Wendy Walker, County Archivist, writes: John Pilbeam’s account book is another item which was brought to our attention by The National Archives Sales Monitoring Team and we are very grateful to the Friends of the Nations' Libraries for a generous grant which enabled us to purchase this volume. It provides a fascinating insight into domestic and material culture in the 18th century with reference to payments for linen and furniture alongside the purchase of crops and other good such as coal, straw, and apples. References are made to taxes (‘…for one years Window Tax £01-00-00’) and to disbursements made by Pilbeam in his role as Churchwarden (‘2 Church lockes’ and ‘wine for the communion’).
The volumes also touches on household management with the front page having been used to list the linen ‘in the bucken chest’ on 28th November 1728 and other entries in the volume recording payments ‘to Wimen for Dressing & Dinner and Cleaning up the Linnen and trenchers and the pewter and all things’.
Further on in the volume are a number of references to carpentry and building materials such as ‘a side for a cucumber frame’ and towards the end of the volume are several pages of entries connected with work done at Mitcham. Pilbeam looks to have made extensive alterations to the property and the accounts provide a fascinating insight into what an 18th century house renovation would have involved – the number of hours of labour and the materials used.
The accounts also contain references to farming activities (‘The a Count of What Malt I have had of Walter Chatfield att Hawardes Heath’, ‘for a hoppicker that you have carred away’), reflecting the type of agricultural work taking place in the area around Ardingly at this time.
As well as being an important resource for social history, the account book also records the names of West Sussex families such as Muddle, Harden, Tully and Lintott, names which occur frequently in our catalogue.
As reflected in the account book, John Pilbeam was a man of means, with property in Mitcham, London and Ardingly. His role as churchwarden, mentioned in the volume is a reflection of his status. The Pilbeam family appear to have had a close connection with Ardingly with their names appearing regularly in the Ardingly parish registers. A John Pilbeam, possibly an ancestor, is recorded has having also been a churchwarden in the 1600s.
West Sussex Record Office also holds a number of records relating to John Pilbeam’s properties in Ardingly, including abstracts of the title dated 1734 to a messuage of 80 acres called Townhouse, described as a fulling mill, formerly an iron forge and works, and a messuage of 50 acres called Holgroves (Add Mss 44468 – 44469). The purchase of this account book, with very welcome assistance from the Friends of the National Libraries, provides researchers with the valuable opportunity to consult it alongside other relevant resources at West Sussex Record Office.
