹⁵ Of the tiles the record noted "Dutch galley tiles, 34, found broken on opening the packages, which were in good order".⁴⁶¹⁶ In the two ships 10 blankets were rotten or spoiled by wet, and 103 panes from the Harcourt were broken.⁴⁶¹⁷ In April 1771 the Calcutta landed 79 broken panes and the Duke of Richmond a broken iron pot, with another missing.⁴⁶¹⁸ Deals were counted on landing at "six score to the hundred, as they had always come".⁴⁶¹⁹

Goods also decayed in store. The inventory of November 1742 listed "5 blankets, good, and 16 blankets moth eaten".⁴⁶²⁰ Of 631 hair sieves, only 114 were pretty good and 517 were good for nothing.⁴⁶²¹ In February 1743 damaged goods were ordered to public sale after the Council "found several of them totally spoiled".⁴⁶²² The storekeeper's yearly waste account came to £54 5s 9d in 1753 and £69 19s 5d in 1768.⁴⁶²³ The write-off of October 1770 came to £83 9s 0d, including 27 lb of candles and nearly 2 cwt of soap lost in issue.⁴⁶²⁴ In 1757 he wrote off "85 pounds of candles, most of them received this year and being baked and in very bad condition".⁴⁶²⁵ Rats ate more than 27 hundredweight of paddy in the stores in 1766.⁴⁶²⁶ A stone falling from the top of one of the cellars broke barrack glass in 1756.⁴⁶²⁷

Supply from India and China

Wax candles came from Bengal. In May 1740 the Council ordered "twenty maunds of good wax candles of a smaller size than before, five to the pound".⁴⁶²⁸ The Wager brought five chests valued at 500 rupees in April 1753.⁴⁶²⁹ The Council then found five chests a ship too many and asked for four maunds, with shum cotton for the Castle wicks.⁴⁶³⁰ The standing order changed often: four maunds a ship in 1755, two in 1756 and six in 1758.⁴⁶³¹ In 1759 the London, Worcester, Prince George and Bombay Castle each landed 12 chests.⁴⁶³² From 1763 the order settled at eight maunds by each ship.⁴⁶³³ It still stood there in April 1771.⁴⁶³⁴ Ships from Bengal in 1770 and 1771 each landed four chests of 8 maunds valued at 600 rupees.⁴⁶³⁵ The Britannia landed four boxes of candles from Madras in May 1770 with no invoice at all.⁴⁶³⁶

The Bengal price rose steadily. Candles cost 50 rupees a maund in 1753 and 64 rupees in 1763.⁴⁶³⁷ They reached 72 rupees in 1767 and 76 rupees in 1769.⁴⁶³⁸ The price then steadied at 75 rupees a maund through 1770 and 1771.⁴⁶³⁹ Quality was a constant complaint. In 1759 the Court ordered "wax candles of a better sort than those it had lately received".⁴⁶⁴⁰ In 1768 the Council told Fort William "the candles received for some time past had been extremely poor".⁴⁶⁴¹ It repeated the complaint in May 1770 and asked for the best wax candles in every ship.⁴⁶⁴² Losses in weight were now small, from 1 lb to 12 lb a ship.⁴⁶⁴³ Most chests landed a few pounds short in weight, though the Britannia's were 2 cwt 2 qr 17 lb short in 1767.⁴⁶⁴⁴ The stock was large: "Candles, 40 hundredweight 2 quarters 18lb, £558 8s 5d" lay in store in October 1755.⁴⁶⁴⁵

China came from Canton in the Company's China ships, invoiced in taels. In April 1740 the Houghton left 200 saucers, 320 half saucers and 700 coffee cups in blue and white.⁴⁶⁴⁶ The Walpole landed a similar parcel with 2 per cent struck off the total.⁴⁶⁴⁷ A chest from the Prince George in 1753 held four sets of dishes and plates, 12 chamber pots and 50 pint basins, valued at £15 7s 6d.⁴⁶⁴⁸ The Griffin brought "12 chamber pots, gold and colours" in 1754.⁴⁶⁴⁹ The Albion's three chests of 1763 held 300 sneakers, 300 cups and saucers and 100 teapots.⁴⁶⁵⁰

Dinner services grew larger. By 1765 the British King brought sets of 33 and 40 pieces with tureens at 4 taels a set.⁴⁶⁵¹ In 1767 octagonal sets were invoiced "each of 5 dishes, 1 tureen with cover and stand, 20 plates and 12 soup plates".⁴⁶⁵² Sets of this kind cost 5 taels in 1767 and 3 taels 9 mace in 1769.⁴⁶⁵³ The price held at 3 taels 9 mace for the Plassey's 12 octagonal sets in February 1770.⁴⁶⁵⁴ The Kent brought 25 dinner services in April 1771 at the same price.⁴⁶⁵⁵ Its invoice read "blue and white dinner services of 37 pieces each, 25 sets, at 3 taels 9 mace a set".⁴⁶⁵⁶ The same ship carried 30 chamber pots, 30 washbasins with guglets and 200 pint sneakers.⁴⁶⁵⁷ Stone china appeared in 1767, and "negro cups and saucers" were sold in 1755 as a cheaper ware.⁴⁶⁵⁸

The allowance for breakage was 2 per cent, and it was rarely enough. The Houghton's chests in 1753 were charged "Deduct for breakage, 9 per cent".⁴⁶⁵⁹ The Leyton's chest of 1755 was found largely broken, "the outside package being no ways damaged".⁴⁶⁶⁰ In 1767 the Prince of Wales landed 30 of its 256 pieces broken.⁴⁶⁶¹ The Northumberland landed 29 broken meat plates in 1768.⁴⁶⁶² In February 1770 the Plassey's china yielded 72 broken pieces and the Glatton's 49, though the boxes were sound.⁴⁶⁶³ The Kent's boxes of 1771 held about 60 broken pieces, among them 29 cups and saucers.⁴⁶⁶⁴

The island came to order its china directly from Canton. The Court complained in 1757 that "the sorts and numbers of the canvas and chinaware were still left out" of the requisition.⁴⁶⁶⁵ In 1766 the Council asked that next year's table china "should be of the oblong pattern".⁴⁶⁶⁶ In 1768 it asked for saucers to match breakfast cups already sent.⁴⁶⁶⁷

Table linen and bed covers came from India too. In 1740 the Council ordered quilts from Bombay.⁴⁶⁶⁸ In 1757 Bombay sent 44 quilts meant for Tellicherry to St Helena by mistake.⁴⁶⁶⁹ The store held 376 palampores in six price grades in 1742, including "169 pallampores at 4s".⁴⁶⁷⁰ The Court judged in 1755 that diaper tablecloths and napkins could be had more cheaply from Madras.⁴⁶⁷¹ The Council's order of 1756 asked for "one dozen napkins of a larger size to lay upon the tablecloths".⁴⁶⁷² Madras failed to send it, and in 1759 the Court supplied the linen from England.⁴⁶⁷³ Diaper from Cuddalore was ordered in 1766 for two dozen tablecloths and 12 dozen napkins.⁴⁶⁷⁴ In June 1771 the Vansittart brought superfine, fine and middling long cloth from Madras for shirting and sheeting.⁴⁶⁷⁵ In 1760 the Council asked Bombay for 150 pieces of chintz and Bengal for 150 pieces of dowlas.⁴⁶⁷⁶ A Dutch captain was allowed in 1768 to sell "some Japanese lacquer ware" to the inhabitants.⁴⁶⁷⁷

Auctions, Shops and Private Trade

Damaged Company goods went to public outcry. In June 1740 "All persons were free to come and bid and buy for ready money".⁴⁶⁷⁸ The sale went "with very poor success", though a palampore fetched £1 3s 6d.⁴⁶⁷⁹ In December 1758 Orlando Bagley senior bought 31 lantern leaves at a damaged-goods sale for 1s 1½d.⁴⁶⁸⁰ In 1765 the store auctioned 14 pewter dishes for £3 19s 3d.⁴⁶⁸¹ Seven damaged blankets fetched £1 4s 6d in 1766.⁴⁶⁸² Two damaged fine blankets went for 16s at the auction of December 1770.⁴⁶⁸³

Estate auctions moved secondhand goods between households. William French's flock bed sold for 9s 6d and his small table and carpet for 15s in about 1711.⁴⁶⁸⁴ Thomas Free's escritoire went to Mr Byfield for £5 10s at the outcry of November 1721.⁴⁶⁸⁵ Samuel Fazakerley's effects, appraised at £190 7s 7d, fetched £228 11s 0d in 1740.⁴⁶⁸⁶ Some lots stuck, "being family matters no person would bid on them".⁴⁶⁸⁷ The remainder of Governor Goodwin's estate was sold at the Company's storehouse in the valley in July 1742.⁴⁶⁸⁸ A soldier's goods might fetch only a few pounds. The convicted soldier Pridgeon's effects raised £5 9s 6d in October 1742.⁴⁶⁸⁹ The flock bed, blanket and hammock of a carpenter's mate sold for 2s 6d in 1755.⁴⁶⁹⁰ Sales were often held at the dead man's house from 10 in the morning, with credit to buyers.⁴⁶⁹¹ Samuel Falconer's effects in 1756 were sold on two months' credit.⁴⁶⁹² The master mason William Holbrook's effects sold at auction on 4 April 1770 for £23 10s 6d.⁴⁶⁹³ Isaac Knipe's will of June 1770 left his houses to his sons and ordered everything else sold at public auction.⁴⁶⁹⁴ In June 1771 the goods of the invalid soldier Patrick Elliott were auctioned among soldiers and others.⁴⁶⁹⁵

Private trade from the ships ran alongside the store. In July 1742 the paymaster spent £110 5s 6d on sundries bought from the shipping "for the general table and household".⁴⁶⁹⁶ In 1756 the Castle bought three dozen wine glasses and four quart decanters from the captain of the Oxford.⁴⁶⁹⁷ Inhabitants were forbidden after May 1755 to go aboard foreign ships to trade.⁴⁶⁹⁸ The publican William Paddom broke the order on a Swedish ship in March 1756.⁴⁶⁹⁹ "He had brought from her for himself five china bowls and three china mugs, which he got for a pair of buckles."⁴⁷⁰⁰ He was fined £5.⁴⁷⁰¹

Shops grew up in the 1760s from this private trade. In July 1764 the Council found unlicensed shopkeepers buying up goods from the store ships' officers and reselling them at extortionate prices.⁴⁷⁰² It licensed six shops and capped their profits.⁴⁷⁰³ Offenders were to "forfeit double the price of the goods concerned".⁴⁷⁰⁴ The same month John Baptist Mitchland, a foreign soldier turned shopkeeper, was accused of cornering essential goods.⁴⁷⁰⁵ He boasted of making £2,500.⁴⁷⁰⁶ In March 1766 leading inhabitants complained that John Bland had engrossed the private trade goods of the store ships.⁴⁷⁰⁷ The Council wanted such goods sold openly "so that all the inhabitants would have a chance to buy what they needed".⁴⁷⁰⁸ In 1768 the officers' goods in the Tilbury and Duke of Richmond were offered to the inhabitants at the first price.⁴⁷⁰⁹ "Shopkeepers were forbidden to buy any of the goods named in the lists."⁴⁷¹⁰

The shopkeepers left traces in the town. James Goudy, shopkeeper, took a plot of 40 feet by 50 feet in January 1767 at 10s a year.⁴⁷¹¹ The merchant Whitchurch kept a warehouse in 1763 with iron pots, sacks and a box of 43 dozen knives.⁴⁷¹² When his shop was broken into in 1769 the thieves took coverlets and rugs, a tablecloth, chintz and palampores.⁴⁷¹³ Andrew Fetherick was hanged in 1771 for plundering Cox's stores worth £355.⁴⁷¹⁴ The Company also sold building stuff to householders. In December 1765 it fixed lime for the islanders at 1s 3d a bushel.⁴⁷¹⁵

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the store served the island as its general shop for most of the period. Almost every manufactured household good passed through it, and private shops appeared only in the 1760s. The Company's prices were therefore the island's prices.

The bands of advance probably reflected the Company's view of its own people. Servants paid 10 per cent, probably little more than cost once freight and waste were counted. Planters and others paid 40 per cent, a margin that made the store a source of profit on them. The small size of the 40 per cent sales suggested that planters bought little at that rate. Some planter households perhaps drew goods through relatives or friends in the Company's service. The Court's order of 1772 to sell to all at 10 per cent was in effect an admission that the higher rate had failed.

The price table showed a supply that was steady rather than cheap. Goods from England held their price for nearly 20 years, because the invoice and the advance fixed them. Window glass was even a little cheaper in 1771 than in 1754. The one clear rise, in candles, came from Bengal, where the price a maund rose by half between 1753 and 1769. When the Bengal price levelled at 75 rupees in 1770 and 1771, the island price levelled with it. The fall in soap probably reflected cheaper invoices from London.

The china trade gave the island a fuller table than many English households of the same rank. Servants bought sets of dishes and plates, chamber pots and guglets in every quarter. The breakage allowed at Canton was routinely exceeded, and the cost of breakage was carried by the Company.

The Council's handling of the ships' private trade suggested a concern for supply rather than for monopoly. It did not suppress the officers' goods or the shops. It licensed the shops, capped their profits and barred them from buying whole lists. The aim, in its own words, was that all the inhabitants should have a chance to buy what they needed.

Comparisons

In England by the mid eighteenth century most households bought their goods from shopkeepers in market towns and villages.⁴⁷¹⁶ Village and town shops stocked groceries alongside ironmongery and textiles, much as the island's store did.⁴⁷¹⁷ English inventories show china, tea equipment and glass spreading through middling households between 1675 and 1725.⁴⁷¹⁸ St Helena's store sold the same new goods but through one counter and at fixed advances.

In colonial America imported household goods reached planters through merchants and country storekeepers, often on long credit.⁴⁷¹⁹ British manufactures flooded the colonial market after 1740, and choice among many sellers became a mark of colonial life.⁴⁷²⁰ St Helena had no such choice until its few licensed shops of the 1760s.

Bermuda offers a closer island comparison. Its households were supplied by their own sloops and merchants trading through the Atlantic, not by a company store.⁴⁷²¹ The contrast shows how much St Helena's material life depended on a single shipper and its invoices.

At the Cape the Dutch Company also controlled imports, and burgher households bought much from its warehouses and from passing ships.⁴⁷²² Asian porcelain was common in Cape houses for the same reason as at St Helena, since both stood on the route of the East India ships.⁴⁷²³

In Company India the servants' private trade was a recognised part of their reward.⁴⁷²⁴ The St Helena servants' 10 per cent rate was a smaller privilege of the same kind. The engrossing of ships' goods by Bland and Mitchland echoed on a small scale the private trading that the Company tolerated in its Indian settlements.

20. Inventories, Wills and Inheritance

A death on St Helena set a household's goods in motion. The Council proved the will, granted administration where there was none, and appointed neighbours to value every article. The goods were then divided among the heirs, kept for a widow's use or sold at a public outcry. Each stage left a written trace. Wills, inventories and sale accounts are therefore the fullest surviving view of what islanders owned, from a soldier's chest to a governor's walnut escritoire. They also show how houses, beds, plate and slaves passed from one generation to the next.

Registers, Appraisers and the Sworn Inventory

The Company meant from the first to know who held what. Its early instructions required the Governor and Council to keep a register of all sales and conveyances of houses and plantations.⁴⁷²⁵ No planter was to sell a house until he or his heirs had lived on it and improved it for 7 years.⁴⁷²⁶ A later order required every agreement about houses or land to be entered in a Book of Bargains, on pain of forfeiture.⁴⁷²⁷ Estates of the dead fell under the same oversight. On 30 July 1683 William Rutter and John Long laid before the Council an inventory and account of the goods of the late planter Thomas Bayton.⁴⁷²⁸

The papers themselves were fragile. In about 1708 the Council found that "most of the wills had been much eaten by rats and moths".⁴⁷²⁹ The wills that survive from before 1740 are therefore a remnant. From the 1740s the procedure becomes clear in the consultations. An administrator gave bond with a surety before touching the goods. Ann Leech was granted administration of her husband's effects on 2 October 1758 and brought in an appraised inventory a week later.⁴⁷³⁰ Mary Dowton gave bond with Matthew Pinfing before presenting her husband's inventory in December 1758.⁴⁷³¹

Two or three neighbours valued the goods on oath. The appraisers were planters and tradesmen of standing, and the same names recur. Richard Bagley valued the goods of Mary Swaite, Martin Harper, John Bagley, Thomas Harper and Matthew Bazett between 1755 and 1765.⁴⁷³² John Desfountain served on at least five estates.⁴⁷³³ The master mason John Bland and the adjutant Solomon Jacob valued William Moore's estate in April 1765.⁴⁷³⁴ The appraisers of Mary Goodwin's goods swore "that they had priced them as fairly as they could judge".⁴⁷³⁵ The same small circle still served in 1770 and 1771. Matthew Bazett and William Wrangham appraised Elizabeth Greentree's goods in March 1770.⁴⁷³⁶ With Richard Bagley they valued the estate of John Desfountain himself in December 1770.⁴⁷³⁷ Richard Bagley, John Alexander and Orlando Bagley valued Isaac Knipe's goods the next month.⁴⁷³⁸

The widow swore a separate oath. Her duty was to declare that nothing had been held back. In December 1756 William Burnham's widow swore "she produced every article of her deceased husband's effects".⁴⁷³⁹ The same oath was taken by the widows of Martin Harper, Samuel Harper, Thomas Harper, John Worrall and Matthew Bazett.⁴⁷⁴⁰ Sons could swear in a widow's place. Henry and James Easthope swore in September 1757 that they had produced everything belonging to their father's estate.⁴⁷⁴¹ The inventory itself was then copied into a separate inventory book or register, and the consultation recorded only the oath.⁴⁷⁴² The practice was unchanged in 1770. The inventory of the judge advocate and schoolmaster Richard Beale senior was sworn by its appraisers and his widow in July 1770.⁴⁷⁴³ Orlando Bagley's widow took the same oath in the same month, and both lists went to the register uncopied.⁴⁷⁴⁴

Formality sometimes gave way to circumstance. Stamped paper was often lacking. James Draper's will of October 1742 was made "no stamped paper being available".⁴⁷⁴⁵ The soldier Augustine Balls and the seaman Alexander Hoar also made their wills on plain paper.⁴⁷⁴⁶ The rule of the sworn inventory endured to the end of the period. In 1791 the court observed that "widows were required to swear that the inventories they submitted of their late husbands' goods were accurate".⁴⁷⁴⁷ It noted with concern that executors went unsworn.⁴⁷⁴⁸ In the Fabiano case the executors "had not followed the procedures the law prescribed to guard against embezzlement of the estate".⁴⁷⁴⁹

Wills and Estates before 1740

The earliest wills are short. James Eastens lost his house and goods to fire in February 1679.⁴⁷⁵⁰ On 22 February 1682 he left all his worldly goods, land, cattle and debts to his three children, once the Company's claim on the estate was met.⁴⁷⁵¹ By the 1690s wills and divisions named single pieces of furniture. John Charleworth's estate was divided between his children John and Mary in November 1693.⁴⁷⁵² John's portion included a house and land at £60, a slave named Peter at £20 and a house at Fort James at £18.⁴⁷⁵³

Mary Charleworth's share was itemised and valued piece by piece. It held a feather bed and bolster at £3, a quilt at £1 and bed curtains with valances at £2 15s.⁴⁷⁵⁴ There were also a carpet at 5s with its own case at 3s and two "bungany" sheets at £1 2s.⁴⁷⁵⁵ The desk, at £3, was the dearest piece of furniture.⁴⁷⁵⁶ A chest with a drawer was valued at £1 and a coarse china set at £1 4s.⁴⁷⁵⁷ One entry read "one iron implement for a slave", at 3s.⁴⁷⁵⁸

Wills of the next 20 years show the same goods passing to daughters. In about 1696 Mary Dixon left Sarah Clifton pewter, a feather bed with bedstead and quilt, and a chest of drawers of local manufacture.⁴⁷⁵⁹ Her other daughter Anne Gurling received an Indian bedstead with its curtains and valance.⁴⁷⁶⁰ In October 1699 Katherine Fensdale left her daughter Mary Foster a house in Chapel Valley "with all the furniture" for life.⁴⁷⁶¹ After Mary's death the house and its contents were to be appraised and divided between two granddaughters.⁴⁷⁶² In February 1703 Michael Morris left his daughter Rebecca Gurling "the long table standing in the middle room".⁴⁷⁶³ His son Walter took the dwelling house in Friar Valley, a second house at Fort James and "the remaining household stuff".⁴⁷⁶⁴

Widows' wills dealt in kitchen goods as well as beds. In June 1711 Mary Jewster left her friend Grace Coulson a brass kettle, pewter dishes, a porringer and a pair of brass candlesticks.⁴⁷⁶⁵ She kept back only the bed she lay on and a small silver dram cup for her grandchildren.⁴⁷⁶⁶ Mary Sich's will of July 1719 left her granddaughter Mary Bright a feather bed at the fort and a silver tankard.⁴⁷⁶⁷ It also passed on her "tea equipage", a large china pot with a silver cover and every remaining cup, saucer and teaspoon.⁴⁷⁶⁸

Outcries of the same years show a poorer level of goods. An outcry of the effects of William French, recorded in July 1711, sold a flock bed for 9s 6d and a low wooden chair for 4s.⁴⁷⁶⁹ Four china bowls and 2 china cups fetched 2s together, and a small table with its carpet 15s.⁴⁷⁷⁰ A house itself could be sold off in pieces. At the outcry of the Beale orphans' house one buyer paid 11s "for the chimney".⁴⁷⁷¹ Others paid £2 14s 6d for "a girder, joist and door" and over £5 apiece for boards.⁴⁷⁷² In 1701 the Council had a rotten country house pulled down "to spare the children the charge of keeping it in repair".⁴⁷⁷³

The inventory of Thomas Free, taken on 4 May 1720, is the fullest private list before the 1740s. It named a corded wool bed and bolster at £4, a palampore, 5 tea tables and 4 looking glasses.⁴⁷⁷⁴ There were also 8 cane chairs, 6 "wooden cane" chairs and "a parcel of pictures" at £4 6s.⁴⁷⁷⁵ At the sale of 2 November 1721 each lot was entered with its buyer.⁴⁷⁷⁶ Mr Byfield paid £5 10s for the escritoire, and Captain Alexander took a large chest and a couch.⁴⁷⁷⁷ John Bagley junior paid £13 for a chest, a feather bed and "one set of china curtains".⁴⁷⁷⁸ Sergeant Dutch bought 6 "island chairs".⁴⁷⁷⁹

House and goods could pass together in life as well as at death. In April 1723 the sergeant Thomas Dutch sold Elizabeth Marsh a house in Southwark Street with 34 acres "and household goods" for £80.⁴⁷⁸⁰ In February 1718 the widow Jane Mudge, ruined by illness, made over her whole estate to Samuel Vesey.⁴⁷⁸¹ It comprised an old house, land, cattle and two slaves named Isaac and Hagar.⁴⁷⁸² By the late 1730s inventories had grown large. One estate of September 1737 came to £2,385 8s 8d and listed plate, casks, a silver seal and "10 windows" as a valued item.⁴⁷⁸³ Two years later an inventory valued "1 old bedding with mosquito curtains" at £8.⁴⁷⁸⁴ The will of the Deputy Governor John Alexander left his wife the furniture "in the room over the kitchen".⁴⁷⁸⁵

The Goodwin Estate, 1741-1743

The death of Governor John Goodwin produced the richest run of records for any one household. In October 1741 the Council asked his widow Margaret to list the goods and slaves she needed until the Company sent orders.⁴⁷⁸⁶ She asked for four named slaves, Cornwall, an unnamed man, Peg and Helena.⁴⁷⁸⁷ She also listed 18 chairs, a small looking glass, 5 beds with their furniture and an escritoire. Silver spoons, iron pots, candlesticks, a coffee pot, china and a corner cupboard completed the list.⁴⁷⁸⁸ These were granted on loan, to be surrendered on demand.⁴⁷⁸⁹

The inventory of the estate ran to a dozen sets of bed and window curtains. They were named by fabric: Madras chintz, sea-sucker, china pattern, Bengal taffety and blue gauze.⁴⁷⁹⁰ There were at least 15 looking glasses, among them 2 chimney glasses.⁴⁷⁹¹ The seating included a crimson damask elbow chair and a "Boston chair".⁴⁷⁹² There were also 3 clocks, a smoke jack and "about 20 fireback stones ready made".⁴⁷⁹³ Silver plate was weighed piece by piece, and a punch bowl and salvers bore "Mr Goodwin's arms".⁴⁷⁹⁴ The linen was listed by cloth, from huckaback and diaper to damask and gingham.⁴⁷⁹⁵

The estate was soon entangled in charges against the acting governor Duke Crispe. In May 1742 the Council charged him £83 10s 1d for a deficiency in household goods.⁴⁷⁹⁶ He insisted that the Company's plate and household goods "were all in being when Jenkins arrived, and Jenkins seized them".⁴⁷⁹⁷ The goods taken from Crispe included bed curtains at £2 5s, 4 chairs at £2 and a large looking glass at £3 3s.⁴⁷⁹⁸ The dearest of them was "1 pair of Japan copper sconces, £5 5s 0d".⁴⁷⁹⁹ Crispe had charged the Company £99 10s for furniture that had stood all along in his own house.⁴⁸⁰⁰ He had also given the widow £30 in cash and "sundry household linen" to win her compliance over the estate's deficiency.⁴⁸⁰¹

The public sale ran through 1742. It began in the spring and was halted in May because five ships were about to sail.⁴⁸⁰² In July the Council advertised "the remaining part of the estate of the late John Goodwin, at the Company's storehouse in the valley".⁴⁸⁰³ The account of the sale on 10 August 1742 names every buyer and price. George Gabriel Powell bought "1 large chimney glass" for £5, a pair of sconces for £5 and a repeating clock for £8 10s.⁴⁸⁰⁴ Robert Greentree paid £19 10s for 2 large glasses in walnut frames.⁴⁸⁰⁵ Charles Steward paid £13 for "1 walnut tree escritoire", and a large mahogany table fetched £13 1s.⁴⁸⁰⁶ The sale saw 12 cane chairs go for £8 and 10 leather-bottom chairs for £5 5s.⁴⁸⁰⁷

Beds were among the dearest lots. Frances Wrangham senior paid £13 15s for "1 feather bed and fine chintz furniture".⁴⁸⁰⁸ Other complete beds with bedstead, curtains, bolster and quilt fetched between £4 and £9 1s.⁴⁸⁰⁹ From the lumber came 4 glass cots with their bedding at 11s 1d to £1 6s 6d.⁴⁸¹⁰ Eight servants' beds brought £2 1s to £3 16s each.⁴⁸¹¹ Silver was sold by weight. A punch bowl of 79 oz 19 dwt went to John Bagot at 5s 6d an ounce, £10 3s 11d in all.⁴⁸¹² The kitchen yielded iron pots, a fish kettle, spits, pothooks and 2 brass hearths.⁴⁸¹³ A close stool chair fetched £1 10s 6d and a warming pan 11s.⁴⁸¹⁴

The slaves of the household were sold in the same auction. A man, a woman, a boy, a girl and two children went together to Margaret Goodwin for £85.⁴⁸¹⁵ Old Tacky and Old Ebony were sold singly for £6 and £8 10s.⁴⁸¹⁶ John Frisk went to Powell for £30 1s and a boy named London to Richard Goodwin for £12 2s.⁴⁸¹⁷ The whole sale came to £3,237 5s 2d.⁴⁸¹⁸ The widow had bought back part of her own household at a price. The Goodwin house in James Valley was later sold to the Company for £500, credited against Goodwin's debt, to lodge its servants.⁴⁸¹⁹

Planters' Estates at Mid-Century

The register of inventories opened in 1744 preserved the largest private estates. Jonathan Doveton's inventory of 1744 named and priced 16 slaves and valued three houses together at £375.⁴⁸²⁰ Its goods included a billiard table, 15 feather beds and bedsteads, a china cabinet and a spying glass.⁴⁸²¹ With land the estate came to £4,016 18s 9¼d.⁴⁸²² Samuel Doveton's estate of 1749 was larger still. It held a country house and a James Valley house with its own billiard room, 14 named slaves and 13 candlesticks with snuffers.⁴⁸²³ The total reached £4,841 11s 5¾d.⁴⁸²⁴

Lesser estates of the same register were more mixed. James Rydell's estate of 1744 held a carpenter's plane, 2 fire chests, a mahogany and a wainscot bureau and a bandore.⁴⁸²⁵ It came to £385 3s 6d.⁴⁸²⁶ Richard Goddard's estate named three houses and many slaves, each priced, within a total of over £3,000.⁴⁸²⁷ William Coles of the Bencoolen council came to the island for his health and died there.⁴⁸²⁸ His mahogany elbow chair, hand escritoire and silver spoons were auctioned in 1744 beside teak boards and deal doors.⁴⁸²⁹ The chaplain John Dobie left framed portraits of Newton and Pope, 2 broken plaster busts and two dogs, Ponto and Sanco.⁴⁸³⁰

Richard Gawling's estate of September 1754 survives as both inventory and sale. The appraisers valued his house at £90, his house and land at £454 and eight slaves at £130.⁴⁸³¹ The house furniture came to £78 10s and the whole estate to £887 6s 6d.⁴⁸³² The furniture comprised 4 feather beds with curtains, rails and bedsteads, a mattress, 2 bureaus and a hand escritoire.⁴⁸³³ There were also trunks, sea chests and 9 cane chairs, with a couch, a cradle, pictures and lead candle moulds.⁴⁸³⁴ A typical bed entry read "1 feather bed, 2 pillows, 1 under bed, 1 quilt, 1 bolster, curtains, rail and bedstead, £5 10s 0d".⁴⁸³⁵

The auction followed on 16 September 1754 and raised £539 13s 2d.⁴⁸³⁶ Councillors and planters bought the goods in small lots. Thomas Evans and Erasmus Rowling took furnished feather beds at £5 12s and £5 4s.⁴⁸³⁷ The slaves Cieval, Sarah, Ben, Patt, Peggy and Betty went to five buyers at £6 6s to £39 5s.⁴⁸³⁸ Set side by side, the appraisal and the sale show how close neighbours' valuations came to the bidding.

Table 26. Goods of Richard Gawling as appraised and as sold at auction, September 1754
Goods	Appraised	Sold for	Buyer	Source
Feather bed with under bed, bolster, curtains, rail and bedstead	£5 10s	£5 12s	Thomas Evans	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Old bureau	£1 5s	£2 5s 6d	Benjamin Mason	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Hand escritoire	15s	15s 1d	Matthew Bazett senior	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Couch (cane bottom)	8s	£1 10s	Thomas Greentree	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Elbow chair (cane bottom)	15s	14s	William Kennedy	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Long tea table	8s	10s	Matthew Bazett junior	063/166-171; 063/175-180
2 china jars	15s	£1 7s	John Clark	063/166-171; 063/175-180
12 wine glasses	6s	8s 6d	John Dowton	063/166-171; 063/175-180
3 brass candlesticks	7s 6d	9s	William Young	063/166-171; 063/175-180
4 silver table spoons	£2 10s	£2 17s	Thomas Kirkpatrick	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Yam pot	£1	£1 13s 6d	Thomas Kirkpatrick	063/166-171; 063/175-180
Cradle	8s	4s 9d	Thomas Harper junior	063/166-171; 063/175-180

Most lots sold at or a little above the appraised value. Furniture in demand, such as the couch and the bureau, sold well above it.

Gawling's estate also shows the limits of a man's power over his house. He had made an unregistered deed of gift of his house at Francis. The Council held it void, since it would defraud his third wife of her jointure and leave too little for his debts.⁴⁸³⁹ A witness recalled his promise that "he would send for it and that she should see it burnt".⁴⁸⁴⁰

Smaller planter estates often had to be sold whole for the orphans. The Bradley orphans' estate was sold at outcry in February 1743 for £84 2s 3d.⁴⁸⁴¹ Samuel Semple bought "7 acres and half a quarter of freehold land and half the house" for £25.⁴⁸⁴² The whole little estate came to £94 0s 7d.⁴⁸⁴³ Thomas Greentree, guardian of the orphan Helena Ryder, judged in 1753 "it would be much to the orphan's advantage to sell her effects".⁴⁸⁴⁴ Samuel Fazakerley's goods were appraised at £190 7s 7d in June 1740 but fetched £228 11s at outcry.⁴⁸⁴⁵ Some of his things went unsold, "being family matters no person would bid on them".⁴⁸⁴⁶

Soldiers, Seamen and Strangers

At the other end of the scale stood the men of the garrison and the ships. The convicted soldier Edward Pridgeon's goods sold in October 1742 for £5 9s 6d in all.⁴⁸⁴⁷ A clasp coat and bed fetched 14s 6d, an oval table 2s 9d and 3 forms 3s 9d.⁴⁸⁴⁸ Two silver spoons brought £1 9s, and the dearest lot was "1 fire chest, bought by William Ormes, £0 13s 6d".⁴⁸⁴⁹ His looking glass went for 3d.⁴⁸⁵⁰ John Dove left a looking glass at 2s 6d, a pint pail, a chest at 9s 9d and a pewter basin.⁴⁸⁵¹ The carpenter's mate Thomas Cheesborough left "1 flock bed, blanket and hammock", sold for 2s 6d.⁴⁸⁵²

Some single men lodged in others' houses and died there. John Hensford's estate paid Solomon Jacobs 12s "for lodging and diet".⁴⁸⁵³ His effects were only a pair of handkerchiefs, a coat and a waistcoat.⁴⁸⁵⁴ James Torbett received £2 17s for Samuel Powell's diet and lodging, and the armourer 8s for the coffin handles.⁴⁸⁵⁵ The corporal Erasmus Purling left the residue of his estate to Thomas Harper, "in whose house he lived", for nursing him in his sickness.⁴⁸⁵⁶ The charges on Lieutenant De Laune's estate in 1768 included 2s 6d for "washing the bed and blanket on which he died".⁴⁸⁵⁷

Soldiers' wills seldom named furniture at all. In August 1763 the matross Edward Jennings divided his shirts, stockings, shoes and breeches among his comrades.⁴⁸⁵⁸ One legacy read simply "John Carr, 2 coloured shirts".⁴⁸⁵⁹ William Dicks left "his linen, his other garments and his chest, to James Shad".⁴⁸⁶⁰ David Miles and Sergeant Fleming had agreed "whichever of them outlived the other should have the other's effects".⁴⁸⁶¹ Timothy Wilson left his clothing to John Shirtley, "mattress-maker".⁴⁸⁶² The fencer William Brown's possessions "were barely enough to pay for his funeral".⁴⁸⁶³ The soldier William Birch, who signed with a mark, left everything to a comrade in July 1771.⁴⁸⁶⁴ His will gave William Brooks "all the money, goods, clothing and other belongings he had at his death".⁴⁸⁶⁵

The estates of the garrison and the works staff were settled quickly in 1770 and 1771. The master mason William Holbrook died on 20 March 1770.⁴⁸⁶⁶ His will ordered that "Whatever remained of his estate, of whatever kind, was to be sold to the best advantage".⁴⁸⁶⁷ The proceeds were to go to his daughter Martha, a ropemaker's wife in London.⁴⁸⁶⁸ His effects sold at auction on 4 April 1770 for £23 10s 6d.⁴⁸⁶⁹ His unpaid salary added £25 19s 5d.⁴⁸⁷⁰ His estate then paid 10 creditors, among them the publican John Price at £15 17s and free Sarah at £4 4s.⁴⁸⁷¹ After a coffin of two deals and the funeral, £16 8s 0½d remained for his heirs.⁴⁸⁷²

Others were sold up without a will. The caulker George Crudge of the Duke of Grafton died ashore, and £5 14s 11d was paid into the treasury after his debts.⁴⁸⁷³ The carpenter's mate James Hogg drowned on 18 November 1770.⁴⁸⁷⁴ The Council did not grant administration but sold his belongings for his two brothers and sister.⁴⁸⁷⁵ His estate stood at £53 4s 4d when the Company accounted for it in 1772.⁴⁸⁷⁶ The invalid soldier Patrick Elliott was landed sick from the Northington and died on 22 June 1771.⁴⁸⁷⁷ His 12 books, shirts, a silver stock buckle, a dressing gown and a chest were auctioned among soldiers and others.⁴⁸⁷⁸ One lot read "Chest, 1, sold to Joseph Whaley, £0 3s 6d".⁴⁸⁷⁹ With his cash the estate came to £29 4s 4d, and £10 16s 9d went to publicans, comrades and the funeral.⁴⁸⁸⁰ The matross Pidcock's own belongings fetched only £2 13s 6d at auction in August 1771.⁴⁸⁸¹ Most of the money found on him came from the store he had robbed.⁴⁸⁸²

Seamen and officers from the ships carried richer goods. Fremans Nichols, chief mate of the Halifax, lodged at John Bazett's house to recover his health and died suddenly.⁴⁸⁸³ His chests were sealed with the Company's seal.⁴⁸⁸⁴ The inventory listed sheets, towels, 3 English damask curtains and mosquito curtains, with "1 hammock, 1 small bed and three pillows".⁴⁸⁸⁵ More of his goods "were at the washerwoman's and had not been entered in the inventory above".⁴⁸⁸⁶ His estate came to £378 12s 10d, including the "Cash found in his escritoire at the time of his death".⁴⁸⁸⁷ Thomas Bapek's outcry of October 1742 sold "1 hammock, feather bed and 3 pillows" with mosquito curtains, escritoires and a bedpan.⁴⁸⁸⁸ It raised £283 3s 5d.⁴⁸⁸⁹

Strangers' estates were sold and the money sent home. Robert Wright's effects of 1742 included 16 chairs, a bedstead and "2 small chamber looking glasses".⁴⁸⁹⁰ The Council asked his custodian to account for them for Wright's heirs.⁴⁸⁹¹ The gardener James Gordon's chest held 2 pairs of checked sheets, a teapot with cup and saucer, garden seeds and 24 books.⁴⁸⁹² It raised £20 17s 8d in August 1769.⁴⁸⁹³ The sale of De Laune's 106 lots ran from a bedstead and gauze curtains to framed prints and a wooden clock.⁴⁸⁹⁴ It came to £84 14s 6d.⁴⁸⁹⁵ Lieutenant Samuel Price's estate could pay its 20 creditors only 3s 11d in the pound.⁴⁸⁹⁶

Table 27. Stated values of selected estates and effects, 1737-1772
Person	Year	Basis	Value	Source
Unnamed estate	1737	Inventory	£2,385 8s 8d	041/233
Samuel Fazakerley	1740	Estate	£346 18s	044/26
Governor John Goodwin	1742	Whole sale	£3,237 5s 2d	046/65
Edward Pridgeon, soldier	1742	Sale	£5 9s 6d	046/148
Thomas Bapek	1742	Outcry	£283 3s 5d	047/140-146
Fremans Nichols, chief mate	1743	Outcry and cash	£378 12s 10d	047/154
Bradley orphans	1743	Whole estate	£94 0s 7d	047/166-167
Jonathan Doveton	1744	Inventory with land	£4,016 18s 9¼d	051/9-10
Samuel Doveton	1749	Inventory	£4,841 11s 5¾d	051/73-75
Richard Gawling, planter	1754	Inventory	£887 6s 6d	063/166-171
Thomas Jones, tailor	1754	Auction	£68 11s 5d	063/252-255
John Dove, soldier	1754	Effects	£5 6s 2d	063/162
Thomas Cheesborough, carpenter's mate	1755	Auction	£2 13s 4d	066/91-92
Samuel Falconer, surgeon	1759	Effects net of debts	£372 19s 10d	070/38
John Morgan, Company slave	1759	Appraisal	£1 7s	070/16-17
Mary Smith	1761	Effects net of debts	£124 5s	070/137-138
Lieutenant De Laune	1768	Auction	£84 14s 6d	083/222-226
James Gordon, gardener	1769	Auction	£20 17s 8d	084/265-266
William Holbrook, master mason	1770	Auction	£23 10s 6d	085/147-148
George Crudge, caulker	1770	Effects net of debts	£5 14s 11d	085/397
Patrick Elliott, invalid soldier	1771	Auction and cash	£29 4s 4d	086/271-272
Pidcock, matross	1771	Auction	£2 13s 6d	086/376
James Hogg, carpenter's mate	1772	Belongings after debts	£53 4s 4d	079/340

The bases differ: some figures are appraisals, some are sale proceeds and some are net of debts. The Doveton and Goodwin totals include land and slaves.

