Box 1-033 in our archive is a notebook (4.5 x 7 inches) used by Walter Beaumont for an account after the death on 25 August 1835 of his brother Revd. Thomas Beaumont ("TB" here) of East Bridgford. A number of the payments made by Walter evidently related to the funeral, monument etc.; others are for servants' wages. There is also evidence of a certain amount of farming activity!
Walter was one of the three executors but as he was living in the house ("The Hill"), many details naturally fell to him to deal with. The account is titled "Walter Beaumont with the Executors of the late Revd Thomas Beaumont." It must be his own writing.
The left side of each double page records cash or cheques Walter received from eg sales or reimbursements. The right side shows payments Walter made, either in cash or by his own cheque.
First double page
Walter started the account on 26 August 1835, the day after his brother died, noting that he had paid 2s 6d for writing paper and sealing wax. He had found £3 15s 6d cash in the house. Needing as he obviously did to pay various things, he obtained £100 in cash from Smiths Bank on 29 August and a further £100 a week later.
(Note: As many readers will know, Smiths the bankers in Nottingham were related to the Beaumonts, being descended from the late TB's great-aunt Jane and her husband Abel Smith)
On 4 September Walter paid “Mrs Revill” the balance of accounts due to her and her wages in full, totalling £37 7s 9d. (“Ffanny Revel” is mentioned in TB's will as “the faithful nurse and attendant of my late dear wife and now in my service,” so I guess she had been providing the same sort of service to him in his old age - he left her a life interest in a cottage, and a legacy). On the same day Walter paid Thomas Goodwin a pound and Hannah Goodwin two pounds, for nursing (They also had been left life interests in a cottage).
(TB's wishes are not easy to make out, as the will itself is supplemented by three codicils all made over the period 1832-1834, in which gifts were made and altered!)
On 8 September Walter paid a certain S. Millington ten shillings, 8s being for “8 days,” and 2s being for callico and buttons.
On 11 September he paid Thomas Forrest two pounds, being for “the six bearers and two mules,” five shillings each. ( This must relate to the funeral. Thomas Forrest was TB's tenant at Car Colston and had witnessed one of the codicils).
The next day Walter paid John Hutchinson's wages to date, five guineas. (Hutchinson was TB's butler).
On 22 and 26 September Walter paid more servants' wages. Mary Sprouage £10-16-0, Mary Bradwell £9-4-8, William Bradwell, 7-10-0, Mary Barnes 12-3–0, Thomas Goodwin, 7-2-3, and Jno Husbands £3. (Goodwin was TB's coachman and Husbands was gardener).
At the bottom of this first double page Walter noted that he had received £203 15s 6d and spent £98 1s 2d (But he did not record the balance in hand. He never did that, but each time he started a new page he would carry the total amount over).
Second double page -
On 26 September Walter paid two years insurance in the Imperial Fire Office up to Xmas 1835 by Thomas Forrest £9-3-0. (It is is not clear to me as to what was being insured).
On 30 Sep Walter paid "Hutchinsons monthly account" noting the items as 9s to Mary Pepper for washing, £1 10s for "in attendance on Mrs Hulse," 2s for Clock cleaning, 6s 3d for "Postwoman's Quarter" (?), 3s 6d for Joseph Upton's bill, and 4s 6d for having the kitchen and scullery chimneys swept.
("Mrs Hulse" means Jane Hulse, TB's former housekeeper, who had retired by this date, but who was left an annuity of a guinea a week for life (see below)).
On 6 Oct Walter paid James Horsepoole butcher in full £8-13-0. On 8 October he paid James Mann tailor in full £23-12-0, paying that with his own cheque and getting one for the same amount from Smiths Bank the same day.
On 13 October Walter noted that he had paid Thomas Goodwin 7s 6d for "2 days & expenses in conveying the 3 carriages to Nottm." (I am supposing that these vehicles were to be sold.) Earlier in the month Walter had sold a horse to Mr Hassall for £54 10s, incurring 10s of expense in so doing and giving a pound to someone called Martin as a present.
("Mr Hassall" means John Hassall, a local farmer and beneficiary under the Will, who seems to have been involved in looking after Mrs Hulse.)
On 14 October Walter paid the subscription to the National School, two guineas, and on 15 October he paid ten guineas to a certain Charles ?Sorel(?) "for surveying at Car Colston by order of G.B."
Third double page
On 19 October Walter paid John Husband's wage in full (?to 22 Sept), 7s 6d. He also paid £9 to Mr Hassall as "Mrs Hulse's expenses in the Asylum, 6 weeks." And he paid 7s 6d as three years subscription to the Notts Association for Prosecuting Felons.
On 21 October Walter paid his own cheque to Thos Musson Undertaker in full £47-1-6, and collected a cheque from Smiths Bank for the same amount to refund him.
On 29 October Walter paid Thomas Freeman ten pounds "on account" and also paid Henry Upton 2s 6d "for shaving T.B."
