Winners of prizes--Attempt to put down the practice
of insuring--Steps taken to prevent it--Specimen
handbill--Bish, the lottery office-keeper--Lottery for
the “Pigot” diamond--Lottery-office agencies--Shortening
the time of drawing the lottery--Story of Baron
d’Aguilar.
As usual, the annual lottery for 1792 was passed in Parliament (32
Geo. III. c. 28), which, giving £500,000 in prizes, brought in a net
profit of £300,136 6_s._ 10_d._ This lottery began drawing February 18,
1793, and in a handbill of Messrs. Richardson, Goodluck, and Co., a
very respectable firm of office-keepers, whose offices were by the Bank
of England, we learn to what varied grades in life the lottery prizes
fell. It was No. 12,087 ticket, a £30,000 prize in the last lottery,
sold by this firm in sixteenths.
1 sixteenth to a Clergyman near Brigg, Lincolnshire.
” ” Tradesman at Dartford, Kent.
” ” Gentleman in Scotland Yard, Westminster.
” ” Housekeeper in a Gentleman’s family,
King Street, Grosvenor Square.
” ” Tradesman in Long Acre.
” ” Servant at Newbury, Berks.
” ” Gentleman and Lady in St. Martin’s Lane.
” ” Innkeeper at Gillingham, Kent.
” ” Gentleman at Malverton, Somersetshire.
” ” Gentleman at Hazlemere, Surrey.
” ” Two Gentlemen’s Servants, in Hamilton
Street, Hyde Park Road.
” ” Two Gentlemen at Newmarket.
” ” Two young ladies (sisters), Bloomsbury.
” ” Two Servants to a Widow Lady at Epsom.
” ” Six Servants at a Merchant’s,
St. Mary-at-Hill.
” ” Twelve Tradesmen in King’s Gate Street,
Holborn.
Hornsby and Co., another respectable firm, advertise the capital prizes
sold by them in the last two lotteries.
No. 33,979 a Prize of £30,000
42,569 ” 30,000
41,346 ” 10,000
36,986 ” 2,000
41,574 ” 2,000
9,192 ” 1,000
35,254 ” 1,000
44,057 ” 1,000
43,875 ” 1,000
43,549 ” 500
33,225 ” 500
1,144 ” 500
41,081 ” 500
9,950 ” 500
In 1793 was a lottery drawn February 17, 1794 (33 Geo. III. c. 62),
which was not so successful as its predecessors, for though the same
amount, £500,000, was distributed in prizes, the Government reaped but
a poor net profit of £160,218 10_s._ 10_d._ In connection with this
lottery a determined stand was made against the custom of insuring
lottery tickets, of which I shall have more to say by-and-by. These
insurances consisted in the payment of a small premium to insure the
payment of a larger sum, if any given number in the lottery, on a given
day, were drawn blank or a prize. The premiums were adapted to all
descriptions of people; any sum might be insured from one to twenty
guineas, so that persons of the poorest class might be accommodated.
The price of an insurance for a guinea, at the commencement of the
drawing of a lottery, was eight-pence and gradually increased as
the drawing of the lottery proceeded, and the numbers to be drawn
diminished from day to day.
Every exertion was made, by prosecutions for penalties, as well as
by proceeding against the offenders, as rogues and vagabonds, under
the third section of the Act of 1787, to put an end to this growing
evil; but these exertions were ineffectual, owing to the apparently
inexhaustible fund of ingenuity practised in evading the laws. In
connection with these prosecutions, a most serious nuisance sprang up
from the power given to magistrates, by the Act, 27 Geo. III. c. 1,
to commit the persons prosecuted to the House of Correction, there
to remain till the next General Quarter Sessions. It was open to any
common informer, aided by professional attorneys, to issue process
at his own discretion against any persons he might think proper,
specifying the amount of penalties sued for, and to arrest them for
the same. Hundreds of persons were sent to prison upon the oaths or
pretended oaths of people who could not afterwards be found, and solely
for the purpose of extorting money. The arrests were, usually, on a
Saturday evening, in order to keep the party in custody on a Sunday,
as being the most favourable day for the prosecutor to make his terms
of compromise; and there was too much reason to believe that some
of the sheriff’s officers were in collusion with the common informer
or his attorney. The writs of _Capias_ were said to have become so
numerous, that the sheriff represented that his officers could do no
other business, so that it became necessary in this year’s Lottery
Act (33 Geo. III. c. 62) to insert a clause, that no prosecution for
penalties should be instituted, except in the name of His Majesty’s
Attorney-General.
The evil, however, of illegal insurance appears to have continued
unabated, by the distribution of the knowledge of the numbers of the
tickets drawn, the easy access to the Guildhall, where the lotteries
were drawn, and the facility with which numerical books were obtained.
