The Gascoignes :: Part Seven, Party Time!
Christmas circa 1850's
The header picture is just an idea of what a party may have been like in the 19th century. A fellow researcher, Pauline Robson, recently sifted through the West Yorkshire Archives of the Gascoigne Papers and amongst the Housekeeper accounts she extracted the details of the food consumed and numbers of persons dining, for both Christmas 1850 and 1858. She has kindly allowed me to publish her findings here.
From 16 to 30 December 1850 [15 Days]
Food Items | Quantity | Cost in £ s d |
Beef and veal | 654 lbs | |
Sheep | 297 lbs | |
Sub Total | £6 11s 1d | |
Turkeys | 3 | 15s 0d |
Fowls | 8 | 10s 0d |
Hams | 12s 0d | |
Eggs | 12 score | 12s 0d |
Sub Total | £2 9s 0d | |
Hare | 2s 6d | |
Pheasants | 5 | 15s 0d |
Other Payments | ||
Butcher's book | £15 1s 1d | |
Grocer's book | £4 17s 6d | |
Fish book | £1 10s 0d | |
Farm meat | £6 11s 1d | |
Game | 17s 6d | |
Poultry | £2 9s 0d | |
Total | £31 6s 2d | |
Number of persons dining over this period | ||
Parlour | 57 | av 3.80 per day |
Servants hall | 416 | av 27.73 per day |
Visitors | 154 | av 10.26 per day |
From 15 to 31 December 1858 [17 Days]
Food Items | Quantity | Cost in £ s d |
Beef | ||
Veal | ||
Mutton | ||
Bacon | ||
Hams | ||
Turkeys | ||
Ducks | ||
Fowls | ||
Hares | 8s 0d | |
Pheasants | 12s 0d | |
Partridge | 2s 0d | |
Woodcock | 2s 0d | |
Plover | 2s 6d | |
Pigeons | 1s 0d | |
Wild Duck | 2s 6d | |
Butcher | £20 8s 6d | |
Wilkinsons | 12s 7d | |
Fishmonger | 1s 2d | |
Poultry Yard | £1 13s 0d | |
Game | £1 10s 0d | |
Total | £25 6s 11d | |
Number of persons dining over this period | ||
Parlour | 88 | av 5.17 per day |
Servants hall | 391 | av 23 per day |
Visitors | 41 | av 2.41 per day |
The two periods examined are different if only because in 1850 the Christmas period followed closely the wedding of Isabella and Frederick in the September. The first item of beef represents 43.60lbs per day, which is more than a pound per day, regardless of station, of each member of the household.
However the number of guests relative to the members of the household is significant being 3 to 1 or on average 10+ guests each day of the period analysed. These days people are glad to see their relatives disappear down the drive at the end of the day! Another revalation is the shear variety of produce, Woodcock... when was the last time you had that! As for the Plover, these days you might fall foul of the RSPB, pun intended.
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Comments
The foregoing narrative from the Skyrack Courier is just so informative of the time, that I had to transcribe it all, for you, the readers to appreciate!
Particularly interesting is that Colonel Gascoigne, [Richard, that is, living at Lotherton] was able to accommodate around 100 Territorials in the Old Hall, that's a lot of people, and no mention of whether the scouts stayed over as well!
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Related External Links
- Researching Historic Buildings
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- Barwick in Elmet Historical Society
- Castle Oliver
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