Widows, Houses and the Division of Estates

The commonest provision for a widow was a life interest in the dwelling house. It was usually cut back if she married again. In January 1743 John Bazett left his wife "the living in his mansion house", reduced to half on remarriage.⁴⁸⁹⁷ Thomas Bazett left his widow "the one half of his freehold lands, together with the house, during her natural life".⁴⁸⁹⁸ Thomas Harper left his widow "his mansion house and the half of his lands during her natural life", to be lost if she remarried.⁴⁸⁹⁹ Thomas Cotgrave gave his wife "the sole use of his house for the term of her life, or for as long as she remained unmarried".⁴⁹⁰⁰

Wills took care over how a house could be shared. Charles Steward's will of February 1743 judged that dividing the mansion house would be inconvenient.⁴⁹⁰¹ His widow was to live in it, "provided Charles set about building a house on the lands called Foxes".⁴⁹⁰² James Torbett left his widow "the free use of his dwelling house and its outbuildings for the rest of her life".⁴⁹⁰³ She was not to damage or run them down.⁴⁹⁰⁴ Orlando Bagley senior's will of April 1770 left his wife Martha "the use of his dwelling house, for the rest of her life, on condition that she stayed his widow".⁴⁹⁰⁵ His son Martin took the dwelling house and Harper's Living at a valuation.⁴⁹⁰⁶ His son John was to hold half the house in James's Valley at once, while Martha and the younger children kept the other half.⁴⁹⁰⁷ John Twaits left his widow "half of his dwelling house or houses during her natural life", while the ground went to his daughter Mary.⁴⁹⁰⁸ Mary Steward asked that her sister live with her daughter in the country house, since "no body was left in the house with her but her daughter Margaret".⁴⁹⁰⁹ Unmarried kin could also be given a place in the household. John Desfountain's will of June 1770 left his widow Sarah a third of his land and of his dwelling house for life.⁴⁹¹⁰ His single sister was to "be kept from his estate in food, drink, washing and lodging for as long as she remained single".⁴⁹¹¹

Some testators kept the house back while the rest went to auction. Isaac Knipe died on 15 June 1770.⁴⁹¹² He gave his sons Samuel and Richard first refusal of "all his land, freehold and leasehold, with the houses on it and the yam grounds" at a valuation.⁴⁹¹³ Everything else was to be sold at public auction.⁴⁹¹⁴ The widow Mary Burnham signed her will with a mark on 4 May 1771 and died five days later.⁴⁹¹⁵ She ordered that "All the rest of her estate of every kind was to be sold, except her dwelling house in James's Valley".⁴⁹¹⁶ The house was left to her executors' judgement.⁴⁹¹⁷

Island custom favoured the eldest son in the land. In April 1753 Thomas French told the Council that "the eldest son taking the freehold and an equal share of the personal with the rest" was the island's rule.⁴⁹¹⁸ When William Worrall was cast away, "his eldest brother Joshua Worrall took possession of all the freehold estate".⁴⁹¹⁹ The Council, however, "could find no such by-law or custom on the island as he mentioned".⁴⁹²⁰ It ordered a share of the personal estate paid to Du Bois.⁴⁹²¹ Thomas French and his sister Sarah "agreed to assign over their houses" as security.⁴⁹²² The status of leasehold was settled the next year. Opinion from England held that "leasehold lands were by the law of England deemed personal estate".⁴⁹²³ A widow's third therefore reached leasehold land and the houses on it.⁴⁹²⁴

The movable goods were usually split in thirds. John Bagley left his widow Deborah half his house at the fort for life, a third of his movables and her pick of the beds.⁴⁹²⁵ She was "to take whichever feather bed she thought proper".⁴⁹²⁶ John Worrall's widow took his main house and half his land for life, with a third of his movable goods.⁴⁹²⁷ Orlando Bagley's executors in 1770 were told "that third excluded the leasehold land".⁴⁹²⁸ Widow Sarah Tunge gave her daughter Sarah "the first option on the dwelling house and land" if she paid her sister half its assessed value.⁴⁹²⁹ The sworn inventory then fixed the sum.⁴⁹³⁰

Orphans depended on guardians and stepfathers. After Young's death in 1740 the widow married John Brown, and the slaves in her share were sold.⁴⁹³¹ The Company "Paid John Brown, who has married the widow of Young, for the maintenance of the daughter".⁴⁹³² John Bradley's orphans feared "their mother-in-law on going to marry again meant their affairs might be neglected".⁴⁹³³ The daughters of Richard Tinsley sought "their just shares out of the house and goods left" from their stepfather, the soldier James Hinds.⁴⁹³⁴ Benjamin Mason fed and clothed Joseph Harding's orphans in return for the use of their fortunes.⁴⁹³⁵ Executors often renewed town leases in trust for heirs. In 1763 Thomas and Henry Harper renewed the expired lease "of the house belonging to Richard Harper's orphaned children".⁴⁹³⁶

Slaves, Plate and Beds in Bequests

Slaves were bequeathed by name alongside beds and plate. Katherine Fensdale left two slaves, Maria and Jenny, to her two sons in 1699.⁴⁹³⁷ Mary Sich left three slave boys, Jack, Somey and Septher, to three grandsons in 1719.⁴⁹³⁸ Lieutenant Thomas Easthope's will divided Guilford, Hannah and her three children, Frank, Doll and Mary among his children.⁴⁹³⁹ The same will passed on "one large tablecloth, 18 napkins and one small tablecloth".⁴⁹⁴⁰ John Worrall left each child a slave, none "to count in their shares".⁴⁹⁴¹ William Moore left his widow "all his household goods, furniture and movables", all his slaves and his house in James Valley.⁴⁹⁴² Orlando Bagley left his widow the slave girl Doll with her share in 1770.⁴⁹⁴³ John Desfountain gave each of his children four slaves.⁴⁹⁴⁴ His widow had Jack, Mercy and George, who were to be freed at her death.⁴⁹⁴⁵ Isaac Knipe left two or three slaves to each of his five children, to be valued and evened out between them.⁴⁹⁴⁶

A few wills freed household slaves, sometimes with goods. Elizabeth Davis "gave her black slave named Eleanor her freedom after her decease" in May 1759.⁴⁹⁴⁷ William Duffin freed his slave Anne in 1760 with "all her wearing apparel, a small bed and two pillows".⁴⁹⁴⁸ The publican John Leach freed Emanuel with £5 for past service.⁴⁹⁴⁹ Francis Wrangham directed that two old slave women, Meg and Suckey, be freed and not sold.⁴⁹⁵⁰ John Fabiano freed his slave woman Tellan and her son Billy, and left her a house and a slave for life.⁴⁹⁵¹

The Greentree wills show the fullest provision. Thomas Greentree died in October 1766. He left his widow a third of his "household goods, silver plate, money, slaves, yams, cattle, horses, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry".⁴⁹⁵² She received the slave woman Lucy with her son James and daughter Margaret.⁴⁹⁵³ His black servant Connor was to serve her for life, with freedom promised at her death.⁴⁹⁵⁴ In May 1769 his widow Elizabeth freed Lucy and Margaret and left Connor £5.⁴⁹⁵⁵ She ordered that none of her other slaves "man, woman, boy or girl, should be put up for auction or sold in any public way".⁴⁹⁵⁶ They were to choose their own new owners at a valuation.⁴⁹⁵⁷ Her executors brought in her inventory in March 1770 and swore "that they had produced every item".⁴⁹⁵⁸

Beds were the commonest named object of bequest. William Burnham left his son Thomas "one small feather bed and quilt with the bedstead, over and above his equal share".⁴⁹⁵⁹ Greentree's widow was to have "a feather bed with whatever bedding and hangings she chose".⁴⁹⁶⁰ She also had a mahogany chest of drawers, a rosewood writing desk and 12 silver teaspoons with tongs and strainer.⁴⁹⁶¹ Plate was named by weight. Mary Goodwin left her niece "one small silver tankard marked twenty six ounces and twelve penny weights, one silver tea pot".⁴⁹⁶² Elizabeth Greentree's will of 1769 left a silver bowl, a large salver and 6 salt cellars to Richard Goodwin.⁴⁹⁶³ Thomas Greentree left two nieces "£30 0s 0d each to buy linen".⁴⁹⁶⁴ Mary Burnham left £10 and a silver teaspoon to each of her seven grandchildren in 1771.⁴⁹⁶⁵

Personal tokens passed alongside the furniture. Elizabeth Greentree left her daughter Susanna "an earring that was her deceased husband's, and a set of her spoons" in 1742.⁴⁹⁶⁶ Francis Wrangham's codicil left £2 sums for mourning rings to his kin.⁴⁹⁶⁷ Rings from a dead man's estate were stolen from a cupboard in the secretary's office in 1757 and pawned for liquor.⁴⁹⁶⁸ The diamond ring of Mary Smith, "set with eight diamond sparks", was held back from the sale of her effects.⁴⁹⁶⁹

The Company kept its own household goods under the same rules. In December 1759 the Directors found that no record existed of the furniture entrusted to the Lieutenant Governor John Adamson.⁴⁹⁷⁰ They charged him with "his offensive embezzlement and sale of some furniture and old iron, the Company's property".⁴⁹⁷¹ Thereafter all Company goods in anyone's charge were to be covered by "inventories signed by both parties and held by each".⁴⁹⁷² Worn-out furniture was written off by inventory. In October 1759 the Council struck off "1 set cherry derry curtains, £1 5s 0d" with tablecloths, napkins and plates, £45 9s 3d in all.⁴⁹⁷³ The Company's buildings were brought into the same accounting late. When the books were balanced in September 1770, the Lieutenant Governor's house and the hospital had never been valued.⁴⁹⁷⁴ The Council ordered both entered among the Company's assets.⁴⁹⁷⁵

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that probate on St Helena followed English forms closely. Neighbours appraised the goods on oath and widows swore to their completeness. The inventory was entered in a register. The process was supervised by the Governor and Council, who took the place of a church court. The Council could therefore set aside a will or a deed, as it did with Gawling's deed of gift. It could also refuse a claimed custom, as it did over French's estate.

The goods themselves probably reflected the island's place on the Company's sea route. Indian bedsteads, palampores, Madras chintz and china stood beside English pewter and walnut. The commonest valuable item in a household was the furnished feather bed. It was worth £4 to £14 in the 1740s and 1750s, often more than the chairs and tables of a whole room. Beds were the object most often singled out in a will, after slaves and plate. This pattern suggested that the bed was the heart of a household's movable wealth.

The closeness of appraisal and sale prices in Gawling's estate suggested a small and well-informed market. The same planters valued goods one month and bid for them the next. Many lots in the Goodwin sale returned to his family or to the Council's own members. The outcry was thus a means of redistribution among a narrow circle as much as a sale.

The treatment of slaves in wills showed them as part of the household's property and yet named as persons. Slaves were divided by name and sold with beds and spoons. Others stayed with a widow. A small number of wills freed old servants or kept mothers and children together. Elizabeth Greentree's instruction that her slaves choose their own owners was exceptional. It probably reflected a long acquaintance within one household rather than any general change of sentiment.

Comparisons

English probate practice offered the model. Neighbours there appraised the goods of the dead, and the inventory was exhibited in the church courts.⁴⁹⁷⁶ English inventories became much rarer after the 1720s, while those of St Helena grew fuller in the 1740s and 1750s. Weatherill found china, pictures and looking glasses spreading through English middling households between 1675 and 1725.⁴⁹⁷⁷ Thomas Free's 5 tea tables and parcel of pictures in 1720 put him well within that new world of goods.

In colonial America the probate inventory was likewise the chief record of household goods. There tea tables, looking glasses and fine beds marked the spread of gentility among planters and merchants.⁴⁹⁷⁸ Bermudian wills, like those of St Helena, passed slaves by name with houses and goods within a small island society.⁴⁹⁷⁹

The Cape offered the closest parallel under another company. There the Orphan Chamber inventoried estates and sold them at public auction.⁴⁹⁸⁰ Slaves at the Cape were listed and valued in inventories and sold at estate auctions, and manumission by will was uncommon.⁴⁹⁸¹ St Helena's freed slaves, such as Anne, Eleanor and Lucy, were similarly few.

In Company India the estates of servants who died were sold at public outcry and the proceeds remitted to heirs in England.⁴⁹⁸² St Helena used the same word and the same practice for the effects of seamen, soldiers and visiting servants. The estates of Nichols, Coles and Mary Smith of Bencoolen were handled in this way. The island thus joined English probate forms to the customs of the Company's eastern settlements.

21. Burglary and Household Theft

The Law of Burglary and Theft

The Company's law treated a house, a room, a cupboard and a locked trunk alike as places that ought to be secure. A code of laws issued by the Court of Committees on 20 March 1679 set a heightened penalty for theft by force or by breaking open any of them.⁴⁹⁸³ The offender was to restore the goods and pay three times their value, and the rest of his estate was forfeit to the Company.⁴⁹⁸⁴ A later consolidated body of law, drawn up under the charters of Charles II and Queen Anne, restated the rule almost word for word.⁴⁹⁸⁵

Threefold restitution remained the ordinary remedy for most of the 18th century. In September 1742 the soldier Pridgeon was sentenced to restore to his victim "three times the value of what he had taken", with the pillory, a whipping and labour as a bondsman.⁴⁹⁸⁶ His few household goods were then sold for £5 9s 6d, and his victim Watson bought several of the lots.⁴⁹⁸⁷ In 1755 Thomas Pledger cut away two lengths of the Company's leaden water pipe, with its brass cock, and melted them down.⁴⁹⁸⁸ The pipe was valued at 15s, and the Company received £3 in cash as the price and treble value.⁴⁹⁸⁹

The penalties hardened from 1760. In December that year the Council reported that burglaries and felonies by slaves were increasing "in all parts of the island" and that corporal punishment had failed.⁴⁹⁹⁰ Its bye laws prescribed whipping and branding for a first offence, then the chain and clog, then death.⁴⁹⁹¹ A master who lost a slave to the gallows was to be compensated by an assessment on the inhabitants.⁴⁹⁹² The Council wrote that the inhabitants "were very sensible that some method to secure their properties was absolutely necessary".⁴⁹⁹³

New courts of justice followed in 1762. The Council blamed Black islanders and other lawless people for "the many robberies, burglaries and other grave crimes" of recent months.⁴⁹⁹⁴ From October 1762 a register of quarterly court trials records indictments, depositions, values and sentences in great detail.⁴⁹⁹⁵ Its index of capital cases, closed in 1782, shows burglary of dwelling houses as the commonest capital offence after robbery.⁴⁹⁹⁶

The register also shows the legal line between a house and other buildings. In March 1772 the Court of Directors ruled that breaking into a storehouse was not burglary "unless it was part of, or adjoining to, a dwelling house".⁴⁹⁹⁷ Both men then before the court were entitled to benefit of clergy, and the Directors proposed to seek an act making forcible theft from warehouses capital.⁴⁹⁹⁸ Value mattered as much as place. In October 1762 a jury set the value of 12 stolen pagodas below 40s, although the indictment rated them at £4 16s, and so spared the slave Cato the gallows.⁴⁹⁹⁹

Juries returned such partial verdicts again and again. The jury valued Henry Harper's arrack at 4s 10d against the indictment's 9s 9d. It gave the same value to the chaplain's two-guinea coins, indicted at £4 4s.⁵⁰⁰⁰ The whole of Whitchurch's shop stock, indicted at £31 6s 9d in 1769, was valued by the jury at the same 4s 10d.⁵⁰⁰¹ Money taken from a soldier's chest in 1768 and two kids killed in 1779 were each valued at 10d.⁵⁰⁰² The law's protection of property had its limits even after 1782. In 1789 a slave sentenced to death had stolen only a chaplain's knife, and "nobody proved it was worth even twopence".⁵⁰⁰³ Candles sworn to have been taken from slaves could not be counted, since slaves could not lawfully own property.⁵⁰⁰⁴

Early Cases, 1683-1734

The earliest burglary trials show houses secured by locked doors, shutters and bars. On 7 November 1683 Hugh Boddy brought an action of burglary against Gabriel Bowne for breaking open his house at night.⁵⁰⁰⁵ Boddy had locked the doors and later found them open with the windows broken. Bowne was found guilty.⁵⁰⁰⁶ Testimony in the trial of Richard Honeywood the same month shows a landlady who kept her own key to her house, separate from her lodger's.⁵⁰⁰⁷

A shutter was the ordinary defence of a window. In about 1691 the slave Phillip met the runaway Robin at his master's house by night.⁵⁰⁰⁸ Phillip "removed the window bar and shutter and broke one or two rails" and passed out beans, meat, rum, butter and yams.⁵⁰⁰⁹ In 1693 a decayed house once belonging to a man executed for rebellion had become a night shelter for runaway slaves, and boards had already been stolen from it.⁵⁰¹⁰

The Council tried early to keep slaves out of houses that were not their masters'. In 1682 it noted that slaves entered houses on slight pretexts, such as asking for a light for a fire.⁵⁰¹¹ They did so especially when the owner was away or only children were at home.⁵⁰¹² No slave was to enter any house without the occupier's express leave, and masters were made answerable for their slaves.⁵⁰¹³ The Council also heard that freemen who kept slaves at distant plantations encouraged the theft of poultry and cattle and a secret trade in stolen goods.⁵⁰¹⁴

Theft cases describe whole holdings by accident. In February 1699 John Orchard accused James Draper of stealing leather, found hidden outside a chimney at some distance from the main building.⁵⁰¹⁵ The examination named in turn Draper's dwelling house, his hill house and his still house.⁵⁰¹⁶ Witnesses spoke of going upstairs to bed at about nine and of dogs barking at strangers near the house, but the charge failed for want of proof.⁵⁰¹⁷

Disorder at night could become housebreaking. A drunken crowd in Butt Alley in about 1701 broke open two doors and the windows of Josias Grimsby's house, while she hid under the bed.⁵⁰¹⁸ At the Grandys' house next door "the doors and windows were broken to pieces".⁵⁰¹⁹ Edward Heath's house was forced at night at about the same date. Witnesses there described a bed in the kitchen, a front room and a man "coming downstairs with a gun in his hand".⁵⁰²⁰

A soldiers' burglary spree in May 1704 is the fullest early case. Thomas Dutton confessed that he and Corporal John Scriven pushed back a back-door bolt at Mrs Cagnald's house with a penknife.⁵⁰²¹ They broke open "the door beneath the stairs" for arrack, then went "upstairs to the chamber" and broke open "a case lock".⁵⁰²² They entered John Alexander's house through a window and took table linen from Mrs Colgrave's.⁵⁰²³ At Gargan's house they used an iron crowbar on a chest, and broke open a second chest belonging to the Governor's wife.⁵⁰²⁴ In the same month visiting ships' gentlemen threw stones at doors and windows in the valley.⁵⁰²⁵ At Mary Cosgrave's house her daughters locked themselves into "a private chamber" while a man thrust his head through a back window "where a bar was missing".⁵⁰²⁶

Chimneys and thatch were weak points. In June 1704 the planter John Long complained that Ralph Gates "climbed up his chimney and got into his house in the country".⁵⁰²⁷ Long's son heard the noise in the chamber and raised the alarm.⁵⁰²⁸ In about 1707 the slave Suffield took a dollar and eight pieces of pork from Arthur Bradley's wife's house.⁵⁰²⁹ He was suspected because "he broke through the thatch, the house being locked", and his owner had to supply "a bundle of rushes to repair the house".⁵⁰³⁰

In 1720 the runaway slave Peter broke into the late John Coles's house in Union Valley at night.⁵⁰³¹ He "had broken through the thatch and roof and opened a trapdoor in the ceiling of the house", and took two calico shirts belonging to a lodger.⁵⁰³² In 1733 another runaway, the Malay slave Simon, hid a stolen item by hanging it inside a chimney, where it was later found broken.⁵⁰³³ In 1734 Richard Mason ordered his slave Yellow to steal rushes cut for thatching the Company's buildings.⁵⁰³⁴ The Council then forbade anyone to cut rushes on the Company's commons without the Governor's leave.⁵⁰³⁵

Ways In: Doors, Windows, Chimneys and Roofs

From 1740 the cases become far more numerous and detailed. On 20 May 1740 two seamen, John Mills of the Walpole and William Gray of the Lynn, broke open Mrs Vanosten's door.⁵⁰³⁶ Witnesses "found the door broken, one part hanging on the hinge and the other lying on the ground".⁵⁰³⁷ Gray came back at midnight, was beaten off at a window with a cane and pulled down a curtain hanging there.⁵⁰³⁸ Both men were whipped and then released from the dungeon on 28 May.⁵⁰³⁹ In 1743 Joseph Long said he had broken into Francis Wrangham's house "through a back window".⁵⁰⁴⁰

The sash window was the commonest way into a better house. In January 1763 the slave Exeter "broke a pane in the window of his master's bedroom" in John Leech's house.⁵⁰⁴¹ He "pulled out the pin that held the window fast and lowered the upper sash", then climbed in.⁵⁰⁴² He took £6 10s in a silk handkerchief from an unlocked chest beside the bed and 2 lb of tobacco from another box.⁵⁰⁴³ Benjamin Mason came in from the country in 1764 to find a broken pane and the upper sash of an upstairs room lowered.⁵⁰⁴⁴ Prints of fingers and toes marked the outside wall below the window.⁵⁰⁴⁵

Shop windows failed in the same way. Mrs Bland checked her husband's shop window one night in 1762, hid money in a half-pint cup in a pigeonhole and locked the door.⁵⁰⁴⁶ Next morning there were footprints on the counter. "The sash, which they had left fastened from inside with a button, had been forced open".⁵⁰⁴⁷ The soldier William Jenkins had climbed over the hospital walls at night to do it.⁵⁰⁴⁸

Householders improved their fastenings. William Hayes's window above his door had a shutter held by an iron pin through shutter and frame, itself fixed inside by a smaller pin.⁵⁰⁴⁹ In 1774 the shutter was forced, a pane broken and the sash pin drawn out.⁵⁰⁵⁰ The sash would not come down, because "two nails had been fixed on either side of the window frame on purpose to stop it".⁵⁰⁵¹ At Matthew Burling's wash house in 1767 Yates found a loose window and "nailed it fast so that it could be neither raised nor lowered".⁵⁰⁵²

Other householders were less fortunate. At constable John Seale's house in 1771 "one of the sash windows had been smashed and part of the sash cut away".⁵⁰⁵³ James Collins locked his rented house at sunset in 1779 to answer a double alarm at the fort.⁵⁰⁵⁴ Next morning the window had been forced, four panes broken and his chest stood open.⁵⁰⁵⁵ At Lewis Hendrick's house in 1782 the window's "fastening pin had been pushed out and was lying on the ground".⁵⁰⁵⁶

Ladders reached upper windows. In 1768 the slave Marck tried the closet key on his master's upstairs bedroom door at Francis Valley.⁵⁰⁵⁷ When it failed he climbed a ladder and entered by a window, then cooked the flour he found in the kitchen.⁵⁰⁵⁸ He was hanged.⁵⁰⁵⁹ At Lieutenant Gosling's town house in 1778 a small ladder from the yard stood "propped against the back wall beneath the staircase window".⁵⁰⁶⁰

Doors gave way at the staple. Stephen Young found in 1767 that "someone had wrenched out the staple and thrown the door violently open" between his passage and his bar.⁵⁰⁶¹ Whitchurch found his shop door open in 1768 "with the staple of the lock torn out of its housing".⁵⁰⁶² In 1769 the door of the same shop "had been forced open and the staple wrenched out of the frame".⁵⁰⁶³ At Robert Roberts Budd's house in 1778 the back-door lock hung "by a single nail".⁵⁰⁶⁴ The soldier March prised the lock off Whitchurch's warehouse door with one of the merchant's own knives in 1763.⁵⁰⁶⁵ That warehouse had been broken into four times in June and July.⁵⁰⁶⁶

Chimneys, walls and roofs remained routes in. In 1764 Lieutenant Thomas Leech, in bed, heard a stone fall down his kitchen chimney.⁵⁰⁶⁷ The slave Patna was found "on the pole across the chimney" and held by Martin Newman, who slept in the kitchen.⁵⁰⁶⁸ In 1766 three slaves of the surgeon Barclay climbed onto James Greentree's chimney and dropped into his back yard.⁵⁰⁶⁹ They forced his storeroom door with an iron crowbar and took arrack, biscuit and rice.⁵⁰⁷⁰ At Constable Harper's house in 1764 "several stones had been pulled out of the wall" of the back yard, and an iron pot was taken from the kitchen.⁵⁰⁷¹

Thatch still gave no protection late in the century. In 1771 James Greentree's slave Scarborough locked the door and fastened the windows of his own thatched house at Sandy Bay each night.⁵⁰⁷² He believed the slave Roger "had got in through a small hole in the thatched roof" and taken yams.⁵⁰⁷³ In 1779 the runaway Dick broke through the thatch of James Collins's rented house while Collins was in the garden.⁵⁰⁷⁴ The runaway Patna was hanged in 1780 for breaking through the roof of Pritchard's warehouse.⁵⁰⁷⁵

Some houses were simply left open. Richard Goodwin, away in the country in 1765, had left a servant behind "with instructions to lock them", but several doors were found open.⁵⁰⁷⁶ The cooper Griffiths left the key of his front door in the lock on the inside in 1773, and the door from the kitchen into the house was unlocked.⁵⁰⁷⁷ John Whaley left his key in the lock on the outside in 1779 and could not say whether the door was locked.⁵⁰⁷⁸

Table 28 sets out a selection of the burglaries of dwelling houses tried between 1762 and 1782.

Table 28. Burglaries of houses tried at the quarterly court, 1762-1782: means of entry and stated value of goods
Year	House	Means of entry	Value in indictment	Source
1762	Mathew Burling	Street door found open	£10 0s 0d	072/19-22
1763	John Leech	Pane broken, sash pin drawn	£6 13s 0d	072/27-28
1763	John Bland (shop)	Sash button forced	£4 8s 3d	072/28-30
1764	Benjamin Mason	Pane broken, upper sash lowered	£3 4s 0d	072/69-73
1766	James Greentree (storeroom)	Over the chimney, door forced with crowbar	£1 7s 0d	072/146-147, 152-156
1767	Stephen Young	Staple wrenched out	£1 19s 0d	072/199-203
1769	Whitchurch (shop)	Staple wrenched out	£31 6s 9d	072/251-258
1771	John Seale	Sash smashed and cut	£2 3s 0d	072/285-290, 292
1773	Griffiths	Goods taken from front-room window	£11 6s 4d	072/322, 327-331
1778	Robert Roberts Budd	Back-door lock torn away	£4 13s 0d	072/415-420
1779	James Collins	Window forced, 4 panes broken	£10 12s 6d	072/437-438, 443-445
1779	James Collins	Hole broken in thatch	£0 13s 0d	072/437, 442-443, 445
1782	Lewis Hendrick	Window pin pushed out	£8 9s 0d	072/504, 506-509

Values are those stated in the indictments; juries often found lower values.

Chests, Boxes and Escritoires

Inside the house the chest was the second line of defence. The soldier Pridgeon struck his comrade Watson with an iron bar as he lay in bed in September 1742.⁵⁰⁷⁹ He then "broke open the chest, which was locked, and a box, which was not locked".⁵⁰⁸⁰ He took a silver watch, stockings, three handkerchiefs, a shirt and a white waistcoat worth £5.⁵⁰⁸¹ In 1743 Joseph Long broke open a large escritoire in Francis Wrangham's house, took out a hand escritoire and broke that open too.⁵⁰⁸² Silver shoe and knee buckles, a gold ring and buttons were worth £4 in all.⁵⁰⁸³

Soldiers kept everything they owned in their barrack chests. In 1763 Sergeant Ferris "found three pieces of iron in the corner of the chimney" of a barrack, one of them said to have wrenched the staple off a comrade's chest.⁵⁰⁸⁴ In 1766 Eustace White kept a small locked box inside his chest in the Old Barracks.⁵⁰⁸⁵ He found it on the barrack table, the chest forced and £9 14s 8d in coin, rings and a buckle gone.⁵⁰⁸⁶ The gunner Phillips was branded for it.⁵⁰⁸⁷ In 1768 the soldier Luke slept on his cot with the key of his locked chest in his waistcoat pocket.⁵⁰⁸⁸ His messmate Wilson kept his money in a shagreen case often left unlocked.⁵⁰⁸⁹

Slaves and servants kept chests and trunks of their own, and these were robbed too. In 1775 Mary Beale's slave Will found his trunk moved from beneath the kitchen dresser to the kitchen doorstep.⁵⁰⁹⁰ His chest in an upstairs room had been forced, and coin worth £8 14s 6d was gone.⁵⁰⁹¹ The runaway Dick was hanged for it.⁵⁰⁹² Two chests stood in John Whaley's kitchen in 1776, one holding his servant Careless's clothes and a small blue box of buckles and buttons.⁵⁰⁹³ The other held meat and yams.⁵⁰⁹⁴ In 1774 a runaway slave boy at the cooper Griffiths's house "set it on the fire and burned a hole through it to reach what was inside".⁵⁰⁹⁵

Bureaux and writing desks held money and valuables. The chaplain Thackeray lodged in the surgeon Barclay's house in 1765 and kept money in a drawer of his bureau.⁵⁰⁹⁶ He found "two two-guinea coins were missing from one of its drawers", and Barclay's slave Frank was convicted.⁵⁰⁹⁷ At John Seale's house in 1771 his brother-in-law Worrall had left gold rings in a bureau for safekeeping, and the bureau was forced.⁵⁰⁹⁸ At Lieutenant Gosling's house in 1778 the upper part of a bureau and a small portable writing desk were broken open.⁵⁰⁹⁹ His wife had left wax and spermaceti candles in the desk.⁵¹⁰⁰

A locked chest still gave no sure protection. Lewis Hendrick found his chest locked in 1782 but money and a gold ring gone, so a false key was suspected.⁵¹⁰¹ The slave Tom's chest, searched in 1769, held three keys as well as part of Whitchurch's stolen stock.⁵¹⁰² The cooper Griffiths left a Chinese escritoire overnight in a front-room window in 1773.⁵¹⁰³ The slave Pompey took it with 25 pagodas, gold sleeve buttons, a shaving box and a nutmeg grater, worth £11 6s 4d.⁵¹⁰⁴

What Was Taken

Coin was the commonest prize. Pagodas, rupees, dollars, guineas, half-crowns and Spanish silver lay in chests and drawers across the island. The coins stolen from one drunken soldier in 1765 included pistereens, Dutch schellings, reals, a fanam and a two-stiver piece.⁵¹⁰⁵ The slave Dick took Venetians, pagodas, Mexican dollars, a rix-dollar, a ducatoon and half-crowns from Will's chest in 1775.⁵¹⁰⁶

Small silver and gold came next. Shoe and knee buckles, stock buckles, sleeve buttons, rings and brooches appear in case after case.⁵¹⁰⁷ The soldier Frederick Shoulds took silver clasps, buckles, cuff buttons and "a parcel of old silver" from two chests in William Smith's rented house in 1782.⁵¹⁰⁸ Smith had locked the front door when the drums beat at nine and gone to the barracks.⁵¹⁰⁹ Two silver salt cellars were stolen from the Governor's household and struck off the Company's accounts in 1763.⁵¹¹⁰

Clothing and household linen were taken in quantity. Matthew Burling's free Malay servant lost nine petticoats, a pair of yellow stays, six bodices, 11 fans and three snuffboxes from her box in 1762.⁵¹¹¹ John Seale lost towels, pillowcases and two china punch bowls in 1771.⁵¹¹² Budd lost a lawn gown and petticoat, muslin aprons, two tablecloths and a pair of cotton sheets in 1778.⁵¹¹³

Window curtains were stolen twice. In 1740 William Gray pulled down the curtain hanging at Mrs Vanosten's window.⁵¹¹⁴ In 1779 the runaway slave Peg took "three chintz window curtains, three fans, a hood and an apron" from John Whaley's house.⁵¹¹⁵ The curtains were valued at 10s and recovered when soldiers offered them for sale at Pasfitt's punch house.⁵¹¹⁶

Linen was most exposed when it went out to be washed. Clothes left at Stephen Willoughby's house for washing were stolen by a Company slave in 1753, and the Company paid the owner 8s.⁵¹¹⁷ The laundress Sarah Lake kept her own clothes and the soldiers' washing in a chest in her front room in 1767.⁵¹¹⁸ A blanket, three pairs of stockings, two shifts, a gown and a shirt were taken from it, worth 14s 6d.⁵¹¹⁹ In 1782 the washerwoman Sarah spread linen outside overnight "to bleach in the open air".⁵¹²⁰ Tablecloths, breakfast cloths and pillowcases marked with Mrs Broff's initials and Captain Frazer's name were taken by the slave Simmo.⁵¹²¹

China and tea things were prized. Two slaves robbed Joshua Twyman "of some china and other goods" in December 1742.⁵¹²² The slave Winkity stole a china cup and a saucer from William Moore's house in 1765, valued at 6d each.⁵¹²³ The slave girl Pegg took a teapot, a sneaker, six cups, five saucers, a sugar bowl and ¾ lb of Hyson tea from Richard Goodwin's town house.⁵¹²⁴ The china was identified because it matched pieces left on a table in the house.⁵¹²⁵ A mahogany tea chest valued at £1 went from Budd's parlour in 1778.⁵¹²⁶

Drink and food were taken by the bottle and the pound. Twyman's house lost Cape wine, cinnamon water and mint water worth £9 18s 6d in 1742.⁵¹²⁷ The judge said that this was "the sixth house he had broken into and robbed within three or four years" for the slave Simon.⁵¹²⁸ Burling's wash house lost 54 bottles of wine, valued at 2s a bottle, in 1767.⁵¹²⁹ Runaways took salt pork, rice, yams and bread.⁵¹³⁰

Shop stock gives the largest single figure. The slaves Cupid and Tom took nine coverlets, 15 lb of thread, 70 papers of needles, 27 penknives and pieces of chintz, silk and gingham from Whitchurch's shop in 1769.⁵¹³¹ The indictment valued the whole at £31 6s 9d.⁵¹³² Part of it was thrown over a wall on the hillside and gathered by a Company slave near the hospital.⁵¹³³

Thieves, Receivers and the Trade in Stolen Goods

Slaves made up the largest group of those accused after 1740. Runaways living rough in the hills stole food, clothes and pots to survive. In 1764 the runaway Peter, hiding in a hollow on the hillside, took an iron pot from Constable Harper's kitchen.⁵¹³⁴ He was hiding "for fear of being horsewhipped and starved", and Harper knew his pot by a distinctive mark.⁵¹³⁵ In 1768 the Council reported a runaway who "was living by robbery and plunder" and made the recapture of runaways a standing public charge.⁵¹³⁶

Soldiers stole from one another and from the town. The soldier John Cork took a shirt, stockings and neckcloths from Lieutenant Bridgwater's house in 1763 while Bridgwater attended roll call.⁵¹³⁷ The marks on the stockings had been picked out, but "a single stocking marked J. B." remained.⁵¹³⁸ The soldier Carr was hanged in 1767 for picking a sleeping man's pocket in the Widow Moore's house, where her maid made punch for soldiers.⁵¹³⁹ Stephen Willoughby, "an old offender", broke into Stephen Young's house in the valley in August 1761 and was shipped to England in custody.⁵¹⁴⁰

Deserters robbed their own barracks before taking to the hills. On 27 July 1770 deserters stripped the artillery barracks of seven muskets, a frying pan, two hatchets, a watch coat and a blanket.⁵¹⁴¹ They also took a silver watch with 20s, three pairs of shoes and 55 pieces of salt meat.⁵¹⁴² "The deserters had also broken open Corporal Witherall's chest and taken his clothes".⁵¹⁴³ In October 1771 another party plundered the guard post in Lemon Valley.⁵¹⁴⁴ One man drew the corporal aside while the rest emptied the guard room.⁵¹⁴⁵ They took about 90 of the engineer Tippet's geese, ducks and fowls, 4,000 cartridges and four stands of arms.⁵¹⁴⁶

Theft reached the Castle itself. In March 1760 "a room in the Castle was broken into, and a chest broken open in the room".⁵¹⁴⁷ The Company slave George confessed to taking £49.⁵¹⁴⁸ In December the Council named another useful Company slave, Grewen, as the man who "broke open a chest in the Castle and stole from it near fifty pounds".⁵¹⁴⁹ Grewen escaped aboard the departing ships with another Company slave and a slave of Torbet the cooper.⁵¹⁵⁰

The largest theft of the period struck the Company's stores in March 1771. Thieves broke in by night and took coin worth £355 12s 11¼d.⁵¹⁵¹ The Council offered a reward of £40.⁵¹⁵² "A stocking had been found tied round a crowbar, which had plainly been used to break a hole through the wall of the store".⁵¹⁵³ The bastion sentry post had stood empty, and the guard slept on their blankets in the guardroom and under the Castle archway.⁵¹⁵⁴ Suspicion fell first on the slaves.⁵¹⁵⁵ Their houses in the Fort Garden and in the valley were searched thoroughly.⁵¹⁵⁶ Sukey, a black woman who washed for the drummer Branston, knew his private mark on the stocking.⁵¹⁵⁷ The evidence went no further, and Branston was freed on 1 April 1771.⁵¹⁵⁸ A fortnight later the loss was written off rather than charged to the storekeeper.⁵¹⁵⁹

The household of a slave girl finally exposed the thief. In June 1771 the matross Andrew Pidcock confessed after evidence from Mary, a slave girl of Jonathan Doveton.⁵¹⁶⁰ He "had gone into the country to Jonathan Doveton's house after one of Doveton's slave girls, named Mary".⁵¹⁶¹ He had given her Venetians, dollars and rupees.⁵¹⁶² He had also bought a silver watch, silver buckles, a chest of tea and a gold ring with stolen coin.⁵¹⁶³ He resold most of these goods.⁵¹⁶⁴ Before the robbery he had owned little, but afterwards he was well supplied with linen and clothing.⁵¹⁶⁵ His hidden share of £85 and Smithson's share of £80 12s were recovered with the coin in his pockets.⁵¹⁶⁶ His own belongings sold at auction for £2 13s 6d.⁵¹⁶⁷ In all £170 10s 4d of the stolen money came back to the Company.⁵¹⁶⁸

Clerks and craftsmen were tempted too. The clerk Boddington took six gold rings of a deceased estate from a cupboard in the secretary's office in 1757.⁵¹⁶⁹ He pawned three to the soldier Langbridge for 7 rupees, to be redeemed for 10.⁵¹⁷⁰ He gave three more to the punch-house keeper John Legg for liquor, and one of these was a mourning ring.⁵¹⁷¹ In 1768 the carpenter's mate Mariot "had taken a door lock from Plantation House, carried it down to the valley and fitted it to his own door".⁵¹⁷² John Baptist Mitchland, a foreign soldier and silversmith, was "often suspected of buying stolen silver spoons and other items and melting them down".⁵¹⁷³

Punch houses and lodgings were places of both theft and resale. Corporal Jones concealed four pagodas found in Sarah Walker's punch house in 1764 while she lay ill.⁵¹⁷⁴ A soldier ran a tap shop in the New Barracks, and the soldier Whitendale robbed a drunk messmate on a cot in Corporal Howell's back room.⁵¹⁷⁵ Lodgers lost goods in planters' houses. In 1762 a ship's officer lodging with James Greentree lost 12 pagodas to the slave Cato.⁵¹⁷⁶ Greentree's wife found 11 of them in Cato's breeches pocket.⁵¹⁷⁷

The Council attacked the receivers. In April 1753 it forbade anyone to buy goods from slaves without their master's written permission, because "Many robberies and thefts had lately been committed in several parts of the island".⁵¹⁷⁸ In September a curfew kept slaves at their homes on Sundays and after eight at night.⁵¹⁷⁹ In January 1760, after the December burglaries, all persons were forbidden to buy, exchange or take in pledge anything from soldiers or slaves without written leave.⁵¹⁸⁰ A by-law "for preventing the sale and purchase of stolen goods" was approved in 1760.⁵¹⁸¹ In 1768 slaves were forbidden to carry goods to the valley without a note.⁵¹⁸²

Ships brought thieves and took away their victims. In 1759 a slave porter took Bengal neckcloths, three palampores, chintz, Madras long cloth and 37 shirts from the passenger John Murray's bag.⁵¹⁸³ In the same month two slaves broke open Gabriel Isaacke's house, and their owners were ordered to make good the loss.⁵¹⁸⁴ Arrack, ribbons, gold rings and a silver tobacco stopper went, and the list of damage included "1 bed and curtains torn".⁵¹⁸⁵ In 1762 the Council asked whether depositions could stand at trial, because robberies were committed just before the ships sailed.⁵¹⁸⁶ The people robbed, often passengers, "could not be on the spot to prosecute".⁵¹⁸⁷

Company Property and Official Houses

The Company lost goods from its official houses as well as its stores. The Governor kept a dog "as a guard for the Plantation House", and a slave whose dogs worried it in 1759 received 600 lashes after a fight.⁵¹⁸⁸ In 1753 a Company slave stole 22 empty bottles from the Lieutenant Governor's stable and exchanged them for brandy.⁵¹⁸⁹ The buyer was fined £5.⁵¹⁹⁰ In 1778 the Company slave Billy Daniel of Plantation House Square was branded for burgling Budd's house.⁵¹⁹¹

Some losses were embezzlement by the Company's own officers. Governor Duke Crispe charged the Company £99 10s for household furniture supposedly supplied to the Castle or Plantation House.⁵¹⁹² The furniture was in fact kept at his private house.⁵¹⁹³ In 1759 Adamson's "offensive embezzlement and sale of some furniture and old iron, the Company's property" was hard to fix, since no account had been kept.⁵¹⁹⁴ The Court ordered signed inventories, held by both parties, for every holder of Company property.⁵¹⁹⁵

Petty thefts of Company stuff were punished harshly. The slave Neptune received 100 lashes in 1759 for stealing one of the soldiers' blankets.⁵¹⁹⁶ The slave Dick received 50 lashes the same year for taking a piece of firewood "out of the Honourable Company's Longwood".⁵¹⁹⁷ In 1766 the Council offered 5s and a pardon to any accomplice who informed on the theft of a coil of rope "from the wooden house on the Line".⁵¹⁹⁸ In 1755 the factor James Powell's store room in the back yard of his house was broken open and several cheeses taken, and a reward of £1 was offered.⁵¹⁹⁹

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the St Helena house was secured more by habit than by hardware. Locks, bolts, bars and shutters were common, but keys were left in doors, on dressers and with neighbours. Most burglaries were of houses left empty while the household was in the country, at the barracks or at the fort. The two-house pattern of the better families, with a country house and a town house, probably left the town house open to theft for days at a time.

The sash window appeared in the cases as both a mark of improvement and a weakness. A single pane broken beside the pin allowed a thief to lower the upper sash. Householders answered with nails, buttons and inner pins, and these sometimes held. Thatch and chimneys gave way throughout the period, so the poorer house remained the easiest to enter.

The chest and the bureau probably mattered more than the door. Soldiers, servants and slaves held their whole property in a chest, often in a shared room. The repeated forcing of staples and lids showed that the inner lock was the real boundary of private property for most people on the island.

The juries' habit of setting values at 4s 10d, 10d or just below 40s pointed to deliberate mercy. The statutory values that made a theft capital were evidently known on the island. Juries of planters preferred whipping, branding or burning in the hand to hanging in many cases, even when the thief was a slave and the victim a neighbour. Hanging was kept for runaways, repeat offenders and the worst cases.

The rising number of burglaries after 1740 probably reflected better records as much as more crime. The quarterly court register after 1762 recorded petty cases that earlier consultations would have dealt with in a line. Yet the Council's own complaints of 1753, 1760 and 1762 showed that householders felt less secure as the town grew and ships multiplied.

Comparisons

English courts of the period handled a very similar mix of household theft. Burglary at night, theft from a dwelling house and shoplifting were capital, while juries routinely reduced values to bring a charge below the capital threshold.⁵²⁰⁰ The St Helena jury's verdict of 4s 10d closely echoed this English "pious perjury", and the island's courts clearly followed English practice. Clothing and linen were among the commonest goods stolen in England, and owners identified them by marks and initials just as Bridgwater and Captain Frazer did.⁵²⁰¹ English inventories show the same spread of small silver, china and tea things in middling households from the 1720s.⁵²⁰²

In the Caribbean, slave codes set harsher penalties for theft by slaves than for theft by free men. Masters were commonly compensated from public funds when a slave was executed.⁵²⁰³ The St Helena bye laws of 1760 followed that model closely, with compensation raised by an assessment on the inhabitants. Bermuda, a small Atlantic island with a mixed free and slave population, also worried about slaves trading in goods taken from their masters.⁵²⁰⁴

At the Cape, the Dutch East India Company's courts tried many slaves for theft and housebreaking. Runaways living in the hills there also lived by raiding farms, much as St Helena's runaways did.⁵²⁰⁵ In Company India, servants' private fortunes were held largely in portable goods and coin. They were exposed to the same kind of theft from chests and bureaux by household servants.⁵²⁰⁶ St Helena's mix of pagodas, rupees, dollars and guineas in a single chest reflected its place between these worlds.

22. Households, Families and Slaves

A household on St Helena was rarely a simple family of parents and children. Planters' houses held wives and widows and children by more than one marriage. They also sheltered orphans in guardianship, lodgers and kin taken in from charity. Most held slaves. The Company counted these households every year, taxed them by head and regulated how many slaves each might keep. Wills, petitions and the evidence given at trials then show who actually slept under a given roof. The picture that emerges is of small, crowded and frequently reshaped households, held together by land and houses that passed between widows and children.

