Chippenham <1>
Monday Morng
Dear Sir,
Banks <2> has just called on me & I have fully stated to him your sentiments on the subject of his Bill – He strenuously asserts his innocence of making any false charge for his Labour & says no one can tell but a Person who has been engaged in that sort of Work what an immense deal of time it takes in every way – He seems much hurt at the Idea of losing his employment on the Estates & desires me to say that he would rather make an abatement on his Bill than incur your displeasure. I have promised to meet Strong <3> & him at Lacock to morrow & after I have seen them together, I will call at the Abbey & inform you the result –
I am Dear Sir Yr much obliged
W. H. Awdry
W. H. F. Talbot Esq
Lacock Abbey
Notes:
1. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.
2. Probably George Banks, snr (1786–1864), stonemason & coalseller, Lacock.
3. 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 19th 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.