A 445 pp. primary source in the form of an accounts ledger bursting with detail which provides a window into the socio-economic life, craft techniques and community networks of of a wheelwright and carpenter working in mid-19th century Messingham, Lincolnshire.
Beyond simple bookkeeping John Gowsell’s (1860 -1872) written ledger reveals how the agricultural, small-town economy functioned on the eve of greater industrialisation and offers a far more granular look at daily life than any official government records of the time. By listing local farmers, landowners and tradesmen the entries reconstruct social hierarchies and reveal who owned land or businesses in the area. Mr William Sowerby of Messingham Hall and Mr J Wakefield of Holme Hall, both large landowners, are regular and important customers throughout the years. Further regular entries record the local names Willaim Gay, William Hedfield, George Jackson, William Taylor, Jonathan Dobs, J Mason, Mrs Walker, Mr T Mason Turner and Henry Lockwood among many others. John Gowsell’s meticulous entries record a diverse range of skills at a time when the craft was at a turning point on the cusp of the first factory made and pre manufactured items entering the market and the inevitable subsequent decline for the purely hand made. The versatility of our writer’s skills reveals itself in the breadth of his work which he often describes in some detail alongside pricing : cart painting and repairing (12 shillings in 1864), new bull on harrow (1 pound in 1864), a new head on a parsnip knife (1 shilling in 1870), 2 new spindles on a plough (1 shilling and 9 pence in 1870), five new spokes (1 pound, 7 shillings and sixpence in 1866), a days labour (7 shillings in 1864), a new lock on a door (4 shillings and 6 pence). To add to this list are new pig stye doors, barrow wheels, replacement doors, rat traps, butter churns and coffins for the local community when required such as Mr W Taylor’s daughter’s coffin noted on Feb 12th 1870. Jobs for Messingham Parish are recorded regularly and for the Wesleyan Chapel built in 1822 (new lock on door and putting backs on seats for school and organist in 1870). Tipped into the volume is a handwritten letter dated 1937 written to Mr Gowsell requesting to settle a small account. It would appear that the family trade had passed onto the following generation, surviving the transition from the early industrial era into the 1930s.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A very sturdy velum bound volume measuring 20 cm x 33 cm. Contemporary scribbles in ink to upper and lower, spine in good condition just a little bumped to top and tail, WALTE inscribed in large font to lower board. Lovely clean endpapers, cracking over front and rear gutters but holding well. First entry recorded for Mr Sowerby March 24 1860. A legible hand records entries to verso and recto of all 445 pp. throughout. A very rich primary source.