Counting Households: Returns, Poll Tax and Rent Rolls

The Company's first instructions already treated the planter household as the unit of settlement. New arrivals were to lodge with planters who already had houses until cottages could be built for them.⁵²⁰⁷ No planter was to sell a house or land until he or his heirs had lived on it and improved it for seven years.⁵²⁰⁸ A register of all grants, sales and conveyances of houses and plantations was to be kept to prevent fraud.⁵²⁰⁹

Counting began in earnest in the early 1680s. Shortly before April 1681 the Council ordered a fresh census of every person on the island, "young and old, white and black", with the livestock each held.⁵²¹⁰ The Company then approved a list with separate columns for men, women, servants, children and cattle. It required the same list every year, with a fine of 40s for any planter who refused a return or made a false one.⁵²¹¹ A further instruction asked the Governor for a yearly list of planters marked to show who was married, with columns for their slaves and their children.⁵²¹²

The household also became a unit of taxation and service. A letter of 1 August 1683 set a poll tax of 6d a year on every person above 16 in a household, white or black. Each master or mistress paid it towards a church and minister.⁵²¹³ The same letter converted the customary watch and ward, about two months' duty a year, into a payment of 40s for every 20 acres of freehold land.⁵²¹⁴ All free men able to bear arms were still to muster on an alarm, but slaves were excused.⁵²¹⁵ Sales of houses were void unless registered, and a clandestine seller forfeited treble toll.⁵²¹⁶ An Act of 11 August 1685 linked certain exemptions to owning "a dwelling of sufficient value".⁵²¹⁷ Property still set the household's privileges in 1770. A meeting of inhabitants in November 1770 proposed to tie the keeping of guard dogs to property.⁵²¹⁸ A townsman qualified for one dog with "a house in the valley worth £200 0s 0d or more, but no land in the country".⁵²¹⁹ Soldiers without property and black people were to keep none.⁵²²⁰ The consolidated laws later restated the poll tax and reserved the vote for island and parish officers to free planters settled on their own land.⁵²²¹

The annual return survived into the second half of the eighteenth century as a fixed part of the island's calendar. In September 1742 the secretary advertised that every inhabitant must deliver "an exact account of their families, slaves, quantities of land and cattle" by 20 September.⁵²²² The same notice appeared in nearly every year from 1753 to 1771, timed with the payment of rents and the closing of the stores for stocktaking.⁵²²³ From 1758 the return had to be signed.⁵²²⁴ The notice of August 1770 asked for "an exact signed account of their families, land and cattle" before the rent day on 1 October.⁵²²⁵ It also called for each household's losses of cattle since January.⁵²²⁶ A notice of 4 February 1760 added a separate return of "the number of slaves they owned and of what they kept for their household".⁵²²⁷

The returns themselves were not copied into the consultation books. They were sent home each year as a "list of families" beside the rent list and a list of the Company's slaves.⁵²²⁸ In 1769 a separate "List of Blacks" appeared for the first time.⁵²²⁹ In 1771 a list of stock replaced the list of rents.⁵²³⁰ The Company admitted in January 1772 that it could not certify the ages of people born on the island for want of a register. It ordered the chaplain to keep "a true and perfect register of all births, christenings and marriages".⁵²³¹

The rent rolls give the nearest surviving view of household heads. The roll of October 1742 listed about 80 holders and brought in £320 17s 9½d. Widows and the orphans of four men held land in their own names.⁵²³² By 1753 the roll covered 2,200¼ acres of free land and 1,819¼ acres of let ground, with some 17 holdings entered for orphans.⁵²³³ The rolls of the 1760s also charged ground rent alone on town house plots, held by townsmen, officers and publicans who had no farmland.⁵²³⁴ The roll of October 1770 came to £620 7s 3½d.⁵²³⁵ Its town householders included the widows Martha Jacks at 16s and Elizabeth Kennedy at 7s.⁵²³⁶ The roll of September 1771 rose to £825 0s 3d on 2,203¼ acres freehold and 2,261½ acres leasehold.⁵²³⁷ Ground rents were entered for Martha Scott, Jane Wilson and the orphans of James Tibbets.⁵²³⁸ Mary Harper paid 12s for her plot 60 feet square, and the mason John Preston paid 15s.⁵²³⁹

Table 29. Annual rent rolls and the holdings of orphans, 1742-1771
Year	Total of roll	Orphans' holdings entered	Source
1742	£320 17s 9½d	orphans of 4 men	046/160-161
1753	£564 3s 6d	about 17	062/255-257
1758	£560 17s 5d	many, of Bazett, Harper, Pledger, Seale and others	068/251-253
1759	£565 13s 2d	15	069/156-158
1765	£536 16s 2d	12 sets	077/64-67
1766	£591 1s 0d	5	078/166-168
1768	£599 16s 11½d	not stated	083/218-221
1769	£606 5s 0½d	not stated	084/298-300
1770	£620 7s 3½d	not stated	085/400-403
1771	£825 0s 3d	orphans of James Tibbets	086/404]]
*The totals are the sums of each roll as entered. The number of orphans' holdings is given where the record states it

Husbands, Wives and Children

The earliest named family was formed by the Company itself. A slave known as Black Oliver had guided the English at their first landing and had since been carried off by a Portuguese master. The Company repaid his price and a further £18 to recover his wife and two children. It directed that the family live together and made Oliver a free planter with land and cattle.⁵²⁴⁰ James Eastens, whose house had burned in February 1679, made his will on 22 February 1682 in favour of his three children alone.⁵²⁴¹

The planter family usually held more than one house. John Charleworth's estate was divided between his children John and Mary in 1693. It included a plantation house and land valued at £60, a house at Fort James at £18 and a slave named Peter at £20.⁵²⁴² Michael Morris, free planter, left his son Walter a dwelling house with 10 acres in Friar Valley and a separate house at Fort James in 1703.⁵²⁴³ His daughter Rebecca Gurling had a slave named Will, a feather bed and "the long table standing in the middle room".⁵²⁴⁴

Families on the Council were provided for at the Company's table or by an allowance. In June 1713 Mr Cock, second of the Council, was granted £30 a year as diet money "having a numerous family", rather than eating at the general table.⁵²⁴⁵ After Governor Lambert died on 20 July 1742 his widow and three daughters were kept at the Castle table. The Council ordered that table to be "served so sparingly" that the cost stayed within bounds.⁵²⁴⁶

Children could pass between households by private agreement. In January 1724 Richard Gurling sold Captain John Goodwin a dwelling house and gumwood land for £300. A linked agreement placed Gurling's daughters Sarah and Rebekah with Goodwin and his wife until they married or turned 21.⁵²⁴⁷ Thomas Harper protested in March 1760 that "his family, which consisted only of himself, his wife and two young children" could not have drunk 800 gallons of arrack in six months. The Council called this a notorious falsehood and fined him £5.⁵²⁴⁸

Wills of the 1740s to 1760s name the children in each household. Table 30 gathers those that state the numbers.

Table 30. Children and slaves named in planters' wills and estates, 1674-1771
Head of household	Year	Spouse living	Children	Slaves named or valued	Source
Black Oliver	1674	wife	2	none	001/25
James Eastens	1682	not named	3	none	008/16
James Harding, corporal	1740	wife, then with child	1 and 1 unborn	none	044/30
John Bazett	1743	wife	6	6 bequeathed, 1 freed	047/118-119
Charles Steward	1743	widow	5	slave girls	047/133-135
John Bradley	1743	wife	3	none	047/137-138
Thomas Bazett	1743	widow	3 sons	none	047/178-179
Richard Gawling	1754	third wife	not stated	8 at £130	063/166-171
John Twaits	1756	wife	6	1 girl	066/276-277
Joshua Worrall	1756	not stated	8	none	066/301-302
William Burnham	1756	widow	6	none	066/367-368
Mary Swaite, widow	1758	none	7	none	068/83-84
Thomas Cotgrave	1760	wife	4 daughters	none	069/316-317
Thomas Harper	1762	wife	3	1 boy	071/78-79
Samuel Knipe	1762	widow	7	none	071/80-81
John Worrall	1763	wife	4	5	071/366-367
Orlando Bagley senior	1770	wife	not stated	1 girl to widow	085/225-229
John Desfountain	1770	wife	not stated	3 to widow, 4 to each child	085/270-272
Isaac Knipe	1770	not stated	5	2 or 3 to each child	085/284-286
Mary Burnham, widow	1771	none	6	none	086/236-237]]
*Children are those named or counted in the will or estate papers; grandchildren and stepchildren are excluded. "None" means that no slave is named in the record, not that the household held none

The wills show that a family of three to eight children was ordinary. Joshua Worrall's estate was divided among three sons and five daughters at valuation.⁵²⁴⁹ Samuel Knipe left a widow, two sons and five daughters and asked that his estate be "kept together and entire" until Samuel came of age.⁵²⁵⁰ William Burnham, the invalid sergeant, left six children, "some very young".⁵²⁵¹ His widow Mary left her estate equally to the same six children in May 1771.⁵²⁵² By then she had seven grandchildren, each left £10 and a silver teaspoon.⁵²⁵³ Isaac Knipe left five children in June 1770, each with two or three slaves.⁵²⁵⁴

The house was the core of a widow's provision. John Bazett gave his wife "the living in his mansion house" and a slave girl, a silver teapot and a mahogany desk. Her share was cut to half if she remarried.⁵²⁵⁵ Charles Steward's widow was to live in the mansion house because dividing it would be inconvenient, "provided Charles set about building a house on the lands called Foxes".⁵²⁵⁶ Thomas Cotgrave left his widow "the sole use of his house" for life or while she stayed unmarried.⁵²⁵⁷ James Torbett gave his wife the free use of his dwelling house and outbuildings for life, provided she did not run them down.⁵²⁵⁸ John Worrall left his wife his main house and half his land for life, then to his son William.⁵²⁵⁹ The remarriage clause still stood in 1770. Orlando Bagley senior left his wife Martha "the use of his dwelling house, for the rest of her life, on condition that she stayed his widow".⁵²⁶⁰ His son John was to hold half the James's Valley house from his father's death.⁵²⁶¹ Martha and the younger children kept the other half.⁵²⁶² John Desfountain left his widow Sarah a third of his dwelling house for life.⁵²⁶³ The rest passed to his son James at 21, who was to pay his sisters their shares.⁵²⁶⁴

Island custom fixed how the rest was shared. In April 1753 Thomas French described the custom as "the eldest son taking the freehold and an equal share of the personal with the rest".⁵²⁶⁵ When William Worrall was cast away returning from Bombay, his eldest brother Joshua took all the freehold estate.⁵²⁶⁶ The Council found no by-law to support French's further claims on his father's estate and ordered a share paid to Du Bois.⁵²⁶⁷ Leasehold land caused a long dispute. In 1754 an opinion from England confirmed that "leasehold lands were by the law of England deemed personal estate", so that Gabriel Harper's widow had her third of it.⁵²⁶⁸ Island custom gave a widow half her husband's freehold.⁵²⁶⁹

The earlier wills carried forward from the register show the same pattern. Joshua Johnson left his daughter Mary Alexander his outhouses, his Sandy Bay dwelling house, all his household furniture and linen and eight named slaves.⁵²⁷⁰ Gabriel Harper left a mansion house and a house at Fort Valley with 13 named slaves.⁵²⁷¹ Richard Goddard's estate named three separate houses and many slaves, each priced, in a clear estate of over £3,000.⁵²⁷² Daniel Bush left his son the house he lived in with a named slave.⁵²⁷³ John Price, an innkeeper, had built and bought two James Valley houses as an investment for his daughter. He directed that their rents pay off their cost before she came into them.⁵²⁷⁴

Widows, Orphans and Guardians

Death broke up households often, and the Council was drawn into their rearrangement. Jane Mudge, widow, recorded in February 1718 that a long illness had left her plantation "to run to ruin and lie waste". She made over her whole estate to Samuel Vesey, with an old house in Stocks Valley and two slaves, Isaac and Hagar.⁵²⁷⁵ After Young's death in 1740 his widow married John Brown, her share of the slaves was sold for £30 and the daughter was sent to Bencoolen. The Company "Paid John Brown, who has married the widow of Young, for the maintenance of the daughter".⁵²⁷⁶

Remarriage was the chief anxiety of orphans. John Bradley's children feared that "their mother-in-law on going to marry again meant their affairs might be neglected".⁵²⁷⁷ Their estate was sold at outcry in February 1743. Samuel Semple bought seven acres and "half the house" for £25, and the whole estate came to £94 0s 7d.⁵²⁷⁸ Richard Gawling's unregistered deed of gift of his house at Francis was set aside in 1754, since it would have defrauded his third wife of her jointure.⁵²⁷⁹ The daughters of Richard Tinsley sought their share of his house and goods from their stepfather, the soldier James Hinds, after their mother's death in August 1755.⁵²⁸⁰

Guardians took orphans into their own houses. Thomas Greentree, aged 42, pleaded in 1753 that he was "guardian to several orphans who would miss him greatly" if he were sent off the island.⁵²⁸¹ Margaret Seale asked in April 1754 that her aunt Sarah French be her guardian, "with whom she had lived for some time past and still lived".⁵²⁸² Benjamin Mason fed and clothed Joseph Harding's orphans until they came of age or married, in return for the use of their fortunes.⁵²⁸³ James Powell, a widower from December 1755, kept an orphan of Gabriel Harper with his own sons and sent both to England in 1756.⁵²⁸⁴ The orphan Simon Whaley chose at 16 to leave his two guardians and be apprenticed to the carpenter John Robinson.⁵²⁸⁵

Selling a house was often judged better than keeping it. Greentree sold the effects of the orphan Helena Ryder, including the leasehold land called Swan's Valley.⁵²⁸⁶ Susanna Pledger and her fellow executors asked to sell Benjamin Pledger's house in the valley, "situated between the houses of Matthew Pauling and James Greentree".⁵²⁸⁷ John Simpson, a soldier, left "a small estate consisting of a house and other effects" to a widow and children by more than one marriage. The house was sold and the money divided.⁵²⁸⁸

Widows also kept households of their own. The widow Seale's house at Sandy Bay was near falling down in 1757. It was the support of the widow and her five children, and the family had held it since 1726.⁵²⁸⁹ An aged widow of 1759 made rival agreements for her keep. Sealy was to maintain her and Margaret Leech for life for the use of her land, yams and slaves. Langhorne claimed to be overseer with board and £10 a year, whereas she meant only to let him "the use of a room in her house to teach school".⁵²⁹⁰

The town roll shows widows and trustees holding plots beside their houses. Mary Harper, twice widowed, took a plot 60 feet square in 1771 "but only as trustee for the children of her dead husband Thomas Jarvis".⁵²⁹¹ Worrall took a wedge of ground as trustee for James Torbett's orphans in 1768.⁵²⁹² Widows of commissioned officers lost their punch-house licences when the houses were cut from 10 to five in 1768. Each husband had died "leaving a wife and several young children in great poverty".⁵²⁹³ The Council settled £30 a year on the widows Beale and Kennedy in April 1769.⁵²⁹⁴ An island Widows' Fund lent money at interest on settlers' property, and in September 1770 it registered a mortgage bond.⁵²⁹⁵ Martha Jacks, a widow with two daughters, had her affairs in the hands of trustees in 1770.⁵²⁹⁶ Her trustees were refused the strip beside her house and allowed only the passage to her back building "on sufferance".⁵²⁹⁷ The widow Margaret Alcock renewed her leases of an acre in James's Valley and land at Sandy Bay in 1771.⁵²⁹⁸

Lodgers, Kin and Dependants

Many households sheltered people who were not kin. In the trial of Richard Honeywood in November 1683 witnesses described his lodging with a landlady, who kept her own key separate from his.⁵²⁹⁹ Fremans Nichols, chief mate of the Halifax, stayed on the island for his health and "lodged at Bazett's house" until he died suddenly in September 1742.⁵³⁰⁰ The corporal Erasmus Purling left the residue of his estate "to Thomas Harper, in whose house he lived, as compensation for the trouble he caused him during his sickness".⁵³⁰¹ John Hensford's lodging and diet with Solomon Jacobs cost his estate 12s.⁵³⁰² Single kin could be written into a household by will. In June 1770 John Desfountain directed that "his sister, Rebecca Desfountain, be kept from his estate in food, drink, washing and lodging for as long as she remained single".⁵³⁰³

Poor relations could be taken in as dependants. Jonathan Higham, a poor cousin, lived in John French's household, labouring for him and receiving clothing. French "had taken Higham into his own family out of charity".⁵³⁰⁴ French's son reckoned that the Du Bois wife and children had lived with his father for months together. They "had the use of one and sometimes two servants to attend them at their own house for whole years", worth over £150 by his account.⁵³⁰⁵

Lodging was also a trade. In 1742 the customary island price for diet and lodging was 6s a day, "with every man finding his own liquor".⁵³⁰⁶ Officers complained that "in the time of the shipping the inhabitants let their rooms at eight shillings a day".⁵³⁰⁷ The stonemason Thomas Townsend boarded the two mates of the Fly for 83 days at 4s a day each in 1763.⁵³⁰⁸ A Russian passenger from the Talbot paid 6s a day for 15 days ashore in 1766.⁵³⁰⁹ The carpenter Levins "had let a room to Stanley" in 1757, and complained that his lodger entertained a slave woman there nightly.⁵³¹⁰ A licence of 1769 let John Price keep a public house in his own dwelling but forbade anyone to stay after tattoo "except people lodging with him".⁵³¹¹

Free black people lived inside white households as servants and dependants. Two "young free black women who lived with Greentree" were caught out at night with his slaves in 1755.⁵³¹² Billy, a free black lad of about 18, was bound in 1757 to serve the Greentree family without wages until 21. The Council found the custom reasonable because "he was born in his house and maintained at his expense during the time of his childhood".⁵³¹³ A free Malay woman servant had her own room and box in the justice Mathew Burling's house in 1762.⁵³¹⁴ A free black woman, Sukey, lived with the cooper Griffiths in 1773.⁵³¹⁵ The fencer William Brown left four sixths of a £300 legacy to Elizabeth, a free black woman. Her two sons had a sixth each.⁵³¹⁶

Some households were formed outside marriage or at its edges. A man and a woman of different surnames, Robert Leech and Jane Willson, held a house together in 1770 and took ground beside it jointly.⁵³¹⁷ Leech was the steward, and the pair renewed their lease of a small plot in the valley in October 1770.⁵³¹⁸ A young man in 1768 planned "to set up a small household of his own, having so far lived dependent on his relations".⁵³¹⁹ Benjamin Seale, a sentinel of 20, said in 1742 that he was "now being left alone with his house, plantation and cattle, and having none to take care of them but himself".⁵³²⁰ Joshua Worrall had his discharge the same year because he had a family and a plantation much neglected by his service.⁵³²¹

The Company's craftsmen arrived with families. The master mason William Colebrook came in 1764 with his wife and child.⁵³²² The master smith John Robins came in 1766 with his wife and child. His salary of £60 might prove "too little for the subsistence of himself and his family".⁵³²³ The mason John Preston came in 1768 with his wife and two children, as did the carpenter's mate Peter Monit.⁵³²⁴ Preston soon asked for a plot to build his own house. "He had a family to support, and house rent was very expensive."⁵³²⁵ When the mason Thomas Townsend was sent off in 1767, his island-born wife was allowed to stay. She "could support herself by her own work and would not become a burden on the parish".⁵³²⁶

Slaves in the Planter Household

The Company tied slave holding to the household from the start. The consolidated laws lifted an earlier ban on free planters buying slaves. A planter keeping up to four had to maintain one Englishman for militia duty and pay a graduated fee, 8s a year for one slave rising to 30s for four.⁵³²⁷ A variant set the fee at 10s to 30s and charged 40s a year for the Englishman, "so that English numbers grew alongside slave numbers".⁵³²⁸ An index entry recorded a fine of 10s a year for each slave held, since the garrison had to grow with their numbers.⁵³²⁹

The law also drew a line around the house. About May 1682 the Council forbade any slave to enter a house without the occupier's permission, "called for at a distance". Slaves had come in on slight pretexts, such as asking for a light for a fire, when the owner was away or only children were at home.⁵³³⁰ About 1713 the Council heard that some freemen kept many of their slaves at distant plantations rather than near their houses. It proposed that slaves return to their masters' houses each night.⁵³³¹ A curfew of September 1753 ordered that "none should in future be allowed to leave their homes on Sundays".⁵³³²

The number of slaves in a household varied widely. Governor Goodwin's estate held about 32 slaves, sold by name in August 1742.⁵³³³ His widow bought "One black man named Joe, one black woman named Peg, one black boy named Joe, one black girl named Pate, and Abigail and Sarah, children" for £85.⁵³³⁴ Richard Gawling's eight slaves were valued at £130 in 1754.⁵³³⁵ James Powell held at least eight, five men and three women, who "had all deserted from their master house together" in August 1757.⁵³³⁶ A widow such as Elizabeth Davis owned two.⁵³³⁷ Many households held one or two.

Slave children entered private households young. A proclamation of 1 January 1713 let individuals take Company slave children and keep them in return for their labour until the age of 10. No account had been kept of the outcome.⁵³³⁸ The chaplain Alcock bought a Company slave girl of about 11 for £11 in 1742, the Council "having more of that sex than they knew what to do with".⁵³³⁹ Deleafe bought the girl Ellen as a small child for £5 and kept her as his servant.⁵³⁴⁰ Jacob, a Company slave, "had lived in his household for many years" when the Governor bought him at his book value of £21 in 1764.⁵³⁴¹

The evidence at trials shows where household slaves slept. In Henry Easthope's two-storey house in 1760 a witness "went down into the kitchen where the blacks lay".⁵³⁴² In Burling's house four slave boys slept together in one room.⁵³⁴³ At Griffiths's the slave Careless slept in the passage.⁵³⁴⁴ At the widow Desfountain's in 1765 Lewis said "she slept in the hall, while he himself slept in the slaves' quarters".⁵³⁴⁵ Will kept his trunk "beneath the dresser in the kitchen" of Mary Beale's town house.⁵³⁴⁶ John and William Seale had a separate hut for a slave of theirs who lived there.⁵³⁴⁷

Household slaves were kept at the master's call in town and country alike. Desfountain, living next to the Long Wood, sent one of his household slaves with messages to the fort.⁵³⁴⁸ The adjutant Jacobs "sent his slave boy, who spoke Dutch" to interpret with a Dutch crew.⁵³⁴⁹ Owners sent their household slaves to the public gaol for punishment at a fee of 5s or 6s.⁵³⁵⁰ A statement of 1787 summed up the island's population in the same terms. "The largest group, however, consisted of black slaves owned by the white inhabitants and put to work as servants."⁵³⁵¹

The household was also a place of violence. In 1757 James Powell's eight slaves fled together for fear of wire whips.⁵³⁵² John Seale beat Purling's slave Caesar with a rattan and a hatchet helve in the Seales' slave hut in 1754.⁵³⁵³ A slave of the planter Samuel Snipe was held in 1762 for a capital assault on two of his master's children.⁵³⁵⁴ In July 1781 the planter John Worrall was fined £20 for torturing his slave Woodberry. Woodberry told the surgeon that "his master placed greased wicks or candles between his fingers and lit them".⁵³⁵⁵ The sergeant major James Youd was acquitted the same day of murdering his slave girl Nanny. His neighbour Sarah Cash said "Her house stood next to the prisoner's, with only a single wall between them".⁵³⁵⁶

Governor George Gabriel Powell used the Company's slaves on his own house after their day's work. They carried stone for 484½ days and carried and laid 149 loads of brick. Named slaves were sent nightly to Sandy Bay or James Valley for materials and were severely whipped if they failed to return. The overseer testified that they seldom slept in a house at all but lay upon the road.⁵³⁵⁷

Slave Families, Bequests and Freedom

Slaves were bequeathed one by one, so that families were divided at each death. Katherine Fensdale left her slaves Maria and Jenny to two different sons in 1699.⁵³⁵⁸ Mary Sich left three black boys, Jack, Somey and Septher, to three different grandsons in 1719.⁵³⁵⁹ Lieutenant Thomas Easthope's daughter Mary had Guilford, Hannah with three children, Frank, Doll and Mary. Bacchus and Jack went to one son and Caesar and Ellen to another.⁵³⁶⁰ John Worrall left a male slave Frank to his wife and a slave each to four children, "none to count in their shares".⁵³⁶¹

Slave families nonetheless appear in the records. The Greentree will of 1766 left the widow "the slave woman Lucy with her son James and daughter Margaret".⁵³⁶² The slave London lived in Fisher's Valley, while his partner Dorinda lived in a house she shared with John Hayes. Their child Jenny was kept at John Robinson's house in the country.⁵³⁶³ Pat lived with her three children at the widow Desfountain's.⁵³⁶⁴ In Stephen Young's household a free black midwife stayed in the house to deliver the slave Moll's child in 1762.⁵³⁶⁵ The slave Solomon's wife lived at Sample's house while he slept in his owner's kitchen.⁵³⁶⁶

Some masters freed slaves of their household by will. John Bazett ordered that Jack Pudge be freed a year after his death.⁵³⁶⁷ Elizabeth Davis "gave her black slave named Eleanor her freedom after her decease" in 1759.⁵³⁶⁸ William Duffin freed his slave Anne in 1760 with "all her wearing apparel, a small bed and two pillows".⁵³⁶⁹ John Leach, publican, freed Emanuel with £5 for past service in 1762.⁵³⁷⁰ Francis Wrangham directed that his two old slave women, Meg and Suckey, be freed and not sold.⁵³⁷¹ John Desfountain left his widow the slaves Jack, Mercy and George in 1770, to be freed at her death.⁵³⁷²

Two owners went further. Julius Fabians freed his slave woman Tillaa and her son Billy and gave Tillaa the house she already held near the Rut, with a slave of her own.⁵³⁷³ Elizabeth Greentree in 1769 freed Lucy and her daughter Margaret. The other slaves of her household were to choose their own owners at a valuation. She wrote that "none of them, man, woman, boy or girl, should be put up for auction or sold in any public way".⁵³⁷⁴ Greentree's black servant Connor was held back to serve the widow for life on the promise of freedom at her death.⁵³⁷⁵

Slaves held some property of their own within these households. John Morgan, a Company slave, made a will in 1759. His effects were appraised at £1 7s and divided between two soldiers.⁵³⁷⁶ Exeter kept his own trunk in the room where he slept in John Leech's house.⁵³⁷⁷ Whaley's servant Careless kept a shirt, handkerchiefs, ribbon and a small blue box of buckles in a chest in the kitchen.⁵³⁷⁸

Company Servants' Households

The households of the Company's own servants were shaped by the Company's quarters and table. When Governor Goodwin died in 1741 the Council asked his widow Margaret to list the goods and slaves she wished to keep. Her petition named four slaves: Cornwall, an unnamed man and the women Peg and Helena. It also listed 18 chairs, five beds, an escritoire and kitchen ware. All were lent to her pending the Company's orders.⁵³⁷⁹ Goodwin's James Valley house was then sold to the Company for £500 against his debt, for lodging its servants and soldiers.⁵³⁸⁰

Officers' households were small and often shared. The Company had six houses or apartments in 1742, one each for Godfrey, Dixon, the chaplain Alcock, Doctor Clarke and two lieutenants.⁵³⁸¹ When the factor Joshua Twyman took a Company house in November 1742, "Mr Joseph Darvall, who was a writer, should live with him in the same house".⁵³⁸² Crisp, as acting Governor, "had constantly kept three of his own servants" at work at the house.⁵³⁸³ John Adamson took "one black boy and one black woman" of his household to England in 1759.⁵³⁸⁴ A recruit, Thomas Davis, proved to have been sent out "particularly to be his servant".⁵³⁸⁵ In 1769 the Lieutenant Governor had "the slaves who had formerly been his servants" restored to him.⁵³⁸⁶ The soldiers lived in far more crowded quarters. In June 1770 the Council found that "As they stood, the barracks held only 200 men, and those were badly crowded".⁵³⁸⁷ They could not have housed two-thirds of the garrison had the men on the works not slept outside.⁵³⁸⁸ A second square was ordered for 500 men with eight officers' quarters.⁵³⁸⁹

The Powell household of 1757 is the most fully described. James Powell was a widower with a house in the valley and a country house. His daughters lived with him, as did his niece Margaret Harper, aged 25.⁵³⁹⁰ The young women shared beds in one bedchamber, Margaret Harper "lying with Elizabeth or Sarah". They were locked in by day while their father was at Longwood.⁵³⁹¹ His son Charles nailed up a window of the bedchamber where he and his sisters lay.⁵³⁹² The black servant Sam Bowers, the maid Sophia and Ellen, who nursed a child in her master's bedchamber, all gave evidence.⁵³⁹³

Interpretations

The evidence suggested that the St Helena household was defined less by blood than by the house and its land. Widows held the mansion house for life, orphans' estates were managed by kin and neighbours and lodgers and poor relations were absorbed for long periods. The repeated clause cutting a widow's share on remarriage showed that the house was meant to pass down a male line through her. Stepfamilies were common, and orphans' petitions show that they were distrusted.

The slave population was built into the household rather than kept apart from it. The laws of the 1680s and 1713 tried to keep planters' slaves at their masters' houses at night, and the trials of the 1760s showed them sleeping in kitchens, halls and passages. This closeness gave slaves knowledge of keys, chests and windows, which the burglary trials exposed. It also exposed slaves to the violence of the household, which the law punished only rarely and lightly.

The annual returns probably reflected the Company's double interest in rent and security. The same notice called for family, land and cattle and fixed the rent day. The separate return of household slaves in 1760 and the list of Blacks from 1769 suggested a growing concern with the slave population as such. Bequests that freed old women or kept a mother with her children showed that some owners recognised slave families, but most wills still divided them among heirs.

Comparisons

In England the household of the period typically contained a married couple, their children and servants, with a mean size of about four to five persons.⁵³⁹⁴ St Helena's planters' families of three to eight children fell at the larger end of that range. Their households were enlarged further by slaves rather than by hired servants. English widows' rights to a third of real estate and to the house for life were familiar from manorial and common law custom.⁵³⁹⁵

In Bermuda slaves lived inside small white households in close quarters, many of them employed as domestic servants or seamen.⁵³⁹⁶ St Helena resembled Bermuda in its small holdings of slaves and in their sleeping within the master's house. In the sugar islands of the Caribbean, by contrast, most slaves lived in separate quarters on large plantations.⁵³⁹⁷

At the Cape the Dutch Company's free burghers also kept slaves in their households. Slaves there were bought and sold singly, and their families were often divided at the death of an owner.⁵³⁹⁸ Early Cape houses held slaves, lodgers and kin under one roof in a manner close to that at St Helena.⁵³⁹⁹

In Company India covenanted servants lived in households of many native servants and slaves, often in shared quarters. They depended on allowances much as the St Helena factors and writers did.⁵⁴⁰⁰ St Helena's officers took slaves from the Company in the same way, and some carried them home or to the East when they left.

Part Five: St Helena in Perspective

The last part draws the sections together. It sets the island's houses and goods beside those of the places from which its people and its goods came. It then traces the main changes across the century.

23. Comparisons and Change over the Century

England

The island's settlers came from an England in the middle of a long rebuilding. Timber framing with wattle and daub still dominated the lowland countryside, while brick spread through the towns after the Great Fire of London.⁵⁴⁰¹ St Helena followed neither path. Its houses were of stone from the first, bound with mud and later with lime, and no record names wattle and daub.⁵⁴⁰² Brick was tried in 1714, in the 1730s and again in 1765-1767, and each trial failed.⁵⁴⁰³ Only in 1771 was a regular manufacture set up at Sandy Bay.⁵⁴⁰⁴ The London code of 1682 and 1683 asked for regular streets and set heights, but the island's builders answered with the stone that lay on every hillside.

English households of middling rank acquired looking glasses, clocks, china and window curtains in growing numbers between 1660 and 1760. London led and remote counties followed late.⁵⁴⁰⁵ St Helena was as remote as any place the Company held, yet its better houses kept pace with London. The Company's ships brought English goods every year, and the China ships landed porcelain on their way home. The Company's servants together bought up to 245 china plates in a single quarter in the 1750s.⁵⁴⁰⁶ Window curtains, by contrast, came late, since most windows were closed by shutters until the sash spread after 1740.

Colonial America and Bermuda

The English colonies on the American mainland built in timber. In Massachusetts Bay framed houses of oak and clapboard remained the norm well into the eighteenth century.⁵⁴⁰⁷ St Helena had little timber to frame with, and its own wood was cut for fuel faster than it grew. Bermuda offers the closer parallel. Its cedar was spent on ships, and from 1693 its town grants required building in stone.⁵⁴⁰⁸ Both small islands turned to stone because their timber went to other uses. Bermuda went on to roof its houses in stone slabs.⁵⁴⁰⁹ St Helena kept its thatch.

Richard Bushman traced the spread of polite rooms and goods through colonial America in the same decades.⁵⁴¹⁰ The St Helena evidence shows the same move. Front rooms and inner rooms became parlours, dining rooms and bedchambers in the court records of the 1750s and 1760s. The change came first in the houses of the Company's officers and senior servants.

The Cape

The Cape was the island's nearest neighbour and its rival as a place of refreshment. Its early houses were built of rough stone and clay, roofed with reed thatch and centred on a large multi-purpose room with the hearth.⁵⁴¹¹ St Helena's houses were of the same family: stone walls, mud mortar, thatch and a hearth at one end. The Cape's inventories named the rooms of a house more fully and showed more variety of plan. Slaves at the Cape slept in kitchens, lofts and outbuildings of their owners' houses, as they did on St Helena.⁵⁴¹² The Dutch company housed its own slaves in a single great lodge in Cape Town.⁵⁴¹³ That lodge was a closer parallel to St Helena's slave house and square.

Company India

The Company's servants in Bengal and Madras lived in large houses with verandahs and flat roofs, built for shade and air.⁵⁴¹⁴ St Helena borrowed their goods but not their buildings. Its houses had hearths and shutters and no verandahs. Bengal wax candles, Madras table linen, palampores and chintz reached the island in quantity, and so did teak chests and Chinese lacquer. The officers of Calcutta furnished their houses from the same mixture of English and Eastern goods.⁵⁴¹⁵ St Helena's furnished house was in this sense an Indian house in an English shell.

Change over the Century

The record allows five broad periods to be distinguished. Table 31 sets them out.

Table 31. Periods in the history of houses and household goods on St Helena, 1673-1782
Period	Building	Holding	Goods
1673-1700	Batten and loose-stone houses; thatch; first stone houses	House ground granted by the Company; sales registered	Furniture and pots from England; pewter
1700-1740	Stone and mud; lime from Sandy Bay from 1709; brick trials fail	Deeds and wills in Chapel Valley; small houses	Indian textiles join English goods
1740-1752	Masons from England; Plantation House rebuilt	Rising house prices; auctions of estates	Goodwin's and other large estates; porcelain spreads
1753-1764	New barracks and Plantation House; glazed sashes	Plots let by the foot of frontage; house rent allowances	Store sells china, glass, candles and blankets every quarter
1765-1782	Great works; slave craftsmen trained; slave square built; brickmaking at Sandy Bay from 1771	Tradesmen and soldiers take house ground	Home candle-making; shops licensed; the bounty on rats

The periods are approximate. Volumes 048 to 061, covering 1743 to 1752, are not yet fully mined.

The first change was in building. Houses of battens and loose stone gave way to stone houses with chambers above. Lime from Sandy Bay from 1709 allowed mortared walls and facing for those who could buy it. Thatch remained the common roof throughout. The Company itself thatched its church, barracks and slave houses into the 1760s.

The second change was in holding. In the seventeenth century the Company granted house ground and registered sales. By the 1760s it let town ground by the foot of frontage and paid its officers house rent instead of housing them. Masons, carpenters, tailors and soldiers took plots and built for themselves.

The third change was in goods. Pewter gave way to porcelain at table and in the bedchamber. Shutters gave way to sashes, and curtains followed. Wax candles from Bengal lit the better houses, while tallow and oil lit the rest. The quarterly accounts show the store acting as the island's shop for almost every manufactured good.

Interpretations

The comparisons suggested that St Helena's houses were shaped by two forces pulling in different directions. The island's materials pulled towards the plain stone and thatch of a poor farming settlement. The Company's shipping pulled towards the goods of a prosperous town. The result was a modest house, often leaking, rat-ridden and roofed with rushes, filled with china, chintz and wax light. The contrast was sharpest in the Company's own great houses, which were the best furnished on the island and among the worst built.

Conclusion

The present edition has rebuilt the history of houses and household goods on St Helena from 3,597 recorded matters in 69 volumes. It adds a ledger of 13,180 stated prices, rents, values and wages. The earlier edition rested on 208 matters from 41 volumes and stopped in the early 1740s. The new evidence comes chiefly from the store accounts, consultations, lease registers and quarterly court trials of 1753 to 1771.

Three Findings

The first finding concerns the fabric of the house. St Helena's houses were built of stone from the 1680s, bound with mud and, for those who could afford it, with lime from Sandy Bay. Brick was tried in 1714, in the 1730s and in 1765-1767, and each trial failed. A regular manufacture at Sandy Bay began only in 1771. Thatch of island rushes remained the common roof to the end of the period, on the Company's buildings as well as the planters'. The Company's grandest building, the new Plantation House of the 1750s, leaked so badly that most of it was pulled down in 1769 before it was finished.

The second finding concerns the supply of goods. The Company's store sold almost every manufactured household good on the island, and its quarterly accounts record them in detail. Candles, soap, blankets, locks, window glass, china, pewter and iron pots passed through it every quarter at prices fixed by the buyer's rank. English goods came in the Company's ships, while Bengal wax candles, Madras linen, Indian chintz and Chinese porcelain came by the eastern route. Candles rose from about 19d a pound to 29d between 1753 and 1769, while most English goods held their price.

The third finding concerns the Company as a householder. It built and furnished the Castle and Plantation House at great cost and drew more than 1,000 lb of candles a year for the Castle by the late 1760s. It housed its soldiers in crowded barracks and paid its officers house rent instead of lodging them. It kept its own slaves in communal houses, long neglected and later locked and searched at night. In each case the Company's choices shaped the town around it, from the rents its officers paid to the plots its tradesmen took.

Corrections to the Earlier Edition

The present edition corrects several points. Window curtains appear by May 1740, not 1754. The storm that damaged the plantation slave houses came in April 1717, and the Council's representation on them dates from 11 April 1723. The firebacks in Governor Goodwin's estate were of stone, not cast iron. The sale of William French's goods took place in July 1711. The furniture written off in 1760 was a separate matter from Adamson's embezzlement.

What Remains

The volumes for 1743 to 1752, numbered 048 to 061, have still to be mined for this subject. They include the inventories of estates from 1744 to 1760, the register of wills and the register of leases from 1749 to 1765. Their full reading would fill the decade in which Plantation House was first rebuilt, the masons came from England and porcelain began to displace pewter. The volumes after 1770 would show whether the Company's great works changed the island's ordinary houses or only its public buildings.

Key to the Manuscript Volumes

The following 82 volumes of the transcribed St Helena records are cited in this edition. Each is listed by the number used in the references, with its title and date range. Where the volume has been identified in the British Library Endangered Archives Programme, its title links to the digitised images. The number after the oblique stroke in a reference is the image number within the volume, not a page or folio of the original.

Volumes 042 and 048 to 061 are cited only where the earlier edition drew on them; they have not yet been mined in full for this subject. Volumes 073, 074, 080 and 081 run beyond 1782, and their later entries are cited only as later context.

001 St Helena Letters from England 1673-1683

002 St Helena Letters from England 1673-1701

003 Goodwins Abstracts Letters from England 1673-1707

004 St Helena - constitution, laws and instructions 1673-1714

005 St Helena Records 1678-1683

007 Register of Leases and Deeds 1682-1719

008 Register of Wills 1682-1745

009 St Helena Records 1683-1687

010 St Helena Letters from England 1683-1689

011 St Helena Records 1687-1693

012 St Helena Records 1693-1696

013 St Helena Records 1696-1699

014 St Helena Records 1699-1703

015 St Helena Records 1703-1704

017 St Helena Records 1706-1709

018 St Helena Letters to England 1706-1714

019 St Helena Records 1709-1712

020 St Helena Records 1712-1715

021 St Helena Letters from England 1713-1716

022 St Helena Letters to England 1714-1715

023 St Helena Records 1715-1716

024 St Helena Records 1716-1717

025 St Helena Letters to England 1716-1717

027 St Helena Records 1717-1718

028 St Helena Letters to England 1717-1720

029 St Helena Letters from England 1717-1725

030 St Helena Records 1718-1720

031 St Helena Records 1720-1722

032 St Helena Letters to England 1720-1724

033 Register of Leases and Deeds 1720-1731

034 St Helena Records 1723-1725

035 St Helena Letters to England 1724-1727

036 St Helena Records 1725-1727

037 St Helena Records 1727-1731

038 St Helena Letters to England 1727-1737

039 Register of Deeds 1729-1762

040 St Helena Records 1731-1735

041 St Helena Records 1735-1740

042 Register of Leases 1735-1748

043 St Helena Letters to England 1738-1748

044 St Helena Records 1740 (consultations 22 April to 5 August 1740)

045 St Helena Records 1741-1742

046 St Helena Records 1742 (consultations 25 May to 15 October 1742)

047 St Helena Records 1742 (consultations 19 October 1742 to 5 April 1743)

048 St Helena Records 1743-1744

049 St Helena Records 1743-1745

050 St Helena Letters from England 1744-1753

051 Inventories of Estates of deceased persons 1744-1760

052 St Helena Records 1745-1746

053 St Helena Records 1746-1747

054 Register of Wills 1746-1793

055 St Helena Records 1747-1748

056 St Helena Records 1748-1750

057 St Helena Letters to England 1748-1758

059 St Helena Records 1750-1751

060 Register of Notices 1750-1794

061 St Helena Records 1751-1752

062 St Helena Records 1753-1754

063 St Helena Records 1754-1755

064 St Helena Letters from England 1754-1761

065 St Helena Letters from England 1754-1777

066 St Helena Records 1755-1756

067 St Helena Records 1756-1757

068 St Helena Records 1757-1759

069 St Helena Records 1759-1760

070 St Helena Letters to England 1759-1766

071 St Helena Records 1762-1763

072 St Helena Sessions 1762-1782

073 Out Letters Judicial Department 1762-1814

074 St Helena Letters from England 1762-1816

075 St Helena Records 1763-1764

076 St Helena Records 1764-1765

077 St Helena Records 1765-1766

078 St Helena Records 1766-1767

079 St Helena Letters to England 1766-1772

080 Register of Leases 1766-1790

081 Minutes of widows and orphans fund 1766-1837

082 St Helena Records 1767-1768

083 St Helena Records 1768-1769

084 St Helena Records 1769 (consultations March to October 1769)

085 St Helena Consultations 1770 (link to be supplied)

086 St Helena Records 1770-1771 (link to be supplied)

Glossary

The glossary explains the building, household and trade terms met in the records. Measures and prices are given as the records state them.

Black Square. The Company's slave quarters built round a yard, searched at night in the 1760s; compare black house and Plantation House Square.

'Furniture' (of a bed). In wills of this period, 'furniture' attached to a bed usually means its hangings and appurtenances - curtains, valance, bolster and the like - not furniture in the modern general sense. Where a will instead lists 'furniture' as a general estate item alongside named pieces (a chest of drawers, a dressing glass, cane chairs), it is being used in the broader sense. Distinguish by context: 'a feather bed with bedstead and furniture' = the bed's own hangings; 'the furniture belonging to it' after 'personal estate' = household furniture generally.

Rushes. The island's thatching material, cut on the commons and in the valleys and carried down in loads; Cronk identified the native thatching rush as Scirpus nodosus.

Administratrix. Woman appointed to settle the estate of a person who died intestate.

Ambstone. Purbeck limestone sold by the square foot for paving and building.

Barrack hinge. A heavy hinge for barrack doors.

Barrack lock / barrack hinges. Plain heavy door fittings for soldiers' quarters, also sold to inhabitants.

Bath. A sawn timber of deal or batten size, sold with deals and used for roofing.

Bath (of timber). A length of squared timber, here 27 foot.

Baulk. A squared beam of rough timber.

Bell glass lantern. Hanging lamp with a bell-shaped glass.

Bib tap. A tap with a downturned nozzle fitted to a cask or cistern.

Bill of sale. Deed by which a tenant sold on a holding or part of one, as against an original lease from the Company.

Binders. Rods or poles binding thatch to rafters.

Black house. The Company's communal quarters for its slaves (also "the Company's slave house").

Black House / Blacks' Square. The Company's slave house and lodging compound on Munden's Point hill below the Castle.

Black Square. The Company's slave quarter near the Castle.

Box iron. Smoothing iron heated by an inner slug.

Box iron, flat iron. Smoothing irons for linen.

Buffie. A sawn plank or batten among deals, used for ladders and sheds.

Building 'in the modern style of London' / 'good square lines'. Almost certainly a reference to London's post-Great Fire rebuilding standard, set out in the Rebuilding of London Act 1666/67: new buildings in brick or stone rather than timber, houses of a regulated height, and streets widened and straightened to prevent fire spreading from one side to the other. The Company's order at 002/092, that St Helena's houses (then only 12-14 feet high and built with battens) be improved and its streets laid out in good square lines on this model, reads as an attempt to bring the same fire-conscious, orderly building standard to the island. Drawn from general secondary reading (not yet a directly consulted source), so needs a proper citation before formal use in the report - e.g. T. F. Reddaway, The Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (1940), or the Act itself (18 & 19 Cha. 2 c. 8).

