Introduction

By 1830 John and Elizabeth seemed to have secured a contented and fulfilling life for themselves. John might, with some justice, have claimed to have at last become that ‘virtuous and active tradesman’ that his mother had wished to see him be. The business of Shaw and Crane was soundly founded on the twin pillars of steady, cautious finances and the warm, sociable amity of the partnership with Henry. Both men had burgeoning families and John in particular, by now in his mid-forties, might have been forgiven for relaxing into the role of presiding paterfamilias, at work as at home. Indeed, it is easy to detect signs of a sort of quiescence in the letters he and Elizabeth exchange in this period. As early as the summer of 1826 John was encouraging Elizabeth to small indulgences: rides out ‘in a chaise. I beg you will think nothing of the expense – maybe a caring physic costs more than a chaise so let me beg you will do as I request and go as often as you feel able’. They probably did not think of themselves as by any means ‘rich’, as yet, but the tone speaks of a financial confidence markedly in contrast to the often harassed, harried and insecure figure John cut in the 1810s and early 1820s. Moreover they we were aware and appreciative of their steadily improving condition.