By The Earl of Cardigan

The domestic accounts maintained by our ancestors were generally of a simple nature. This was advantageous, to the nobility at least, in that it enabled them easily to comprehend the pages of figures which their stewards periodically placed before them.

Very simple accounts, however, have the defect of not being as informative as one could wish. In the case of Lord Ailesbury’s household, a general account book was kept, in which were listed all items of expenditure as they occurred— the buying of a packet of pins for My Lady being treated on precisely the same basis as the purchase of a flock of sheep for the Home Farm. Such widely differing items were totalled at the foot of every page, and the page totals were themselves totalled at the end of each half-year. The grand total was finally shown as “Disbursements since Lady Day (or Michaelmas)”, and was set against a total of receipts which had been similarly compiled.

It was this general account book which Lord Ailesbury himself saw and signed : his signature does not appear in the supplementary volume which may be termed an Analysis Book. The latter was maintained by Simon Urlin, perhaps for the purpose of enabling him to answer any queries which his employer might put to him. The book dealt with expenditure only, which Urlin subdivided into separate accounts under the following headings : Arrears, (i.e. expenditure attributable to preceding years); Annuitys; Buttery, (brewing and baking); Cates, (i.e. edible provisions); Extraordinarys; Furniture, (including household equipment); Fuel; Housebandry, (husbandry); Gardens; Journeys; Liverys; My Lady, (her personal expenditure); Necessarys; Rewards, (gratuities); Repairs; Stables; Stores; Wages, (permanent staff); Workmen, (casual).

Only a few of Lord Ailesbury’s account books have survived; but as a result of Urlin’s analytical labours we have a large volume, covering the years 1676-1682 and consisting of 186 paper pages measuring 15 ¾ in. × 10 ¼ in. These are bound into a vellum cover with cardboard stiffeners. The pages, excluding fly-leaves, are numbered from 1 to 352, and at the end is an index to the various headings. In addition to those already noted are three which had become redundant by 1678, namely : New Garden, (a project apparently completed in 1677); Lord Bruce, (i.e. expenditure on behalf of Lord Ailesbury’s heir, who became financially independent in 1676); Mr. Makaitnay, (i.e. funeral expenses of a family retainer who had died in 1676).