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Note on
terminology and abbreviations:
l = pound sterling.
s = shilling, twenty to the pound sterling.
d = penny, twelve to
the shilling.
A crown is five shillings and a half-crown......
A guinea is
21s. and so called as it was first produced using gold from Guinea (Ghana)
in Africa.
Note on inflation:
We have multiplied prices by 100 to give a modern equivalent.
Prices in Defoe :
Tour thro' Great Britain : 1722-1724
Defoe usually
quotes prices where he considers the commodity to be cheap, expensive
or reasonable, or the amount to be impressive. We have therefore given an indication of his opinion, where he
expresses one.
Hay for horse : a groat a night : presumably a farthing: 10p : cheap
Toll on a turnpike road: for a horse : one penny : 40p : reasonable
Toll on a turnpike road: for a coach : three pence : £1.20 : reasonable
Toll on a turnpike road: for a cart : four pence to eight pence : £1.60 to £3.20
: reasonable
Toll on a turnpike road: for a waggon : six pence to a shilling : £2.40 to £4.80
: reasonable
Oats for horse : 6d a peck : £2.40 a peck : cheap
Toll for coach across the Nene at Castor : 2s 6d : £25 : scandalously expensive
Chaldron of coal : 7s to 9s : £35 to £45
Extravagant value of cloth produced for King George at Stroud : 45s per yard : £225 per
yard : expensive
Rents paid on ‘decoys’ in Lincolnshire where ducks, geese etc are shot for sale : 100l to 500l per annum : £10,000 to £50,000 p.a.
: impressive
Fine horse sold at a horse fair : 150 guineas : £15,750 : expensive
Rent paid by graziers for their farms in Leicester : 500l to 2000l per annum : £50,000 to £200,000
: impressive
Tithes for land reclaimed from the River Thames at Barking : 600l per annum : £60,000
: impressive
Amount to repair one mile of road : 1000l : £100,000 : impressive
Reward offered for apprehension of the famous -------- of Coleshill : 1000l : £100,000
Jewels found in a crown dug up sold to a jeweller : 1500l : £150,000 : impressive
Cost of building the George at Northampton, which looks more like a palace than an inn : above 2000l : £200,000
: impressive
Bridge of one arch at Blenheim : 20,000l : £2,000,000 : extravagant
Legacy of Dr Radcliffe to build a library in Oxford : 40,000l : £4,000,000
: generous
Prices in César
de Saussure's Letters from England (1725-1730)
Saussure, writing to
his family in Lausanne, is interested in prices generally.
Gazette : one farthing : 10 pence
Small beer : one penny the pot : 40 pence
Post within London : one penny : 40 pence
Tip for the porter at Bedlam : one penny : 40 pence : no change given.
Post outside London : two pence : 80 pence
Porter : three pence the pot : £1.20
Meal at an inn : 6d to half a guinea : £2.40 to £50
Journey in a hackney carriage within London : one shilling : £5
Beer: from one shilling to 18 pence the bottle: £5 to £7.50
Money thrown at the winning prize-fighter : a shilling to half a crown : £10 to £25
Bottle of Portuguese wine : 2 shillings a bottle: £10
Food eaten by inmate in a Bridewell in two weeks : half a crown : £12.50
A visit to the Tower of London : half a crown per person : £12.50
Entrance ticket to prize fight : half a crown : £12.50
Swearing false witness : half a crown : £12.50
Bottle of French wine : 5 shillings : £25
Boat from shore to ship : 5 shillings : £25
Fleet marriage : one crown : £25
Seat at the Opera : from 5 shillings to half a guinea : £25 to £52.50
A haunch or quarter of venison : 10 to 15 shillings : £50 to £75
Christmas tip to Robert Walpole’s doorkeeper : one crown to one guinea : £25 to
£105.
Bribes to Customs Officials : 3 or 4 crowns : £75 to £100
Cost to a desperate woman for a man to marry her in the Fleet in order to escape her creditors : 3 or 4 guineas :
£315 to £420.
Value of gold medals distributed to peers on the Coronation : 4 guineas :
£420
Reward offered for lost dog : 5 guineas : £525
A curate in Wales might earn per annum : 12l to 15l : £1,200 to £1,500
Amount to be paid by father of illegitimate child to the churchwardens,
after which they do not harrass him further : 12l to 15l : £1,200 to £1,500
Upkeep of student at college for a year : 20l : £2,000
Surety required to escape debtor’s prison : 20l : £2,000
Reward given to old man by the King for making a fine speech and
presenting himself well on the King's birthday : 30 guineas : £3,150.
Reward leading to conviction of important felon : 20, 50 or 100 guineas :
£2100, £5250 or £10,500.
Rent paid for a small farm : 25l to 30l : £2,500 to £3,000
Surety given by new porters : 100l : £10,000
Cost of purchase of place as a Gentleman Pensioner : 100l : £10,000
Cost of a fine shop sign : 100l : £10,000
Bets on cocks at a cockfight in White-Hall : several hundred pounds sterling : upwards of £10,000
Value of prized racehorse : 200l and more : £20,000 and more
Friend robbed by highwayman of : 200 guineas : £21,000.
Estimated proceeds of a benefit concert (at the opera) : 250l to 300l : £25,000 to £30,000
Excessive amount asked for six fine carriage horses : 500l : £50,000
Cost of constructing mechanical monster for theatre : 500 guineas :
£52,500
Total annual Christmas tips received by Robert Walpole’s doorkeeper : £800 : £80,000
Amount amassed by a husband and wife team by begging and saving : 1000l : £100,000
Bribe offered to the coroner in an important case involving suicide : 1000l : £100,000
Paid to male opera singer for the season : 1200l : £120,000
Paid to two female opera singers for the season (each) : 1500l : £150,000
Shops let in the Exchange : 2000l p.a. : £200,000 p.a.
Debts left by Count Ughi (an adventurer) on his first visit : 3000l : £300,000
Daughter’s dowry from a wealthy Kent farmer : 3,000l to 4,000l : £300,000 to £400,000
Cost of producing stage pantomine Descent of Orpheus into the Underworld : 4000l : £400,000
Upkeep of 80 old gentlemen and 40 boys at school, annually : 4000l or 33l each per annum: £400,000 or £3300 each per annum
Debts left by Count Ughi (an adventurer) on his second visit : 6000l : £600,000
Amount fraudulently claimed by Mr Ward from the Duchess of Buckingham : 12 to 15,000l : £1,200,00 to £1,500,000.
Cost of buying and building the Charterhouse : 20,000l : £2,000,000
Miss Medwin (daughter of the defunct Governor of Fort St George on the Coromandel Coast) in possession of : 20,000l : £2,000,000
Expenditure of General Sabine on Tewin House : 40,000l : £4,000,000
Annual rents received by the Duke of Bedford : 50,000l : £5,000,000
Annual amount raised for the relief of the poor : 70 to 80,000l : £7,000,000 to £8,000,000
Amount left by Thomas Guy to found Guy’s Hospital : 100,000l : £10,000,000
Fortune amassed by Mr Ward, manager to the Duchess of Buckingham : 200,000l : £20,000,000
Income of George II (per annum): 1,000,000l : £100,000,000
National Debt : 70 to 80 million pounds sterling : 7,000 to 8,000 million pounds.
Values :
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