On 3 Nov He paid John Brown the Poor Rate of 10d in the £ - this came to £3 5s 2 1/2. And on 4 Nov he paid E Mason Overseer of the Highways, the rate of 5d in the £ on £78 5s. This came to £1 12s 7d. And on 7 Nov he paid 3d for "carriage of a packet on Justice business." (This last possibly to do with TB having been a Magistrate).
On 10 Nov. Walter paid Rev Mr Hutchins (the Rector) £5 10s "for opening the Vault," and "the clerk fee" of a pound (TB himself had been the Curate).
At the end of this double page Walter noted that he had received £329 1s 4d and spent £233 10s 111/2d.
Fourth double page
On 12 Nov Walter paid John Hutchinson 17s 6d for 10 days wages from 10-22 Sep last, and 12s to William Bower "for two cows going to his Bull."
On 17 November he paid a number of what must be legacies, in each case being refunded the same day by the bank, here given its formal name "Samuel Smith Esq & Co." (These legacies do not correspond with my notes of the Will and codicils, and I wonder if they were the result of a decision taken by the Executors.) The payments were:
- £50 each to John Hutchinson and Thos Goodwin
- £25 to Mary Upton
- £10 each to Margaret Bradwell, William Bradwell, and Mary Sprouge
On 19 Nov Walter paid Jno(?) Peet 5 guineas "for taking an Inventory of the effects and furnish of a copy of the same, and on 21 Nov he paid Thomas Freeman £6 1s 2d for a half year land tax (6s 2d) and assessed tax £5 15s, a larger amount namely £11 0s 6d being refunded to him by the bank (not understood). On 27 Nov he paid postage 11d and on 3 Dec he paid ?Messrs Lockwood £5 for the quit rent due to Magdalen College at Michaelmas.
(Note: Notts Archives have a valuation by John Peet of personal effects etc., dated 1838)
(Note: Thomas Freeman is mentioned several times. I just guess that perhaps he was an agent for Magdalen College?)
At the end of this double page Walter noted he had received £495 1s 10d and spent £401 12s 6 1/2d
Fifth double page
On Dec 2 Walter paid 3d for the Receipt stamp for John Husband's legacy, and three days later paid the legacy itself, five pounds.
At the year end Walter evidently turned his attention to the agricultural side of TB's affairs. On 31 December he paid £193 1s 3d "by balance of sundry accounts with T. Forrest as audited and allowed by Geo. Beaumont" and he also paid one John Marriott 9s 6d for something I cannot make out.
(Note: George Beaumont here means the Land Surveyor and co-executor, my great-great-grandfather)
Also on Dec 31, 1835 Walter entered up that he had received rents of TB's [Car] Colston, Screveton etc estate up to the 25 August last, totalling £172-0-0. Also that had sold 58 sheep and 2 cows for £93 1s and two pigs for £4 19s. He had also received £10 for something I cannot make out, looking like cartage(?) of Lucern(?) up to 25 August. And he had sold wool for £9 5s and kids for £1 3s 4d. I wonder if he meant lambs rather than kids. These sales will have taken place at different times over the previous months.
Moving into 1836, on 2 January Walter refunded 9s 6d which was the cost of painting of his bookcase which by mistake had been charged in the expenses account by T Freeman.
And on Jan 6 Walter paid £150 in at Sam Smith & Co in Nottingham. He also paid £1 4s 6d to John Staveley ???tion and 11s 8d to B Boothby & Co for three cast iron fire backs.
On 13 January Walter paid a bill of £29 5s from Thos Earnshaw Marble & Stone Mason, which was £7 15s for [the] Monument and £21 10s for "stone laying round the house etc."
(Note: according to the information on the Southwell Churches website, “Booth, Nottingham” was the maker of the Monument in the church, perhaps meaning the top part of it, which was placed after the death of TB's wife in 1830 (see below)) (References in Notts Archives suggest that Thomas Earnshaw, a builder, moved to America in the 1840s) (I am wondering if the fire backs were for some purpose connected with the monument or for closing the vault, the entrance to which was presumably from outside of the church, north side of the chancel).
On 15 Jan Walter paid Thos Freeman's balance in full £6 4s.
At the bottom he noted that he had received £815 4s 8d and spent £787 8s 8 ½
Sixth double page
On Jan 18 1836 Walter paid 2s 6d to Revd Mr Hutchins for certificates of TB's funeral.
Various other payments - on 30 Jan £2 18s to George Skinner, cooper; on Feb 2 £5 8s 6d to John Brown of Bingham; on 3 Feb £3 0s 3d to Rich Richardson blacksmith.
On 16 Feb Walter paid £11 13s 6d to John Challand plumber, and collected this back from Smiths
1836 must have been a leap year, for on 29 February Walter paid William Wright & Wright & Thompson in full as per their bills the large amount of £330 7s. (Note - William Wright an eminent Nottingham surgeon was in partnership with a surgeon / apothecary named Joseph Thompson). Smiths Bank refunded Walter for this the same day.
On March 14 Walter paid John Gilbert bricklayer in full £6 17s (??perhaps for closing the vault back up??) and on 31st he paid 9s 9d for eleven receipt stamps.
