London Holiday 1702

Resident at Belton were Alice Brownlow and her four daughters, Alice or Alicia, aged 17, Margaret aged 14, Jane aged 12 and Eleanor 11. Elizabeth, the eldest daughter had married John Cecil, Lord Burghley, later 6th Earl of Exeter in 1699 and lived at Burghley House.

During the one year of transcribed records starting from January 1701, only Alicia is unmentioned. In 1703 she was to marry Francis North, 2nd Baron Guilford, whose first wife had died in childbirth in 1699. Margaret & Jane are named in the London accounts, thus some or all of the girls travelled with Alice. Intimation that all 4 daughters journeyed is the purchase in London of a pare of gloves for the Young Ladys 4s. It is reasonable to ascribe a pair to each of the 4, because 9d was paid for pairs of gloves in the March 1703 accounts. This was to be a short break at Holland House, in 1703 the family would spend over 6 months away from Belton in that London rented apartment.

The preparations began in March. New clothing for the Young Ladys that included 2 pares of Shoos for Madam Jane and Madam Elianor 5s (£41), John Hutchins his bill for Shoos for the Young Ladys 6s (£50). Twelve money bags were purchased to carry cash, England's first bank note appeared only in 1729. A coachman had already been to London in advance where his leg was lamed by a horse, £2 (£332) for treatment paid by Alice..

Reason for date of departure

Trigg made up his accounts each Friday. The last solely for Belton was the 17th of April and the next that included travel expenses was the 24th. Religion precluded Sunday travel, and so it's likely that Alice and her girls set off Monday 20th April 1702.

King William III who had visited Belton, died in March 1702. Feasibly, the trip intentionally coincided with celebrations for the coronation of Queen Anne at 4pm on Thursday April 23rd in Westminster Abbey. She and her husband, Prince George of Denmark lived at Kensington Palace less than 1 mile from Holland House, although returned to St Jame's Palace after the coronation. In all likelihood, son-in-law, the 6th Earl of Exeter and his Countess, Alice's daughter Elizabeth attended that coronation.

The weekly strikes (pre-1803 dry goods capacity) of wheat purchased by Belton dropped from a median of 8 (6 to 11) to just 3 strikes the departure week. Eight strikes of wheat home milled produces ~700 two pound loafs a week (disregarding the small amount lost by milling, <5%). An adult male's consumption of a two pound loaf a day implies around 50 resident servants in the Mansion and Stables (mansion servants documented at 31 in 1690s). The fall in the wheat order implies an entourage of 30 or so, indoor servants, coachmen and grooms. A large entourage was necessary to deter highway robbery.

We know that in November 1737, stored in the Stables were 10 swords, 6 carbines, 5 brace and an half of pistols. Two broken. A brave or foolhardy highwayman to take on that armament. A 1703 journey to Wroxton, Oxfordshire by Alice and her daughter Alicia necessitated 10 Horses, Coachmans and postillions. This suggests at least 2 coaches for two family members.

Pepys, the 17th century diarist, employed a 'blackmore' cook. A black community existed in St Giles parish, London where some of Alice's daughters were christened. Hogarth's Noon portrays St Giles in the Fields with a black person in the crowd. Support that the Brownlows employed black servants is Mericer's 1720s conversation piece. There a black youth pushes Eleanor in a wheelchair - clearly not a trope.