Running Costs 1897

How much did it cost to run Belton?

The Belton Establishment Ledgers survive for many of the years of the 19th & early 20th centuries. The Belton Research Group have transcribed over 40 of these records. For the year to 1898, James Hutchinson, land agent managed the Estate Accounts for the 3rd Earl Brownlow. He employed charge and discharge accounting, the most common form of accounting used by landed estates, government departments and public institutions. It gives a simple overview of receipts and expenditure over the course of the year. The Charge side of the account records money received during the period. e.g. farm produce sales. The Discharge side documents money paid out, e.g. as wages. Some is internal accounting such as the Charge for sending 86 lbs of Butter to 8 Carlton House Terrace, the Earl's London home.

The records provide a wealth of detail on persons working on the estate and life at the time. The Charge (income) of the estate was £1,684 (£233,000 2021) against a Discharge (expenditure) of £9,392 (£1,299,000). Belton's survival relied entirely on monthly payments from the Earl of £600 (£83,000). Board wage records indicate that the Earl & Countess Brownlow spent only 5 months in residence at Belton.

licenses for 24 male Servants @ 15/- ... & 11 dogs @ 7s 6d

The ledger is divided into Charge and Discharge for the following areas, House, Gardens, Stables, Game, Park, Woods, Repairs, Team (farm horses), Farm and Sundries. It covers the period 1st July 1897 to 30th June 1898.

There are 462 entries excluding the final balancing details. We have simplified these into a table giving the area, expense or gain, cost, and the 2021 cost (Bank of England Inflation calculator). Use search to filter the table, e.g. 'gain' will highlight the gains on the estate, 'House' transactions that involve the Mansion.

D. Collin, for catching 1,099 moles @ 4d each

O. F. Wainwright, allowance for beer when river cleaning

Belton 1897 to 1898

BNLW/2/6/1/25 series Lincolnshire Archives

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Image left & header © Lincolnshire County Council

James Hutchinson Biography

James Hutchinson (1845 to 1924) the land agent was born in Little Gonerby. Unmarried, he lived with his sister, a cook & 2 servants at Manthorpe Lodge, Grantham. The Lodge served as the Belton Estate office. The house was originally built by John Lee & Son (Grantham) Ltd, hatters' furriers, scrap metal dealers. It was destroyed by fire in January 2006, demolished in 2008 and replaced with a new apartment block.

James was born in Chapel Street (now Brook Street), Little Gonerby to Eliza and Simon Hutchinson (1811-1867). Simon worked as land agent and steward to the Earls Brownlow from 1836. He is seen collecting Fee-Farm rents (rentcharge) for the Egerton estates in Yorkshire (Yorkshire Gazette 4 April 1857). He had moved his family to Manthorpe Lodge by 1865 and was busy at that time comparing the costs of steam cultivation (Grantham Journal 26 November 1865). Simon wrote a book on land drainage with the 1st Earl Brownlow. He was buried at Hough on the Hill (Grantham Journal 23 February 1867).

By 1871, at the age of 26, James himself had become a land agent as well as a farmer of 100 acres. His annual pay from Earl Brownlow was £100 (£14,000). When he died he left £71,000 (£4.5 million 2021). His nieces, Winifred and Marion Sedgwick by his younger sister, Emma, gave Grantham House to the National Trust in the 1940s.

Member of Belvoir hunt (Grantham Journal 1 January 1898).

Captain in the Second Lincoln Rifle Volunteers, encampment at Belton Park (Grantham Journal 9 July 1881).

Lieutenant Colonel of the A and B (Grantham) Companies 2nd Volunteer Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment 1899. Seen at a smoking concert in the Drill Hall, Wharf Road along with Captain Adjutant Cockayne Cust (later 5th Baron Brownlow). Hutchinson had offered his troops up for service in South Africa, in the Second Boer War (Grantham Journal 23 December 1899).

James was the committee chairman for the Grantham War Memorial, unveiled in 1920 at St Wulframs.

Discharge

Just under a quarter of the budget went on running the House, followed by Repairs and Gardens.

Postmaster for rent of private letter box

Millar W. for new house slippers

Thomas Watson, 52 weeks wages as night watchman

for attention to School closets & sewage tank

for faggoting at Brackenhill Plantation

Weaver J. for sweeping chimneys

A Bird for beer money for sweeps

money in lieu of beer for 20 fireman @ 1/- each

Army District Paymaster, York, for camping ground for III Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment

Charge

The Farm made the most profit, bearing in mind that a lot of this came from 'selling' merchandise to the House, Stables, Park, Team, Gardens, Carlton House Terrace and Gonerby Grange. Gonerby Grange was a dairy farm owned by the Brownlows (now 7 residential properties accessed from a private road, Gadd’s Lane from the A607).

The Park profited from agistment. Agistment, proceeds from allowing others to graze their animals on your land. The term dates back to the right to graze in the King's Forests. Agisters were formerly the officers of the forest empowered to collect the agistment. They still exist in the New Forest (image above).

Board Wages

Board wages were payments on a weekly basis in place of meals. Usually given when the family was not in residence as the kitchen and other facilities would shut down. Alice Bird, housekeeper, received £40 pa salary, but in addition 32 weeks of board wages @ 16s per week. This implies that the Earl & Countess Brownlow spent less than one third of the year, 20 weeks, in residence at Belton. The maids were on £13 to £16 pa according to status. This compares to Chatsworth where their maids received similar salaries.

Beer Money

Alice also received £3 7s in beer money.

all English servants exact either beer or beer-money. ... After various struggles with the difficulties presented by this beer question, the generality of English housekeepers have come to the conclusion that it is better to give beer-money than to furnish beer to their servants. When money is given it is likely not to be spent for beer at all, which is quite as well; whereas if there is a servants' cask of beer on tap in the kitchen, there are constant disputes as to how much has been drunk, given away or wasted. The usual allowance for beer when money is given is a shilling a week ... An American Lady 1877

Servants could receive either a pint of home brewed beer (half pint for women) with each meal or a beer money allowance. Beer money differs dramatically from Belton's C18 accounts where both small beer and ordinary ale were imbibed in abundance by servants.

1st Earl Brownlow's account summary 1852, income £16,970 (£2.5 million 2021). Expenditure the same.

1852 versus 1898

The expenditure for the different areas are compared with the 1st Earl's 1852 expenses adjusted for inflation to 2021. Servants are separated out in the 1852 accounts and so are classed under sundries for analysis. Additional costs for the London House and the 'Ladies Cust' etc. are excluded.

For the year 1852, the 1st Earl spent much more on the House, Repairs and Stables. Conversely, The 3rd Earl spent more on the Woods, Gardens and the Farm.

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