Then there is gap timewise until 27 April 1836 when Walter notes that he has received £264 7s 3d from Mr Hassall, the "payment of his promissory note £250" and four years interest £14 7s 3d (I calculate this means the interest rate was only about 1.5 per cent per annum). On the same day Walter paid Mr Hassall £8 8s 11d for timber bought of the Earl of Chesterfield for fences.
At the bottom Walter noted having collected £1,421 12s 5d and spent £1,156 14s1 ½d.
Seventh Double page
On April 29 1836 Walter paid Bentley Wright apothecary £1 7s 6d and on May 4 he paid John Challand for repairs (of something I cannot make out) as per bill, 12s 6d
On 2 May he paid £200 into the bank of Saml Smith Esq & Co.
On 11 May Walter paid T Forrest's bills for various agricultural things - "articles etc used for fencings" -Hardston for staves £2 18s 4d; Smith for line 11s 4d; Doncaster for bricks £5 1s; F Pepper 8 days16s. Total £10 2s 8d.
The same day Walter paid Mr Hutchins half of the years rent of the ?Ship on the ?Lucern in full £1 10s (note - I have not understood this at all, the first word could be Slip and the other word might be simply Lawn.
18 May Walter Paid Jno Gilbert bricklayer for lengthening the fence wall against Kilner Green etc as per bill £2 0s 6d (Note "Kilner Green" seems clear).
21 May Walter paid Thomas Freeman half years land tax 6s 2d and half years assessed ditto £5 15s Total £6 1s 2d.
There are no receipts noted on this double page.
At the bottom Walter noted total outlay of £1,378 8s 5 ½d.
Eighth double page
On June 8 1836 Walter paid Samuel Herod 14 shillings for 550 bricks for the pillars at the iron gates (Note: Notts Archives has the Will of Samuel Herod of East Bridgford, Brick & Tile Maker, 1855)
11 June 1836 Walter entered that he had received £5 of Josh Upton (?) one year's interest on £100 on mortgage due at Lady Day last.
On July 18 he paid Thomas Freeman in full as per bill £3 18s 9d.
On 19 July Paid Mr Hutchins for charge for permitting the second inscription on the monument £2 (see note above; the monument had been placed after the death of TB's wife in 1830; the additional panel below it referring to TB himself is presumably what is meant here).
Oct 20 Paid T Earnshaw builder pd & receipt dated 28 Nov £10 exactly.
Oct 31 Paid Josh Adams for valuation of leasehold estate at Hawksworth one guinea. [This was a tenancy held from the bishop Lincoln]
Nov 10 Walter Paid £54 12s "to Mrs Hulse by the hands of Mr Hassall one years payment as per legacy bequeathed to her by Revd Thos Beaumont" and on the same day he got £54 3s from Smiths bank, to reimburse this, which he had paid by means of his own cheque to John Hassall. But there is a discrepancy in the two amounts. A year's worth of the legacy, which was a guinea a week, would come to £54 12s.
On 28 November Walter paid 8s to Jo: Brown for 2 cows serving.
He concludes this page with totals received £1,480 15s 5d and spent out £1,451 2s 2 ½d.
Ninth double page
On April 26, 1837 Walter paid (the doctor) Mr William Wright 10s 6d for a visit etc to Mrs Hulse on 31 August 1835.
An entry on Sept 3 1838 reads "Loss by light Gold" 1s 2d. (Note: I have not researched what this means but it is perhaps a tax of some kind to compensate the State for payments that may have been made to it earlier using defaced or impure currency. The notebook does not record who Walter paid this to).
The only further transactions on this page concern the annuity payments to Mrs Hulse. In each case the payment was made to John Hassall, and was refunded by the bank. These payments were
£45 12s on August 21 refunded on Sept 15 1837 (up to 25 Aug).
1838 May 22 38 weeks of payments in full to this day £39 18s, refunded same day.
1839 Febr 19 Paid to Mrs Hulse by the hands of Mr Hassall 39 weekly payments £40 19s, refunded same day.
Oct 15 Paid ditto ditto 34 weeks due this day £35 14s refunded same day.
1840 March 2 Paid ditto ditto 13 weeks in full 13 guineas refunded 22 March [in pencil – this cheque was dated 22 March instead of 2nd by mistake].
(Note. The Nottingham Journal of 17 January 1840 reported the death of Mrs Jane Hulse, at an advanced age, at her brother's house at Carrington, housekeeper to the late Rev TB of Bridgford Hill, to whom she had been a faithful servant....)
The Account ends after the March 1840 payment, which no doubt paid the annuity to Mrs Hulse's death.
The account is not balanced or totalled. There is no evidence of pages torn out after this
(I think Walter Beaumont lived at Bridgford Hill until he himself died in April 1841. His youngest brother Abel had died in Jan. 1838. George and his family moved in during 1841. George being the nephew of TB, Walter, and Abel, son of their brother Richard Beaumont of Birmingham).
..............................
The next couple of pages of the book contain a similar but briefer account in the handwriting of my uncle Richard Melville Beaumont, of transactions with the executors of his late father, my grandfather, in 1952.
Beyond that the rest of the book is unused.
EMB 14 March 2021