Cabbage tree poles. Native timber used for light rafters.

Candle moulds. Pewter moulds for casting tallow candles.

Candle shade. Glass chimney over a candle against draughts.

Candle shades. Glass cylinders set over candles against draughts.

Case bottle. Square glass bottle packed in a wooden case, used for arrack.

Catty. Chinese weight of about 1⅓ lb, used for tea.

Chafing dish. Brass or copper vessel holding coals to keep food warm at table.

Chaldron. A measure of coal, about 25 to 36 hundredweight depending on place.

Chamber glass. A small looking glass for a bedchamber.

Cherry derry. A cotton (or silk and cotton) furnishing stuff, here a set of curtains.

Chimney glass. A looking glass set over a chimneypiece.

Clapper. A short board, probably clapboard.

Close housekeeper. A house servant bound to stay in and keep the house, not to go out at will.

Close stool chair. A chamber pot enclosed in a seat.

Close stool pan. Pan of a close stool or commode.

Close-stool pan / chamber stool pan. Pewter pan of a close stool.

Close-stool pan / commode pan. Pan fitted into a boxed seat used as a privy indoors.

Coffree. A slave of African origin shipped through the Company's Indian ports.

Cold hole. A store or cool room for which 1½-inch deals were sent.

Common land. Open ground held by the Company for general grazing, on which free Black islanders built dwellings without title.

Cot. Plank bed frame of the barracks, bottomed with canvas sacking.

Cot / hanging bed. Canvas bed on a frame, slung, used in barracks and guardrooms.

Crane (pewter or iron). A swinging arm in a hearth for hanging pots.

Crane (pewter). A tap or spout for drawing off liquor.

Cross garnet hinge. A T-shaped strap hinge for doors and shutters.

Crown glass. Window glass spun from a blown disc.

Cuffer. A size of sawn timber sold with deals and battens.

Cuffie. A timber item issued for masons' scaffolding and stored with deals.

Dark lanthorn. Lantern with a shutter to hide the light.

Deals. Sawn softwood planks of fir or pine, imported for building, repair and coffins.

Diaper. Patterned linen or cotton for table linen.

Diapers. Linen cloth woven with a small diamond pattern, used for table linen and napkins.

Dovetail hinges. Hinges with flared leaves, sold by the dozen.

Dowlas. Coarse linen, here for Castle table cloths.

Draught. A drain, here to the Lieutenant Governor's back yard and Mr Adamson's yard.

Dumb waiter. A serving stand fitted at the Castle; a dozen brass boxes were issued for it.

Election. A widow's formal choice between a benefit under a will and her rights under law or custom.

Escheat. Reversion of property to the lord (here the Company) when the holder died without lawful heir.

Escritoire. Writing desk or cabinet with drawers; a hand escritoire is a portable writing box.

Escutcheon. Decorative plate round a keyhole.

Escutcheoned lock. Lock fitted with a keyhole plate.

Fire chest. A chest in a soldier's effects. Its purpose is uncertain.

Flasket. Shallow basket or tray.

Flesh pan. Vessel for meat.

Florence oil. Tuscan olive oil in straw-wrapped flasks.

Flushings. Bundles of brushwood or reed cut for thatching.

Free Harry's. Popular name of James Pritchard's house on the Southwark side, perhaps after a freed slave.

Free land / freehold. Ground owned outright, owing no rent to the Company.

French houses. Private houses on the island used as paid sick quarters for seamen from the ships.

Glass cot. A cot or small bed sold with its bedding in the Goodwin sale. Its exact form is uncertain.

Globe lamp. Hanging lamp with a glass globe round the flame.

Goglet (guglet). Long-necked water bottle sold with a basin as a washing set.

Gore. Narrow tapering strip between boundaries.

Great House. A Company building where officers lodged until March 1753, then repaired as the Lieutenant Governor's residence. Officers who left it drew house rent at 6d a day.

Ground rent. Annual charge on a town house plot on the rent roll.

Grown corn. Grain that sprouted before milling, giving sour flour.

Guard bed. Plank bench in a guardroom for men off duty.

Gugglet (goglet). Porous china or earthen water jar sold with a basin.

Gugglet (guglet, goglet). Long-necked earthenware or china water vessel, sold paired with a basin for the washstand.

Guglet. A long-necked water vessel of earthenware or china.

Guglet (goglet). Long-necked porcelain water bottle sold with a basin.

Guglet and basin. Narrow-necked water bottle with washing basin.

Guglet/gugglet. Porous water-cooling jug, sold with a basin.

Gunny sack. Coarse Bengal jute bag.

H hinge with rising joints. A hinge that lifts the door as it opens to clear the floor.

H-L hinge; rising-joint hinge; cross garnet hinge. Door and shutter hinges; a rising-joint hinge lifts the door as it opens.

Hand escritoire. Small portable writing box, often Chinese lacquer, used as a strongbox.

Hash pan. Brazier's pan for stewing.

Holy irons. Probably hollow (box) irons for smoothing linen.

House allowance. The £10 0s 0d a year paid to Company servants not lodged in a Company house.

House in the valley. The Lieutenant Governor's residence in Jamestown valley, held with rooms at Longwood.

House keeper. Salaried Company post (Thomas Braver), probably keeper of the Castle or Company house.

House rent. Cash allowance in lieu of Company lodging.

Iberack. Indian cotton piece goods (as entered).

Jack. Roasting jack, a weighted or clockwork device for turning a spit.

Jack (roasting jack). A weight-driven machine that turns a spit before the fire.

Jack (roasting jack), jack wheels, jack weights, jack spits. A weight-driven device for turning a spit before the fire, with its spare parts.

Jack wheels, jack chain, jack weight. Moving parts of a clockwork roasting jack.

Jumps. Loose, lightly stiffened bodice worn instead of stays; packthread jumps stitched with coarse twine.

Kinders. Thatching material (perhaps bundles of reeds or binders) used with rafters to cover Adamson's house at Longwood.

Kipser. Rough waste board used for a window and the coal hole.

Lantern leaves. Thin horn plates fitted to lanterns instead of glass.

Lanthorn leaf. Horn pane for a lantern.

Lanthorn leaves. Thin plates of horn used to glaze lanterns.

Lease for lives. Lease running until the death of the last of several named persons.

Long cloth. Plain closely woven Indian cotton sold in long pieces.

Mantle tree. The timber beam spanning a fireplace opening.

Maund. Indian weight (Bengal), used here for wax candles.

Messuage. A dwelling house with its outbuildings and attached ground.

Middling jack. Clockwork roasting jack of middle size turning a spit.

Mourning lights. Night lamps or tapers held in store.

Muscovy light. Lanthorn glazed with mica (muscovy glass).

Muscovy lights. Mica panes for lanterns or windows.

Nakhoda. A master of a ship in the Malay or Indian trade; used of the Malay headman Cockullum.

Negro cups and saucers. A cheap china grade sold for slaves' use.

Night bolt and bar. A bolt and bar securing a chamber door from inside at night.

Nux vomica. Strychnine-bearing seed, mixed with oatmeal as a rat poison.

Outcry. Public auction.

Palampore. Large painted or printed cotton bed cover from the Coromandel coast.

Pallampore. Painted Indian cotton bed cover.

Pantiles. Curved interlocking roofing tiles.

Parish house (punishment house). Parish building under the churchwardens where the poor and disorderly women were lodged or confined.

Partition door lock. Lock for an internal door.

Personal bond. Borrower's own written obligation, making him liable beyond the property pledged.

Pewter crane. A tap for a cask.

Plantation House Square. Block of Company slave quarters at the Governor's country house.

Plate lock; stock lock; iron-rimmed lock (sizes A to M). Grades of door lock; a stock lock is set in a wooden case.

Punch house. A licensed house selling arrack punch and other spirits.

Quarry glass. Small diamond panes for leaded windows.

Ridge tiles. Tiles shaped to cap the ridge of a roof.

Riga timber. Baltic fir timber shipped through England for building.

Rising joint. A hinge that lifts a door clear of the floor as it opens.

Rising-joint hinges. Hinges lifting a door clear of the floor as it opens.

Roasting jack. Weight-driven clockwork spit turner.

Rubbers. Cleaning cloths cut from dosootees or challoes.

Sash line. Cord linking sash windows to their counterweights.

Scantling. The cross-section dimensions of timber.

Single-pitch roof. A roof with one slope only, preferred on the island as the only kind that kept out the rain.

Slaughter pound. Enclosure holding cattle awaiting slaughter.

Slaves' square. The enclosure in which the Company's slaves were housed.

Sneaker. A small china bowl or cup.

Sneaker/stacker. Small china cup or basin.

Solid (of rushes). A load or bundle measure of thatching rushes.

Splinter (slitter) lock. A small cheap lock, as entered in store lists.

Splinter lock. Small lock for chests and boxes.

Squares of slate. Slate reckoned by the square, the area of 100 square feet of roof.

St Kitt lock. Lock of a named pattern in the stores (form uncertain).

Staple. Iron loop on a doorpost or chest taking a hasp or bolt.

Stock lock. A lock in a wooden case fixed to the face of a door.

Stone blue. Blue colouring used for paint and in laundering.

Stone colour. Pale grey-buff paint imitating dressed stone, used on woodwork.

Stool pan. Pan beneath a close stool.

Sweet quilts. Indian quilted bed coverings ordered in bulk from Bombay.

Swing glass. A looking glass hung on a pivot in a frame, for dressing.

Term of lives. Lease lasting while named nominees lived, renewed by admitting new lives for a fee of half a year's rent.

Terras. Hydraulic lime mortar used to line gutters and cisterns.

Terras / gutter cement. Waterproof lime mortar, here mixed with beer or sugar.

Thatching bundles. Sheaves of grass or rushes for thatching roofs.

The great house. Perhaps the Governor's country house.

Theft within a house. Grand larceny committed in a dwelling, denied benefit of clergy.

Thye blue. A blue house paint used on the Deputy Governor's and chaplain's houses.

Ticking. Strong cloth for mattress and pillow cases.

Tile boxes. Moulds for making tiles on the island.

Tile house, lime house. Company works for roofing tiles and lime.

Tiller. Small lidded compartment inside a chest.

Town adjutant. Garrison staff officer for the town's guards and duties.

Trunk nails. Round-headed nails for covering trunks and chests.

Tubman's yoke. Shoulder yoke for carrying a pair of water tubs.

Tubmen's yokes. Shoulder yokes for carrying pairs of water tubs.

Ufer. Slender Baltic fir spar; baulk: squared beam; double and single deal: sawn fir planks by thickness.

Uffers. Rough fir poles for scaffolding and light framing.

Umbrellas (Castle). Canvas sun shades made up in the stores.

Umbrelloes. Canvas awnings or sunshades at the Castle.

Wainscot. Quartersawn oak boards for panelling and furniture.

Wainscot (of furniture). Made of imported oak.

Wainscot board. Oak panelling board.

Wainscot boards. Imported oak boards for panelling and joinery.

Water engine. Hand fire engine.

Water plate. A double-walled plate filled with hot water to keep food warm.

Whimble stock. Brace for a boring bit.

Whiting. Ground chalk, used in whitewash and distemper.

Widow's dividend. The widow's allotted share of an estate's slaves or land.

Widow's third. The share of a deceased husband's personal estate or sale proceeds claimed for a widow.

Widowhood clause. A bequest limited to the time a widow stayed unmarried.

Yam kettle. Large iron pot for boiling yams for the Company's slaves.

Bibliography

External works cited for comparison are listed alphabetically by author. Manuscript sources are listed in the Key to the Manuscript Volumes. Every outside work is cited from general knowledge and marked "To be verified" in the footnotes. Its details should be checked before the study is relied on.

Beattie, J. M. Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986.

Breen, T. H. The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Brewer, John. The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688-1783. London: Unwin Hyman, 1989.

Bridenbaugh, Carl. The Colonial Craftsman. New York: New York University Press, 1950.

Bushman, Richard L. The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992.

Clark, Peter. The English Alehouse: A Social History, 1200-1830. London: Longman, 1983.

Cox, Nancy. The Complete Tradesman: A Study of Retailing, 1550-1820. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000.

Cronk, Q. C. B. The Endemic Flora of St Helena. Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000.

Cummings, Abbott Lowell. The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979.

Dillon, Maureen. Artificial Sunshine: A Social History of Domestic Lighting. London: National Trust, 2002.

Dunn, Richard S. Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972.

Ekirch, A. Roger. At Day's Close: Night in Times Past. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

Goveia, Elsa V. Slave Society in the British Leeward Islands at the End of the Eighteenth Century. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965.

Grove, Richard H. Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Jarvis, Michael J. In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Johnson, Matthew. English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life. Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010.

Jones, E. L., S. Porter and M. Turner. A Gazetteer of English Urban Fire Disasters, 1500-1900. Norwich: Historical Geography Research Series 13, 1984.

King, Anthony D. The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture. 2nd edn. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Koslofsky, Craig. Evening's Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Laslett, Peter, and Richard Wall, eds. Household and Family in Past Time. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972.

Lovegrove, Roger. Silent Fields: The Growth and Decline of Britain's Wildlife. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

McKellar, Elizabeth. The Birth of Modern London: The Development and Design of the City 1660-1720. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999.

Malan, Antonia. "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period." Kronos 33 (2007).

Marshall, P. J. East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976.

Morgan, Philip D. Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Mui, Hoh-cheung, and Lorna H. Mui. Shops and Shopkeeping in Eighteenth-Century England. London: Routledge, 1989.

Neild, Susan M. "Colonial Urbanism: The Development of Madras City in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries." Modern Asian Studies 13 (1979).

O'Dea, William T. The Social History of Lighting. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958.

Overton, Mark, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann. Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750. London: Routledge, 2004.

Phelps Brown, E. H., and Sheila V. Hopkins. "Seven Centuries of Building Wages." Economica 22 (1955).

Reddaway, T. F. The Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. London: Jonathan Cape, 1940.

Reps, John W. The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965.

Shammas, Carole. The Pre-industrial Consumer in England and America. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990.

Shell, Robert C.-H. Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1838. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994.

Styles, John. The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.

Upton, Dell. "White and Black Landscapes in Eighteenth-Century Virginia." Places 2 (1985).

Weatherill, Lorna. Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760. London: Routledge, 1988.

Woodward, Donald. Men at Work: Labourers and Building Craftsmen in the Towns of Northern England, 1450-1750. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Worden, Nigel. Slavery in Dutch South Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.

Notes

1. 003/17. 1673.

2. 003/17. 1673.

3. 003/19. 1673.

4. 004/19. 1673.

5. 004/19. 1673. 004/22. 1673.

6. 003/118. .

7. 001/21-022. 1680.

8. 001/21-022. 1680.

9. 001/21-022. 1680.

10. 002/29. 1674.

11. 001/34. 1674. 002/29. 1674.

12. 002/92. .

13. 002/92. .

14. 002/92. .

15. 002/92. .

16. 002/92. .

17. 010/21-022. 1683.

18. 010/21-022. 1683.

19. 010/21-022. 1683.

20. 010/21-022. 1683.

21. T. F. Reddaway, The Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (London: Jonathan Cape, 1940), 76-110. To be verified.

22. 003/95. .

23. 003/95. .

24. 005/223. 1681.

25. 005/223. 1681.

26. 007/48. 1688.

27. 015/132. 1704.

28. 011/37. 1688.

29. 011/37. 1688.

30. 005/229. 1682.

31. 005/229. 1682.

32. 007/34. 1705.

33. 007/34. 1705.

34. 007/69. 1704.

35. 007/69. 1704.

36. 017/78. 1707.

37. 017/78. 1707.

38. 027/345. 1718.

39. 027/345. 1718.

40. 027/345. 1718.

41. 009/204. 1685.

42. 009/204. 1685.

43. 009/204. 1685.

44. 009/204. 1685.

45. 014/162-170. 1701.

46. 011/288. 1691.

47. 011/328. 1691.

48. 007/224. 1715.

49. 007/224. 1715.

50. 033/53. 1723.

51. 042/198. .

52. 042/198. .

53. 042/198. .

54. 018/99,106. 1713.

55. 018/99,106. 1713.

56. 018/30. 1713.

57. 040/204. 1733.

58. 039/23. 1738.

59. 039/23. 1738.

60. 039/23. 1738.

61. 042/21. .

62. 042/21. .

63. 039/30. 1738.

64. 039/30. 1738.

65. 039/30. 1738.

66. 039/100. 1740.

67. 039/191. 1753.

68. 041/288. 1738.

69. 039/222. 1754.

70. 039/222. 1754.

71. 024/127. 1716.

72. 024/127. 1716.

73. 040/59. 1731.

74. 040/59. 1731.

75. 040/59. 1731.

76. 040/59. 1731.

77. 042/259. 1747.

78. 042/259. 1747.

79. 042/259. 1747.

80. 063/266. 1754.

81. 063/266. 1754.

82. 068/133. 1758.

83. 068/133. 1758.

84. 072/251. 1769.

85. 072/251. 1769.

86. 075/418-422. 1764.

87. 075/418-422. 1764.

88. 075/418-422. 1764.

89. 075/425-426. 1764.

90. 076/71. 1764.

91. 076/71. 1764.

92. 076/77. 1764.

93. 076/77. 1764.

94. 076/77. 1764.

95. 082/188. 1767.

96. 082/189. 1767.

97. 011/436. 1693.

98. 011/436. 1693.

99. 075/328-329. 1764.

100. 067/379-382. 1757.

101. 067/379-382. 1757.

102. 063/163. 1754.

103. 063/344. 1755.

104. 063/418. 1755.

105. 066/84. 1755.

106. 066/322. 1756.

107. 085/287-288. 1770.

108. 085/364-368. 1770.

109. 085/364-368. 1770.

110. 085/364-368. 1770.

111. 085/364-368. 1770.

112. 085/364-368. 1770.

113. 085/364-368. 1770.

114. 085/383. 1770.

115. 085/393. 1770.

116. 085/464. 1770.

117. 085/464. 1770.

118. 046/150. 1742.

119. 046/150. 1742.

120. 066/416. 1756.

121. 066/416. 1756.

122. 066/416. 1756.

123. 066/416. 1756.

124. 067/46. 1756.

125. 067/46. 1756.

126. 067/47. 1756.

127. 067/47. 1756.

128. 067/53-54. 1756.

129. 067/53-54. 1756.

130. 067/57-58. 1756.

131. 067/61. 1756.

132. 067/62-63. 1756.

133. 078/349-350. 1767.

134. 078/349-350. 1767.

135. 078/365. 1767.

136. 083/52. 1768.

137. 083/52. 1768.

138. 086/188. 1771.

139. 086/188. 1771.

140. 046/66. 1742.

141. 046/66. 1742.

142. 046/80. 1742.

143. 046/80. 1742.

144. 047/29-30. 1742.

145. 063/153. 1754.

146. 063/440. 1755.

147. 066/188. 1755.

148. 066/273. 1756.

149. 067/456-457. 1757.

150. 067/456-457. 1757.

151. 071/104. 1762. 071/186. 1762. 071/188. 1762.

152. 075/403-404. 1764.

153. 075/429. 1764.

154. 077/21. 1765.

155. 077/59. 1765.

156. 077/184. 1765.

157. 078/274. 1766. 078/281. 1766. 078/286-287. 1766.

158. 078/289. 1766. 080/40-41. 1766.

159. 078/293. 1767.

160. 080/89. 1769.

161. 084/148. 1769.

162. 080/73. 1768.

163. 078/27. 1766.

164. 078/27. 1766.

165. 083/422-423. 1769.

166. 080/79. 1769. 083/424. 1769.

167. 080/77. 1769.

168. 080/28. 1765.

169. 080/28. 1765.

170. 078/20. 1766.

171. 080/69. 1768.

172. 080/69. 1768.

173. 080/40-41. 1766.

174. 080/40-41. 1766.

175. 080/46-47. 1767.

176. 080/46-47. 1767.

177. 083/363. 1768.

178. 080/41-42. 1767.

179. 078/363. 1767.

180. 080/115-116. 1771. 086/14. 1770. 086/91. 1771.

181. 085/398. 1770.

182. 085/398. 1770. 086/20. 1770.

183. 080/116-117. 1771. 086/91. 1771.

184. 080/161-162. 1778.

185. 080/185-186. 1780.

186. 080/207. 1782.

187. 071/86. 1762.

188. 083/330. 1768.

189. 080/197. 1781.

190. 084/281. 1769.

191. 080/104. 1769.

192. 085/82. 1770.

193. 085/82. 1770.

194. 086/15. 1770.

195. 086/15. 1770.

196. 085/373. 1770.

197. 085/373. 1770.

198. 085/395-396. 1770.

199. 085/395-396. 1770.

200. 085/81-82. 1770.

201. 085/363. 1770.

202. 085/404. 1770. 085/473. 1770.

203. 086/94. 1771.

204. 086/91. 1771. 086/94. 1771.

205. 068/251-253. 1758.

206. 075/423-425. 1764.

207. 078/166-168. 1766.

208. 082/183. 1767. 082/184. 1767.

209. 084/298-300. 1769.

210. 085/400-403. 1770.

211. 085/400-403. 1770.

212. 086/401. 1771. 086/402. 1771. 086/403. 1771. 086/404. 1771.

213. 086/402. 1771. 086/404. 1771.

214. 085/400-403. 1770. 086/404. 1771.

215. 067/142-143. 1757.

216. 067/142-143. 1757.

217. 047/133-135. 1743.

218. 084/414. 1769.

219. 084/414. 1769.

220. 085/474. 1770.

221. 085/474. 1770.

222. 086/368-369. 1771.

223. 086/368-369. 1771.

224. 086/368-369. 1771.

225. 079/318. 1771.

226. 079/318. 1771.

227. 086/390-391. 1771.

228. 086/390-391. 1771.

229. 086/390-391. 1771.

230. T. F. Reddaway, The Rebuilding of London after the Great Fire (London: Jonathan Cape, 1940), 76-110. To be verified.

231. Elizabeth McKellar, The Birth of Modern London: The Development and Design of the City 1660-1720 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999), 49-92. To be verified.

232. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), 45-63. To be verified.

233. John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965), 157-174. To be verified.

234. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1979), 1-20. To be verified.

235. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 23-60. To be verified.

236. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

237. Susan M. Neild, "Colonial Urbanism: The Development of Madras City in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries," Modern Asian Studies 13 (1979), 217-246. To be verified.

238. 002/92. .

239. 002/92. .

240. 010/21-022. 1683.

241. 010/21-022. 1683.

242. 005/223. 1681.

243. 007/48. 1688.

244. 015/132. 1704.

245. 015/132. 1704.

246. 004/205. 1713.

247. 004/314. .

248. 028/164. 1717.

249. 030/491. 1723.

250. 007/224. 1715.

251. 040/204. 1733.

252. 039/23. 1738.

253. 072/71-74. 1764.

254. 066/416. 1756.

255. 067/114. 1756.

256. 083/52. 1768.

257. 083/52. 1768.

258. 002/108. 1684.

259. 009/135. 1684.

260. 009/135. 1684.

261. 009/139. 1684.

262. 009/139. 1684.

263. 012/82. 1693.

264. 012/82. 1693.

265. 018/16. 1707.

266. 004/191. .

267. 018/30. 1713.

268. 018/30. 1713.

269. 018/30. 1713. 030/491. 1723.

270. 017/254. 1709.

271. 017/254. 1709.

272. 017/254. 1709.

273. 017/254. 1709. 024/402. 1717.

274. 018/99,106. 1713.

275. 018/99,106. 1713.

276. 022/116. 1715.

277. 004/357. 1715.

278. 025/98. 1716.

279. 028/73. 1717. 021/164. 1716. 023/159. 1715.

280. 033/114,130. 1723.

281. 033/114,130. 1723.

282. 040/59. 1731.

283. 040/59. 1731.

284. 043/111. 1738.

285. 043/126. 1737-1739.

286. 043/126. 1737-1739.

287. 041/406. 1739.

288. 041/432. 1740.

289. 045/68. 1741.

290. 046/37. 1742.

291. 046/47. 1742.

292. 046/88-91. 1742.

293. 046/65. 1742.

294. 046/117. 1742.

295. 046/117. 1742.

296. 046/52. 1742.

297. 048/258.

298. 047/175-176. 1743.

299. 062/47. 1753. 066/129. 1755. 066/192. 1755.

300. 067/134. 1756.

301. 071/209-210. 1762. 062/19. 1753.

302. 075/234-237. 1764. 075/241. 1764.

303. 066/269. 1756.

304. 075/263. 1764. 075/391. 1764. 076/144. 1764.

305. 065/216-217. 1764. 076/319-320. 1765.

306. 076/319-320. 1765.

307. 070/314. 1765.

308. 076/331-333. 1765.

309. 077/366. 1766.

310. 082/229. 1767.

311. 084/384-385. 1769.

312. 078/291-292. 1767.

313. 084/311. 1769. 079/221. 1769. 084/255-256. 1769.

314. 077/182-183. 1765.

315. 077/182-183. 1765.

316. 077/184. 1765.

317. 065/249. 1766.

318. 077/257. 1765. 082/277. 1767. 082/369. 1767. 082/465. 1768. 083/421. 1768. 084/252. 1769.

319. 084/413. 1769.

320. 083/373-374. 1769. 083/367-368. 1769.

321. 083/373-374. 1769.

322. 083/373-374. 1769.

323. 085/134. 1770.

324. 085/216. 1770.

325. 085/358. 1770.

326. 085/464. 1770.

327. 085/48. 1769. 085/431. 1770.

328. 085/48. 1769. 086/54. 1770.

329. 085/76. 1769.

330. 085/214. 1770. 085/358. 1770.

331. 085/431. 1770.

332. 084/384-385. 1769.

333. 086/80. 1770.

334. 085/469. 1770.

335. 077/41-42. 1765.

336. 077/181. 1765.

337. 077/181. 1765.

338. 077/184. 1765.

339. 047/62. 1742.

340. 047/102-103. 1743.

341. 083/359-362. 1768.

342. 083/359-362. 1768.

343. 079/315-316. 1771.

344. 079/151. 1768.

345. 086/240. 1771.

346. 086/240. 1771.

347. 086/240. 1771.

348. 086/368-369. 1771.

349. 086/368-369. 1771.

350. 046/100. 1742.

351. 046/100. 1742. 047/62. 1742.

352. 047/153. 1743.

353. 062/293. 1753.

354. 062/370. 1754. 063/118. 1754. 075/79. 1763.

355. 078/89. 1766.

356. 075/328-329. 1764.

357. 078/124. 1766.

358. 077/175-176. 1765. 078/170. 1766.

359. 083/350-357. 1768.

360. 083/350-357. 1768.

361. 085/464. 1770.

362. 086/352. 1771.

363. 050/8-9. 057/9,50-51,72.

364. 057/130.

365. 057/236,270.

366. 018/99,106. 1713.

367. 018/99,106. 1713.

368. 040/49. 1731.

369. 047/116. 1742.

370. 063/46. 1754.

371. 063/48. 1754.

372. 066/244. 1756.

373. 071/216-217. 1762.

374. 083/260. 1768.

375. 069/189-190. 1759.

376. 069/216. 1759.

377. 069/98. 1759. 075/76-79. 1763. 076/365-366. 1765.

378. 084/398-403. 1769.

379. 085/439. 1770. 085/440. 1770.

380. 086/52. 1770.

381. 067/258-259. 1757.

382. 067/258-259. 1757.

383. 062/106. 1753. 066/220. 1756. 075/66. 1763. 083/267. 1768. 084/353. 1769.

384. 084/353. 1769. 084/49-50. 1769.

385. 085/414. 1770. 086/30. 1770. 086/294. 1771.

386. 086/43. 1770.

387. 086/82. 1770.

388. 077/56. 1765.

389. 077/55. 1765.

390. 077/367. 1766.

391. 076/418. 1765. 078/126. 1766.

392. 077/360. 1766.

393. 004/254. 1713.

394. 022/60. 1714.

395. 022/60. 1714.

396. 022/60. 1714.

397. 038/181,189. 1731.

398. 038/181,189. 1731.

399. 043/15. 1737.

400. 043/15. 1737.

401. 043/71. 1738.

402. 043/71. 1738.

403. 039/23. 1738.

404. 046/59. 1742.

405. 049/72,117.

406. 049/72,117.

407. 077/41-42. 1765. 065/237. 1765.

408. 076/365-366. 1765. 077/125. 1765.

409. 077/100. 1765.

410. 077/102. 1765. 078/126. 1766.

411. 077/366. 1766. 077/360. 1766.

412. 077/175. 1765.

413. 077/177. 1765.

414. 065/250. 1766.

415. 079/60. 1767.

416. 065/268. 1768.

417. 082/38. 1767.

418. 079/259. 1770.

419. 086/23. 1771.

420. 086/80. 1770.

421. 086/23. 1771.

422. 086/23. 1771.

423. 086/23. 1771.

424. 022/60. 1714. 086/23. 1771.

425. 085/274-275. 1770.

426. 086/204-206. 1771.

427. 086/204-206. 1771.

428. 064/56. 1756.

429. 075/212. 1764.

430. 077/106. 1765.

431. 077/256. 1765.

432. 066/156. 1755.

433. 046/140. 1742.

434. 047/19. 1742.

435. 064/76. 1758. 065/65. 1758.

436. 076/418. 1765.

437. 065/129. 1760. 064/132. 1760.

438. 078/17-18. 1766.

439. 079/83. 1767.

440. 079/83. 1767.

441. 082/382. 1768.

442. 082/382. 1768.

443. 079/206. 1769.

444. 079/206. 1769.

445. 085/286. 1770.

446. 085/286. 1770.

447. 085/383. 1770. 085/393. 1770.

448. 086/78. 1770.

449. 086/192. 1771.

450. 086/125-126. 1771.

451. 086/23. 1771. 086/80. 1770.

452. 085/120-123. 1770. 085/188. 1770.

453. 085/330. 1770.

454. 086/327. 1771.

455. 086/360. 1771.

456. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

457. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

458. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

459. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

460. 077/181. 1765.

461. 002/92. .

462. 010/21-022. 1683. 047/102-103. 1743. 077/41-42. 1765. 046/100. 1742.

463. 077/181. 1765. 083/359-362. 1768.

464. 083/52. 1768.

465. 070/184. 1762.

466. 018/99,106. 1713. 040/59. 1731.

467. 077/181. 1765.

468. 077/184. 1765.

469. 082/277. 1767. 084/413. 1769. 085/469. 1770.

470. 086/240. 1771.

471. 022/60. 1714. 043/71. 1738. 079/60. 1767.

472. 077/175. 1765.

473. 065/268. 1768.

474. 086/23. 1771.

475. 077/177. 1765.

476. 086/23. 1771.

477. 062/293. 1753. 078/124. 1766. 083/350-357. 1768.

478. 075/328-329. 1764. 078/89. 1766.

479. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), 20-44. To be verified.

480. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010). To be verified.

481. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979). To be verified.

482. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979). To be verified.

483. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010). To be verified.

484. 062/19. 1753. 076/418. 1765.

485. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

486. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). To be verified.

487. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

488. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, 2nd edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). To be verified.

489. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, 2nd edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). To be verified.

490. 079/259. 1770.

491. 003/17. 1673.

492. 003/19. 1673. 004/19. 1673.

493. 005/226. 1682.

494. 005/226. 1682.

495. 024/127. 1716.

496. 024/127. 1716.

497. 022/116. 1715.

498. 042/6.

499. 042/6.

500. 042/6.

501. 042/6.

502. 046/77. 1742.

503. 019/80. 1710.

504. 019/80. 1710.

505. 019/80. 1710.

506. 020/152. 1714.

507. 020/152. 1714.

508. 011/436. 1693.

509. 002/108. 1684.

510. 004/315. .

511. 004/315. .

512. 018/99,106. 1713.

513. 004/205. 1713.

514. 022/116. 1715.

515. 022/116. 1715.

516. 023/119. 1715.

517. 023/119. 1715.

518. 085/174. 1770.

519. 023/159. 1715.

520. 047/44. 1742.

521. 067/194. 1757.

522. 047/45. 1742.

523. 046/31. 1742.

524. 046/31. 1742.

525. 067/55-56. 1756.

526. 067/55-56. 1756.

527. 046/126-127. 1742.

528. 046/64. 1742.

529. 046/59. 1742.

530. 062/223. 1753.

531. 062/223. 1753.

532. 062/300. 1753. 062/374-375. 1754. 063/25. 1754. 063/128-129. 1754. 063/226. 1754. 063/298. 1755. 063/421. 1755.

533. 063/298. 1755.

534. 062/306. 1753.

535. 067/90. 1756.

536. 084/392-393. 1769.

537. 085/434-435. 1770.

538. 085/434-435. 1770.

539. 086/32. 1770.

540. 086/32. 1770.

541. 086/32. 1770.

542. 086/296. 1771.

543. 085/313-314. 1770.

544. 085/421-422. 1770.

545. 070/78. 1760.

546. 070/116. 1761.

547. 070/184. 1762.

548. 079/136-137. 1768.

549. 085/274-275. 1770.

550. 086/204-206. 1771.

551. 065/171-172. 1762.

552. 070/230. 1763.

553. 064/9. 1754. 065/8. 1755.

554. 064/26-27. 1755. 065/20-21. 1755.

555. 066/182. 1755.

556. 064/51. 1756.

557. 065/216. 1764. 065/245. 1766.

558. 082/234. 1767.

559. 085/434-435. 1770.

560. 085/430. 1770.

561. 086/52. 1770.

562. 086/163. 1771.

563. 086/163. 1771.

564. 086/323. 1771.

565. 085/391-392. 1770.

566. 085/391-392. 1770.

567. 085/391-392. 1770.

568. 063/118. 1754.

569. 070/198. 1762.

570. 070/198. 1762.

571. 083/359-362. 1768.

572. 072/59-62. 1764.

573. 072/59-62. 1764.

574. 063/357. 1755.

575. 063/404. 1755.

576. 063/406. 1755.

577. 078/124. 1766.

578. 069/218. 1759. 069/394. 1760.

579. 085/78. 1769.

580. 085/208. 1770.

581. 085/208. 1770.

582. 085/464. 1770.

583. 085/464. 1770.

584. 069/216. 1759.

585. 075/179. 1763. 075/261. 1764. 083/150. 1768.

586. 078/210. 1766.

587. 078/336. 1766.

588. 069/304. 1760.

589. 075/181. 1763.

590. 069/216. 1759.

591. 062/306. 1753.

592. 075/139. 1763.

593. 001/67-068. 1678.

594. 001/67-068. 1678.

595. 001/67-068. 1678.

596. 001/67-068. 1678.

597. 001/119. 1680.

598. 001/119. 1680.

599. 001/128,134. 1680.

600. 005/317. 1682.

601. 005/317. 1682.

602. 005/317. 1682.

603. 010/92. 1684.

604. 018/99,106. 1713.

605. 047/53. 1742.

606. 062/312. 1753.

607. 076/59. 1764.

608. 078/255. 1766.

609. 084/404. 1769.

610. 085/441. 1770.

611. 086/52. 1770. 086/163. 1771.

612. 083/264. 1768. 083/312. 1768. 082/428. 1768.

613. 077/326-327. 1766.

614. 077/315. 1766.

615. 082/243. 1767.

616. 075/352-355. 1764.

617. 084/351. 1769.

618. 084/351. 1769.

619. 086/36. 1770.

620. 070/247. 1763.

621. 062/309. 1753.

622. 066/173. 1755. 071/164-167. 1762. 082/430-432. 1768.

623. 069/192-194. 1759.

624. 063/11. 1754.

625. 079/28. 1766.

626. 069/192-194. 1759. 071/164-167. 1762.

627. 085/437. 1770. 085/439. 1770.

628. 047/53. 1742.

629. 047/53. 1742.

630. 047/53. 1742.

631. 062/313. 1753.

632. 066/177. 1755.

633. 066/177. 1755.

634. 066/182. 1755.

635. 075/104. 1763.

636. 062/368. 1754.

637. 062/369. 1754.

638. 062/369. 1754.

639. 062/391. 1754.

640. 062/300. 1753.

641. 071/216-217. 1762.

642. 085/32. 1769.

643. 085/171. 1770. 085/172. 1770.

644. 085/172. 1770.

645. 085/313-314. 1770.

646. 086/43. 1770.

647. 086/324-325. 1771.

648. 085/322. 1770.

649. 062/11. 1753.

650. 066/215. 1756.

651. 082/201. 1767.

652. 078/221. 1766.

653. 082/75. 1767. 082/424. 1768.

654. 085/11. 1769.

655. 085/157. 1770. 086/30. 1770.

656. 085/442. 1770.

657. 063/122. 1754. 066/337. 1756. 077/113. 1765.

658. 085/317. 1770.

659. 062/215. 1753.

660. 062/368. 1754.

661. 066/244. 1756.

662. 071/216-217. 1762.

663. 078/426-427. 1767.

664. 083/283-284. 1768.

665. 001/156-160. 1683.

666. 001/156-160. 1683.

667. 010/92. 1684.

668. 018/99,106. 1713.

669. 004/252. 1713.

670. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000). To be verified.

671. 047/45. 1742.

672. 046/121-125. 1742.

673. 066/147. 1755.

674. 071/398-402. 1763.

675. 082/33-35. 1767.

676. 070/281. 1764.

677. 062/448-449. 1754.

678. 068/167-168. 1758.

679. 078/454-455. 1767.

680. 085/274-275. 1770.

681. 086/204-206. 1771.

682. 086/125-126. 1771.

683. 086/125-126. 1771.

684. 086/279. 1771. 086/324-325. 1771.

685. 086/354. 1771.

686. 086/354. 1771. 085/434-435. 1770.

687. 066/175. 1755. 076/59. 1764. 084/404. 1769. 085/441. 1770.

688. 085/441. 1770.

689. 086/142. 1771.

690. 062/374-375. 1754.

691. 084/200. 1769.

692. 084/372-374. 1769.

693. 001/119. 1680.

694. 047/49. 1742.

695. 062/19. 1753.

696. 066/156. 1755.

697. 075/76-79. 1763.

698. 084/196-197. 1769.

699. 067/248. 1757.

700. 085/310-311. 1770.

701. 085/310-311. 1770.

702. 085/310-311. 1770.

703. 086/307. 1771.

704. 084/398-403. 1769.

705. 084/398-403. 1769.

706. 063/11. 1754. 083/266. 1768.

707. 086/51. 1770.

708. 086/52. 1770.

709. 085/439. 1770.

710. 082/327-328. 1767.

711. 062/13. 1753. 075/70. 1763. 071/8-14. 1762. 086/32. 1770.

712. 062/286. 1753. 076/15. 1764. 083/106. 1768. 082/205. 1767. 086/296. 1771.

713. 062/11. 1753. 076/11. 1764. 085/157. 1770.

714. 062/13. 1753. 086/141. 1771.

715. 063/404. 1755. 069/394. 1760. 085/78. 1769. 085/208. 1770.

716. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), chs 7-8. To be verified.

717. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979). To be verified.

718. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), ch. 2. To be verified.

719. Richard H. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), ch. 7. To be verified.

720. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

721. 009/139. 1684.

722. 009/135. 1684.

723. 012/82. 1693.

724. 012/82. 1693.

725. 004/314. .

726. 004/314. .

727. 017/254. 1709.

728. 024/402. 1717.

729. 024/402. 1717.

730. 033/114,130. 1723.

731. 039/10. 1730.

732. 023/119. 1715.

733. 023/119. 1715.

734. 003/104. .

735. 038/181,189. 1731.

736. 038/181,189. 1731.

737. 041/147. 1736.

738. 041/147. 1736.

739. 041/147. 1736.

740. 041/147. 1736.

741. 041/147. 1736.

742. 046/47. 1742. 047/16. 1742.

743. 048/164. 056/46.

744. 041/432. 1740.

745. 050/8-9.

746. 050/8-9.

747. 057/231,273,382.

748. 053/44,57.

749. 062/28. 1753.

750. 062/28. 1753.

751. 062/121. 1753. 062/190. 1753. 062/263. 1753. 062/378. 1754.

752. 059/56.

753. 054/195.

754. 063/28. 1754.

755. 063/28. 1754.

756. 050/151-152.

757. 066/69. 1755. 066/91-92. 1755.

758. 066/91-92. 1755.

759. 066/69. 1755.

760. 064/50. 1756. 065/43. 1756. 064/62. 1757.

761. 067/102. 1756. 067/222-223. 1757. 068/93. 1758.

762. 064/49. 1756. 065/42. 1756.

763. 068/409. 1759.

764. 064/50. 1756. 065/43. 1756.

765. 066/295. 1756.

766. 064/76. 1758. 065/65. 1758.

767. 064/76. 1758. 065/65. 1758.

768. 064/76. 1758.

769. 068/221. 1758. 068/259. 1758. 069/103. 1759.

770. 070/156-157. 1762.

771. 065/175-176. 1762.

772. 071/28. 1762.

773. 070/290. 1764. 075/323-325. 1764.

774. 065/217. 1764. 070/315. 1765. 070/318. 1765.

775. 065/236. 1765. 079/76-77. 1767.

776. 079/146. 1768.

777. 065/224. 1764.

778. 065/224. 1764. 076/243-244. 1765.

779. 076/387-388. 1765.

780. 065/224. 1764. 070/320-321. 1765. 076/243-244. 1765.

781. 072/205. 1768. 072/212. 1768. 072/219. 1768.

782. 083/188. 1768.

783. 079/198. 1769.

784. 065/311. 1770.

785. 085/51. 1769.

786. 085/120-123. 1770.

787. 085/120-123. 1770.

788. 085/120-123. 1770.

789. 085/147-148. 1770.

790. 085/147-148. 1770.

791. 079/256. 1770.

792. 079/87-88. 1767.

793. 065/274. 1768.

794. 083/235. 1768. 084/60. 1769.

795. 085/330. 1770.

796. 079/272. 1770.

797. 085/447-448. 1770. 086/56-57. 1770. 086/168. 1771.

798. 065/328. 1771.

799. 086/327. 1771.

800. 086/327. 1771.

801. 086/327. 1771.

802. 086/240. 1771.

803. 086/240. 1771.

804. 086/240. 1771.

805. 071/106. 1762.

806. 078/59. 1766. 079/41. 1766.

807. 065/275-276. 1768.

808. 083/228-229. 1768.

809. 083/333. 1768. 083/400. 1768.

810. 085/51. 1769. 085/188. 1770. 085/447-448. 1770.

811. 086/13-14. 1770.

812. 086/13-14. 1770.

813. 079/340. 1772.

814. 086/16. 1770.

815. 086/168. 1771. 086/327. 1771.

816. 069/32. 1759.

817. 069/103. 1759. 069/287-288. 1760.

818. 070/290. 1764.

819. 076/435-436. 1765.

820. 076/435-436. 1765.

821. 070/340. 1765.

822. 076/435-436. 1765. 077/79. 1765.

823. 065/236. 1765.

824. 079/12. 1766.

825. 083/335. 1768.

826. 078/210. 1766.

827. 083/418. 1768.

828. 078/349-350. 1767.

829. 085/208. 1770.

830. 085/208. 1770.

831. 085/51. 1769. 085/330. 1770. 086/56-57. 1770. 086/327. 1771.

832. 085/310-311. 1770.

833. 085/310-311. 1770.

834. 086/307. 1771.

835. 085/391-392. 1770.

836. 047/116. 1742.

837. 059/84,102,174,350. 062/391. 1754.

838. 063/46. 1754. 063/48. 1754.

839. 066/244. 1756.

840. 069/216. 1759.

841. 077/106. 1765.

842. 063/204. 1754.

843. 071/46. 1762. 075/179. 1763. 075/59. 1763.

844. 076/416. 1765.

845. 062/391. 1754.

846. 063/148. 1754.

847. 063/48. 1754.

