A personal account book kept by Miles Tarn beginning two years before he attended Queen’s College, Oxford and ending in the year of his death 1797. He provides a biographical sketch as well as details of the births, marriages, and deaths of his eleven children by his first wife, Mary (died 26 February 1784); he traces the history of the family estate at Wray beginning in 1615. The entry recording his marriage to second wife, Grace Peele of Cocersmouth is followed by an entry (in his wife’s hand?) that records the details of the time and date of his death and details of the funeral and burial. The bulk of the manuscript details his expenses. Of particular interest are the entries for the 1750’s as he set up a home in Dean after becoming rector. Items listed include: furniture, crockery, household utensils, clothing, fruit trees and gardening tools; monies lent and wages paid to workmen.
- Author: Tarn, Miles, 1719-1797.
- Title: Account book of Rev. Miles Tarn’s, Rector of Dean in Cumbria, 1735-1797.
LWL Mss Vol. 212
Acquired January 2014