Any person might take down the numbers of the tickets as they came out
of the wheel; and so prevalent was the mischief, that the insurance was
carried on, even from hour to hour, during the drawing. The evidence
given before the Commission of 1808 states that the seats provided
for persons who attended to take down the numbers, were not confined
to the clerks of licensed lottery office-keepers, but any person who
could raise enough money to pay for a seat was admitted, and many of
the persons who attended to take down the numbers, were employed solely
to enable themselves and others to carry on the system of insurance.
Immediately after each day’s drawing, they assembled at different
places appointed for the purpose, where a great number of others also
met to post their books. The result of each day’s drawing becoming
known by this means, the persons interested were enabled to ascertain
the event of their insurance, and to renew the same, if so minded, from
day to day, during the continuance of the drawing.
The profits derived from letting these seats in the Guildhall made part
of the revenue of the Corporation of the City of London, and amounted
to between four and five hundred pounds per annum.
To remedy this evil, the Commissioners of Stamp Duties directed that an
agreement should be made with the Corporation to rent that part of the
hall during the drawing of the lottery, in order that the seats might
be under their authority, and be confined to the clerks appointed by
the managers and directors, and also the clerks of the office-keepers
licensed by the Commissioners of Stamps.
In order that the agreement might have full effect, regulations were
introduced, in 1793, in the annual Lottery Act of 33 Geo. III. c. 62--
(1) That no person should attend to take down the numbers of the
tickets, as the same should be drawn, unless employed as clerk to the
managers and directors, or be licensed to do so by the Commissioners of
Stamp Duties.
(2) That every person so licensed should provide proper numerical
books, of large dimensions, to be stamped by the Commissioners on
every leaf thereof, and that they should grant such licences to such
persons who should be duly licensed to keep lottery offices, and to no
others, and that one person only should be licensed for each office;
and that all persons present at the drawing, not being duly authorized,
who should take down the number of the tickets, should be liable to
penalties, and that magistrates should have power to issue their
warrants to apprehend offenders, and to commit them for non-payment.
(3) That persons summoned as witnesses, and not appearing, should be
subject to a penalty of £50.
In this way the event of each day’s drawing became known only to the
licensed lottery office-keepers, and the effect was to check the
illegal insurances very considerably, and to lead to the shutting up of
a great number of offices, hitherto kept open solely for transacting
the business of insurance.
In a handbill anent this lottery, it says, “_Somebody must_ have a
_Prize_. _Any body may_ have a _Prize_. _Nobody_ can tell who _will_
have a _Prize_. And, therefore, _Every body_ is justified in trying
for a _Prize_. Thus, _Hope_ animates their waking thoughts--_Hope_
inspires their dreams--_Passions_ are _corrected_ by the _Hope_ of a
_Prize_--_Tempers_ are _sweetened_ by it. The fireside brightens when
the prudent parent communicates to his wife and children that they have
a chance for the THIRTY THOUSAND POUNDS.... In England and Ireland
there are Ten Millions of people. There are but 50,000 tickets for the
whole. To rate persons of property in both Kingdoms at Five Hundred
Thousand, (and the Fund holders, alone, nearly amount to that,) there
is but the _tenth part_ of a _Ticket_ for each of them--but, when we
consider the _Middle Classes_, who, if not _Rich_, are, _generally,
highly comfortable_ in their _circumstances_, and who buy, at least,
30,000 tickets in Shares, can we possibly doubt, for a single Moment,
but that _tickets this year_ will at least be
EIGHTEEN GUINEAS.
But we can _now_ buy for less than _Sixteen Guineas_, we can _now save
Two Guineas_ a ticket; and, by _saving_ we _gain two Guineas_. We will
therefore _buy now_....
“In pining Love what healing Balm is found
To ease the Heart, like THIRTY THOUSAND POUND?
To the dull Mind, when anxious Cares abound,
What Joys burst forth in THIRTY THOUSAND POUND!
We that have oft complain’d that Fortune frown’d,
Now seek her Smiles in THIRTY THOUSAND POUND!
They dread no Claims when Quarter-day comes round,
Who boast a share of THIRTY THOUSAND POUND!
The Bells ring out, we hail the welcome Sound,
And clasp with Bliss the THIRTY THOUSAND POUND!”
In 1794 there was the usual Lottery Act passed (34 Geo. III. c. 40),
£500,000 given in prizes, and this year an improvement in the price
paid to the Government, the net gain being £229,893 0_s._ 7_d._ In
1795 (35 Geo. III. c. 36), the prizes being £500,000, the net gain was
£245,208 18_s._ 11_d._ This lottery was drawn on February 22, 1796, and
it is in connection with it that we are first introduced to the name
of T. BISH, who afterwards was the best-known lottery office-keeper,
especially noted for his varied powers of advertising, before whom our
most celebrated advertising firms must “hide their diminished heads,”
and from whom they might take many useful lessons. Of his origin, or
previous career, we know nothing, but in this year he was a partner
with a very respectable stockbroker and lottery office-keeper, James
(afterwards Sir James) Branscomb, who had been established in business
for thirty years. They dissolved partnership at the end of 1798, and
Bish took over Branscomb’s offices at 4, Cornhill, and started a branch
at Manchester. He afterwards had branch establishments or agents in all
the principal towns in England, Scotland, and Ireland. We know that he
contemplated obtaining a seat in Parliament, for a highly ornamental
card is extant. “Mr. Bish, Candidate to represent in Parliament the
Ancient and Independent Borough of LEOMINSTER, solicits the Honour of
your Vote and Interest.” We also know that he was the prominent broker
in every lottery from 1799 to the last one in 1826, and that is all we
know of him.