848. 071/48. 1762. 076/416. 1765.

849. 076/268. 1765. 075/261. 1764.

850. 085/222. 1770.

851. 085/222. 1770.

852. 085/172. 1770.

853. 086/43. 1770.

854. 086/43. 1770.

855. 086/125-126. 1771.

856. 086/279. 1771.

857. 047/116. 1742.

858. 078/126. 1766.

859. 086/82. 1770.

860. 086/192. 1771.

861. 086/352. 1771.

862. 066/82. 1755.

863. 067/234-236. 1757. 069/120. 1759.

864. 071/334. 1763.

865. 069/179. 1759.

866. 083/119. 1768.

867. 085/424. 1770.

868. 067/178. 1757.

869. 067/313. 1757.

870. 076/410. 1765.

871. 078/334. 1766.

872. 063/146. 1754.

873. 083/150. 1768. 084/347. 1769.

874. 085/76. 1769.

875. 085/51. 1769. 086/58. 1770. 086/168. 1771.

876. 065/374. 1775.

877. 046/65-66. 1742.

878. 062/275. 1753. 068/45. 1758. 071/50. 1762. 084/81. 1769. 086/356. 1771.

879. 062/277. 1753.

880. 063/204. 1754. 063/406. 1755. 066/242. 1756. 068/275. 1758.

881. 067/113. 1756. 068/43. 1758.

882. 068/43. 1758.

883. 063/163. 1754.

884. 064/32. 1755. 065/25-26. 1755.

885. 068/221. 1758.

886. 068/275. 1758. 068/375. 1759.

887. 068/45. 1758. 069/306. 1760.

888. 067/114. 1756.

889. 067/114. 1756.

890. 076/144. 1764.

891. 076/268. 1765.

892. 078/126. 1766.

893. 078/126. 1766.

894. 078/126. 1766.

895. 083/420. 1768.

896. 083/152. 1768.

897. 085/74. 1769. 085/76. 1769. 085/358. 1770.

898. 085/286. 1770.

899. 085/358. 1770.

900. 085/400. 1770.

901. 085/358. 1770. 085/464. 1770. 086/78. 1770. 086/192. 1771. 086/356. 1771.

902. 086/78. 1770. 086/192. 1771. 086/356. 1771.

903. 086/192. 1771.

904. 086/163. 1771.

905. 086/188. 1771.

906. 086/80. 1770.

907. 085/216. 1770.

908. 064/56. 1756. 065/48. 1756.

909. 079/28. 1766. 078/36-37. 1766.

910. 078/36-37. 1766.

911. 079/61. 1767.

912. 070/271. 1764. 075/212. 1764.

913. 077/55. 1765.

914. 077/56. 1765.

915. 077/57-58. 1765.

916. 077/367. 1766.

917. 064/134. 1760. 065/131. 1760.

918. 070/121-122. 1761.

919. 064/153. 1761.

920. 064/132. 1760. 065/129. 1760.

921. 070/119-120. 1761.

922. 069/394. 1760.

923. 077/53. 1765.

924. 076/331-333. 1765.

925. 076/331-333. 1765.

926. 077/55. 1765.

927. 077/57-58. 1765.

928. 077/366. 1766.

929. 077/266. 1766.

930. 077/266. 1766.

931. 078/210. 1766. 084/341. 1769.

932. 082/462. 1768.

933. 085/74. 1769.

934. 079/83. 1767.

935. 078/17-18. 1766.

936. 078/17-18. 1766.

937. 078/208. 1766.

938. 084/249. 1769.

939. 084/222. 1769.

940. 069/32. 1759.

941. 069/306. 1760. 069/396. 1760.

942. 076/441-447. 1765.

943. 077/102. 1765.

944. 071/106. 1762. 075/181. 1763.

945. 076/416. 1765.

946. 066/82. 1755. 069/120. 1759.

947. 067/112. 1756. 067/160. 1757.

948. 069/216. 1759.

949. 077/256. 1765.

950. 077/106. 1765.

951. 085/222. 1770.

952. 086/188. 1771.

953. 076/435-436. 1765.

954. 046/65-66. 1742. 071/242. 1762. 084/81. 1769. 086/356. 1771.

955. 086/78. 1770.

956. 078/126. 1766. 084/345. 1769.

957. 046/47. 1742. 047/16. 1742.

958. 047/16. 1742.

959. 046/8. 1742.

960. 078/192-193. 1766.

961. 084/317. 1769.

962. 077/79. 1765. 083/126. 1768.

963. 083/367. 1769.

964. 084/222. 1769.

965. 086/56-57. 1770.

966. 085/134. 1770.

967. 085/329. 1770.

968. 079/206. 1769.

969. 079/206. 1769.

970. 077/182-183. 1765.

971. 062/121. 1753. 067/102. 1756.

972. 069/103. 1759. 069/287-288. 1760.

973. 075/403-404. 1764.

974. 075/429. 1764.

975. 075/429. 1764.

976. 075/403-404. 1764.

977. 078/151. 1766.

978. 077/21. 1765. 077/59. 1765.

979. 080/42-43. 1767.

980. 080/115-116. 1771. 086/91. 1771.

981. 086/402. 1771. 086/403. 1771.

982. 080/79. 1769.

983. 083/422-423. 1769.

984. 080/105. 1769.

985. 066/188. 1755.

986. 066/273. 1756.

987. 067/459-460. 1757.

988. 067/459-460. 1757.

989. 066/350-353. 1756.

990. 075/59. 1763.

991. 079/289-290. 1771.

992. 086/360. 1771.

993. 086/390-391. 1771.

994. 079/94. 1767. 082/150-151. 1767.

995. 082/150-151. 1767.

996. 082/272. 1767.

997. E. H. Phelps Brown and Sheila V. Hopkins, "Seven Centuries of Building Wages," Economica 22 (1955), 195-206. To be verified.

998. Donald Woodward, Men at Work: Labourers and Building Craftsmen in the Towns of Northern England, 1450-1750 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995). To be verified.

999. Carl Bridenbaugh, The Colonial Craftsman (New York: New York University Press, 1950). To be verified.

1000. Carl Bridenbaugh, The Colonial Craftsman (New York: New York University Press, 1950). To be verified.

1001. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010). To be verified.

1002. Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972). To be verified.

1003. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). To be verified.

1004. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

1005. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976). To be verified.

1006. 005/226. 1682.

1007. 005/226. 1682.

1008. 002/237-249. 1683.

1009. 011/288. 1691.

1010. 011/288. 1691.

1011. 011/328. 1691.

1012. 028/152. 1718.

1013. 028/152. 1718.

1014. 028/32. 1717.

1015. 034/84. 1723.

1016. 038/220. 1733.

1017. 038/220. 1733.

1018. 038/181,189. 1731.

1019. 038/181,189. 1731.

1020. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

1021. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

1022. 027/55. 1717.

1023. 053/125,163,333.

1024. 055/29.

1025. 063/292. 1755.

1026. 068/349-350. 1759. 071/398-402. 1763. 075/235. 1764.

1027. 084/343. 1769.

1028. 085/424. 1770.

1029. 005/37. 1679.

1030. 005/37. 1679.

1031. 015/198. 1707.

1032. 040/257. 1734.

1033. 040/257. 1734.

1034. 040/258. 1734.

1035. 040/258. 1734.

1036. 040/258. 1734.

1037. 072/455-456. 1780.

1038. 072/455-456. 1780.

1039. 072/455-456. 1780.

1040. 063/406. 1755.

1041. 063/406. 1755.

1042. 066/242. 1756.

1043. 066/322. 1756.

1044. 066/324. 1756.

1045. 067/440. 1757.

1046. 068/105. 1758. 069/394. 1760.

1047. 075/59. 1763. 075/181. 1763.

1048. 076/142. 1764.

1049. 067/160. 1757.

1050. 069/20. 1759.

1051. 069/24. 1759.

1052. 069/216. 1759.

1053. 083/150. 1768.

1054. 066/242. 1756.

1055. 077/100. 1765.

1056. 083/150. 1768.

1057. 024/127. 1716.

1058. 063/357. 1755.

1059. 063/404. 1755.

1060. 069/304. 1760.

1061. 067/234-236. 1757.

1062. 078/210. 1766.

1063. 078/336. 1766.

1064. 085/78. 1769.

1065. 085/208. 1770.

1066. 085/208. 1770.

1067. 085/464. 1770.

1068. 085/464. 1770.

1069. 062/299. 1753.

1070. 067/85. 1756. 068/116-117. 1758. 068/296-297. 1758.

1071. 075/235. 1764.

1072. 083/393-394. 1768.

1073. 066/82. 1755.

1074. 067/112. 1756.

1075. 067/234-236. 1757.

1076. 069/120. 1759.

1077. 071/334. 1763.

1078. 066/444. 1756.

1079. 068/105. 1758.

1080. 069/220. 1759.

1081. 069/179. 1759.

1082. 066/242. 1756.

1083. 071/52. 1762.

1084. 071/128. 1762.

1085. 083/119. 1768.

1086. 083/393-394. 1768.

1087. 063/295-296. 1755.

1088. 067/168. 1757. 067/329-331. 1757.

1089. 068/296-297. 1758.

1090. 068/353-354. 1759. 075/156. 1763. 071/398-402. 1763.

1091. 082/341. 1767.

1092. 082/368. 1767.

1093. 066/322. 1756.

1094. 068/433-435. 1759.

1095. 069/216. 1759.

1096. 082/126. 1767.

1097. 068/113. 1758. 082/94. 1767.

1098. 078/364. 1767.

1099. 078/364. 1767.

1100. 015/198. 1707.

1101. 027/283. 1718.

1102. 031/121. 1720.

1103. 031/121. 1720.

1104. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

1105. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

1106. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

1107. 072/437, 442-443, 445. 1779.

1108. 072/456-459. 1780.

1109. 009/15. 1684.

1110. 020/190. 1714.

1111. 069/233-237. 1759.

1112. 069/233-237. 1759.

1113. 009/15. 1684.

1114. 017/269. 1709.

1115. 036/125. 1726.

1116. 028/32. 1717.

1117. 028/32. 1717.

1118. 028/32. 1717.

1119. 028/164. 1717.

1120. 022/60. 1714.

1121. 038/181,189. 1731.

1122. 038/181,189. 1731.

1123. 038/220. 1733.

1124. 043/15. 1737.

1125. 043/15. 1737.

1126. 043/71. 1738.

1127. 050/89,145.

1128. 057/236,270.

1129. 062/113. 1753.

1130. 062/448-449. 1754.

1131. 064/151. 1761.

1132. 065/150. 1762.

1133. 070/125. 1761.

1134. 065/171. 1762.

1135. 065/194. 1763.

1136. 065/216. 1764.

1137. 065/308. 1770.

1138. 071/358. 1763.

1139. 075/219-220. 1764.

1140. 076/211-212. 1765.

1141. 085/274-275. 1770.

1142. 086/204-206. 1771.

1143. 065/361-362. 1774.

1144. 075/351. 1764.

1145. 076/365-366. 1765. 077/100. 1765.

1146. 078/36-37. 1766.

1147. 083/320. 1768.

1148. 004/254. 1713.

1149. 047/51. 1742.

1150. 047/45. 1742.

1151. 062/311. 1753.

1152. 062/357. 1754.

1153. 047/129. 1743.

1154. 068/290-292. 1758.

1155. 071/20. 1762.

1156. 075/236. 1764.

1157. 075/323-325. 1764.

1158. 075/323-325. 1764.

1159. 075/323-325. 1764.

1160. 075/323-325. 1764.

1161. 070/289-290. 1764.

1162. 075/360. 1764.

1163. 077/175-176. 1765.

1164. 077/177. 1765.

1165. 078/124. 1766.

1166. 078/212. 1766.

1167. 078/170. 1766.

1168. 078/170. 1766.

1169. 077/52. 1765.

1170. 079/205-206. 1769.

1171. 079/205-206. 1769.

1172. 084/169. 1769.

1173. 075/328-329. 1764.

1174. 075/328-329. 1764.

1175. 075/328-329. 1764.

1176. 070/290. 1764.

1177. 070/340. 1765.

1178. 076/24. 1764.

1179. 076/144. 1764.

1180. 082/33-35. 1767.

1181. 082/36. 1767.

1182. 083/113-114. 1768.

1183. 084/200. 1769.

1184. 084/347. 1769.

1185. 084/372-374. 1769.

1186. 085/441. 1770.

1187. 085/421-422. 1770. 086/310. 1771.

1188. 086/29. 1770. 086/142. 1771. 086/290. 1771.

1189. 028/32. 1717.

1190. 055/29.

1191. 057/236,270.

1192. 083/359-362. 1768.

1193. 068/355. 1759.

1194. 068/355. 1759.

1195. 068/299-300. 1758.

1196. 065/216. 1764.

1197. 065/245. 1766.

1198. 082/234. 1767.

1199. 085/434-435. 1770.

1200. 085/147. 1770.

1201. 085/421-422. 1770.

1202. 086/163. 1771.

1203. 079/205-206. 1769.

1204. 079/256-257. 1770.

1205. 086/204-206. 1771.

1206. 065/361-362. 1774.

1207. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010). To be verified.

1208. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), 17-40. To be verified.

1209. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979). To be verified.

1210. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010). To be verified.

1211. 038/220. 1733.

1212. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

1213. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, 2nd edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). To be verified.

1214. 005/226. 1682.

1215. 005/226. 1682.

1216. 011/288. 1691.

1217. 011/288. 1691.

1218. 011/328. 1691.

1219. 013/200-213. 1699.

1220. 013/200-213. 1699.

1221. 019/80. 1710.

1222. 019/80. 1710.

1223. 027/345. 1718.

1224. 027/345. 1718.

1225. 028/73. 1717.

1226. 028/73. 1717.

1227. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

1228. Q. C. B. Cronk, The Endemic Flora of St Helena (Oswestry: Anthony Nelson, 2000), 20-21. To be verified.

1229. 024/402. 1717.

1230. 024/402. 1717.

1231. 041/179. 1737.

1232. 041/179. 1737.

1233. 039/30. 1738.

1234. 039/30. 1738.

1235. 069/220. 1759.

1236. 069/220. 1759.

1237. 069/304. 1760.

1238. 075/352. 1764.

1239. 078/364. 1767.

1240. 078/364. 1767.

1241. 015/163. 1704.

1242. 015/163. 1704.

1243. 072/70, 75. 1764.

1244. 072/70, 75. 1764.

1245. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

1246. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

1247. 040/152. 1733.

1248. 013/200-213. 1699.

1249. 072/54-56. 1763.

1250. 072/54-56. 1763.

1251. 072/337-339. 1774.

1252. 072/337-339. 1774.

1253. 012/90b. 1693.

1254. 019/194a. 1711.

1255. 020/420-421. 1715.

1256. 045/192. 1741.

1257. 045/211. 1742.

1258. 045/113. 1741.

1259. 045/113. 1741.

1260. 046/54. 1742.

1261. 046/55-59. 1742.

1262. 046/55-59. 1742.

1263. 046/128-131. 1742.

1264. 063/166-171. 1754.

1265. 063/166-171. 1754.

1266. 071/14-16. 1762.

1267. 069/265-271. 1760.

1268. 047/49. 1742.

1269. 047/50. 1742.

1270. 047/127-128. 1743.

1271. 066/221. 1756.

1272. 062/105. 1753. 063/13. 1754.

1273. 066/154. 1755.

1274. 067/416-418. 1757.

1275. 076/367. 1765.

1276. 078/301. 1766. 084/182. 1769.

1277. 085/13. 1769. 085/28. 1769.

1278. 085/440. 1770.

1279. 086/31. 1770. 086/295. 1771.

1280. 085/438. 1770.

1281. 085/413. 1770.

1282. 086/31. 1770.

1283. 085/274-275. 1770.

1284. 086/400. 1771.

1285. 046/56-59. 1742.

1286. 047/42. 1742.

1287. 062/361. 1754. 066/148. 1755. 067/318-319. 1757.

1288. 063/166-171. 1754.

1289. 062/303. 1753. 063/231. 1754. 066/166. 1755. 067/88. 1756.

1290. 069/187-188. 1759. 075/94. 1763. 078/245. 1766. 084/389. 1769. 085/432. 1770.

1291. 047/42. 1742.

1292. 068/46-51. 1758. 068/278-284. 1758. 069/166-172. 1759.

1293. 076/111. 1764. 076/230. 1765.

1294. 063/166-171. 1754.

1295. 085/310-311. 1770. 086/41. 1770.

1296. 085/413. 1770.

1297. 086/32. 1770. 086/147. 1771.

1298. 085/441. 1770.

1299. 013/200-213. 1699.

1300. 014/307-311. 1704.

1301. 028/152. 1718.

1302. 028/152. 1718.

1303. 034/84. 1723.

1304. 034/84. 1723.

1305. 069/233-237. 1759.

1306. 069/233-237. 1759.

1307. 066/189. 1755.

1308. 066/189. 1755.

1309. 075/152-153. 1763.

1310. 083/285. 1768.

1311. 083/279. 1768.

1312. 086/152. 1771.

1313. 086/313. 1771.

1314. 005/226. 1682.

1315. 018/16. 1707.

1316. 022/116. 1715.

1317. 017/254. 1709.

1318. 043/146. .

1319. 062/86. 1753.

1320. 069/226. 1759.

1321. 069/333. 1760.

1322. 069/333. 1760.

1323. 069/304. 1760.

1324. 064/51. 1756.

1325. 064/51. 1756. 065/44. 1756.

1326. 070/113-114. 1761.

1327. 070/113-114. 1761.

1328. 064/146. 1761. 064/151. 1761.

1329. 065/144. 1762. 065/150. 1762.

1330. 070/180. 1762.

1331. 065/193. 1763.

1332. 070/268. 1764.

1333. 065/211. 1764. 065/230. 1765. 065/249. 1766.

1334. 065/238-239. 1765.

1335. 082/412-413. 1768.

1336. 084/255-256. 1769.

1337. 084/255-256. 1769.

1338. 084/311. 1769.

1339. 065/307. 1770.

1340. 085/48. 1769.

1341. 046/78-79. 1742. 067/386-389. 1757.

1342. 067/142-143. 1757.

1343. 070/330. 1765.

1344. 082/278. 1767.

1345. 072/480. 1781.

1346. 072/480. 1781.

1347. 072/400-402. 1778.

1348. 002/108. 1684.

1349. 012/190. 1699.

1350. 012/190. 1699.

1351. 028/32. 1717.

1352. 047/43. 1742.

1353. 064/81. 1758. 065/71. 1758. 065/194. 1763. 065/212. 1764.

1354. 065/245. 1766. 065/263-264. 1768.

1355. 065/281. 1768.

1356. 070/314. 1765. 076/319-320. 1765.

1357. 065/234. 1765.

1358. 079/9. 1766.

1359. 082/229. 1767.

1360. 066/340. 1756. 078/310. 1766.

1361. 075/352-355. 1764.

1362. 078/291-292. 1767.

1363. 085/431. 1770.

1364. 085/434. 1770.

1365. 086/400. 1771.

1366. 085/434. 1770.

1367. 076/226. 1765. 076/359-362. 1765.

1368. 069/351-352. 1760.

1369. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), chapters on the closure of the open hall and the inserted chimney stack. To be verified.

1370. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), chapter on household goods and the hearth. To be verified.

1371. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), chapters on the ownership of goods. To be verified.

1372. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), chapters on chimneys and building regulation. To be verified.

1373. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), chapters on the island economy and its timber. To be verified.

1374. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

1375. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), chapters on slave labour in Cape Town. To be verified.

1376. Richard H. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), chapter on St Helena. To be verified.

1377. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), chapter on the Indian origins of the bungalow. To be verified.

1378. 001/156-160. 1683.

1379. 001/156-160. 1683.

1380. 001/156-160. 1683.

1381. 010/92. 1684.

1382. 012/190. 1699.

1383. 011/133. 1691.

1384. 011/133. 1691.

1385. 014/162-170. 1701.

1386. 014/162-170. 1701.

1387. 015/94-095. 1704.

1388. 015/94-095. 1704.

1389. 002/250-268. 1683.

1390. 014/307-311. 1704.

1391. 040/389. 1735.

1392. 022/116. 1715.

1393. 022/116. 1715.

1394. 023/119. 1715.

1395. 018/99,106. 1713.

1396. 018/99,106. 1713.

1397. 004/252. 1713.

1398. 004/252. 1713.

1399. 023/141,204. 1715.

1400. 024/47-048. 1716.

1401. 041/233. 1737.

1402. 009/204. 1685.

1403. 039/191. 1753.

1404. 047/45. 1742.

1405. 047/45. 1742.

1406. 047/84. 1742.

1407. 046/121-125. 1742.

1408. 062/14. 1753. 062/105. 1753. 063/13. 1754.

1409. 062/307. 1753.

1410. 075/98. 1763.

1411. 084/394. 1769.

1412. 084/394. 1769.

1413. 085/434-435. 1770.

1414. 063/288. 1755.

1415. 076/15. 1764.

1416. 082/205. 1767.

1417. 066/220. 1756.

1418. 078/218. 1766.

1419. 085/17. 1769.

1420. 085/17. 1769.

1421. 085/158. 1770. 085/300. 1770.

1422. 086/296. 1771.

1423. 085/305. 1770.

1424. 062/207. 1753. 067/414-415. 1757. 084/180. 1769.

1425. 062/286. 1753. 063/288. 1755. 067/414-415. 1757.

1426. 066/147. 1755.

1427. 047/51. 1742.

1428. 063/333. 1755. 062/361. 1754. 062/366. 1754.

1429. 062/448-449. 1754.

1430. 062/448-449. 1754.

1431. 068/121. 1758.

1432. 069/349-350. 1760.

1433. 071/338. 1763. 078/454-455. 1767.

1434. 077/302-303. 1766.

1435. 085/274-275. 1770.

1436. 086/204-206. 1771.

1437. 067/117-118. 1756.

1438. 077/165-166. 1765.

1439. 085/470-471. 1770.

1440. 086/125-126. 1771.

1441. 086/125-126. 1771.

1442. 086/354. 1771.

1443. 086/354. 1771.

1444. 086/279. 1771.

1445. 086/324-325. 1771.

1446. 062/216. 1753.

1447. 070/281. 1764.

1448. 076/371. 1765.

1449. 084/49-50. 1769.

1450. 082/33-35. 1767.

1451. 083/304. 1768.

1452. 085/172. 1770.

1453. 086/44. 1770.

1454. 086/23. 1771.

1455. 046/145-146. 1742.

1456. 046/145-146. 1742.

1457. 047/40. 1742.

1458. 047/154. 1743.

1459. 047/79. 1742.

1460. 062/21. 1753.

1461. 067/247. 1757.

1462. 068/353-354. 1759.

1463. 069/222. 1759.

1464. 077/356. 1766.

1465. 084/196-197. 1769.

1466. 086/307. 1771.

1467. 047/50. 1742.

1468. 067/447-449. 1757.

1469. 069/192-194. 1759.

1470. 071/164-167. 1762. 076/56. 1764.

1471. 078/219. 1766.

1472. 076/370. 1765. 084/195. 1769.

1473. 086/154-155. 1771.

1474. 079/206. 1769.

1475. 079/208. 1769.

1476. 079/256-257. 1770.

1477. 062/309. 1753.

1478. 071/164-167. 1762.

1479. 084/397-401. 1769.

1480. 085/437. 1770. 085/439. 1770.

1481. 083/308. 1768.

1482. 076/367. 1765. 082/329. 1767.

1483. 062/23-24. 1753.

1484. 062/295. 1753.

1485. 067/82. 1756.

1486. 067/169. 1757.

1487. 068/349-350. 1759.

1488. 069/370-372. 1760.

1489. 069/89. 1759. 069/90. 1759.

1490. 071/144-147. 1762.

1491. 075/149-151. 1763.

1492. 084/370-371. 1769.

1493. 082/435. 1768.

1494. 063/417. 1755.

1495. 044/10-12. 1740.

1496. 046/58. 1742.

1497. 045/192. 1741.

1498. 063/166-171. 1754. 063/175-180. 1754.

1499. 069/140. 1759.

1500. 069/140. 1759.

1501. 076/113. 1764.

1502. 076/370. 1765.

1503. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

1504. 083/222-226. 1768.

1505. 062/275. 1753.

1506. 062/391. 1754.

1507. 066/84. 1755.

1508. 066/444. 1756.

1509. 066/244. 1756.

1510. 063/204. 1754.

1511. 069/216. 1759.

1512. 071/46. 1762. 075/59. 1763. 075/179. 1763.

1513. 076/268. 1765. 076/416. 1765.

1514. 077/360. 1766.

1515. 062/215. 1753.

1516. 062/368. 1754.

1517. 071/209-212. 1762.

1518. 062/16. 1753. 063/10. 1754. 084/351. 1769.

1519. 062/312. 1753.

1520. 063/48. 1754.

1521. 066/60. 1755.

1522. 068/219. 1758. 068/275. 1758.

1523. 082/460. 1768.

1524. 066/57. 1755.

1525. 076/112. 1764.

1526. 084/200-202. 1769.

1527. 085/421-422. 1770.

1528. 085/35. 1769.

1529. 086/320-321. 1771.

1530. 063/227-228. 1754. 075/150. 1763. 075/238. 1764.

1531. 022/116. 1715.

1532. 066/158. 1755.

1533. 075/85. 1763.

1534. 067/172-174. 1757.

1535. 062/309. 1753.

1536. 066/173. 1755.

1537. 084/397-401. 1769. 071/164-167. 1762. 082/240. 1767.

1538. 063/11. 1754.

1539. 071/312. 1763.

1540. 082/430-432. 1768.

1541. 065/245-246. 1766.

1542. 079/28. 1766.

1543. 023/119. 1715.

1544. 047/50. 1742.

1545. 047/119-121. 1742.

1546. 070/32. 1759.

1547. 070/32. 1759.

1548. 027/345. 1718.

1549. 027/345. 1718.

1550. 067/62-63. 1756.

1551. 075/418-422. 1764.

1552. 075/418-422. 1764.

1553. 075/425-426. 1764.

1554. 082/36. 1767.

1555. 082/36. 1767.

1556. 062/367. 1754.

1557. 001/128,134. 1680.

1558. 001/119. 1680.

1559. 023/119. 1715.

1560. 024/106. 1716.

1561. 027/428. 1719.

1562. 047/48. 1742.

1563. 047/51. 1742.

1564. 066/172. 1755.

1565. 066/172. 1755.

1566. 066/172. 1755.

1567. 075/100. 1763.

1568. 076/56. 1764.

1569. 077/150. 1765.

1570. 082/239. 1767.

1571. 083/307. 1768.

1572. 083/266. 1768.

1573. 085/159. 1770.

1574. 086/295. 1771.

1575. 085/437. 1770.

1576. 062/206. 1753. 063/11. 1754. 084/357-359. 1769.

1577. 062/212. 1753. 063/17. 1754.

1578. 076/359-362. 1765. 084/42. 1769. 078/77. 1766.

1579. 063/11. 1754. 077/133-134. 1765.

1580. 085/159. 1770. 086/30. 1770. 086/47. 1770. 086/53. 1770.

1581. 086/78. 1770.

1582. 071/164-167. 1762. 076/58. 1764. 082/241. 1767.

1583. 084/397-401. 1769. 085/438. 1770.

1584. 085/317. 1770. 086/47. 1770.

1585. 084/123. 1769.

1586. 063/314. 1755.

1587. 066/144. 1755.

1588. 069/396. 1760.

1589. 084/389. 1769.

1590. 085/433. 1770.

1591. 085/312. 1770. 086/145. 1771.

1592. 062/112. 1753.

1593. 062/113. 1753.

1594. 069/282-283. 1760.

1595. 062/372-373. 1754.

1596. 067/169. 1757.

1597. 083/280. 1768. 084/48. 1769.

1598. 085/421-422. 1770.

1599. 086/40. 1770.

1600. 086/307. 1771.

1601. 086/324-325. 1771.

1602. 085/431. 1770. 086/53. 1770. 086/308. 1771.

1603. 066/226-227. 1756.

1604. 067/332-333. 1757.

1605. 068/194. 1758.

1606. 077/133-134. 1765.

1607. 077/220-221. 1765.

1608. 084/378-380. 1769.

1609. 085/37. 1769. 085/424. 1770.

1610. 086/47. 1770. 086/158. 1771.

1611. 004/299. .

1612. 004/299. .

1613. 004/299. .

1614. 083/228-229. 1768.

1615. 083/228-229. 1768.

1616. 083/333. 1768.

1617. 003/30. 1679.

1618. 003/30. 1679.

1619. 003/73. .

1620. 002/231-234. 1683.

1621. 002/237-249. 1683.

1622. 015/71. 1704.

1623. 015/138,154. 1704.

1624. 015/138,154. 1704.

1625. 015/138,154. 1704.

1626. 015/198. 1707.

1627. 015/163. 1704.

1628. 067/272-273. 1757.

1629. 067/267. 1757.

1630. 067/260-262. 1757.

1631. 067/255-257. 1757.

1632. 067/258-259. 1757.

1633. 067/399-401. 1757.

1634. 072/106-111. 1765.

1635. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

1636. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

1637. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

1638. 072/503-506. 1782.

1639. 072/28-30. 1763.

1640. 072/27-28. 1763.

1641. 072/27-28. 1763.

1642. 072/69-73. 1764.

1643. 072/172, 174-178. 1767.

1644. 072/285-290, 292. 1771.

1645. 072/350-354. 1774.

1646. 072/350-354. 1774.

1647. 072/350-354. 1774.

1648. 072/350-354. 1774.

1649. 072/504, 506-509. 1782.

1650. 072/199-203. 1767.

1651. 072/220-222. 1768.

1652. 072/251-258. 1769.

1653. 072/415-420. 1778.

1654. 072/504, 506-509. 1782.

1655. 086/105. 1771.

1656. 086/113-122. 1771.

1657. 086/113-122. 1771.

1658. 086/268-270. 1771.

1659. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), pp. 150-160. To be verified.

1660. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

1661. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 87-120. To be verified.

1662. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979), pp. 130-140. To be verified.

1663. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 100-130. To be verified.

1664. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

1665. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 60-70. To be verified.

1666. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 150-160. To be verified.

1667. 002/237-249. 1683.

1668. 002/237-249. 1683.

1669. 014/162-170. 1701.

1670. 014/271. 1702.

1671. 015/138,154. 1704.

1672. 015/138,154. 1704.

1673. 015/138,154. 1704.

1674. 015/71. 1704.

1675. 015/94-095. 1704.

1676. 008/80. 1703.

1677. 008/80. 1703.

1678. 008/69. 1699.

1679. 008/224. 1738.

1680. 008/224. 1738.

1681. 027/55. 1717.

1682. 040/389. 1735.

1683. 040/389. 1735.

1684. 039/30. 1738.

1685. 039/30. 1738.

1686. 039/30. 1738.

1687. 067/270-271. 1757.

1688. 067/270-271. 1757.

1689. 067/260-262. 1757.

1690. 067/260-262. 1757.

1691. 067/258-259. 1757.

1692. 067/263-266. 1757.

1693. 069/321-328. 1760.

1694. 069/321-328. 1760.

1695. 072/70, 75. 1764.

1696. 072/415-420. 1778.

1697. 072/356-363. 1775.

1698. 072/356-363. 1775.

1699. 072/27-28. 1763.

1700. 072/69-73. 1764.

1701. 072/398-405. 1778.

1702. 072/398-405. 1778.

1703. 072/15-16. 1762.

1704. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

1705. 072/19-22. 1762.

1706. 068/381-383. 1759.

1707. 065/362-363. 1774.

1708. 085/373. 1770.

1709. 085/373. 1770.

1710. 085/147. 1770.

1711. 085/147. 1770.

1712. 072/90, 93-96. 1764.

1713. 072/344-348. 1774.

1714. 072/422-427. 1779.

1715. 072/192-195. 1767.

1716. 071/98. 1762.

1717. 071/98. 1762. 065/199. 1763.

1718. 082/37. 1767.

1719. 046/100-101. 1742.

1720. 021/164. 1716.

1721. 023/159. 1715.

1722. 023/159. 1715.

1723. 024/47-048. 1716.

1724. 028/73. 1717.

1725. 028/73. 1717.

1726. 040/399. 1735.

1727. 071/242. 1762.

1728. 076/211-212. 1765.

1729. 086/400. 1771.

1730. 047/49. 1742.

1731. 066/444. 1756.

1732. 075/181. 1763.

1733. 062/11. 1753. 066/219. 1756. 078/220. 1766.

1734. 062/312. 1753.

1735. 063/226. 1754.

1736. 085/16. 1769. 085/160. 1770. 086/36. 1770. 086/292. 1771.

1737. 085/441. 1770.

1738. 085/391-392. 1770.

1739. 085/391-392. 1770.

1740. 086/163. 1771.

1741. 086/323. 1771.

1742. 085/464. 1770.

1743. 072/30-32. 1763.

1744. 072/15-16. 1762.

1745. 072/430-434. 1779.

1746. 031/121. 1720.

1747. 066/31-32. 1755.

1748. 063/46. 1754.

1749. 063/48. 1754.

1750. 071/398-402. 1763.

1751. 065/245. 1766.

1752. 062/306. 1753.

1753. 069/189-190. 1759.

1754. 069/216. 1759.

1755. 047/116. 1742.

1756. 076/418. 1765.

1757. 078/128. 1766.

1758. 086/82. 1770.

1759. 086/192. 1771.

1760. 085/464. 1770. 086/352. 1771.

1761. 085/435. 1770.

1762. 077/181. 1765.

1763. 063/214. 1754.

1764. 063/298. 1755.

1765. 062/300. 1753. 067/172-174. 1757.

1766. 063/279-281. 1755.

1767. 072/482, 487-495. 1781.

1768. 072/30-32. 1763.

1769. 046/15. 1742.

1770. 083/266. 1768.

1771. 083/307. 1768.

1772. 076/111. 1764.

1773. 086/307. 1771.

1774. 086/321. 1771.

1775. 086/295. 1771.

1776. 070/242. 1763.

1777. 063/118. 1754.

1778. 072/145, 148-150. 1766.

1779. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

1780. 046/56-59. 1742.

1781. 062/295. 1753.

1782. 067/421-422. 1757.

1783. 083/152. 1768. 083/176-177. 1768.

1784. 046/80. 1742.

1785. 067/48. 1756.

1786. 063/233. 1754.

1787. 067/117-118. 1756.

1788. 084/275. 1769.

1789. 085/313-314. 1770. 085/360. 1770.

1790. 085/421-422. 1770.

1791. 039/191. 1753.

1792. 039/191. 1753.

1793. 039/191. 1753.

1794. 007/69. 1704.

1795. 007/69. 1704.

1796. 017/78. 1707.

1797. 027/345. 1718.

1798. 012/82. 1693.

1799. 028/73. 1717.

1800. 042/198. .

1801. 041/288. 1738.

1802. 084/129. 1769. 084/148. 1769.

1803. 072/337-339. 1774.

1804. 072/383-386. 1776.

1805. 039/23. 1738.

1806. 072/146, 151, 155-156. 1766.

1807. 072/19-22. 1762. 072/172, 174-178. 1767.

1808. 066/108. 1755.

1809. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

1810. 067/246. 1757. 067/248. 1757.

1811. 046/143. 1742.

1812. 075/425-426. 1764.

1813. 076/71. 1764. 076/77. 1764.

1814. 076/77. 1764.

1815. 080/115-116. 1771.

1816. 066/416. 1756.

1817. 067/46. 1756.

1818. 086/192. 1771.

1819. 085/468. 1770.

1820. 013/200-213. 1699.

1821. 019/161. 1711.

1822. 019/161. 1711.

1823. 028/164. 1717.

1824. 062/299. 1753.

1825. 066/82. 1755.

1826. 066/343-344. 1756. 066/348. 1756. 066/457. 1756. 067/335. 1757.

1827. 068/58-60. 1758.

1828. 071/157. 1762.

1829. 068/45. 1758.

1830. 069/122. 1759.

1831. 069/94. 1759.

1832. 066/242. 1756.

1833. 066/163. 1755. 067/335. 1757. 068/196-197. 1758.

1834. 086/49. 1770.

1835. 085/464. 1770.

1836. 085/426-427. 1770.

1837. 086/194. 1771.

1838. 039/222. 1754.

1839. 071/104. 1762. 071/186. 1762.

1840. 082/336-337. 1767.

1841. 062/173-174. 1753.

1842. 046/157-158. 1742. 046/77. 1742.

1843. 078/269-270. 1766.

1844. 083/266. 1768. 068/45. 1758.

1845. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), passim. To be verified.

1846. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), passim. To be verified.

1847. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), passim. To be verified.

1848. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), passim. To be verified.

1849. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), passim. To be verified.

1850. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), passim. To be verified.

1851. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

1852. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), passim. To be verified.

1853. Peter Clark, The English Alehouse: A Social History 1200-1830 (London: Longman, 1983), passim. To be verified.

1854. 068/428-430. 1759.

1855. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), passim. To be verified.

1856. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), passim. To be verified.

1857. 011/436. 1693.

1858. 011/436. 1693.

1859. 011/37. 1688.

1860. 080/69. 1768.

1861. 018/30. 1713.

1862. 018/30. 1713.

1863. 004/205. 1713.

1864. 019/141. 1711.

1865. 019/141. 1711.

1866. 020/152. 1714.

1867. 022/12-013. 1714.

1868. 022/12-013. 1714.

1869. 028/32. 1717.

1870. 070/95. 1760.

1871. 046/100. 1742.

1872. 047/153. 1743.

1873. 079/317. 1771.

1874. 086/240. 1771.

1875. 086/240. 1771.

1876. 023/159. 1715.

1877. 023/159. 1715.

1878. 021/164. 1716.

1879. 024/47-048. 1716.

1880. 024/47-048. 1716.

1881. 024/47-048. 1716.

1882. 024/47-048. 1716.

1883. 028/164. 1717.

1884. 028/164. 1717.

1885. 028/73. 1717.

1886. 028/73. 1717.

1887. 041/179. 1737.

1888. 075/323-325. 1764.

1889. 075/323-325. 1764.

1890. 070/289-290. 1764.

1891. 077/52. 1765.

1892. 077/175-176. 1765.

1893. 077/175-176. 1765. 077/177. 1765.

1894. 078/212. 1766.

1895. 078/170. 1766.

1896. 078/170. 1766.

1897. 065/291. 1769.

1898. 079/205-206. 1769.

1899. 079/205-206. 1769.

1900. 079/146. 1768.

1901. 047/129. 1743.

1902. 047/127-128. 1743.

1903. 047/127-128. 1743.

1904. 036/125. 1726.

1905. 034/146. 1723.

1906. 034/146. 1723.

1907. 071/20. 1762. 075/236. 1764.

1908. 075/328-329. 1764.

1909. 075/328-329. 1764.

1910. 070/290. 1764.

1911. 078/353. 1767.

1912. 078/364. 1767.

1913. 078/364. 1767.

1914. 077/365. 1766.

1915. 070/125. 1761.

1916. 062/261. 1753.

1917. 062/375. 1754.

1918. 066/416. 1756.

1919. 066/416. 1756.

1920. 067/114. 1756.

1921. 067/114. 1756.

1922. 066/444. 1756.

1923. 067/47. 1756.

1924. 070/243. 1763.

1925. 071/430. 1763.

1926. 071/430. 1763.

1927. 070/270. 1764.

1928. 078/349-350. 1767.

1929. 078/365. 1767.

1930. 072/305. 1772.

1931. 007/226. 1718.

1932. 067/379-382. 1757.

1933. 067/379-382. 1757.

1934. 072/197-198. 1767.

1935. 065/300-301. 1769.

1936. 085/391-392. 1770.

1937. 085/391-392. 1770.

1938. 030/491. 1723.

1939. 030/491. 1723.

1940. 082/382. 1768.

1941. 085/208. 1770.

1942. 085/464. 1770.

1943. 011/24. 1688.

1944. 012/151. 1694.

1945. 007/43. 1707.

1946. 017/86. 1707.

1947. 020/240. 1715.

1948. 021/43. 1714.

1949. 037/184,272. 1730.

1950. 004/255. 1713.

1951. 062/349. 1754.

1952. 068/317. 1758. 069/225. 1759.

1953. 078/266. 1766.

1954. 071/103. 1762.

1955. 072/51-53. 1763.

1956. 038/285. 1734.

1957. 010/79. 1684.

1958. 070/332. 1765.

1959. 023/141,204. 1715.

1960. 023/141,204. 1715.

1961. 036/125. 1726.

1962. 037/59. 1727.

1963. 037/184,272. 1730.

1964. 020/420-421. 1715.

1965. 024/106. 1716. 027/428. 1719.

1966. 034/406. 1725.

1967. 045/114. 1741.

1968. 062/311. 1753. 075/68. 1763. 084/402. 1769.

1969. 047/50. 1742.

1970. 063/292. 1755.

1971. 078/232. 1766. 077/213-214. 1765.

1972. 082/96-97. 1767.

1973. 083/393-394. 1768.

1974. 084/368-369. 1769.

1975. 062/206. 1753. 069/166-172. 1759. 083/265. 1768.

1976. 085/40. 1769.

1977. 085/321. 1770.

1978. 085/426-427. 1770.

1979. 085/174. 1770.

1980. 086/41. 1770. 086/308. 1771.

1981. 085/440. 1770.

1982. 083/344-345. 1768.

1983. 083/344-345. 1768.

1984. 083/344-345. 1768.

1985. 083/416. 1768.

1986. 084/81. 1769.

1987. 084/249. 1769. 084/341. 1769.

1988. 085/74. 1769. 085/212. 1770.

1989. 085/352-354. 1770.

1990. 086/190. 1771.

1991. 086/190. 1771. 083/416. 1768.

1992. 030/285. 1719.

1993. 034/494. 1725.

1994. 034/494. 1725.

1995. 047/41. 1742.

1996. 047/44. 1742. 047/45. 1742.

1997. 069/180-181. 1759.

1998. 077/326-327. 1766.

1999. 078/422-423. 1767.

2000. 078/314-315. 1766.

2001. 082/201. 1767.

2002. 066/167. 1755.

2003. 077/302-303. 1766.

2004. 083/65. 1768.

2005. 071/358. 1763. 083/51. 1768.

2006. 069/351-352. 1760.

2007. 083/51. 1768. 083/65. 1768.

2008. 085/274-275. 1770.

2009. 085/274-275. 1770.

2010. 063/245-246. 1754.

2011. 083/324-326. 1768.

2012. 067/117-118. 1756.

2013. 063/183. 1754.

2014. 069/159. 1759.

2015. 064/130. 1760. 065/126-127. 1760.

2016. 069/262. 1760.

2017. 077/212. 1765.

2018. 005/48. 1679.

2019. 005/48. 1679.

2020. 005/226. 1682.

2021. 009/15. 1684.

2022. 009/15. 1684.

2023. 009/231-232. 1685.

2024. 009/231-232. 1685.

2025. 011/288. 1691.

2026. 011/288. 1691.

2027. 011/328. 1691.

2028. 011/328. 1691.

2029. 014/293. 1702.

2030. 014/293. 1702.

2031. 020/190. 1714.

2032. 030/491. 1723.

2033. 028/152. 1718.

2034. 028/152. 1718.

2035. 028/152. 1718.

2036. 028/152. 1718.

2037. 028/32. 1717.

2038. 028/32. 1717.

2039. 028/32. 1717.

2040. 034/84. 1723.

2041. 038/181,189. 1731.

2042. 038/181,189. 1731.

2043. 038/220. 1733.

2044. 038/220. 1733.

2045. 071/398-402. 1763.

2046. 083/393-394. 1768.

2047. 069/220. 1759.

2048. 085/424. 1770.

2049. 069/232. 1759.

2050. 069/232. 1759.

2051. 069/233-237. 1759.

2052. 069/233-237. 1759.

