Chippenham ^<1>
18^h March 1831

Dear Sir,

I beg to say, in reply to your Letter of the 10^th Ins^t that I have paid the first £50 – to M^r Strong ^<2> & as the Audit is so near, I hope it will not be necessary to trouble you for any order on Gundry ^<3> as to the remaining Payments.

The Subscription to the Sheriffs fund shall be attended to immediately –

With respect to the small Portions of Land for the Labourers – Phelps ^<4> thinks as well as myself, that it will be better to suspend it altogether for this year – Things are I trust, beginning to mend generally Trade is becoming brisk & this will necessarily improve the situation of the Agricultural Labourers – & Phelps says that it being generally understood there would not be any Land apportioned this year – he is afraid it would cause a great deal of dissatisfaction if any selection was made at the present moment – I hear also, that there is a good deal talked about emigration, which it might be as well not to check, till it is seen how far the thing may be practicable – If contrary to present hopes, it should be found that there is likely to be a want of employment another year, it will be easy to fix upon a convenient spot of Land previous to Michaelmas & arrange with the Farmers from whom it must be taken, so as to have it at your disposal by the next Lady day–^<5> at this moment, we have only the Land w^ch the Parish rented w^ch was thought to be too far from the Village –

The House lately occupied by M^r Spencer ^<6> has been unlet since he left it – I have now an offer of £12 – P^r annum for it – from a young Man who has been recommended to me by Farmer Compton of Bowden Hill ^<7> – it used to let for £15 – but it has always been considered high with reference to other Property in Lacock – & I find that Phelps only gives £12 for his House opposite – which is a better one & has a good Garden – under these circumstances I venture to recommend its being let for £12 – for tho’ there has been a Paper in the Window since last Michaelmas – this is the first offer I have had for it – Phelps took it off M^r Spencer’s hands when he quitted it & therefore the Rent is not lost, but it would be from this time – I shall be obliged for a few Lines at your leisure, next week – as the Young Man is to come for his answer – I understand he is intending to keep a Day School, w^ch is a thing much wanted in the Village –

I remain Dear Sir Y^r much obliged Ser^t
W. H. Awdry

M^r H. F. Talbot Esq
31 Sackville Street
Picadilly
London

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Notes:

1. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.

2. Strong's identity has yet to be established. However, Awdry met Mr. Strong at Box [see Doc. No: 02006], the Wiltshire hamlet whose quarry originally provided Lacock Abbey with its stone. It is possible that Strong was there temporarily to select stone for the renovations at Lacock Abbey, but given the expansion of the area in the 19^th c., perhaps Strong was resident there. The 1841 census for Box (the earliest one available) points to two possibilities. The first, James Strong (b. 1796), was a mason, but the Lacock mason, Charles Selman Banks (1805-1881) did most of the masonry at Lacock at this time. Thomas Strong (b. 1781) was a builder, and seems the more likely candidate.

3. William Gundry, banker, Chippenham .

4. Philip Phelps, Surveyor of Taxes & Bailiff, Lacock.

5. Lady Day is one of the traditional English quarter days, the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin, on 25 March.

6. Dr Henry Spencer (1805-1842), surgeon in Chippenham. [See Doc. No: 02065].

7. Bowden Hill, Wiltshire, 1 mi SE of Lacock.