Monson Family Invoices

Collection

Call Number: LWL MSS 13

Scope and Contents

The collection holds more than 170 invoices and receipts issued to members of the wealthy and aristocratic Monson family of London and Lincolnshire, between the years 1730 and 1834. The documents are engraved, printed, and manuscript invoices, many with illustrated billheads, that are often accompanied by manuscript receipts for payments received by the vendors. They are organized by four categories: Food and beverages; Clothing and accessories; Household expenses; and Other Expenditures. The latter group includes music lessons, transportation (primarily by sedan chair), charitable contributions made to St. George’s Hospital in London, and other goods and services. Most of the vendors and purveyors were located in London and are noted at the folder level in the collection finding aid; several of the merchants were women such as Hannah Glasse (1708-1770), in particular those selling clothing, headwear, and textiles. A folder of household receipts document the expenses of a ball held by Lord and Lady Monson at their London home on June 22, 1807.

Dates

1730 - 1834

Conditions Governing Access

This material is available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Monson Family Invoices is the physical property of the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the W. S. Lewis Librarian/Executive Director.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased from Samuel Gedge, April 2014.

Extent

0.21 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/lwl.mss.013

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection holds more than 170 invoices and receipts issued to members of the wealthy and aristocratic Monson family of London and Lincolnshire, between the years 1730 and 1834.

Monson Family

The Monson family were settled in Lincolnshire from the fourteenth century, and by the eighteenth century they also had a home on Albemarle Street in London. The papers in the collection relate to five generations of the family: John Monson (c. 1693–1748), the first Baron Monson, and his wife Margaret Watson (1696–1752); their eldest son John (1727–1774) and his wife Theodosia Maddison (1725–1821); their son John Monson (1753–1806) and his wife Elizabeth Capel (1755–1834); their son John George Monson (1785–1809) and his wife Sarah Savile (1786–1852); and their son Frederick John Monson (1809–1841). As the invoices and receipts are made out only to Lord Monson or Lady Monson, their life dates may assist in identifying the shopper in question.