2053. 069/233-237. 1759.

2054. 069/233-237. 1759.

2055. 064/131. 1760. 065/128. 1760.

2056. 069/282-283. 1760.

2057. 085/380-381. 1770.

2058. 085/380-381. 1770.

2059. 085/380-381. 1770.

2060. 062/310. 1753.

2061. 069/124. 1759. 070/35. 1759.

2062. 070/35. 1759.

2063. 064/120. 1760. 065/114. 1760. 070/80. 1760.

2064. 070/58. 1760.

2065. 069/434. 1760.

2066. 071/209-212. 1762.

2067. 075/78. 1763.

2068. 076/25. 1764. 075/416. 1764.

2069. 076/372. 1765.

2070. 082/433-434. 1768.

2071. 079/28. 1766.

2072. 065/245. 1766.

2073. 079/196. 1769.

2074. 083/176-177. 1768.

2075. 072/337-339. 1774.

2076. E. L. Jones, S. Porter and M. Turner, A Gazetteer of English Urban Fire Disasters, 1500-1900 (Norwich: Historical Geography Research Series 13, 1984), introduction. To be verified.

2077. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), chapters 6-8. To be verified.

2078. Roger Lovegrove, Silent Fields: The Growth and Decline of Britain's Wildlife (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), chapters 3-5. To be verified.

2079. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), 17-40. To be verified.

2080. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), chapter 1. To be verified.

2081. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), chapter 3. To be verified.

2082. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

2083. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), chapter 6. To be verified.

2084. Richard H. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), chapter 3. To be verified.

2085. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), chapter 1. To be verified.

2086. 004/20. 1673.

2087. 004/23. 1673.

2088. 003/19. 1673.

2089. 003/44. 1683.

2090. 003/44. 1683.

2091. 010/21-022. 1683.

2092. 007/43. 1707.

2093. 062/162. 1753.

2094. 063/153. 1754.

2095. 066/37. 1755.

2096. 083/321-322. 1768.

2097. 085/81-82. 1770.

2098. 085/284. 1770.

2099. 086/16. 1770.

2100. 086/378. 1771.

2101. 069/145. 1759.

2102. 071/59. 1762.

2103. 082/178. 1767.

2104. 068/236. 1758.

2105. 063/171-173. 1754.

2106. 063/171-173. 1754.

2107. 046/105-106. 1742.

2108. 007/48. 1688.

2109. 007/34. 1705.

2110. 007/34. 1705.

2111. 007/69. 1704.

2112. 007/69. 1704.

2113. 039/100. 1740.

2114. 039/100. 1740.

2115. 039/191. 1753.

2116. 039/191. 1753.

2117. 003/95. .

2118. 011/328. 1691.

2119. 011/328. 1691.

2120. 019/80. 1710.

2121. 019/80. 1710.

2122. 020/152. 1714.

2123. 007/224. 1715.

2124. 007/224. 1715.

2125. 033/53. 1723.

2126. 033/68. 1724.

2127. 033/68. 1724. 034/494. 1725.

2128. 032/293. 1720.

2129. 039/30. 1738.

2130. 039/30. 1738.

2131. 039/30. 1738.

2132. 039/66. 1741.

2133. 039/66. 1741.

2134. 046/37. 1742.

2135. 046/53. 1742.

2136. 046/53. 1742.

2137. 046/53. 1742.

2138. 046/65. 1742.

2139. 046/78-79. 1742.

2140. 047/131. 1743.

2141. 047/131-133. 1743.

2142. 047/131-133. 1743.

2143. 047/131. 1743.

2144. 047/166-167. 1743.

2145. 062/236-237. 1753.

2146. 068/415-416. 1759.

2147. 063/90-91. 1754.

2148. 066/418. 1756.

2149. 067/301. 1757.

2150. 084/95. 1769.

2151. 067/11. 1756.

2152. 067/17. 1756.

2153. 067/216. 1757.

2154. 067/359. 1757.

2155. 067/274. 1757.

2156. 063/166-171. 1754.

2157. 063/166-171. 1754.

2158. 086/11-12. 1770.

2159. 086/11-12. 1770.

2160. 085/474. 1770.

2161. 085/474. 1770.

2162. 074/33-37. 1753.

2163. 062/167-172. 1753.

2164. 062/434. 1754.

2165. 068/83-84. 1758.

2166. 085/225-229. 1770.

2167. 085/225-229. 1770.

2168. 085/270-272. 1770.

2169. 085/284-286. 1770.

2170. 085/284-286. 1770.

2171. 069/145. 1759. 086/236-237. 1771.

2172. 086/236-237. 1771.

2173. 011/37. 1688.

2174. 011/37. 1688.

2175. 046/77. 1742.

2176. 046/77. 1742.

2177. 046/77. 1742.

2178. 046/157-158. 1742.

2179. 047/39-40. 1742.

2180. 047/124-125. 1743.

2181. 046/80. 1742.

2182. 046/80. 1742.

2183. 046/80. 1742.

2184. 047/29-30. 1742.

2185. 067/48. 1756.

2186. 047/36-37. 1742.

2187. 069/154-155. 1759.

2188. 069/154-155. 1759.

2189. 069/33. 1759.

2190. 084/171. 1769.

2191. 085/79. 1769.

2192. 067/49. 1756.

2193. 067/49. 1756.

2194. 067/55-56. 1756.

2195. 067/55-56. 1756.

2196. 067/63-64. 1756.

2197. 067/63-64. 1756.

2198. 067/379-382. 1757.

2199. 067/379-382. 1757.

2200. 067/386-389. 1757.

2201. 067/142-143. 1757.

2202. 067/142-143. 1757.

2203. 080/28. 1765.

2204. 080/69. 1768.

2205. 080/246. 1785.

2206. 046/66. 1742.

2207. 046/66. 1742.

2208. 046/143. 1742.

2209. 042/259. 1747.

2210. 067/456-457. 1757.

2211. 067/456-457. 1757.

2212. 082/188. 1767. 082/189. 1767.

2213. 080/40-41. 1766.

2214. 078/293. 1767.

2215. 080/89. 1769.

2216. 077/184. 1765.

2217. 077/21. 1765.

2218. 077/59. 1765.

2219. 075/429. 1764.

2220. 080/42-43. 1767. 080/115-116. 1771.

2221. 083/422-423. 1769.

2222. 080/79. 1769.

2223. 076/79. 1764. 080/75. 1768. 080/252. 1786. 080/264. 1786.

2224. 077/168. 1765. 077/184. 1765.

2225. 080/118-119. 1771. 086/255. 1771.

2226. 080/161-162. 1778.

2227. 080/132-133. 1772.

2228. 086/91. 1771. 086/94. 1771.

2229. 080/117-118. 1771.

2230. 085/289. 1770.

2231. 085/363. 1770.

2232. 085/473. 1770.

2233. 046/143. 1742.

2234. 085/404. 1770.

2235. 086/367. 1771. 086/373. 1771.

2236. 086/14. 1770.

2237. 086/91. 1771.

2238. 085/398. 1770.

2239. 086/20. 1770. 086/91. 1771.

2240. 085/395-396. 1770.

2241. 085/373. 1770.

2242. 085/373. 1770.

2243. 075/423-425. 1764.

2244. 078/166-168. 1766.

2245. 078/166-168. 1766.

2246. 083/218-221. 1768.

2247. 062/255-257. 1753. 084/298-300. 1769.

2248. 085/400-403. 1770. 086/404. 1771.

2249. 085/389-390. 1770.

2250. 086/402. 1771. 086/403. 1771.

2251. 086/402. 1771.

2252. 086/403. 1771.

2253. 086/404. 1771.

2254. 075/425-426. 1764.

2255. 076/71. 1764.

2256. 076/71. 1764. 076/77. 1764.

2257. 080/266. 1786. 080/267. 1787. 080/268. 1787. 080/269-270. 1787. 080/271-272. 1787.

2258. 078/365. 1767.

2259. 078/349-350. 1767.

2260. 080/104. 1769.

2261. 080/321-323. 1788.

2262. 080/5. 1832.

2263. 028/152. 1718.

2264. 022/12-013. 1714.

2265. 035/36. 1725.

2266. 046/66-67. 1742.

2267. 046/68. 1742.

2268. 046/68. 1742.

2269. 046/23. 1742.

2270. 068/175. 1758.

2271. 068/175. 1758.

2272. 068/175. 1758.

2273. 078/124. 1766.

2274. 075/59. 1763.

2275. 067/201. 1757.

2276. 067/442. 1757. 068/105. 1758. 069/118. 1759.

2277. 069/302. 1760. 075/179. 1763.

2278. 079/289-290. 1771.

2279. 086/360. 1771.

2280. 083/71-72. 1768.

2281. 083/71-72. 1768.

2282. 084/136-138. 1769.

2283. 067/459-460. 1757.

2284. 068/381-383. 1759.

2285. 068/381-383. 1759.

2286. 066/188. 1755.

2287. 066/273. 1756.

2288. 072/437-438, 443-445. 1779.

2289. 072/437-438, 443-445. 1779.

2290. 072/503-506. 1782.

2291. 063/371-374. 1755.

2292. 076/166-167. 1765.

2293. 076/441-447. 1765.

2294. 039/30. 1738.

2295. 062/89. 1753.

2296. 067/17. 1756.

2297. 069/328. 1760.

2298. 077/180. 1765.

2299. 085/399. 1770.

2300. 085/399. 1770.

2301. 067/216. 1757.

2302. 081/136. 1837. 081/137. 1837.

2303. 081/136. 1837.

2304. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), pp. 150-170. To be verified.

2305. Peter Clark, The English Alehouse: A Social History 1200-1830 (London: Longman, 1983), pp. 166-195. To be verified.

2306. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 20-45. To be verified.

2307. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

2308. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 41-63. To be verified.

2309. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 159-170. To be verified.

2310. 015/71. 1704.

2311. 028/73. 1717.

2312. 038/220. 1733.

2313. 032/293. 1720.

2314. 005/229. 1682.

2315. 045/191. 1741.

2316. 046/15. 1742.

2317. 019/194a. 1711.

2318. 019/194b. 1711.

2319. 020/420-421. 1715.

2320. 019/161. 1711.

2321. 004/373. .

2322. 022/24. 1714.

2323. 021/164. 1716.

2324. 023/159. 1715.

2325. 024/47-048. 1716.

2326. 028/73. 1717.

2327. 028/164. 1717.

2328. 028/32. 1717.

2329. 041/179. 1737.

2330. 045/192. 1741.

2331. 045/211. 1742.

2332. 046/153. 1742.

2333. 050/8-9.

2334. 057/9,50-51,72. 057/130.

2335. 062/300. 1753. 063/298. 1755.

2336. 063/204. 1754.

2337. 067/66. 1756.

2338. 067/114. 1756.

2339. 068/45. 1758.

2340. 069/222. 1759.

2341. 069/147. 1759.

2342. 069/282-283. 1760.

2343. 075/323-325. 1764.

2344. 070/289-290. 1764. 070/291. 1764.

2345. 075/360. 1764.

2346. 077/52. 1765.

2347. 077/175-176. 1765. 077/177. 1765.

2348. 078/124. 1766.

2349. 078/170. 1766.

2350. 077/367. 1766.

2351. 065/291. 1769.

2352. 079/190. 1769.

2353. 084/169. 1769.

2354. 084/347. 1769.

2355. 079/205-206. 1769.

2356. 065/311. 1770.

2357. 079/256-257. 1770.

2358. 065/334. 1772.

2359. 085/421-422. 1770. 086/43. 1770. 086/44. 1770.

2360. 085/468. 1770.

2361. 086/80. 1770.

2362. 086/194. 1771.

2363. 086/310. 1771.

2364. 086/204-206. 1771.

2365. 069/182-183. 1759. 070/321. 1765.

2366. 082/96-97. 1767.

2367. 085/40. 1769.

2368. 085/322. 1770.

2369. 083/228-229. 1768. 083/333. 1768.

2370. 046/145-146. 1742.

2371. 047/40. 1742. 047/154. 1743.

2372. 052/64,68,88.

2373. 055/305.

2374. 063/18. 1754.

2375. 063/118. 1754.

2376. 066/222. 1756.

2377. 066/225. 1756.

2378. 069/89. 1759.

2379. 071/144-147. 1762.

2380. 075/328-329. 1764.

2381. 070/290. 1764.

2382. 070/340. 1765.

2383. 076/144. 1764.

2384. 076/268. 1765.

2385. 076/331-333. 1765.

2386. 077/47. 1765.

2387. 077/52. 1765.

2388. 082/33-35. 1767.

2389. 082/40-41. 1767.

2390. 065/250-251. 1766. 065/251-252. 1766. 065/267. 1768.

2391. 079/61. 1767.

2392. 082/36. 1767.

2393. 082/37. 1767.

2394. 082/39-40. 1767.

2395. 085/76. 1769.

2396. 085/31. 1769. 085/32. 1769.

2397. 085/33. 1769. 085/173. 1770.

2398. 086/82. 1770.

2399. 086/192. 1771. 086/154-155. 1771.

2400. 076/410. 1765. 076/412. 1765.

2401. 078/334. 1766.

2402. 083/387. 1768.

2403. 083/280. 1768. 083/281. 1768.

2404. 083/254. 1768. 083/198. 1768.

2405. 085/312. 1770.

2406. 086/310. 1771.

2407. 086/152. 1771. 086/308. 1771. 086/307. 1771.

2408. 085/419-420. 1770.

2409. 079/297. 1771.

2410. 004/206. 1713. 063/26. 1754. 067/101. 1756.

2411. 046/36. 1742.

2412. 046/51. 1742.

2413. 047/162. 1742.

2414. 046/18. 1742.

2415. 062/78. 1753.

2416. 085/84. 1770. 085/231. 1770. 086/128. 1771.

2417. 085/248-249. 1770.

2418. 062/20. 1753. 062/293. 1753. 062/367. 1754. 063/119. 1754.

2419. 068/349-350. 1759. 076/113. 1764.

2420. 084/369. 1769.

2421. 085/168. 1770. 085/309. 1770. 085/418. 1770.

2422. 086/41. 1770. 086/151. 1771. 086/305. 1771.

2423. 085/27. 1769. 085/168. 1770. 086/151. 1771.

2424. 082/330. 1767.

2425. 083/35. 1768.

2426. 063/120. 1754.

2427. 076/22. 1764. 083/254. 1768.

2428. 071/18-20. 1762.

2429. 082/216. 1767. 084/49. 1769.

2430. 085/171. 1770.

2431. 086/306. 1771.

2432. 085/105. 1770. 086/207. 1771.

2433. 085/29. 1769. 085/30. 1769.

2434. 085/313. 1770.

2435. 085/352-354. 1770.

2436. 083/146. 1768.

2437. 085/29. 1769. 086/42. 1770. 086/76. 1770.

2438. 077/250. 1765.

2439. 066/387-388. 1756.

2440. 082/374. 1768. 082/435. 1768.

2441. 086/190. 1771. 086/192. 1771.

2442. 086/309. 1771.

2443. 085/170. 1770. 085/309. 1770.

2444. 084/195. 1769.

2445. 069/159. 1759.

2446. 067/398. 1757.

2447. 075/32. 1763.

2448. 069/333. 1760.

2449. 070/91. 1760.

2450. 043/146. .

2451. 046/18. 1742.

2452. 046/8. 1742.

2453. 065/106. 1759. 064/114. 1759.

2454. 065/87-88. 1759. 064/97. 1759.

2455. 064/100. 1759. 065/218. 1764.

2456. 062/120. 1753. 062/122. 1753. 062/127. 1753.

2457. 062/120. 1753.

2458. 067/48. 1756.

2459. 050/11-12.

2460. 067/57-58. 1756.

2461. 071/98. 1762. 065/199. 1763.

2462. 068/428-430. 1759. 066/222. 1756. 068/54-55. 1758. 068/349-350. 1759.

2463. 069/220. 1759.

2464. 071/334. 1763.

2465. 078/353. 1767.

2466. 078/364. 1767.

2467. 084/301-302. 1769. 084/200. 1769. 084/347. 1769.

2468. 085/74. 1769. 085/31. 1769.

2469. 085/222. 1770.

2470. 085/172. 1770.

2471. 085/421-422. 1770.

2472. 086/78. 1770.

2473. 086/80. 1770. 086/23. 1771.

2474. 086/192. 1771.

2475. 085/473. 1770.

2476. 082/460. 1768.

2477. 080/183-184. 1780.

2478. 067/234-236. 1757.

2479. 067/335. 1757.

2480. 065/300-301. 1769.

2481. 079/206. 1769. 079/208. 1769.

2482. 085/466. 1770.

2483. 086/368-369. 1771.

2484. 086/368-369. 1771.

2485. 046/68. 1742.

2486. 047/69. 1742.

2487. 047/64. 1742. 047/69. 1742.

2488. 046/68. 1742.

2489. 047/116. 1742. 047/117. 1742.

2490. 063/48. 1754.

2491. 063/316. 1755.

2492. 062/369. 1754. 062/391. 1754.

2493. 065/198-199. 1763.

2494. 077/256. 1765.

2495. 077/365. 1766.

2496. 083/418. 1768.

2497. 085/134. 1770.

2498. 085/313-314. 1770.

2499. 085/466. 1770.

2500. 086/188. 1771.

2501. 085/49. 1769. 085/186. 1770.

2502. 085/49. 1769. 085/50. 1769. 086/56-58. 1770.

2503. 085/55. 1769. 085/196. 1770.

2504. 085/66. 1769.

2505. 065/133. 1760.

2506. 070/123-124. 1761.

2507. 065/200. 1763. 065/258. 1766.

2508. 079/318. 1771.

2509. 085/329. 1770.

2510. 086/390-391. 1771.

2511. 065/376. 1776.

2512. 065/390. 1777.

2513. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), pp. 156-178. To be verified.

2514. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

2515. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Knopf, 1992), pp. 100-138. To be verified.

2516. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 36-48. To be verified.

2517. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

2518. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 159-163. To be verified.

2519. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1984), pp. 14-35. To be verified.

2520. 001/34. 1674.

2521. 002/29. 1674.

2522. 002/237-249. 1683.

2523. 003/95. .

2524. 014/293. 1702.

2525. 014/293. 1702.

2526. 015/94-095. 1704.

2527. 004/206. 1713.

2528. 018/30. 1713.

2529. 018/30. 1713.

2530. 022/116. 1715.

2531. 028/152. 1718.

2532. 028/152. 1718.

2533. 029/39-040. 1717.

2534. 029/39-040. 1717.

2535. 035/36. 1725.

2536. 035/36. 1725.

2537. 046/66-67. 1742.

2538. 046/66-67. 1742.

2539. 046/66-67. 1742.

2540. 046/68. 1742.

2541. 046/68. 1742.

2542. 046/68. 1742.

2543. 047/64. 1742.

2544. 047/70-73. 1742.

2545. 047/70-73. 1742.

2546. 047/64-68. 1742.

2547. 047/64-68. 1742.

2548. 047/70-73. 1742.

2549. 047/70-73. 1742.

2550. 046/107-108. 1742.

2551. 046/107-108. 1742.

2552. 046/100-101. 1742.

2553. 046/148. 1742.

2554. 046/148. 1742.

2555. 047/69. 1742.

2556. 047/69. 1742.

2557. 047/77-78. 1742.

2558. 046/150. 1742.

2559. 046/150. 1742.

2560. 042/259. 1747.

2561. 042/259. 1747.

2562. 062/120. 1753.

2563. 062/122. 1753. 062/127. 1753. 062/129. 1753.

2564. 062/127. 1753.

2565. 063/163. 1754.

2566. 064/9. 1754.

2567. 065/8. 1755.

2568. 064/26-27. 1755. 065/20-21. 1755.

2569. 064/32. 1755. 065/25-26. 1755.

2570. 066/182. 1755.

2571. 066/182. 1755.

2572. 066/182. 1755.

2573. 067/100. 1756. 067/454. 1757.

2574. 063/418. 1755.

2575. 063/344. 1755.

2576. 066/84. 1755.

2577. 066/322. 1756.

2578. 066/416. 1756.

2579. 068/66. 1758. 068/74. 1758.

2580. 068/221. 1758.

2581. 068/275. 1758.

2582. 068/219. 1758. 068/275. 1758.

2583. 068/299-300. 1758.

2584. 069/98. 1759.

2585. 069/184. 1759.

2586. 069/394. 1760.

2587. 069/394. 1760.

2588. 071/52. 1762.

2589. 071/50. 1762.

2590. 075/76. 1763.

2591. 071/430. 1763.

2592. 067/168. 1757. 067/329-331. 1757.

2593. 067/169. 1757.

2594. 068/58. 1758. 075/235-236. 1764.

2595. 069/122. 1759.

2596. 072/165-171. 1766. 072/108, 116-118. 1765.

2597. 077/52. 1765.

2598. 077/52. 1765.

2599. 085/286. 1770.

2600. 085/286. 1770.

2601. 085/286. 1770.

2602. 085/286. 1770.

2603. 085/287-288. 1770.

2604. 085/364-368. 1770.

2605. 085/364-368. 1770.

2606. 085/364-368. 1770.

2607. 085/364-368. 1770.

2608. 085/364-368. 1770.

2609. 085/383. 1770.

2610. 085/400. 1770.

2611. 085/464. 1770.

2612. 086/78. 1770.

2613. 086/192. 1771.

2614. 085/430. 1770.

2615. 086/51. 1770.

2616. 086/163. 1771.

2617. 086/125-126. 1771.

2618. 086/125-126. 1771.

2619. 086/279. 1771.

2620. 086/324-325. 1771.

2621. 086/356. 1771.

2622. 086/412-413. 1771.

2623. 086/412-413. 1771.

2624. 079/327. 1772.

2625. 072/79, 84-86. 1764.

2626. 072/79, 84-86. 1764.

2627. 072/224-228. 1768.

2628. 072/224-228. 1768.

2629. 072/35-36. 1763.

2630. 072/35-36. 1763.

2631. 072/35-36. 1763.

2632. 072/276-282. 1770.

2633. 072/276-282. 1770.

2634. 072/497-502. 1781.

2635. 072/212-218. 1768.

2636. 072/165-171. 1766.

2637. 072/165-171. 1766.

2638. 072/59-62. 1764.

2639. 072/54-56. 1763.

2640. 072/54-56. 1763.

2641. 085/373-374. 1770.

2642. 085/373-374. 1770.

2643. 085/373-374. 1770.

2644. 075/12-14. 1763.

2645. 075/12-14. 1763.

2646. 075/12-14. 1763.

2647. 075/266-267. 1764.

2648. 069/319-320. 1760.

2649. 066/21. 1755.

2650. 072/145, 148-150. 1766.

2651. 068/415-416. 1759.

2652. 072/503-506. 1782.

2653. 072/503-506. 1782.

2654. 072/239-244. 1769.

2655. 067/250-251. 1757. 078/446-448. 1767.

2656. 062/23-24. 1753. 063/22. 1754.

2657. 063/146. 1754.

2658. 067/250-251. 1757.

2659. 068/318. 1758.

2660. 068/318. 1758.

2661. 071/85. 1762.

2662. 071/124. 1762.

2663. 078/212. 1766.

2664. 078/446-448. 1767.

2665. 082/124. 1767.

2666. 085/72. 1769.

2667. 085/146. 1770.

2668. 085/360. 1770.

2669. 086/80. 1770.

2670. 085/174. 1770.

2671. 067/171-172. 1757.

2672. 066/342-343. 1756.

2673. 069/262. 1760.

2674. 064/130. 1760. 065/127. 1760.

2675. 071/362. 1763.

2676. 071/404-405. 1763.

2677. 071/404-405. 1763.

2678. 084/203-205. 1769.

2679. 085/317. 1770.

2680. 085/422-423. 1770.

2681. 086/312. 1771.

2682. 068/418. 1759.

2683. 063/125. 1754.

2684. 076/375. 1765.

2685. 076/375. 1765.

2686. 071/75. 1762.

2687. 063/125. 1754.

2688. 085/34. 1769.

2689. 086/45. 1770.

2690. 085/422-423. 1770.

2691. 086/313. 1771.

2692. 077/104. 1765.

2693. 066/189. 1755.

2694. 062/261. 1753.

2695. 062/375. 1754.

2696. 062/391. 1754.

2697. 069/216. 1759.

2698. 069/216. 1759.

2699. 069/216. 1759.

2700. 066/322. 1756.

2701. 068/355. 1759.

2702. 072/30-32. 1763.

2703. 072/30-32. 1763.

2704. 068/433-435. 1759.

2705. 078/212. 1766.

2706. 071/354. 1763.

2707. 085/175. 1770.

2708. 085/315-316. 1770.

2709. 085/216. 1770.

2710. 086/46. 1770.

2711. 086/358. 1771.

2712. 086/113-122. 1771.

2713. 086/419-420. 1771.

2714. 086/419-420. 1771.

2715. 063/279-281. 1755.

2716. 063/279-281. 1755.

2717. 063/279-281. 1755.

2718. 066/294. 1756.

2719. 066/318. 1756.

2720. 066/324. 1756.

2721. 078/69. 1766.

2722. 078/69. 1766.

2723. 078/104-106. 1766.

2724. 078/210. 1766.

2725. 078/242-243. 1766.

2726. 079/174-175. 1769.

2727. 046/82-83. 1742.

2728. 046/82-83. 1742.

2729. 046/82-83. 1742.

2730. 064/9. 1754. 064/29. 1755.

2731. 065/56. 1757. 064/65. 1757.

2732. 067/454. 1757.

2733. 066/444. 1756.

2734. 067/169. 1757.

2735. 067/246. 1757.

2736. 067/201. 1757.

2737. 067/442. 1757. 068/45. 1758. 069/118. 1759. 069/394. 1760.

2738. 069/218. 1759.

2739. 065/156-157. 1762.

2740. 065/156-157. 1762.

2741. 070/188-189. 1762.

2742. 070/188-189. 1762.

2743. 071/50. 1762.

2744. 065/362-363. 1774.

2745. 082/341. 1767. 082/368. 1767.

2746. 075/181. 1763.

2747. 063/204. 1754.

2748. 083/120. 1768.

2749. 085/473. 1770.

2750. 085/395-396. 1770.

2751. 085/395-396. 1770.

2752. 076/302. 1765.

2753. 076/302. 1765.

2754. 076/381-382. 1765.

2755. 077/334. 1766.

2756. 077/356. 1766.

2757. 066/230. 1756. 075/362-363. 1764.

2758. 085/42. 1769. 085/179. 1770. 086/50. 1770.

2759. 085/323. 1770.

2760. 085/427-428. 1770.

2761. 086/161. 1771.

2762. 086/320-321. 1771.

2763. 068/431. 1759.

2764. 077/132-133. 1765.

2765. 077/186. 1765.

2766. 077/365. 1766.

2767. 083/359-362. 1768.

2768. 085/176. 1770.

2769. 085/216. 1770.

2770. 046/45. 1742. 047/8. 1742.

2771. 046/45. 1742.

2772. 047/8. 1742. 047/106. 1742.

2773. 047/112. 1742.

2774. 047/8. 1742. 047/11. 1742. 047/14. 1742.

2775. 062/27. 1753.

2776. 062/30. 1753. 062/32. 1753. 062/34. 1753.

2777. 062/28. 1753.

2778. 062/28. 1753.

2779. 066/132-133. 1755.

2780. 062/272. 1753. 066/232-237. 1756.

2781. 063/31. 1754.

2782. 067/431. 1757.

2783. 078/191-205. 1766.

2784. 084/315-336. 1769.

2785. 063/140. 1754. 066/134-140. 1755.

2786. 069/103-112. 1759.

2787. 067/147-148. 1757.

2788. 067/147-148. 1757.

2789. 069/101-102. 1759.

2790. 069/377-388. 1760.

2791. 069/377-388. 1760.

2792. 064/115. 1759. 070/61. 1760.

2793. 071/98. 1762.

2794. 071/98. 1762.

2795. 071/98. 1762.

2796. 065/199. 1763.

2797. 065/200. 1763. 065/258. 1766.

2798. 066/305-306. 1756.

2799. 077/77-94. 1765.

2800. 077/77-94. 1765.

2801. 077/77-94. 1765.

2802. 076/389-404. 1765.

2803. 065/220. 1764.

2804. 065/313. 1770.

2805. 085/329. 1770.

2806. 085/331. 1770.

2807. 085/49. 1769. 085/50. 1769.

2808. 085/49. 1769.

2809. 085/50. 1769. 086/56-58. 1770.

2810. 085/55. 1769. 085/59. 1769. 085/62. 1769. 085/66. 1769.

2811. 085/66. 1769.

2812. 086/56-58. 1770. 086/61. 1770. 086/65. 1770. 086/68. 1770. 086/71. 1770.

2813. 086/166-169. 1771. 086/325-328. 1771. 086/332. 1771. 086/336. 1771. 086/340. 1771. 086/344. 1771.

2814. 084/243. 1769.

2815. 065/224. 1764.

2816. 065/275-276. 1768.

2817. 083/422-423. 1769.

2818. 083/422-423. 1769.

2819. 083/422-423. 1769.

2820. 079/289-290. 1771.

2821. 079/289-290. 1771.

2822. 086/360. 1771.

2823. 086/360. 1771.

2824. 079/318. 1771.

2825. 068/105. 1758.

2826. 069/302. 1760. 075/179. 1763. 077/358. 1766. 082/366. 1767.

2827. 084/247. 1769.

2828. 085/74. 1769. 085/212. 1770. 085/462. 1770.

2829. 086/78. 1770. 086/190. 1771. 086/354. 1771.

2830. 068/375. 1759.

2831. 046/23. 1742.

2832. 046/23. 1742.

2833. 046/68. 1742.

2834. 046/112. 1742.

2835. 066/23. 1755.

2836. 066/23. 1755.

2837. 067/283-284. 1757.

2838. 062/334-335. 1753.

2839. 062/334-335. 1753.

2840. 085/270-272. 1770.

2841. 067/459-460. 1757.

2842. 068/175. 1758.

2843. 068/175. 1758.

2844. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

2845. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

2846. 075/59. 1763.

2847. 076/48. 1764.

2848. 078/124. 1766.

2849. 065/133. 1760. 070/123-124. 1761.

2850. 065/236. 1765. 065/291. 1769. 065/310. 1770.

2851. 084/79. 1769.

2852. 082/169-171. 1767.

2853. 082/169-171. 1767.

2854. 084/133. 1769.

2855. 084/133. 1769.

2856. 084/277-279. 1769.

2857. 084/136-138. 1769.

2858. 084/136-138. 1769.

2859. Peter Clark, The English Alehouse: A Social History 1200-1830 (London: Longman, 1983), passim. To be verified.

2860. John Brewer, The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688-1783 (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), passim. To be verified.

2861. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), passim. To be verified.

2862. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), passim. To be verified.

2863. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), passim. To be verified.

2864. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

2865. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), passim. To be verified.

2866. 020/190. 1714.

2867. 022/24. 1714.

2868. 022/24. 1714.

2869. 028/32. 1717.

2870. 028/32. 1717.

2871. 028/164. 1717.

2872. 028/164. 1717.

2873. 028/164. 1717.

2874. 030/491. 1723.

2875. 030/491. 1723.

2876. 030/491. 1723.

2877. 030/491. 1723.

2878. 030/491. 1723.

2879. 030/491. 1723.

2880. 030/491. 1723.

2881. 032/58. 1720.

2882. 032/58. 1720.

2883. 032/58. 1720.

2884. 046/66. 1742.

2885. 046/66. 1742.

2886. 046/66. 1742.

2887. 046/117. 1742.

2888. 046/117. 1742.

2889. 047/131. 1743.

2890. 047/131. 1743.

2891. 047/131. 1743.

2892. 047/131. 1743.

2893. 047/131-133. 1743.

2894. 047/131-133. 1743.

2895. 047/131-133. 1743.

2896. 067/332-333. 1757.

2897. 080/321-323. 1788.

2898. 086/114. 1771.

2899. 086/114. 1771.

2900. 086/390-391. 1771.

2901. 086/390-391. 1771.

2902. 086/390-391. 1771.

2903. 086/390-391. 1771.

2904. 047/131-133. 1743. 086/390-391. 1771.

2905. 063/295-296. 1755.

2906. 063/295-296. 1755.

2907. 063/295-296. 1755.

2908. 063/357. 1755.

2909. 063/357. 1755.

2910. 063/404. 1755.

2911. 063/406. 1755.

2912. 063/406. 1755.

2913. 063/406. 1755.

2914. 063/406. 1755.

2915. 066/160. 1755.

2916. 067/251-252. 1757.

2917. 067/423-424. 1757.

2918. 068/58-60. 1758.

2919. 069/370-372. 1760.

2920. 075/83. 1763.

2921. 075/154. 1763.

2922. 075/155. 1763.

2923. 078/240. 1766. 082/340. 1767.

2924. 082/382. 1768.

2925. 082/382. 1768.

2926. 083/113-114. 1768.

2927. 085/208. 1770.

2928. 085/424. 1770.

2929. 085/464. 1770.

2930. 085/464. 1770.

2931. 085/464. 1770.

2932. 063/406. 1755. 085/464. 1770.

2933. 068/116-117. 1758.

2934. 068/196-197. 1758.

2935. 068/221. 1758.

2936. 069/306. 1760.

2937. 069/306. 1760.

2938. 069/304. 1760.

2939. 077/256. 1765.

2940. 077/256. 1765.

2941. 077/360. 1766.

2942. 077/360. 1766.

2943. 078/98. 1766.

2944. 082/435-436. 1768.

2945. 082/464. 1768.

2946. 083/392. 1768.

2947. 084/378-380. 1769.

2948. 085/37. 1769.

2949. 072/415-420. 1778.

2950. 077/132-133. 1765. 077/186. 1765.

2951. 077/365. 1766.

2952. 083/350-357. 1768.

2953. 083/350-357. 1768.

2954. 085/176. 1770.

2955. 085/176. 1770.

2956. 085/216. 1770.

2957. 086/47. 1770.

2958. 069/232. 1759.

2959. 069/232. 1759.

2960. 069/233-237. 1759.

2961. 069/233-237. 1759.

2962. 069/233-237. 1759.

2963. 069/233-237. 1759.

2964. 069/282-283. 1760.

2965. 078/69. 1766.

2966. 078/69. 1766.

2967. 078/169. 1766.

2968. 078/210. 1766.

2969. 078/237. 1766. 078/242-243. 1766.

2970. 078/429. 1767.

2971. 072/192-195. 1767.

2972. 066/226-227. 1756. 066/341-342. 1756.

2973. 066/453-454. 1756.

2974. 068/194. 1758. 068/351-352. 1759.

2975. 068/431. 1759.

2976. 069/282-283. 1760.

2977. 076/116-117. 1764. 076/234-235. 1765.

2978. 083/392. 1768.

2979. 084/378-380. 1769.

2980. 085/37. 1769. 085/424. 1770.

2981. 085/424. 1770.

2982. 086/47. 1770.

2983. 086/158. 1771.

2984. 086/158. 1771.

2985. 077/133-134. 1765.

2986. 077/133-134. 1765.

2987. 077/220-221. 1765.

2988. 082/226. 1767.

2989. 077/331. 1766.

2990. 078/97. 1766. 078/313. 1766.

2991. 078/425-426. 1767. 082/95. 1767. 082/221-222. 1767.

2992. 082/335-336. 1767.

2993. 082/438-439. 1768.

2994. 084/52. 1769.

2995. 086/114. 1771.

2996. 063/419-420. 1755.

2997. 076/29. 1764.

2998. 076/377-378. 1765.

2999. 076/377-378. 1765.

3000. 084/378-380. 1769.

3001. 085/424. 1770.

3002. 046/126-127. 1742.

3003. 063/222. 1754.

3004. 071/406-407. 1763. 075/153-154. 1763. 076/234-235. 1765.

3005. 084/378-380. 1769.

3006. 085/319-320. 1770.

3007. 086/314-315. 1771.

3008. 034/494. 1725.

3009. 034/494. 1725.

3010. 063/411. 1755.

3011. 047/95-96. 1742.

3012. 066/456. 1756. 067/249-250. 1757. 068/293-294. 1758.

3013. 075/153-154. 1763.

3014. 077/220-221. 1765.

3015. 084/206-208. 1769.

3016. 085/37. 1769. 085/177. 1770.

3017. 085/424. 1770.

3018. 086/158. 1771.

3019. 062/23. 1753. 071/148. 1762. 075/83. 1763.

3020. 062/372. 1754. 067/423-424. 1757. 075/153-154. 1763.

3021. 062/372. 1754. 067/171. 1757. 075/153-154. 1763.

3022. 084/52. 1769.

3023. 085/36. 1769.

3024. 085/424. 1770.

3025. 085/424. 1770. 086/47. 1770. 086/158. 1771.

3026. 085/38. 1769.

3027. 085/425-426. 1770.

3028. 085/177. 1770. 086/48. 1770. 086/159. 1771.

3029. 086/78. 1770. 086/190. 1771.

3030. 086/78. 1770.

3031. 066/226-227. 1756.

3032. 067/171. 1757.

3033. 082/221-222. 1767.

3034. 085/176. 1770. 085/319-320. 1770. 086/158. 1771.

3035. 075/83. 1763. 075/358-359. 1764. 067/171. 1757.

3036. 071/406-407. 1763.

3037. 075/358-359. 1764.

3038. 082/94. 1767.

3039. 070/19. 1759. 079/49. 1766. 079/222-223. 1769.

3040. 004/332. .

3041. 004/332. .

3042. 004/332. .

3043. 005/247. 1682.

3044. 005/247. 1682.

3045. 068/378. 1759.

3046. 069/321-328. 1760.

3047. 069/321-328. 1760.

3048. 072/17-18. 1762.

3049. 072/230-237. 1769.

3050. 072/230-237. 1769.

3051. 072/101-104. 1765.

3052. 062/406-407. 1754.

3053. 072/400-402. 1778.

3054. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

3055. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

3056. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

3057. 072/356-363. 1775.

3058. 072/356-363. 1775.

3059. 072/504-505, 508-509. 1782.

3060. 063/166-171. 1754.

3061. Robert C.-H. Shell, Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1838 (Hanover NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994), 172-205. To be verified.

3062. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), 92-99. To be verified.

3063. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

3064. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 110-140. To be verified.

3065. Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972), 246-249. To be verified.

3066. Philip D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 104-124. To be verified.

3067. Philip D. Morgan, Slave Counterpoint: Black Culture in the Eighteenth-Century Chesapeake and Lowcountry (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1998), 104-124. To be verified.

3068. Dell Upton, "White and Black Landscapes in Eighteenth-Century Virginia," Places 2 (1985), 59-72. To be verified.

3069. 001/65. 1678.

3070. 012/190. 1699.

3071. 012/90b. 1693.

3072. 012/90b. 1693.

3073. 012/90b. 1693.

3074. 012/90a. 1693.

3075. 012/90a. 1693.

3076. 012/90b. 1693.

3077. 008/55. 1696.

3078. 008/55. 1696.

3079. 008/69. 1699.

3080. 008/69. 1699.

3081. 008/80. 1703.

3082. 008/80. 1703.

3083. 013/200-213. 1699.

3084. 014/271. 1702.

3085. 014/162-170. 1701.

3086. 019/154. 1711.

3087. 019/154. 1711.

3088. 019/194a. 1711.

3089. 019/194a. 1711.

3090. 019/194a. 1711.

3091. 019/194a. 1711.

3092. 018/99,106. 1713.

3093. 018/99,106. 1713.

3094. 004/252. 1713.

3095. 004/252. 1713.

3096. 004/253. 1713.

3097. 004/253. 1713.

3098. 004/253. 1713.

3099. 020/420-421. 1715.

3100. 023/119. 1715.

3101. 023/119. 1715.

3102. 023/119. 1715.

3103. 023/119. 1715.

3104. 023/119. 1715.

3105. 023/141,204. 1715.

3106. 003/104. .

3107. 031/212. 1720.

3108. 031/212. 1720.

3109. 031/217,219. 1721.

3110. 031/217,219. 1721.

3111. 031/217,219. 1721.

3112. 031/217,219. 1721.

3113. 008/224. 1738.

3114. 031/212. 1720.

3115. 063/166-171. 1754.

3116. 063/175-180. 1754.

3117. 063/175-180. 1754.

3118. 048/236-240.

3119. 045/113. 1741.

3120. 045/113. 1741.

3121. 045/113. 1741.

3122. 046/54-56. 1742.

3123. 046/54-56. 1742.

3124. 046/60. 1742.

3125. 046/54-56. 1742. 046/60. 1742.

3126. 046/56-59. 1742.

3127. 012/90b. 1693.

3128. 031/212. 1720.

3129. 046/54-56. 1742.

3130. 046/54-56. 1742.

3131. 046/63-64. 1742.

3132. 046/60. 1742.

3133. 045/192. 1741. 045/211. 1742.

3134. 083/254. 1768.

3135. 031/217,219. 1721.

3136. 051/9-10. 051/11-17.

3137. 051/73-75. 051/76-79.

3138. 078/72. 1766.

3139. 078/72. 1766.

3140. 083/222-226. 1768.

3141. 063/404. 1755.

3142. 063/404. 1755.

3143. 078/334. 1766.

3144. 062/118. 1753.

3145. 067/246. 1757. 068/115. 1758. 069/184. 1759.

3146. 077/104. 1765.

3147. 076/24. 1764.

3148. 063/419-420. 1755.

3149. 071/18-20. 1762.

3150. 076/410. 1765.

3151. 076/410. 1765.

3152. 076/412. 1765.

3153. 076/412. 1765.

3154. 076/371. 1765.

3155. 077/358. 1766.

3156. 076/52. 1764.

3157. 083/378. 1768. 084/46. 1769. 084/357-359. 1769.

3158. 084/53-54. 1769.

3159. 085/322. 1770.

3160. 085/13. 1769. 085/159. 1770.

3161. 085/413. 1770. 085/439. 1770.

3162. 086/152. 1771. 086/308. 1771.

3163. 085/312. 1770.

3164. 085/300. 1770. 086/33. 1770.

3165. 085/445. 1770.

3166. 086/310. 1771.

3167. 086/154. 1771.

3168. 063/255-256. 1754.

3169. 075/112. 1763.

3170. 084/265-266. 1769.

3171. 072/87-93. 1764.

3172. 072/165-171. 1766.

3173. 072/212-218. 1768.

3174. 085/373-374. 1770.

3175. 072/192-195. 1767.

3176. 072/383-386. 1776.

3177. 072/306-310. 1772.

3178. 072/356-363. 1775.

3179. 072/19-22. 1762.

3180. 046/54-56. 1742. 046/60. 1742.

3181. 046/54-56. 1742. 046/60. 1742.

3182. 047/119-121. 1742.

3183. 046/148. 1742.

3184. 051/18-22.

3185. 083/222-226. 1768.

3186. 072/59-62. 1764.

3187. 046/15. 1742.

3188. 046/15. 1742.

3189. 008/55. 1696.

3190. 008/80. 1703. 031/212. 1720.

3191. 008/224. 1738.

3192. 046/59. 1742.

3193. 078/173. 1766.

3194. 046/54-56. 1742.

3195. 075/352. 1764.

3196. 012/90b. 1693.

3197. 031/217,219. 1721.

3198. 045/113. 1741.

3199. 046/54-56. 1742.

3200. 046/54-56. 1742.

3201. 047/118-119. 1743.

3202. 051/18-22.

3203. 063/166-171. 1754.

3204. 063/175-180. 1754.

3205. 054/157-160.

3206. 078/173. 1766.

3207. 047/154. 1743.

3208. 047/166. 1743.

3209. 047/168-174. 1743.

3210. 047/168-174. 1743.

3211. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

3212. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

3213. 072/398-405. 1778.

3214. 082/239. 1767.

3215. 082/202. 1767.

3216. 085/12. 1769.

3217. 085/413. 1770. 086/295. 1771.

3218. 086/148. 1771.

