Gem From The Archive

Victoria McCann from Lancashire Archives opens up a Georgian landowner’s diaries

A gentleman’s diaries and ledgers, 1777–1831

Robert Dalton acquired the estate of Thurnham near Lancaster in the 1550s, and the family continued to hold the estate for the next 400 years. They were also practising Catholics, despite often facing hostility because of their faith. The Dalton family papers were given to Lancashire Archives in the 1960s, and staff are now cataloguing them with the help of funding from the Friends of Lancashire Archives. Among the records are the daily diaries and pocket ledgers of John Dalton (c1747–1837), who inherited the estate in 1778. As archivist Victoria McCann explains, they provide a fascinating insight into the day-to-day life of a Georgian landowning gentleman.

Can You Describe The Books?

John Dalton has filled a series of Kearsley’s Gentleman and Tradesman’s Pocket Ledgers that run from 1777 to (with gaps) 1831. They’re just amazing, and contain his daily cash accounts as well as a record of his activities as he splits his time between Preston, Lancaster and Thurnham.

However, they were only small pocket books that were meant to be carried about and added to, so his handwriting is quite tiny. But when you get used to it, it’s not too hard to read.

What Do They Tell Us About John’s Life?

The books record all of the social activities that went on in the Georgian period. For example, John goes out hunting a lot and he mentions visiting a cockpit to watch a cockfight. John is also well connected to everybody who was up and coming in the region during the period. He dines with the great and the good in Preston and Lancaster, including notable Catholics – he helps support the establishment of a Catholic chapel in Lancaster after the 1791 Roman Catholic Relief Act. In addition he knows the Gillow family of cabinetmakers and John Horrocks, who established Horrockses, a textile empire that was massive in Preston.

John visits lots of coffee houses, as was the fashion in the mid-to-late 18th century. These were venues for socialising, doing business and exchanging gossip. The practice declined in the late 18th century and this is borne out by his diaries, because John stops mentioning coffee houses and starts talking about going to private clubs instead.

He also often mentions swimming, including regular trips to Blackpool with his wife and daughters to go bathing. At the time going bathing was about improving your health and vitality, although it was very much a pastime for the wealthy.

John also attends lots of big balls, and buys a boat off John Brockbank, a shipbuilder in Lancaster, which he takes out on

‘The books record all of the social activities that went on in the Georgian period’

the canal. John also goes “bobbing in the Lune”, as he puts it – the river runs through Cumbria and Lancashire.

What Do The Books Reveal About His Family?

I don’t know how much you can tell really, but John comes across as a nice family man – he certainly mentions them a lot, and is always concerned with things that are going on. He notes when different people are born. For example, he describes the birth of his son as “Mrs D. Brought to Bed of J.D” – his son was also called John – “ten minutes before five o’clock” on 23 January

1778. He has five daughters as well, although one of them sadly dies quite early on after suffering a lot of illnesses. When she dies he writes “My poor daughter Charlotte dy’d”, and that was in 1802. He seems quite affectionate towards his daughter Lucy in particular, because he’s always mentioning her when they go out on the Lune or the pair of them go horseriding together.

John also mentions selling the friarage lands in Lancaster, which as a result became Dalton Square – there is a plan showing the building plots and layout of the square. A lot of the Georgian buildings are still there today, and the square is still the same shape. What’s interesting is that he named the streets around the square after members of his family, so there is a Mary Street named after his wife, and a Lucy Street that is named after his daughter.

What Other Documents Do You Have In Your Collection?

Lancashire Archives looks after historic records for the county going back 900 years – our earliest document dates from 1120. We are a local authority archive service, but we also have lots of privately deposited collections including the big family and estate archives such as the Dalton family records. We’re the only archive service for the whole of Lancashire. The county’s quite densely populated and has a really rich and varied history, so it’s no wonder that the collection’s quite vast. We estimate that the shelving in our eight strongrooms, if put end to end, would reach somewhere between eight and nine miles!