3219. 085/437. 1770.

3220. 086/41. 1770.

3221. 085/112. 1770. 085/287. 1770. 085/373. 1770.

3222. 085/147-148. 1770.

3223. 045/109. 1741.

3224. 046/54-56. 1742. 046/60. 1742.

3225. 045/211. 1742.

3226. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

3227. 072/205-210. 1768.

3228. 071/357. 1763.

3229. 083/152. 1768. 083/281. 1768.

3230. 012/90a. 1693.

3231. 083/222-226. 1768.

3232. 063/175-180. 1754.

3233. 046/55-57. 1742.

3234. 046/55-57. 1742.

3235. 046/55-57. 1742.

3236. 063/164. 1754.

3237. 054/126-128.

3238. 066/367-368. 1756.

3239. 069/425-426. 1760.

3240. 041/382. 1739.

3241. 082/322. 1767.

3242. 076/230. 1765.

3243. 046/113-114. 1742. 047/140-146. 1742.

3244. 046/59. 1742.

3245. 063/166-171. 1754. 063/175-180. 1754.

3246. 040/389. 1735.

3247. 040/389. 1735.

3248. 063/146. 1754.

3249. 068/318. 1758.

3250. 068/318. 1758.

3251. 068/354. 1759.

3252. 071/124. 1762.

3253. 071/85. 1762.

3254. 078/212. 1766.

3255. 082/124. 1767.

3256. 085/72. 1769.

3257. 085/174. 1770.

3258. 085/174. 1770.

3259. 085/175. 1770.

3260. 085/146. 1770.

3261. 085/216. 1770.

3262. 085/360. 1770.

3263. 085/468. 1770.

3264. 086/80. 1770.

3265. 086/161. 1771.

3266. 086/312. 1771.

3267. 072/35-36. 1763.

3268. 072/35-36. 1763.

3269. 072/276-282. 1770.

3270. 072/224-228. 1768.

3271. 076/378. 1765.

3272. 078/212. 1766.

3273. 085/315-316. 1770.

3274. 071/401. 1763.

3275. 076/377-378. 1765.

3276. 076/377-378. 1765.

3277. 076/302. 1765.

3278. 067/178. 1757. 067/313. 1757.

3279. 085/424. 1770.

3280. 004/252. 1713. 004/253. 1713.

3281. 045/113. 1741.

3282. 045/113. 1741.

3283. 046/54. 1742.

3284. 046/54. 1742.

3285. 046/54. 1742.

3286. 045/192. 1741. 045/211. 1742.

3287. 046/21. 1742.

3288. 046/21. 1742.

3289. 047/119-121. 1742.

3290. 046/148. 1742.

3291. 063/255-256. 1754.

3292. 063/166-171. 1754.

3293. 083/222-226. 1768.

3294. 018/99,106. 1713.

3295. 004/253. 1713.

3296. 045/191. 1741.

3297. 045/113. 1741.

3298. 046/55. 1742.

3299. 046/60. 1742.

3300. 067/399-401. 1757.

3301. 083/222-226. 1768.

3302. 063/132. 1754. 066/69. 1755.

3303. 075/246-247. 1764.

3304. 077/79. 1765. 084/60. 1769.

3305. 085/188. 1770. 086/58. 1770. 086/168. 1771.

3306. 085/175. 1770.

3307. 068/277. 1758.

3308. 079/84. 1767. 079/87. 1767.

3309. 065/266. 1768.

3310. 031/212. 1720.

3311. 046/54. 1742. 046/60. 1742.

3312. 045/211. 1742.

3313. 063/166-171. 1754.

3314. 059/29,31-32. 059/38.

3315. 083/222-226. 1768.

3316. 045/191. 1741. 045/192. 1741. 045/211. 1742.

3317. 045/191. 1741.

3318. 045/191. 1741.

3319. 045/211. 1742.

3320. 043/146. .

3321. 043/146. .

3322. 043/146. .

3323. 046/8. 1742.

3324. 046/8. 1742.

3325. 046/18. 1742.

3326. 046/21. 1742.

3327. 064/114. 1759.

3328. 065/106. 1759.

3329. 065/106. 1759.

3330. 070/32. 1759.

3331. 064/130. 1760. 065/126-127. 1760.

3332. 064/130. 1760.

3333. 067/168. 1757.

3334. 069/365-368. 1760.

3335. 082/215. 1767.

3336. 082/86. 1767.

3337. 082/37. 1767.

3338. 082/37. 1767.

3339. 078/334. 1766.

3340. 085/312. 1770. 086/310. 1771. 086/152. 1771. 086/308. 1771.

3341. 079/297. 1771.

3342. 079/297. 1771.

3343. 065/334. 1772.

3344. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), passim. To be verified.

3345. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), passim. To be verified.

3346. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), passim. To be verified.

3347. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), passim. To be verified.

3348. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), passim. To be verified.

3349. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), passim. To be verified.

3350. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

3351. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), passim. To be verified.

3352. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), passim. To be verified.

3353. 001/65. 1678.

3354. 012/90a. 1693.

3355. 012/90a. 1693.

3356. 012/90a. 1693.

3357. 012/90a. 1693.

3358. 008/55. 1696.

3359. 008/55. 1696.

3360. 008/69. 1699.

3361. 008/80. 1703.

3362. 008/80. 1703.

3363. 008/80. 1703.

3364. 008/153. 1719.

3365. 014/307-311. 1704.

3366. 014/293. 1702.

3367. 014/293. 1702.

3368. 040/389. 1735.

3369. 019/194a. 1711.

3370. 020/420-421. 1715.

3371. 019/154. 1711.

3372. 031/212. 1720.

3373. 031/212. 1720.

3374. 031/212. 1720.

3375. 031/212. 1720.

3376. 031/217,219. 1721.

3377. 031/217,219. 1721.

3378. 031/217,219. 1721.

3379. 041/382. 1739.

3380. 045/113. 1741.

3381. 045/113. 1741.

3382. 045/113. 1741.

3383. 045/114. 1741.

3384. 045/114. 1741.

3385. 046/55-57. 1742.

3386. 046/55-57. 1742.

3387. 046/55-57. 1742.

3388. 046/58. 1742.

3389. 046/59. 1742.

3390. 046/59. 1742.

3391. 046/59. 1742.

3392. 046/21. 1742.

3393. 046/113-114. 1742.

3394. 046/113-114. 1742.

3395. 047/140-146. 1742.

3396. 047/140-146. 1742.

3397. 047/119-121. 1742.

3398. 051/11-17.

3399. 051/11-17.

3400. 048/236-240.

3401. 063/166-171. 1754.

3402. 063/166-171. 1754.

3403. 063/166-171. 1754.

3404. 063/175-180. 1754.

3405. 063/252-255. 1754.

3406. 066/91-92. 1755.

3407. 066/91-92. 1755.

3408. 067/283-284. 1757.

3409. 084/265-266. 1769.

3410. 084/265-266. 1769.

3411. 054/126-128.

3412. 054/157-160.

3413. 063/164. 1754.

3414. 063/164. 1754.

3415. 066/367-368. 1756.

3416. 069/425-426. 1760.

3417. 078/173. 1766.

3418. 078/175. 1766.

3419. 044/17. 1740.

3420. 067/297. 1757.

3421. 047/60. 1742.

3422. 047/60. 1742.

3423. 047/86. 1742.

3424. 062/11. 1753. 062/317. 1753.

3425. 069/253-254. 1759. 072/251-258. 1769.

3426. 034/494. 1725.

3427. 034/494. 1725.

3428. 047/41. 1742.

3429. 047/127-128. 1743.

3430. 062/18. 1753. 063/15. 1754.

3431. 084/179. 1769.

3432. 084/179. 1769.

3433. 084/388. 1769.

3434. 085/10. 1769.

3435. 085/19. 1769.

3436. 085/317. 1770. 085/319-320. 1770. 085/323. 1770.

3437. 085/301. 1770.

3438. 085/422-423. 1770.

3439. 085/432. 1770.

3440. 086/39. 1770.

3441. 086/29. 1770.

3442. 086/142. 1771. 086/312. 1771. 086/314-315. 1771.

3443. 085/274-275. 1770.

3444. 085/274-275. 1770.

3445. 085/38. 1769. 085/425-426. 1770.

3446. 071/362. 1763.

3447. 071/362. 1763.

3448. 071/404-405. 1763.

3449. 069/262. 1760.

3450. 064/130. 1760. 065/127. 1760.

3451. 068/226. 1758.

3452. 069/72. 1759.

3453. 069/72. 1759.

3454. 068/418. 1759.

3455. 085/175. 1770.

3456. 085/317. 1770.

3457. 085/317. 1770.

3458. 085/422-423. 1770.

3459. 086/312. 1771.

3460. 085/373-374. 1770.

3461. 086/113-122. 1771.

3462. 066/179. 1755.

3463. 062/359. 1754.

3464. 075/106. 1763.

3465. 075/106. 1763.

3466. 075/66. 1763.

3467. 084/40. 1769.

3468. 085/157. 1770.

3469. 085/419-420. 1770. 085/320-321. 1770.

3470. 085/444. 1770.

3471. 069/351-352. 1760.

3472. 067/178. 1757.

3473. 067/313. 1757.

3474. 068/377. 1759.

3475. 071/8-14. 1762.

3476. 077/202. 1765.

3477. 077/145. 1765.

3478. 062/254. 1753.

3479. 075/32. 1763.

3480. 086/249-250. 1771.

3481. 086/249-250. 1771.

3482. 068/318. 1758.

3483. 068/318. 1758.

3484. 071/85. 1762.

3485. 071/124. 1762.

3486. 082/124. 1767.

3487. 071/124. 1762.

3488. 085/72. 1769.

3489. 085/146. 1770.

3490. 085/174. 1770.

3491. 085/174. 1770.

3492. 085/360. 1770.

3493. 086/80. 1770.

3494. 086/46. 1770.

3495. 085/315-316. 1770.

3496. 072/35-36. 1763.

3497. 072/35-36. 1763.

3498. 072/129-130, 138-139, 142. 1765.

3499. 072/276-282. 1770.

3500. 046/82-83. 1742.

3501. 076/302. 1765.

3502. 076/302. 1765.

3503. 076/381-382. 1765.

3504. 077/334. 1766.

3505. 077/356. 1766.

3506. 084/77. 1769.

3507. 085/310-311. 1770.

3508. 085/323. 1770.

3509. 086/161. 1771.

3510. 063/222. 1754.

3511. 066/456. 1756.

3512. 077/132-133. 1765.

3513. 084/378-380. 1769.

3514. 085/319-320. 1770. 086/314-315. 1771.

3515. 085/424. 1770.

3516. 085/424. 1770. 086/47. 1770.

3517. 076/377-378. 1765.

3518. 065/223. 1764.

3519. 069/321-328. 1760.

3520. 069/321-328. 1760.

3521. 072/101-104. 1765.

3522. 072/306-310. 1772.

3523. 047/160-161. 1742.

3524. 062/20. 1753.

3525. 064/30. 1755. 065/23. 1755.

3526. 066/387-388. 1756.

3527. 066/387-388. 1756.

3528. 064/91. 1759. 065/81. 1759.

3529. 070/30. 1759.

3530. 069/159. 1759.

3531. 069/159. 1759.

3532. 075/32. 1763.

3533. 076/231. 1765.

3534. 077/290. 1766.

3535. 082/374. 1768.

3536. 082/435. 1768.

3537. 086/190. 1771.

3538. 086/192. 1771.

3539. 086/309. 1771.

3540. 071/306-308. 1763.

3541. 071/306-308. 1763.

3542. 067/420-421. 1757. 078/93. 1766. 083/112. 1768.

3543. 086/310. 1771.

3544. 062/20. 1753. 066/225. 1756. 082/331. 1767.

3545. 046/58. 1742.

3546. 063/166-171. 1754.

3547. 067/310-311. 1757.

3548. 075/230-231. 1764.

3549. 075/230-231. 1764.

3550. 084/356. 1769.

3551. 075/67. 1763. 075/343. 1764.

3552. 085/14. 1769.

3553. 086/294. 1771.

3554. 067/420-421. 1757.

3555. 063/20. 1754.

3556. 076/370. 1765. 078/93. 1766.

3557. 082/86. 1767.

3558. 082/213. 1767.

3559. 084/200. 1769.

3560. 085/419-420. 1770.

3561. 086/41. 1770.

3562. 076/412. 1765.

3563. 076/412. 1765.

3564. 011/133. 1691. 015/94-095. 1704.

3565. 022/116. 1715.

3566. 044/10-12. 1740.

3567. 044/10-12. 1740.

3568. 044/10-12. 1740.

3569. 045/113. 1741.

3570. 045/192. 1741.

3571. 046/58. 1742.

3572. 061/387.

3573. 063/175-180. 1754.

3574. 069/140. 1759.

3575. 069/140. 1759.

3576. 069/140. 1759.

3577. 069/159. 1759.

3578. 069/254-255. 1759.

3579. 076/113. 1764. 076/370. 1765.

3580. 076/113. 1764.

3581. 083/387. 1768.

3582. 083/222-226. 1768.

3583. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

3584. 069/90. 1759.

3585. 062/294. 1753. 066/225. 1756. 068/192-193. 1758.

3586. 075/149-151. 1763.

3587. 084/370-371. 1769.

3588. 012/90a. 1693.

3589. 019/154. 1711.

3590. 019/194a. 1711.

3591. 031/212. 1720.

3592. 046/54-56. 1742.

3593. 019/161. 1711.

3594. 066/348. 1756.

3595. 068/296-297. 1758.

3596. 072/172, 174-178. 1767.

3597. 046/116. 1742.

3598. 046/116. 1742.

3599. 046/23. 1742.

3600. 046/23. 1742.

3601. 063/19. 1754.

3602. 062/258. 1753.

3603. 072/192-195. 1767.

3604. 072/90, 93-96. 1764.

3605. 072/321-326, 331. 1773.

3606. 072/504-505, 508-509. 1782.

3607. 072/504-505, 508-509. 1782.

3608. 072/399, 405-406. 1778.

3609. 086/113-122. 1771.

3610. 086/113-122. 1771.

3611. 086/229. 1771.

3612. 086/229. 1771.

3613. 075/394-395. 1764.

3614. 075/394-395. 1764.

3615. 075/394-395. 1764.

3616. 060/106.

3617. 060/106.

3618. 083/222-226. 1768.

3619. 075/78. 1763. 083/277. 1768.

3620. 084/368-369. 1769.

3621. 062/114. 1753.

3622. 047/55. 1742.

3623. 063/122. 1754. 063/219. 1754. 066/337. 1756.

3624. 083/278. 1768.

3625. 085/309. 1770.

3626. 086/153. 1771. 086/305. 1771.

3627. 085/296. 1770. 086/146. 1771.

3628. 062/13. 1753.

3629. 071/131-138. 1762. 071/140-143. 1762.

3630. 067/410-411. 1757.

3631. 067/169-170. 1757.

3632. 076/112. 1764.

3633. 084/195. 1769.

3634. 085/297. 1770.

3635. 086/147. 1771.

3636. 085/440. 1770.

3637. 071/386-393. 1763. 083/282. 1768.

3638. 076/373-374. 1765.

3639. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), chs. 4 and 6. To be verified.

3640. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

3641. John Styles, The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), chs. 4 and 15. To be verified.

3642. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Knopf, 1992), pp. 74-99. To be verified.

3643. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), ch. 4. To be verified.

3644. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

3645. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), ch. 6. To be verified.

3646. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), ch. 7. To be verified.

3647. 001/64. 1678.

3648. 001/64. 1678.

3649. 001/70. 1678.

3650. 004/328. .

3651. 004/328. .

3652. 018/99,106. 1713.

3653. 018/99,106. 1713.

3654. 004/252. 1713.

3655. 023/141,204. 1715.

3656. 014/307-311. 1704.

3657. 014/307-311. 1704.

3658. 015/71. 1704.

3659. 027/55. 1717.

3660. 019/194a. 1711.

3661. 019/194a. 1711.

3662. 008/129. 1711.

3663. 031/217,219. 1721.

3664. 030/351. 1719.

3665. 045/109. 1741.

3666. 045/113. 1741. 045/114. 1741.

3667. 045/192. 1741. 045/211. 1742.

3668. 046/55-56. 1742.

3669. 046/55-56. 1742.

3670. 046/55-56. 1742.

3671. 046/54. 1742.

3672. 046/21. 1742.

3673. 044/16. 1740.

3674. 046/84. 1742. 046/85. 1742.

3675. 046/86. 1742.

3676. 062/74. 1753.

3677. 062/158. 1753.

3678. 062/175. 1753. 062/185. 1753. 062/323. 1753. 062/340. 1753.

3679. 062/78. 1753.

3680. 062/78. 1753.

3681. 062/438-439. 1754.

3682. 063/360. 1755.

3683. 066/389. 1756.

3684. 068/165. 1758.

3685. 069/65. 1759.

3686. 069/46. 1759. 069/68. 1759. 069/75. 1759. 069/76. 1759.

3687. 071/288. 1763. 075/214. 1764. 076/190. 1765. 077/289. 1766.

3688. 078/389. 1767. 084/34. 1769.

3689. 086/198. 1771.

3690. 085/84. 1770. 085/90. 1770. 085/231. 1770. 085/248-249. 1770. 085/369. 1770.

3691. 085/84. 1770.

3692. 085/230. 1770.

3693. 086/85. 1771. 086/128. 1771. 086/137. 1771. 086/226. 1771. 086/251. 1771. 086/374. 1771.

3694. 085/258. 1770.

3695. 062/158. 1753.

3696. 063/248. 1754.

3697. 063/329. 1755.

3698. 067/68. 1756.

3699. 068/142-143. 1758. 068/148. 1758.

3700. 071/253. 1763. 075/219. 1764. 075/395. 1764. 076/170. 1765.

3701. 077/60. 1765. 078/38. 1766. 078/52. 1766.

3702. 082/21. 1767. 082/135. 1767.

3703. 083/180. 1768.

3704. 083/429. 1769. 083/442. 1769. 083/443. 1769. 084/94. 1769. 084/127. 1769.

3705. 085/230. 1770. 085/369. 1770. 086/128. 1771. 086/374. 1771.

3706. 084/94. 1769.

3707. 064/91. 1759.

3708. 070/30. 1759.

3709. 083/37. 1768.

3710. 085/248-249. 1770.

3711. 085/248-249. 1770.

3712. 062/77. 1753. 066/417. 1756. 068/158-159. 1758. 071/260-261. 1763. 083/452. 1769.

3713. 085/92. 1770. 085/105. 1770. 085/233. 1770. 085/239. 1770. 086/93. 1771. 086/379. 1771.

3714. 086/267. 1771.

3715. 067/25. 1756.

3716. 069/240. 1759.

3717. 082/29. 1767.

3718. 085/378. 1770.

3719. 062/349. 1754.

3720. 068/7-8. 1757.

3721. 063/9. 1754. 063/15. 1754.

3722. 062/102. 1753.

3723. 062/202. 1753.

3724. 062/356. 1754. 063/105. 1754. 066/48. 1755. 066/325. 1756.

3725. 066/446. 1756.

3726. 067/410-411. 1757. 068/106-110. 1758.

3727. 069/79-82. 1759.

3728. 076/350-351. 1765. 077/108. 1765.

3729. 084/348. 1769.

3730. 085/9. 1769. 085/155. 1770.

3731. 085/294. 1770. 085/408. 1770.

3732. 086/28. 1770. 086/142. 1771.

3733. 086/289. 1771.

3734. 062/109. 1753. 063/15. 1754.

3735. 066/152. 1755. 066/333. 1756. 076/18-19. 1764. 084/190. 1769.

3736. 078/215. 1766.

3737. 078/76. 1766.

3738. 078/297. 1766.

3739. 085/22. 1769. 085/164. 1770. 085/303-304. 1770.

3740. 086/37. 1770. 086/149. 1771.

3741. 086/299. 1771.

3742. 065/335. 1772.

3743. 065/335. 1772.

3744. 062/102. 1753. 063/105. 1754.

3745. 066/325. 1756. 068/106-110. 1758.

3746. 068/278-284. 1758. 075/66. 1763. 076/9. 1764.

3747. 082/195. 1767. 084/178. 1769. 084/348. 1769.

3748. 085/155. 1770. 085/408. 1770. 086/142. 1771. 086/289. 1771.

3749. 085/22. 1769. 085/164. 1770. 085/303-304. 1770.

3750. 086/299. 1771.

3751. 062/289. 1753. 066/333. 1756. 067/326-327. 1757. 084/190. 1769.

3752. 071/240-241. 1762.

3753. 046/121-125. 1742.

3754. 047/83. 1742.

3755. 047/162. 1742.

3756. 062/317. 1753.

3757. 062/317. 1753.

3758. 069/199. 1759.

3759. 063/245-246. 1754. 067/117-118. 1756. 082/279-280. 1767.

3760. 085/445. 1770.

3761. 085/470-471. 1770.

3762. 047/164-165. 1742.

3763. 062/107. 1753. 063/106. 1754.

3764. 076/350-351. 1765. 084/348. 1769.

3765. 085/10. 1769. 085/156. 1770. 086/27. 1770. 086/289. 1771.

3766. 086/27. 1770. 086/141. 1771.

3767. 062/289. 1753. 085/22. 1769.

3768. 075/103. 1763. 084/405-406. 1769. 085/442. 1770.

3769. 071/131-138. 1762. 071/150-152. 1762.

3770. 071/428. 1763.

3771. 071/430. 1763.

3772. 062/23-24. 1753.

3773. 084/55. 1769.

3774. 086/156. 1771. 086/312. 1771.

3775. 083/252. 1768.

3776. 046/132. 1742. 047/164-165. 1742.

3777. 066/52. 1755. 084/181. 1769.

3778. 066/253. 1756.

3779. 082/250. 1767.

3780. 085/160. 1770.

3781. 086/296. 1771.

3782. 001/64. 1678. 086/296. 1771.

3783. 047/52. 1742.

3784. 047/51. 1742.

3785. 047/52. 1742.

3786. 047/52. 1742.

3787. 063/333. 1755.

3788. 063/209. 1754.

3789. 066/328. 1756.

3790. 083/150. 1768.

3791. 083/150. 1768.

3792. 075/107. 1763. 076/103-104. 1764. 078/218. 1766.

3793. 076/369. 1765.

3794. 082/220-221. 1767.

3795. 085/444. 1770.

3796. 085/160. 1770.

3797. 085/298. 1770.

3798. 086/296. 1771.

3799. 062/216. 1753.

3800. 071/18-20. 1762.

3801. 071/386-393. 1763. 075/229. 1764. 084/354. 1769.

3802. 086/34. 1770. 086/296. 1771.

3803. 085/312. 1770. 085/419-420. 1770.

3804. 085/274-275. 1770.

3805. 063/242. 1754.

3806. 067/246. 1757.

3807. 063/242. 1754.

3808. 071/126. 1762.

3809. 071/240-241. 1762.

3810. 071/332. 1763.

3811. 071/332. 1763.

3812. 047/41. 1742. 047/54. 1742.

3813. 047/54. 1742.

3814. 047/54. 1742.

3815. 062/108. 1753. 062/12. 1753.

3816. 063/111. 1754.

3817. 066/148. 1755.

3818. 068/419-424. 1759. 075/68. 1763. 078/302. 1766. 082/79. 1767.

3819. 086/35. 1770.

3820. 062/208. 1753. 078/418. 1767. 085/18. 1769. 085/411. 1770.

3821. 082/327-328. 1767.

3822. 062/12. 1753. 067/75. 1756.

3823. 062/108. 1753.

3824. 067/75. 1756. 068/106-110. 1758. 069/166-172. 1759.

3825. 077/120. 1765.

3826. 068/278-284. 1758.

3827. 084/191. 1769.

3828. 085/299. 1770.

3829. 086/302. 1771.

3830. 047/119-121. 1742.

3831. 047/140-146. 1742.

3832. 063/166-171. 1754.

3833. 063/175-180. 1754.

3834. 063/252-255. 1754.

3835. 051/71-72.

3836. 051/76-79.

3837. 059/29,31-32.

3838. 063/121. 1754.

3839. 063/121. 1754.

3840. 082/217. 1767.

3841. 084/199. 1769.

3842. 084/208-209. 1769.

3843. 085/29. 1769.

3844. 085/171. 1770. 085/312. 1770. 086/41. 1770.

3845. 086/308. 1771.

3846. 076/353. 1765.

3847. 078/419-420. 1767.

3848. 078/90. 1766.

3849. 085/17. 1769. 086/296. 1771.

3850. 085/470-471. 1770. 086/204-206. 1771.

3851. 077/250. 1765.

3852. 077/250. 1765.

3853. 077/250. 1765.

3854. 062/285. 1753.

3855. 076/215-216. 1765.

3856. 075/137. 1763.

3857. 075/226. 1764.

3858. 083/262. 1768.

3859. 078/216. 1766.

3860. 078/258. 1766.

3861. 085/156. 1770.

3862. 085/294. 1770. 085/408. 1770.

3863. 086/300. 1771.

3864. 085/444. 1770.

3865. 063/166-171. 1754.

3866. 067/450-452. 1757.

3867. 068/55-56. 1758.

3868. 062/114. 1753. 069/178-180. 1759.

3869. 062/438-439. 1754.

3870. 085/431. 1770.

3871. 086/54. 1770.

3872. 072/415-420. 1778.

3873. 072/398-405. 1778.

3874. 047/119-121. 1742.

3875. 055/263,271.

3876. 066/179. 1755.

3877. 059/29,31-32.

3878. 047/50. 1742. 062/105. 1753.

3879. 005/247. 1682.

3880. 005/247. 1682.

3881. 034/84. 1723.

3882. 034/84. 1723.

3883. 009/15. 1684.

3884. 072/27-28. 1763.

3885. 072/70, 75. 1764.

3886. 067/258-259. 1757.

3887. 067/272-273. 1757.

3888. 062/293. 1753. 084/369. 1769.

3889. 085/168. 1770. 085/309. 1770. 085/418. 1770.

3890. 085/168. 1770. 085/309. 1770.

3891. 086/41. 1770. 086/151. 1771. 086/305. 1771.

3892. 085/27. 1769. 085/168. 1770. 086/151. 1771.

3893. 085/169. 1770. 086/40. 1770.

3894. 082/330. 1767.

3895. 083/35. 1768.

3896. 079/318. 1771.

3897. 065/336. 1772.

3898. 062/118. 1753. 063/223. 1754. 066/63. 1755.

3899. 066/224. 1756.

3900. 082/220-221. 1767. 082/333-334. 1767.

3901. 071/210-212. 1762.

3902. 076/372. 1765.

3903. 084/49-50. 1769.

3904. 078/242-243. 1766. 078/317. 1766. 082/100-102. 1767.

3905. 076/301. 1765. 076/343. 1765.

3906. 082/12-13. 1767. 082/284. 1767.

3907. 085/423. 1770. 086/45. 1770.

3908. 085/38. 1769. 086/159. 1771. 086/316. 1771.

3909. 062/297. 1753. 062/372-373. 1754.

3910. 063/296. 1755.

3911. 075/152-153. 1763.

3912. 076/115. 1764.

3913. 085/34. 1769.

3914. 085/174. 1770. 085/315-316. 1770. 086/45. 1770.

3915. 063/125. 1754.

3916. 068/295-296. 1758. 071/404-405. 1763. 082/92. 1767.

3917. 085/422-423. 1770.

3918. 086/313. 1771.

3919. 062/118. 1753. 076/232-233. 1765.

3920. 067/247. 1757.

3921. 076/375. 1765.

3922. 072/35-36. 1763.

3923. 072/276-282. 1770.

3924. 084/382. 1769. 077/225. 1765. 078/312. 1766.

3925. 075/159. 1763.

3926. 075/362-363. 1764. 084/55. 1769.

3927. 085/179. 1770. 086/50. 1770.

3928. 086/320-321. 1771.

3929. 063/123-124. 1754. 066/341-342. 1756. 067/84. 1756.

3930. 067/171. 1757.

3931. 067/423-424. 1757.

3932. 085/36. 1769.

3933. 085/424. 1770.

3934. 085/319-320. 1770.

3935. 076/377-378. 1765.

3936. 084/378-380. 1769.

3937. 077/133-134. 1765.

3938. 077/331. 1766. 078/313. 1766. 078/425-426. 1767. 082/221-222. 1767.

3939. 082/438-439. 1768.

3940. 084/52. 1769.

3941. 072/482, 485-488. 1781.

3942. 072/482, 485-488. 1781.

3943. 073/78. 1789.

3944. 073/78. 1789.

3945. 071/288. 1763.

3946. 075/416. 1764. 077/186. 1765.

3947. 078/76. 1766. 078/215. 1766.

3948. 065/336. 1772.

3949. 005/247. 1682. 034/84. 1723.

3950. Maureen Dillon, Artificial Sunshine: A Social History of Domestic Lighting (London: National Trust, 2002), pp. 20-45. To be verified.

3951. John Brewer, The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688-1783 (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989), pp. 95-100. To be verified.

3952. William T. O'Dea, The Social History of Lighting (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1958), pp. 35-60. To be verified.

3953. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-45. To be verified.

3954. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 90-110. To be verified.

3955. Craig Koslofsky, Evening's Empire: A History of the Night in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 128-156. To be verified.

3956. A. Roger Ekirch, At Day's Close: Night in Times Past (New York: W. W. Norton, 2005), pp. 98-110. To be verified.

3957. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992), pp. 125-130. To be verified.

3958. A. Roger Ekirch, At Day's Close: Night in Times Past (New York: W. W. Norton, 2005), pp. 103-105. To be verified.

3959. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 50-60. To be verified.

3960. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

3961. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 86-100. To be verified.

3962. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 160-170. To be verified.

3963. 007/69. 1704.

3964. 017/78. 1707.

3965. 017/78. 1707.

3966. 027/345. 1718.

3967. 041/288. 1738.

3968. 042/198. .

3969. 084/148. 1769. 084/298-300. 1769.

3970. 014/271. 1702.

3971. 008/224. 1738.

3972. 069/321-328. 1760.

3973. 072/70, 75. 1764.

3974. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

3975. 072/337-339. 1774.

3976. 072/356-363. 1775.

3977. 072/383-386. 1776.

3978. 068/239-241. 1758.

3979. 012/82. 1693.

3980. 004/206. 1713.

3981. 028/73. 1717.

3982. 041/179. 1737.

3983. 072/30-32. 1763.

3984. 001/64. 1678.

3985. 001/66. 1678.

3986. 001/70. 1678.

3987. 010/165. 1687.

3988. 012/90b. 1693.

3989. 008/55. 1696.

3990. 008/80. 1703.

3991. 008/129. 1711.

3992. 008/129. 1711.

3993. 019/154. 1711.

3994. 019/194b. 1711.

3995. 019/194b. 1711.

3996. 020/420-421. 1715.

3997. 023/119. 1715.

3998. 023/141,204. 1715.

3999. 034/406. 1725.

4000. 008/153. 1719.

4001. 030/351. 1719.

4002. 031/212. 1720.

4003. 031/217,219. 1721.

4004. 047/85. 1742.

4005. 046/132. 1742.

4006. 062/308. 1753.

4007. 075/99. 1763.

4008. 085/15. 1769.

4009. 085/409. 1770.

4010. 085/164. 1770.

4011. 071/75. 1762.

4012. 065/320. 1770.

4013. 068/121. 1758.

4014. 078/463-464. 1767.

4015. 086/204-206. 1771.

4016. 086/400. 1771.

4017. 046/154-155. 1742.

4018. 047/50. 1742.

4019. 062/23. 1753. 062/297. 1753.

4020. 082/241. 1767.

4021. 086/295. 1771.

4022. 047/49. 1742.

4023. 046/55-59. 1742.

4024. 047/41. 1742. 047/42. 1742.

4025. 063/232. 1754.

4026. 071/158-172. 1762.

4027. 068/221. 1758.

4028. 075/236. 1764. 084/198. 1769.

4029. 083/146. 1768.

4030. 084/354. 1769.

4031. 085/29. 1769. 085/312. 1770.

4032. 086/42. 1770.

4033. 086/76. 1770.

4034. 085/432. 1770. 085/433. 1770.

4035. 045/114. 1741.

4036. 046/60. 1742.

4037. 047/48. 1742.

4038. 063/120. 1754.

4039. 071/158-172. 1762.

4040. 076/22. 1764.

4041. 083/254. 1768.

4042. 084/183. 1769.

4043. 085/413. 1770. 086/31. 1770.

4044. 085/439. 1770.

4045. 085/438. 1770. 085/439. 1770.

4046. 062/106. 1753.

4047. 067/239. 1757. 071/11. 1762.

4048. 066/340. 1756.

4049. 047/58. 1742.

4050. 062/315. 1753. 066/328. 1756.

4051. 066/328. 1756.

4052. 085/12. 1769.

4053. 085/414. 1770.

4054. 086/32. 1770.

4055. 085/18. 1769.

4056. 086/293. 1771.

4057. 047/54. 1742.

4058. 046/63-64. 1742.

4059. 048/241-242.

4060. 051/11-17.

4061. 051/76-79.

4062. 053/299-300.

4063. 059/29,31-32.

4064. 063/12. 1754.

4065. 062/314. 1753. 075/104. 1763.

4066. 077/212. 1765.

4067. 082/216. 1767. 083/263. 1768.

4068. 086/297. 1771.

4069. 085/442. 1770.

4070. 047/58. 1742.

4071. 046/132. 1742.

4072. 066/180. 1755.

4073. 085/445. 1770.

4074. 062/221-222. 1753.

4075. 067/445. 1757.

4076. 047/45. 1742.

4077. 068/106-110. 1758.

4078. 076/223-225. 1765.

4079. 069/434. 1760.

4080. 086/204-206. 1771.

4081. 086/49. 1770.

4082. 085/434-435. 1770.

4083. 085/301. 1770. 085/410. 1770.

4084. 086/291. 1771.

4085. 086/302. 1771.

4086. 086/309. 1771.

4087. 085/19. 1769.

4088. 044/4. 1740.

4089. 044/5. 1740.

4090. 044/5. 1740.

4091. 062/54. 1753.

4092. 062/67. 1753.

4093. 067/205. 1757.

4094. 069/258. 1760.

4095. 075/275. 1764.

4096. 085/94-96. 1770. 085/98-99. 1770.

4097. 086/124. 1771.

4098. 063/369. 1755.

4099. 071/384. 1763.

4100. 078/380. 1767.

4101. 078/412. 1767.

4102. 085/105. 1770.

4103. 085/107. 1770.

4104. 086/207. 1771.

4105. 062/320-321. 1753. 068/317. 1758.

4106. 064/29. 1755.

4107. 065/53-54. 1757.

4108. 077/292. 1766.

4109. 083/39-40. 1768.

4110. 078/409. 1767.

4111. 084/91. 1769.

4112. 062/10. 1753. 078/300. 1766.

4113. 084/185. 1769.

4114. 085/94-96. 1770.

4115. 085/158. 1770.

4116. 086/293. 1771.

4117. 075/108-109. 1763.

4118. 076/63-64. 1764.

4119. 063/109. 1754.

4120. 063/42. 1754. 067/162. 1757.

4121. 086/294. 1771.

4122. 086/293. 1771.

4123. 085/445. 1770.

4124. 076/226. 1765.

4125. 063/411. 1755.

4126. 086/38. 1770.

4127. 086/150. 1771.

4128. 066/266-274. 1756.

4129. 071/357. 1763. 070/242. 1763.

4130. 047/77. 1742.

4131. 072/98, 104. 1765.

4132. 072/106-111. 1765.

4133. 047/43. 1742.

4134. 063/107. 1754.

4135. 063/115. 1754.

4136. 067/89. 1756.

4137. 078/246. 1766. 078/222. 1766.

4138. 084/199. 1769.

4139. 067/169-170. 1757.

4140. 086/32. 1770.

4141. 085/30. 1769.

4142. 085/313. 1770.

4143. 085/434. 1770.

4144. 086/150. 1771.

4145. 047/45. 1742.

4146. 063/120. 1754.

4147. 066/391. 1756.

4148. 083/268. 1768.

4149. 085/313. 1770.

4150. 086/296. 1771.

4151. 045/114. 1741.

4152. 046/55-58. 1742.

4153. 046/55-58. 1742.

4154. 047/118-119. 1743.

4155. 047/133-135. 1743. 047/135-136. 1743.

4156. 071/88-89. 1762.

4157. 078/173. 1766.

4158. 084/119-122. 1769.

4159. 086/236-237. 1771.

4160. 085/27. 1769.

4161. 067/398. 1757.

4162. 070/281. 1764. 070/283. 1764.

4163. 075/32. 1763.

4164. 075/326-328. 1764.

4165. 047/162. 1742.

4166. 047/160-161. 1742.

4167. 004/206. 1713.

4168. 062/213. 1753.

4169. 063/121. 1754.

4170. 062/370. 1754.

4171. 069/277-280. 1760.

4172. 075/352. 1764.

4173. 071/306-308. 1763. 076/367. 1765. 076/365-366. 1765.

4174. 063/119. 1754.

4175. 069/365-368. 1760.

4176. 071/18-20. 1762.

4177. 084/49. 1769.

4178. 084/245. 1769.

4179. 084/339. 1769.

4180. 082/126. 1767.

4181. 085/210. 1770.

4182. 085/352-354. 1770.

4183. 085/170. 1770.

4184. 085/171. 1770.

4185. 086/306. 1771.

4186. 086/309. 1771.

4187. 086/294. 1771.

4188. 063/183. 1754.

4189. 069/159. 1759.

4190. 085/470-471. 1770.

4191. 062/219-220. 1753.

4192. 063/125. 1754.

4193. 082/91. 1767.

4194. 083/285. 1768.

4195. 068/299-300. 1758.

4196. 083/420. 1768.

4197. 085/422-423. 1770.

4198. 086/313. 1771.

4199. 085/179. 1770. 085/323. 1770. 086/50. 1770. 086/320-321. 1771.

4200. 072/30-32. 1763.

4201. 072/430-434. 1779.

4202. 085/373-374. 1770.

4203. 047/95-96. 1742.

4204. 067/249-250. 1757.

4205. 075/153-154. 1763.

4206. 084/206-208. 1769.

4207. 078/238. 1766. 078/98. 1766.

4208. 085/37. 1769.

4209. 085/177. 1770.

4210. 085/424. 1770.

4211. 085/36. 1769.

4212. 067/332-333. 1757.

4213. 084/52. 1769.

4214. 071/407-408. 1763.

4215. 082/338-339. 1767.

4216. 085/38. 1769.

4217. 085/39. 1769.

4218. 085/425-426. 1770.

4219. 086/159. 1771.

4220. 072/71-74. 1764.

4221. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

4222. 072/400-402. 1778.

4223. 072/400-402. 1778.

4224. 066/149. 1755. 066/448. 1756.

4225. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), ch. 2. To be verified.

4226. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), ch. 5. To be verified.

4227. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), ch. 6. To be verified.

4228. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Knopf, 1992), ch. 3. To be verified.

4229. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), ch. 4. To be verified.

4230. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

4231. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), ch. 6. To be verified.

4232. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), ch. 7. To be verified.

4233. 009/204. 1685.

4234. 007/69. 1704.

4235. 007/69. 1704.

4236. 042/21. .

4237. 042/21. .

4238. 043/15. 1737.

4239. 046/100. 1742.

4240. 046/100. 1742.

4241. 047/115. 1742. 047/19. 1742.

4242. 063/146. 1754.

4243. 075/61. 1763.

4244. 075/263. 1764.

4245. 069/220. 1759.

4246. 068/133. 1758.

4247. 068/133. 1758.

4248. 083/52. 1768.

4249. 085/364-368. 1770.

4250. 085/364-368. 1770.

4251. 085/364-368. 1770.

4252. 085/383. 1770.

4253. 085/400. 1770.

4254. 086/188. 1771.

4255. 086/188. 1771.

4256. 072/305. 1772.

4257. 065/374. 1775.

4258. 065/377. 1776.

4259. 065/384. 1776.

4260. 080/48-49. 1767.

4261. 080/343-344. 1789.

4262. 080/175-176. 1780. 080/206. 1782. 080/262. 1786.

4263. 080/185-186. 1780.

4264. 066/444. 1756.

4265. 067/114. 1756.

4266. 067/114. 1756.

4267. 071/430. 1763.

4268. 067/49. 1756.

4269. 067/47. 1756.

4270. 067/47. 1756.

4271. 067/47. 1756.

4272. 067/46. 1756.

4273. 067/46. 1756.

4274. 067/53-54. 1756.

4275. 067/53-54. 1756.

4276. 067/61. 1756.

4277. 067/61. 1756.

4278. 067/61. 1756.

4279. 067/62-63. 1756.

4280. 063/371-374. 1755.

4281. 067/310-311. 1757.

4282. 067/386-389. 1757.

4283. 067/48. 1756.

4284. 047/42. 1742. 047/51. 1742.

4285. 047/55. 1742.

4286. 046/133. 1742.

4287. 046/153. 1742.

4288. 063/18. 1754.

4289. 063/18. 1754.

4290. 062/113. 1753. 062/21. 1753. 062/294. 1753.

4291. 063/19. 1754. 063/219. 1754. 066/224. 1756. 076/25. 1764. 078/93. 1766. 086/40. 1770.

4292. 066/222. 1756.

4293. 066/222. 1756.

4294. 069/220. 1759. 068/433-435. 1759.

4295. 062/374-375. 1754.

4296. 063/121. 1754.

4297. 068/112. 1758.

4298. 068/428-430. 1759.

4299. 071/17-18. 1762.

4300. 068/432. 1759.

4301. 063/111. 1754.

4302. 083/269. 1768.

4303. 084/372. 1769.

4304. 085/432. 1770.

4305. 086/309. 1771.

4306. 066/33-34. 1755.

4307. 066/33-34. 1755.

4308. 066/33-34. 1755.

4309. 066/175. 1755. 069/195. 1759. 076/59. 1764.

4310. 082/244. 1767. 083/312. 1768. 084/404. 1769.

4311. 085/441. 1770.

4312. 075/104. 1763. 076/60. 1764. 082/247. 1767. 083/313-314. 1768. 084/406. 1769. 085/442. 1770.

4313. 085/445. 1770.

4314. 085/411. 1770.

4315. 075/107. 1763.

4316. 076/62-63. 1764. 082/251. 1767. 084/409-410. 1769. 085/444. 1770.

4317. 085/300. 1770.

4318. 076/119-120. 1764. 082/440. 1768. 083/388. 1768.

4319. 075/85. 1763.

4320. 075/156. 1763.

4321. 083/252. 1768.

4322. 062/12. 1753. 062/287. 1753.

4323. 062/315. 1753. 063/242. 1754.

4324. 047/59. 1742.

4325. 063/18. 1754. 071/306-308. 1763. 082/433-434. 1768. 084/49. 1769.

4326. 085/433. 1770.

4327. 086/33. 1770.

4328. 086/164. 1771.

4329. 063/42. 1754.

4330. 046/21. 1742.

4331. 067/205. 1757.

4332. 071/379. 1763.

4333. 078/409. 1767.

4334. 085/94-96. 1770. 085/98-99. 1770.

4335. 086/124. 1771.

4336. 063/109. 1754.

4337. 067/162. 1757.

4338. 075/64. 1763.

4339. 071/131-138. 1762. 071/297-302. 1763.

4340. 082/203. 1767.

4341. 071/393-396. 1763.

4342. 086/34. 1770.

4343. 085/158. 1770. 086/294. 1771.

4344. 047/54. 1742.

4345. 062/20. 1753. 066/181. 1755.

4346. 082/323. 1767.

4347. 063/12. 1754. 077/121. 1765.

4348. 078/14. 1766.

4349. 086/297. 1771. 086/302. 1771.

4350. 085/468. 1770.

4351. 086/309. 1771.

4352. 072/90, 93-96. 1764.

4353. 066/348. 1756.

4354. 019/161. 1711.

4355. 086/113-122. 1771.

4356. 086/113-122. 1771.

4357. 086/229. 1771.

4358. 086/40. 1770.

4359. 086/305. 1771.

4360. 085/270-272. 1770.

4361. 019/194b. 1711.

4362. 046/56-59. 1742.

4363. 046/56-59. 1742.

4364. 047/54. 1742.

4365. 047/86. 1742. 047/91. 1742.

4366. 046/121-125. 1742.

4367. 062/67. 1753.

4368. 062/144. 1753. 062/411. 1754.

4369. 062/412. 1754.

4370. 069/432. 1760.

4371. 071/379. 1763. 075/275. 1764. 077/318. 1766.

4372. 077/318. 1766.

4373. 076/186-187. 1765. 082/386-387. 1768.

4374. 085/94-96. 1770. 085/98-99. 1770.

4375. 086/124. 1771.

4376. 085/107. 1770. 086/207. 1771.

4377. 062/10. 1753. 063/109. 1754.

4378. 084/185. 1769.

4379. 062/107. 1753. 062/208. 1753.

4380. 062/290. 1753. 067/78. 1756.

4381. 078/228. 1766.

4382. 085/158. 1770.

4383. 086/293. 1771.

4384. 085/16. 1769.

4385. 085/299. 1770.

4386. 086/297. 1771.

4387. 086/293. 1771. 086/297. 1771.

4388. 085/425-426. 1770. 086/316. 1771.

4389. 063/112-113. 1754. 069/166-172. 1759. 069/354-360. 1760.

4390. 082/76. 1767. 082/428. 1768.

4391. 076/352. 1765. 076/16. 1764. 082/196. 1767.

4392. 075/97. 1763. 084/393. 1769.

4393. 085/434-435. 1770.

4394. 086/291. 1771.

4395. 085/162. 1770.

4396. 077/147. 1765. 084/88. 1769.

4397. 085/470-471. 1770.

4398. 046/116. 1742.

4399. 046/116. 1742.

4400. 047/140-146. 1742.

4401. 069/196. 1759.

4402. 075/346-348. 1764. 078/228. 1766.

4403. 068/290-292. 1758.

4404. 076/381-382. 1765.

4405. 084/212. 1769.

4406. 085/427-428. 1770.

4407. 085/434-435. 1770.

4408. 075/153-154. 1763.

4409. 063/292. 1755. 066/59. 1755.

4410. 076/25. 1764.

4411. 076/372. 1765. 078/310. 1766. 082/332. 1767. 082/86. 1767.

4412. 085/171. 1770.

4413. 066/59. 1755. 083/112. 1768. 084/198. 1769.

4414. 027/55. 1717.

4415. 039/23. 1738.

4416. 072/19-22. 1762.

4417. 072/146, 151, 155-156. 1766.

4418. 072/146, 151, 155-156. 1766.

4419. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

4420. 063/416. 1755.

4421. 067/246. 1757. 067/247. 1757.

4422. 067/248. 1757.

4423. 062/173-174. 1753.

4424. 063/266. 1754.

4425. 063/266. 1754.

4426. 068/133. 1758.

4427. 068/133. 1758.

4428. 068/349-350. 1759.

4429. 068/349-350. 1759.

4430. 067/318-319. 1757.

4431. 067/48. 1756.

4432. 067/53-54. 1756.

4433. 086/192. 1771.

4434. 070/289-290. 1764.

4435. 075/323-325. 1764.

4436. 077/175-176. 1765.

4437. 077/177. 1765.

4438. 078/124. 1766.

4439. 078/212. 1766.

4440. 039/30. 1738.

4441. 046/80. 1742.

4442. 072/19-22. 1762.

4443. 066/108. 1755.

4444. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

4445. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

4446. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

4447. 072/437, 442-443, 445. 1779.

4448. 019/194b. 1711.

4449. 019/194b. 1711.

4450. 063/166-171. 1754.

4451. 063/175-180. 1754.

4452. 062/306. 1753.

4453. 040/399. 1735.

4454. 066/163. 1755. 068/196-197. 1758. 069/94. 1759.

4455. 069/122. 1759.

4456. 062/221-222. 1753.

4457. 082/196. 1767.

4458. 062/448-449. 1754.

4459. 062/21. 1753.

4460. 068/58-60. 1758.

4461. 085/147. 1770.

4462. 085/313-314. 1770. 085/360. 1770.

4463. 085/421-422. 1770.

4464. 085/434-435. 1770.

4465. 085/410. 1770.

4466. 086/49. 1770.

4467. 042/21. .

4468. 080/48-49. 1767. 080/206. 1782.

4469. 072/305. 1772. 065/374. 1775.

4470. 067/46. 1756. 067/62-63. 1756.

4471. 063/371-374. 1755. 067/310-311. 1757.

4472. 067/49. 1756.

4473. 046/121-125. 1742. 062/10. 1753. 084/185. 1769. 085/158. 1770.

4474. 086/293. 1771. 086/297. 1771.

4475. 071/297-302. 1763.

4476. 072/19-22. 1762. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

4477. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), chapters 2-3. To be verified.

4478. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), chapter 5. To be verified.

4479. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1979), chapter 2. To be verified.

4480. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Knopf, 1992), chapter 2. To be verified.

4481. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), chapter 3. To be verified.

4482. 068/432. 1759.

4483. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

4484. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), chapter 2. To be verified.

4485. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), chapter 7. To be verified.

4486. Richard H. Grove, Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), chapter 3. To be verified.

4487. 001/65. 1678.

4488. 001/64. 1678.

4489. 001/70. 1678.

4490. 001/128,134. 1680.

4491. 005/317. 1682.

4492. 005/317. 1682.

4493. 010/92. 1684.

4494. 010/165. 1687.

4495. 004/252. 1713.

4496. 004/252. 1713.

4497. 004/252. 1713.

4498. 018/99,106. 1713.

4499. 004/328. .

4500. 004/328. .

4501. 023/119. 1715.

4502. 023/119. 1715.

4503. 024/106. 1716. 027/428. 1719.

4504. 030/351. 1719.

4505. 030/351. 1719.

4506. 034/494. 1725.

4507. 034/494. 1725.

4508. 038/285. 1734.

4509. 046/121-125. 1742.

4510. 046/121-125. 1742.

4511. 046/37. 1742.

4512. 063/9. 1754.

4513. 062/209. 1753.

4514. 063/15. 1754.

4515. 063/15. 1754.

4516. 062/18. 1753.

4517. 063/17. 1754.

4518. 078/87. 1766.

4519. 078/419-420. 1767. 084/191. 1769.

4520. 085/19. 1769. 085/163. 1770. 085/415-417. 1770. 086/299. 1771.

4521. 085/19. 1769.

4522. 082/327-328. 1767.

4523. 082/327-328. 1767.

4524. 079/28. 1766.

4525. 079/28. 1766.

4526. 086/150. 1771. 086/302. 1771.

4527. 086/297. 1771.

4528. 065/335. 1772.

4529. 065/335. 1772.

4530. 079/346. 1772.

4531. 072/126-127. 1765.

4532. 072/230-237. 1769.

4533. 076/97-98. 1764.

4534. 083/288-289. 1768.

4535. 084/208-209. 1769.

4536. 085/425-426. 1770.

4537. 086/159. 1771. 086/316. 1771.

4538. 086/306. 1771.

4539. 086/190. 1771.

4540. 086/320-321. 1771.

4541. 085/177. 1770. 085/37. 1769.

4542. 069/72. 1759.

4543. 068/57. 1758.

4544. 062/108. 1753. 062/106. 1753.

4545. 062/205. 1753.

4546. 062/12. 1753. 062/14. 1753. 062/10. 1753.

4547. 063/105. 1754.

4548. 062/108. 1753.

4549. 066/332. 1756. 082/205. 1767.

4550. 085/19. 1769. 086/297. 1771.

4551. 062/366. 1754.

4552. 062/202. 1753. 084/348. 1769.

4553. 076/215-216. 1765.

4554. 076/15. 1764.

4555. 066/448. 1756.

4556. 084/185. 1769.

4557. 086/289. 1771.

4558. 086/296. 1771.

4559. 086/293. 1771.

4560. 086/297. 1771.

4561. 086/291. 1771.

4562. 085/413. 1770.

4563. 085/297. 1770. 086/32. 1770.

4564. 086/33. 1770. 085/300. 1770.

4565. 085/296. 1770. 086/146. 1771.

4566. 086/294. 1771.

4567. 077/111. 1765.

4568. 078/77. 1766.

4569. 078/82. 1766.

4570. 078/298. 1766. 078/297. 1766.

4571. 047/59. 1742.

4572. 062/318. 1753. 066/181. 1755.

4573. 069/199. 1759. 084/388-412. 1769.

4574. 084/388-412. 1769.

4575. 075/98. 1763.

4576. 075/108-109. 1763.

4577. 075/100. 1763.

4578. 083/307. 1768.

4579. 085/445. 1770.

4580. 085/432. 1770. 085/434-435. 1770. 085/438. 1770.

4581. 085/439. 1770.

4582. 085/434-435. 1770.

4583. 085/445. 1770.

4584. 086/105. 1771. 086/113-122. 1771.

4585. 086/113-122. 1771.

4586. 086/114. 1771.

4587. 086/196. 1771.

4588. 086/268-270. 1771. 086/376. 1771.

4589. 086/376. 1771.

4590. 063/108. 1754. 076/99. 1764.

4591. 086/296. 1771.

4592. 062/14. 1753. 084/180. 1769.

4593. 062/280. 1753. 084/348. 1769. 085/408. 1770.

4594. 071/386-393. 1763. 085/163. 1770.

4595. 076/12. 1764. 086/295. 1771.

4596. 062/202. 1753. 084/348. 1769.

4597. 085/155. 1770. 086/289. 1771.

4598. 062/284. 1753. 077/111. 1765. 063/109. 1754. 083/271. 1768.

4599. 062/202. 1753. 062/289. 1753. 084/348. 1769. 084/45. 1769.

4600. 085/155. 1770. 085/164. 1770.

4601. 085/413. 1770. 085/415-417. 1770.

4602. 078/300. 1766. 078/305. 1766.

4603. 065/169. 1762.

4604. 065/320. 1770.

4605. 071/75. 1762.

4606. 086/354. 1771.

4607. 086/354. 1771.

4608. 079/246-247. 1770.

4609. 062/90. 1753.

4610. 062/448-449. 1754.

4611. 066/253. 1756.

4612. 069/349-350. 1760.

4613. 071/338. 1763. 078/454-455. 1767.

4614. 084/123. 1769.

4615. 085/274-275. 1770.

4616. 085/274-275. 1770.

4617. 085/274-275. 1770.

4618. 086/204-206. 1771.

4619. 067/194. 1757.

4620. 047/41. 1742.

4621. 047/58. 1742.

4622. 047/127-128. 1743.

4623. 062/320-321. 1753. 083/324-326. 1768.

4624. 085/470-471. 1770.

4625. 068/7-8. 1757.

4626. 078/266. 1766.

4627. 067/117-118. 1756.

4628. 044/16. 1740.

4629. 062/74. 1753.

4630. 062/78. 1753.

4631. 063/360. 1755. 066/389. 1756. 068/165. 1758.

4632. 069/46. 1759. 069/68. 1759. 069/75. 1759. 069/76. 1759.

4633. 071/288. 1763. 076/190. 1765.

4634. 086/198. 1771.

4635. 085/84. 1770. 085/231. 1770. 085/369. 1770. 086/85. 1771. 086/128. 1771. 086/251. 1771.

4636. 085/258. 1770.

4637. 062/158. 1753. 071/253. 1763.

4638. 082/21. 1767. 083/429. 1769.

4639. 085/230. 1770. 085/248-249. 1770. 086/137. 1771. 086/374. 1771.

4640. 064/91. 1759.

4641. 083/37. 1768.

4642. 085/248-249. 1770.

4643. 086/379. 1771. 086/267. 1771.

4644. 082/29. 1767.

4645. 066/180. 1755.

4646. 044/4. 1740.

4647. 044/5. 1740.

4648. 062/67. 1753.

4649. 062/412. 1754.

4650. 071/379. 1763.

4651. 076/283-284. 1765.

4652. 078/409. 1767.

4653. 078/409. 1767. 084/91. 1769.

4654. 085/94-96. 1770.

4655. 086/124. 1771.

4656. 086/124. 1771.

4657. 086/124. 1771.

4658. 078/372. 1767. 063/411. 1755.

4659. 062/54. 1753.

4660. 063/369. 1755.

4661. 078/380. 1767.

4662. 082/395-396. 1768.

4663. 085/105. 1770. 085/107. 1770.

4664. 086/207. 1771.

4665. 065/53-54. 1757.

4666. 077/292. 1766.

4667. 083/39-40. 1768.

4668. 044/17. 1740.

4669. 067/297. 1757.

4670. 047/60. 1742.

4671. 065/23. 1755. 064/30. 1755.

4672. 066/387-388. 1756.

4673. 065/81. 1759. 070/30. 1759.

4674. 077/290. 1766.

4675. 086/249-250. 1771.

4676. 069/419-421. 1760.

4677. 083/27. 1768.

4678. 044/25. 1740.

4679. 044/31. 1740.

4680. 068/328. 1758.

4681. 077/212. 1765.

4682. 078/306. 1766.

4683. 086/39. 1770.

4684. 019/154. 1711.

4685. 031/217,219. 1721.

4686. 044/26. 1740.

4687. 044/26. 1740.

4688. 046/37. 1742.

4689. 046/148. 1742.

4690. 066/91-92. 1755.

4691. 067/126-127. 1756.

4692. 067/126-127. 1756.

4693. 085/147-148. 1770.

4694. 085/284-286. 1770.

4695. 086/271-272. 1771.

4696. 046/51. 1742.

4697. 066/391. 1756.

4698. 066/266-274. 1756.

4699. 066/266-274. 1756.

4700. 066/266-274. 1756.

4701. 066/266-274. 1756.

4702. 075/394. 1764.

4703. 075/394. 1764.

4704. 075/394. 1764.

4705. 075/326-328. 1764.

4706. 075/326-328. 1764.

4707. 077/280-285. 1766.

4708. 077/280-285. 1766.

4709. 083/28-29. 1768. 083/59. 1768.

4710. 083/28-29. 1768.

4711. 080/41-42. 1767.

4712. 072/51-53. 1763.

4713. 072/251-258. 1769.

4714. 072/5. 1782.

4715. 077/184. 1765.

4716. Hoh-cheung Mui and Lorna H. Mui, Shops and Shopkeeping in Eighteenth-Century England (London: Routledge, 1989), pp. 1-45. To be verified.

4717. Nancy Cox, The Complete Tradesman: A Study of Retailing, 1550-1820 (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2000), pp. 76-115. To be verified.

4718. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

4719. Carole Shammas, The Pre-industrial Consumer in England and America (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1990), pp. 225-265. To be verified.

4720. T. H. Breen, The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. 33-71. To be verified.

4721. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 115-160. To be verified.

4722. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

4723. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

4724. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 7-28. To be verified.

4725. 004/20. 1673.

4726. 004/23. 1673.

4727. 010/21-022. 1683.

4728. 005/376. 1683.

4729. 017/86. 1707.

4730. 068/248-250. 1758.

4731. 068/324. 1758.

4732. 068/87. 1758. 066/10. 1755. 066/99. 1755. 071/272. 1763. 076/420. 1765.

4733. 066/99. 1755. 071/86. 1762. 075/130. 1763. 076/420. 1765.

4734. 076/280. 1765.

4735. 075/16. 1763.

4736. 085/112. 1770.

4737. 086/15. 1770.

4738. 086/24. 1771.

4739. 067/130. 1756.

4740. 066/10. 1755. 071/86. 1762. 071/272. 1763. 075/130. 1763. 076/420. 1765.

4741. 067/392. 1757.

4742. 063/86. 1754. 066/295. 1756. 068/87. 1758.

4743. 085/287. 1770.

4744. 085/373. 1770.

4745. 047/129-130. 1743.

4746. 063/73. 1754. 083/182-183. 1768.

4747. 073/83. 1791.

4748. 073/83. 1791.

4749. 073/82-83. 1791.

4750. 005/48. 1679.

4751. 008/16. 1682.

4752. 012/89. 1693.

4753. 012/89. 1693.

4754. 012/90a. 1693.

4755. 012/90a. 1693.

4756. 012/90b. 1693.

4757. 012/90b. 1693.

4758. 012/90b. 1693.

4759. 008/55. 1696.

4760. 008/55. 1696.

4761. 008/69. 1699.

4762. 008/69. 1699.

4763. 008/80. 1703.

4764. 008/80. 1703.

4765. 008/129. 1711.

4766. 008/129. 1711.

4767. 008/153. 1719.

4768. 008/153. 1719.

4769. 019/154. 1711.

4770. 019/154. 1711.

4771. 019/80. 1710.

4772. 019/80. 1710.

4773. 019/141. 1711.

4774. 031/212. 1720.

4775. 031/212. 1720.

4776. 031/217,219. 1721.

4777. 031/217,219. 1721.

4778. 031/217,219. 1721.

4779. 031/217,219. 1721.

4780. 033/53. 1723.

4781. 007/226. 1718.

4782. 007/226. 1718.

4783. 041/233. 1737.

4784. 041/382. 1739.

4785. 008/224. 1738.

4786. 045/109. 1741.

4787. 045/109. 1741.

4788. 045/109. 1741.

4789. 045/109. 1741.

4790. 045/113. 1741.

4791. 045/113. 1741.

4792. 045/113. 1741.

4793. 045/113. 1741.

4794. 045/114. 1741.

4795. 045/114. 1741.

4796. 046/8. 1742.

4797. 046/18. 1742.

4798. 046/21. 1742.

4799. 046/21. 1742.

4800. 043/146. .

4801. 043/146. .

4802. 046/8. 1742.

4803. 046/37. 1742.

4804. 046/54. 1742. 046/55. 1742.

4805. 046/54. 1742.

4806. 046/54-56. 1742.

4807. 046/54-56. 1742.

4808. 046/55-57. 1742.

4809. 046/55-57. 1742.

4810. 046/59. 1742.

4811. 046/59. 1742.

4812. 046/55-58. 1742.

4813. 046/55-59. 1742.

4814. 046/56-59. 1742.

4815. 046/53-54. 1742.

4816. 046/53-54. 1742.

4817. 046/60. 1742.

4818. 046/65. 1742.

4819. 050/11-12.

4820. 051/9-10. 051/11-17.

4821. 051/11-17.

4822. 051/9-10. 051/11-17.

4823. 051/73-75. 051/76-79.

4824. 051/73-75. 051/76-79.

4825. 051/18-22.

4826. 051/18-22.

4827. 051/42-53.

4828. 048/214-215.

4829. 048/236-240.

4830. 059/29,31-32. 059/38.

4831. 063/166-171. 1754.

4832. 063/166-171. 1754.

4833. 063/166-171. 1754.

4834. 063/166-171. 1754.

4835. 063/166-171. 1754.

4836. 063/175-180. 1754.

4837. 063/175-180. 1754.

4838. 063/175-180. 1754.

4839. 063/171-173. 1754.

4840. 063/171-173. 1754.

4841. 047/166-167. 1743.

4842. 047/166-167. 1743.

4843. 047/166-167. 1743.

4844. 062/231-232. 1753.

4845. 044/26. 1740.

4846. 044/26. 1740.

4847. 046/148. 1742.

4848. 046/148. 1742.

4849. 046/148. 1742.

4850. 046/148. 1742.

4851. 063/255-256. 1754.

4852. 066/91-92. 1755.

4853. 066/23. 1755.

4854. 066/23. 1755.

4855. 067/283-284. 1757.

4856. 066/21. 1755.

4857. 083/222-226. 1768.

4858. 075/12-14. 1763.

4859. 075/12-14. 1763.

4860. 075/266-267. 1764.

4861. 069/319-320. 1760.

4862. 067/178. 1757.

4863. 082/153. 1767.

4864. 086/366. 1771.

4865. 086/366. 1771.

4866. 085/120-123. 1770.

4867. 085/120-123. 1770.

4868. 085/120-123. 1770.

4869. 085/147-148. 1770.

4870. 085/147-148. 1770.

4871. 085/147-148. 1770.

4872. 085/147-148. 1770.

4873. 085/397. 1770.

4874. 086/13-14. 1770.

4875. 086/13-14. 1770.

4876. 079/340. 1772.

4877. 086/271-272. 1771.

4878. 086/271-272. 1771.

4879. 086/271-272. 1771.

4880. 086/271-272. 1771.

4881. 086/268-270. 1771. 086/376. 1771.

4882. 086/376. 1771.

4883. 046/112. 1742.

4884. 046/112. 1742.

4885. 046/113-114. 1742.

4886. 046/116. 1742.

4887. 047/154. 1743.

4888. 047/140-146. 1742.

4889. 047/140-146. 1742.

4890. 047/119-121. 1742.

4891. 047/82-83. 1742.

4892. 084/265-266. 1769.

4893. 084/265-266. 1769.

4894. 083/222-226. 1768.

4895. 083/222-226. 1768.

4896. 075/269-271. 1764.

4897. 047/118-119. 1743.

4898. 047/178-179. 1743.

4899. 071/78-79. 1762.

4900. 069/316-317. 1760.

4901. 047/133-135. 1743.

4902. 047/133-135. 1743.

4903. 078/269-270. 1766.

4904. 078/269-270. 1766.

4905. 085/225-229. 1770.

4906. 085/225-229. 1770.

4907. 085/225-229. 1770.

4908. 066/276-277. 1756.

4909. 047/135-136. 1743.

4910. 085/270-272. 1770.

4911. 085/270-272. 1770.

4912. 085/284-286. 1770.

4913. 085/284-286. 1770.

4914. 085/284-286. 1770.

4915. 086/236-237. 1771.

4916. 086/236-237. 1771.

4917. 086/236-237. 1771.

4918. 062/84. 1753.

4919. 062/85. 1753.

4920. 062/88. 1753.

4921. 062/88. 1753.

4922. 062/89. 1753.

4923. 062/434. 1754.

4924. 062/434. 1754.

4925. 063/164. 1754.

4926. 063/164. 1754.

4927. 071/366-367. 1763.

4928. 073/29-30. 1770.

4929. 078/369-370. 1767.

4930. 078/379. 1767.

4931. 044/42. 1740.

4932. 044/42. 1740.

4933. 047/137-138. 1743.

4934. 066/116-117. 1755.

4935. 066/374. 1756.

4936. 075/28-29. 1763.

4937. 008/69. 1699.

4938. 008/153. 1719.

4939. 067/310-311. 1757.

4940. 067/310-311. 1757.

4941. 071/366-367. 1763.

4942. 076/166-167. 1765.

4943. 085/225-229. 1770.

4944. 085/270-272. 1770.

4945. 085/270-272. 1770.

4946. 085/284-286. 1770.

4947. 069/34. 1759.

4948. 069/425-426. 1760.

4949. 071/182-183. 1762.

4950. 076/441-447. 1765.

4951. 074/38-40. 1798. 054/213-214.

4952. 078/172. 1766.

4953. 078/172. 1766.

4954. 078/176-177. 1766.

4955. 084/119-122. 1769.

4956. 084/119-122. 1769.

4957. 084/119-122. 1769.

4958. 085/112. 1770.

4959. 066/367-368. 1756.

4960. 078/173. 1766.

4961. 078/173. 1766.

4962. 071/88-89. 1762.

4963. 084/119-122. 1769.

4964. 078/175. 1766.

4965. 086/236-237. 1771.

4966. 047/103-104. 1743.

4967. 076/447-448. 1765.

4968. 067/460-461. 1757.

4969. 070/137-138. 1761.

4970. 065/106. 1759.

4971. 064/114. 1759.

4972. 065/106. 1759.

4973. 069/159. 1759.

4974. 085/473. 1770.

4975. 085/473. 1770.

4976. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 13-32. To be verified.

4977. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

4978. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Knopf, 1992), pp. 30-60. To be verified.

4979. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 113-140. To be verified.

4980. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

4981. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 141-146. To be verified.

4982. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 214-220. To be verified.

4983. 003/30. 1679.

4984. 003/30. 1679.

4985. 003/73. .

4986. 046/109-110. 1742.

4987. 046/148. 1742.

4988. 066/33-34. 1755.

4989. 066/33-34. 1755. 066/87. 1755.

4990. 070/92-93. 1760.

4991. 070/92-93. 1760.

4992. 070/92-93. 1760.

4993. 070/92-93. 1760.

4994. 073/8. 1762.

4995. 072/15-16. 1762.

4996. 072/5. 1782.

4997. 065/341-342. 1772.

4998. 065/341-342. 1772.

4999. 072/15-16. 1762.

5000. 072/109, 119-121. 1765. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

5001. 072/251-258. 1769.

5002. 072/212-218. 1768. 072/430-434. 1779.

5003. 073/78. 1789.

5004. 073/78. 1789.

5005. 002/231-234. 1683.

5006. 002/231-234. 1683.

5007. 002/237-249. 1683.

5008. 011/133. 1691.

5009. 011/133. 1691.

5010. 011/436. 1693.

5011. 005/247. 1682.

5012. 005/247. 1682.

5013. 005/247. 1682.

5014. 004/332. .

5015. 013/200-213. 1699.

5016. 013/200-213. 1699.

5017. 013/200-213. 1699.

5018. 014/162-170. 1701.

5019. 014/162-170. 1701.

5020. 014/271. 1702.

5021. 015/138,154. 1704.

5022. 015/138,154. 1704.

5023. 015/138,154. 1704.

5024. 015/138,154. 1704.

5025. 015/94-095. 1704.

5026. 015/94-095. 1704.

5027. 015/163. 1704.

5028. 015/163. 1704.

5029. 015/198. 1707.

5030. 015/198. 1707.

5031. 031/121. 1720.

5032. 031/121. 1720.

5033. 040/152. 1733.

5034. 040/257. 1734.

5035. 040/258. 1734.

5036. 044/10-12. 1740.

5037. 044/10-12. 1740.

5038. 044/10-12. 1740.

5039. 044/22. 1740.

5040. 047/168-174. 1743.

5041. 072/27-28. 1763.

5042. 072/27-28. 1763.

5043. 072/23. 1762. 072/27-28. 1763.

5044. 072/69-73. 1764.

5045. 072/69-73. 1764.

5046. 072/28-30. 1763.

5047. 072/28-30. 1763.

5048. 072/28-30. 1763.

5049. 072/350-354. 1774.

5050. 072/350-354. 1774.

5051. 072/350-354. 1774.

5052. 072/172, 174-178. 1767.

5053. 072/285-290, 292. 1771.

5054. 072/437-438, 443-445. 1779.

5055. 072/437-438, 443-445. 1779.

5056. 072/504, 506-509. 1782.

5057. 072/205-210. 1768.

5058. 072/205-210. 1768.

5059. 072/205-210. 1768.

5060. 072/398-405. 1778.

5061. 072/199-203. 1767.

5062. 072/220-222. 1768.

5063. 072/251-258. 1769.

5064. 072/415-420. 1778.

5065. 072/51-53. 1763.

5066. 072/51-53. 1763.

5067. 072/70, 75. 1764.

5068. 072/70, 75. 1764.

5069. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

5070. 072/146-147, 152-156. 1766.

5071. 072/71-74. 1764.

5072. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

5073. 072/287, 291-292. 1771.

5074. 072/437, 442-443, 445. 1779.

5075. 072/456-459. 1780.

5076. 072/106-111. 1765.

5077. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

5078. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

5079. 046/100-101. 1742.

5080. 046/106. 1742.

5081. 046/106. 1742.

5082. 047/168-174. 1743.

5083. 047/168-174. 1743.

5084. 072/54-56. 1763.

5085. 072/165-171. 1766.

5086. 072/165-171. 1766.

5087. 072/165-171. 1766.

5088. 072/212-218. 1768.

5089. 072/212-218. 1768.

5090. 072/356-363. 1775.

5091. 072/356-363. 1775.

5092. 072/356-363. 1775.

5093. 072/383-386. 1776.

5094. 072/383-386. 1776.

5095. 072/337-339. 1774.

5096. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

5097. 072/128-129, 133-135. 1765.

5098. 072/285-290, 292. 1771.

5099. 072/398-405. 1778.

5100. 072/398-405. 1778.

5101. 072/504, 506-509. 1782.

5102. 072/251-258. 1769.

5103. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

5104. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

5105. 072/129, 135-137. 1765.

5106. 072/356-363. 1775.

5107. 072/165-171. 1766. 072/356-363. 1775. 072/503-506. 1782.

5108. 072/503-506. 1782.

5109. 072/503-506. 1782.

5110. 075/32. 1763.

5111. 072/19-22. 1762.

5112. 072/285-290, 292. 1771.

5113. 072/415-420. 1778.

5114. 044/10-12. 1740.

5115. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

5116. 072/436, 438-441, 445. 1779.

5117. 062/258. 1753.

5118. 072/192-195. 1767.

5119. 072/192-195. 1767.

5120. 072/504-505, 508-509. 1782.

5121. 072/504-505, 508-509. 1782.

5122. 047/77. 1742.

5123. 072/98, 104. 1765.

5124. 072/106-111. 1765.

5125. 072/106-111. 1765.

5126. 072/415-420. 1778.

5127. 047/172-175. 1743.

5128. 047/172-175. 1743.

5129. 072/172, 174-178. 1767.

5130. 072/437, 442-443, 445. 1779. 072/383-386. 1776.

5131. 072/251-258. 1769.

5132. 072/251-258. 1769.

5133. 072/251-258. 1769.

5134. 072/71-74. 1764.

5135. 072/71-74. 1764.

5136. 083/215. 1768.

5137. 072/42-44. 1763.

5138. 072/42-44. 1763.

5139. 072/181, 183-185, 189. 1767.

5140. 070/146. 1761.

5141. 085/373-374. 1770.

5142. 085/373-374. 1770.

5143. 085/373-374. 1770.

5144. 086/419-420. 1771.

5145. 086/419-420. 1771.

5146. 086/419-420. 1771.

5147. 069/333. 1760.

5148. 069/333. 1760.

5149. 070/91. 1760.

5150. 070/91. 1760.

5151. 086/105. 1771.

5152. 086/105. 1771.

5153. 086/113-122. 1771.

5154. 086/113-122. 1771.

5155. 086/114. 1771.

5156. 086/114. 1771.

5157. 086/113-122. 1771.

5158. 086/127. 1771.

5159. 086/196. 1771.

5160. 086/268-270. 1771.

5161. 086/268-270. 1771.

5162. 086/268-270. 1771.

5163. 086/268-270. 1771.

5164. 086/268-270. 1771.

5165. 086/268-270. 1771.

5166. 086/268-270. 1771.

5167. 086/376. 1771.

5168. 086/376. 1771.

5169. 067/460-461. 1757.

5170. 067/460-461. 1757.

5171. 067/460-461. 1757.

5172. 083/228-229. 1768. 079/158. 1769.

5173. 075/326-328. 1764.

5174. 072/90, 93-96. 1764.

5175. 072/108, 116-118. 1765. 072/129, 135-137. 1765.

5176. 072/15-16. 1762.

5177. 072/15-16. 1762.

5178. 062/92. 1753.

5179. 062/244. 1753.

5180. 069/256-257. 1760.

5181. 065/127. 1760.

5182. 082/383-384. 1768.

5183. 069/253-254. 1759.

5184. 069/254-255. 1759.

5185. 069/254-255. 1759.

5186. 070/205-206. 1762.

5187. 070/205-206. 1762.

5188. 069/147. 1759.

5189. 062/173-174. 1753.

5190. 062/173-174. 1753.

5191. 072/415-420. 1778.

5192. 043/146. .

5193. 043/146. .

5194. 064/114. 1759.

5195. 064/114. 1759.

5196. 068/418. 1759.

5197. 069/226. 1759.

5198. 078/145-146. 1766.

5199. 066/108. 1755.

5200. J. M. Beattie, Crime and the Courts in England, 1660-1800 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986), pp. 161-167 and 424-430. To be verified.

5201. John Styles, The Dress of the People: Everyday Fashion in Eighteenth-Century England (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 33-56. To be verified.

5202. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), pp. 25-42. To be verified.

5203. Elsa V. Goveia, Slave Society in the British Leeward Islands at the End of the Eighteenth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1965), pp. 152-202. To be verified.

5204. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 119-130. To be verified.

5205. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 119-137. To be verified.

5206. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 159-180. To be verified.

5207. 001/34. 1674. 002/29. 1674.

5208. 004/23. 1673.

5209. 004/20. 1673.

5210. 005/183. 1681.

5211. 001/186. 1682.

5212. 003/38. .

5213. 003/45. 1683.

5214. 003/40. 1683. 004/53. 1683.

5215. 004/53. 1683.

5216. 003/44. 1683.

5217. 004/184. 1685.

5218. 086/11-12. 1770.

5219. 086/11-12. 1770.

5220. 086/11-12. 1770.

5221. 003/79. .

5222. 046/81. 1742.

5223. 062/246. 1753. 063/157. 1754. 066/107. 1755. 067/37. 1756. 067/378. 1757. 068/238. 1758. 069/144-145. 1759. 071/76. 1762. 075/23. 1763. 075/410. 1764. 077/22. 1765. 078/150. 1766. 082/158. 1767. 083/201. 1768. 084/274. 1769. 085/389-390. 1770. 086/382-383. 1771.

5224. 068/238. 1758.

5225. 085/389-390. 1770.

5226. 085/389-390. 1770.

5227. 069/309. 1760.

5228. 070/19. 1759. 070/48. 1759. 070/100-101. 1760. 070/214. 1763. 070/257. 1763. 079/49. 1766. 079/105. 1767.

5229. 079/222-223. 1769.

5230. 079/324. 1771.

5231. 065/335-336. 1772.

5232. 046/160-161. 1742.

5233. 062/255-257. 1753.

5234. 077/64-67. 1765. 078/166-168. 1766. 083/218-221. 1768.

5235. 085/400-403. 1770.

5236. 085/400-403. 1770.

5237. 086/404. 1771.

5238. 086/404. 1771.

5239. 086/403. 1771.

5240. 001/25. 1674.

5241. 008/16. 1682.

5242. 012/89. 1693.

5243. 008/80. 1703.

5244. 008/80. 1703.

5245. 004/206. 1713.

5246. 046/36. 1742.

5247. 033/68. 1724.

5248. 069/334. 1760.

5249. 066/301-302. 1756.

5250. 071/80-81. 1762.

5251. 066/367-368. 1756.

5252. 086/236-237. 1771.

5253. 086/236-237. 1771.

5254. 085/284-286. 1770.

5255. 047/118-119. 1743.

5256. 047/133-135. 1743.

5257. 069/316-317. 1760.

5258. 078/269-270. 1766.

5259. 071/366-367. 1763.

5260. 085/225-229. 1770.

5261. 085/225-229. 1770.

5262. 085/225-229. 1770.

5263. 085/270-272. 1770.

5264. 085/270-272. 1770.

5265. 062/84. 1753.

5266. 062/85. 1753.

5267. 062/83. 1753. 062/88. 1753.

5268. 062/167-172. 1753. 062/434. 1754.

5269. 074/33-37. 1753.

5270. 052/108-109.

5271. 051/54-61.

5272. 051/42-53.

5273. 054/42.

5274. 054/189.

5275. 007/226. 1718.

5276. 044/42. 1740.

5277. 047/137-138. 1743.

5278. 047/166-167. 1743.

5279. 063/171-173. 1754.

5280. 066/116-117. 1755.

5281. 062/71. 1753.

5282. 063/53-54. 1754.

5283. 066/374. 1756.

5284. 066/401. 1756.

5285. 069/32. 1759.

5286. 062/231-232. 1753.

5287. 062/236-237. 1753.

5288. 068/415-416. 1759.

5289. 067/379-382. 1757.

5290. 068/381-383. 1759.

5291. 080/117-118. 1771.

5292. 080/74. 1768.

5293. 079/141-142. 1768.

5294. 079/175. 1769.

5295. 085/399. 1770.

5296. 085/373. 1770.

5297. 085/373. 1770.

5298. 086/367. 1771. 086/373. 1771.

5299. 002/237-249. 1683.

5300. 046/112. 1742.

5301. 066/21. 1755.

5302. 066/23. 1755.

5303. 085/270-272. 1770.

5304. 062/334-335. 1753.

5305. 062/86. 1753.

5306. 046/23. 1742.

5307. 046/68. 1742.

5308. 075/59. 1763.

5309. 078/124. 1766.

5310. 067/459-460. 1757.

5311. 084/136-138. 1769.

5312. 066/35. 1755.

5313. 067/140-141. 1757.

5314. 072/19-22. 1762.

5315. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

5316. 082/153. 1767.

5317. 080/114-115. 1770.

5318. 085/404. 1770.

5319. 082/383-384. 1768.

5320. 046/32. 1742.

5321. 046/33-34. 1742.

5322. 065/224. 1764.

5323. 065/253. 1766.

5324. 065/274. 1768. 065/275-276. 1768.

5325. 083/422-423. 1769.

5326. 082/150-151. 1767. 079/94. 1767.

5327. 003/78. .

5328. 004/106. .

5329. 003/124. .

5330. 005/247. 1682.

5331. 004/332. .

5332. 062/244. 1753.

5333. 046/53-54. 1742.

5334. 046/53-54. 1742.

5335. 063/166-171. 1754.

5336. 067/373. 1757.

5337. 069/34. 1759.

5338. 004/235. 1713.

5339. 046/38. 1742. 047/79. 1742.

5340. 069/42-43. 1759.

5341. 075/191. 1764.

5342. 069/321-328. 1760.

5343. 072/19-22. 1762.

5344. 072/322, 327-331. 1773.

5345. 072/101-104. 1765.

5346. 072/356-363. 1775.

5347. 062/406-407. 1754.

5348. 083/157. 1768.

5349. 082/173. 1767.

5350. 083/258. 1768.

5351. 074/22-23. 1787.

5352. 067/373. 1757.

5353. 062/406-407. 1754.

5354. 070/153. 1762.

5355. 072/482, 485-488. 1781.

5356. 072/482, 487-495. 1781.

5357. 049/72,117.

5358. 008/69. 1699.

5359. 008/153. 1719.

5360. 067/310-311. 1757.

5361. 071/366-367. 1763.

5362. 078/172. 1766.

5363. 072/158-161. 1766.

5364. 072/101-104. 1765.

5365. 072/17-18. 1762.

5366. 072/230-237. 1769.

5367. 047/118-119. 1743.

5368. 069/34. 1759.

5369. 069/425-426. 1760.

5370. 071/182-183. 1762.

5371. 076/441-447. 1765.

5372. 085/270-272. 1770.

5373. 054/213-214.

5374. 084/119-122. 1769.

5375. 078/176-177. 1766.

5376. 070/16-17. 1759.

5377. 072/27-28. 1763.

5378. 072/383-386. 1776.

5379. 045/109. 1741.

5380. 050/11-12.

5381. 046/68. 1742.

5382. 047/64. 1742.

5383. 046/18. 1742.

5384. 069/55. 1759.

5385. 070/23. 1759.

5386. 065/300. 1769.

5387. 085/286. 1770.

5388. 085/286. 1770.

5389. 085/286. 1770.

5390. 067/263-266. 1757.

5391. 067/260-262. 1757.

5392. 067/258-259. 1757.

5393. 067/255-257. 1757. 067/263-266. 1757.

5394. Peter Laslett and Richard Wall (eds), Household and Family in Past Time (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972), pp. 125-158. To be verified.

5395. Mark Overton, Jane Whittle, Darron Dean and Andrew Hann, Production and Consumption in English Households, 1600-1750 (London: Routledge, 2004), pp. 13-32. To be verified.

5396. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 117-150. To be verified.

5397. Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1972), pp. 250-262. To be verified.

5398. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp. 41-63. To be verified.

5399. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

5400. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), pp. 159-178. To be verified.

5401. Matthew Johnson, English Houses 1300-1800: Vernacular Architecture, Social Life (Harlow: Pearson Longman, 2010), 45-63. To be verified.

5402. 002/92. . 010/21-22. 1683.

5403. 022/60. 1714. 043/71. 1738. 077/175. 1765. 065/268. 1768.

5404. 086/23. 1771. 086/80. 1770.

5405. Lorna Weatherill, Consumer Behaviour and Material Culture in Britain, 1660-1760 (London: Routledge, 1988), 25-42. To be verified.

5406. 062/360. 1754. 066/448. 1756.

5407. Abbott Lowell Cummings, The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1979), 1-20. To be verified.

5408. Michael J. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), 23-60. To be verified.

5409. Jarvis, In the Eye of All Trade, 23-60. To be verified.

5410. Richard L. Bushman, The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992). To be verified.

5411. Antonia Malan, "Building Lives at the Cape in the Early VOC Period," Kronos 33 (2007). To be verified.

5412. Nigel Worden, Slavery in Dutch South Africa (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985). To be verified.

5413. Robert C.-H. Shell, Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1838 (Hanover NH: Wesleyan University Press, 1994), 172-205. To be verified.

5414. Anthony D. King, The Bungalow: The Production of a Global Culture, 2nd edn (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). To be verified.

5415. P. J. Marshall, East Indian Fortunes: The British in Bengal in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976). To be verified.

Houses and Household Goods at St Helena, 1673-1782

Contents

A Note on the References

Introduction

The Evidence

Coverage

Arrangement

Main Findings

Part One: Building the House

1. House Ground, Building Standards and the Town

The Company's first orders, 1673-1680

The London model, 1682-1683

Chapel Valley and the early town, 1681-1741

Highways, passages and the street

Foundations, levelling and flood

House ground in James Valley, 1742-1782

Interpretations

Comparisons

2. Stone, Lime, Mud and Brick

Loose Stone and the First Stone Houses

Lime from Chalk, 1684-1708

Sandy Bay Limestone, 1709-1741

The Lime Works at Full Stretch, 1742-1771

Mud, Earth and the Art of Mortar

Facing, Plaster and Whitewash

Brick and Tile: Trials, Failures and a First Success

Stone Masonry in the Company Era

Cronk's Field Study and the Absence of Wattle and Daub

Interpretations

Comparisons

3. Timber, Deals, Nails and Paint

The island's own wood, 1673-1740

Deals, plank and Riga timber from England

Rafters, laths, bamboo and cabbage tree

Nails, brads and hinges

Paint, colours and putty

Window glass and lead

Tools of the building trades

Prices in the Company's store

Interpretations

Comparisons

4. Builders and Tradesmen

The First Tradesmen, 1673-1740

The Company's Masons and Carpenters

John Robinson, Master Carpenter

Glaziers, Painters, Plasterers and Thatchers

Soldiers as Day Labour

Slave Craftsmen and Apprentices

Day Wages and Salaries

Tradesmen as Householders

Interpretations

Comparisons

5. Roofs: Thatch, Tiles and Shingles

An Island of Thatch

Rushes, Bushes and Binders

Thatchers and the Company's Thatched Buildings

A Roof Anyone Could Open

Tiles: Imports, Trials and Soft Tiles

Lead, Gutters and Two Failed Roofs

Boards, Mortar, Slate and the Missing Shingle

Interpretations

Comparisons

6. Chimneys, Hearths, Heating and Fuel

Chimneys in the Early Settlement

Stacks, Mantle Trees and Repairs

The Chimney as a Way In

Hearth Furniture and Fire Irons

Warmth: Warming Pans, Chafing Dishes and the Fireside

Firewood and the Shrinking Wood

Coal from England

Interpretations

Comparisons

7. Windows, Doors, Locks and Keys

The Early Window: Glass, Bars and Shutters

Window Glass in the Company's Store, 1742-1771

Sashes, Shutters, Blinds and Curtains

Glaziers and the Care of Windows

Doors, Hinges and Bolts

Locks and Keys in the Store

Securing the House at Night