Prizes. Net Profit.
£ £ _s._ _d._
1796 (36 Geo. III. c. 104) 500,000 267,831 13 10
1797 (37 Geo. III. c. 113) 500,000 130,919 11 8
1798 (38 Geo. III. c. 75) 500,000 154,824 6 8
1799 (39 Geo. III. c. 91) 500,000 191,385 8 8
1800[20] (39 & 40 Geo. III. c. 52) 500,000 311,191 19 11
1801 (41 Geo. III. c. 27) 500,000 185,589 6 11
[20] Bish’s price in December, 1800, for a ticket in this lottery was
£16 18_s._, and he says, “Tickets and Shares will rise gradually, as
the Drawing approaches.”
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The Right Hon. George, Lord Pigot, died, and, among his other property,
was a large diamond of the estimated value of £30,000. As his property
had to be divided amongst his heirs, and no purchasers could be found
for a diamond of this size, an Act was passed (39 and 40 Geo. III. c.
102) to enable his heirs to dispose of it by lottery--11,428 tickets at
two guineas each, or £23,998 16_s._ This lottery was drawn on January
2, 1801, and the diamond was won by a young man. It was afterwards
sold at Christie’s on May 10, 1802, to Messrs. Parker and Birketts, of
Princes Street, pawnbrokers, for 9500 guineas, Mr. Christie remarking
at the sale “that its owners were unfortunate in its being brought to
a market where its worth might not be sufficiently valued, where the
charms of the fair needed not such ornaments, and whose sparkling eyes
outshone all the diamonds of Golconda. In any other country the Pigot
diamond would be sought as a distinction where superior beauty was
rarely to be found.”
It was again sold, and is said to have passed into the possession of
Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, Court jewellers, Bond Street, who are
reported to have sold it to an Egyptian Pasha for £30,000. It is not
known in whose possession it is now. There is some discrepancy among
authorities as to its weight, Mawe giving it as forty-nine carats,
Emanuel as eighty-two and a half.
To show how widely spread was the lottery fever at this time, and how
deep were its ramifications all over the country, we need only look
at Branscomb and Co.’s list of agencies--Aberdeen, Bath, Beverley,
Bristol, Blandford, Boston, Bridgewater, Birmingham, Bury, Coventry,
Canterbury, Chatham, Chester, Chichester, Dorchester, Dundee, Exeter,
Gloucester, Glasgow, Gosport, Hull, Liverpool, Marlborough, Newark,
Norwich, Northampton, Plymouth, Portsea, Reading, Salisbury, Stamford,
Shrewsbury, Sherborne, Tiverton, Weymouth, Wolverhampton, Worcester,
Yarmouth, and York.
In 1802 was the largest lottery (42 Geo. III. c. 54) since 1755, the
amount given in prizes being £900,000, and the net profit accruing
thereon being £340,458 5_s._ 1_d._
In this Act alterations were introduced as to the preparing and method
of drawing tickets, and fixing the days of drawing, etc., and, as the
method now introduced, for the first time, of drawing the lottery in
eight days instead of forty-two days was designed to considerably
reduce the illegal insurance, if not put an end to it, several new
regulations were introduced into this and subsequent Lottery Acts, with
a view to extend the sale of lottery tickets and the legal shares of
tickets as much as possible. By the same statute the Irish lotteries
were abolished, and the tickets of the lottery in Great Britain were
divided into three separate drawings. After the conclusion of the
third drawing, directions were given by Mr. Vansittart, then one of
the secretaries of the Treasury, that inquiry should be made as to
the effect of these regulations. It was elicited, that by drawing the
lottery in eight instead of forty-two days, the business of illegal
insurance had undergone a complete change, by being rendered dangerous
and unprofitable to both parties. It had driven all the men of large
capital out of the business, and the agents usually employed by them,
who had before gained a livelihood by collecting the insurances in
coffee-houses and private families, and others who kept unlicensed
offices for that purpose, were reduced to the greatest distress, and
rendered incapable of obtaining a living.
There is a story told in connection with the lottery drawn this
year, that old Baron d’Aguilar, the Islington miser, was requested
by a relation to purchase a particular ticket, No. 14,068, in this
lottery, but it had been sold some few days previously. The baron died
on the 16th of March following, and the number was the first drawn
ticket on the 24th, and, as such, entitled to £20,000. The baron’s
representatives, under these circumstances, published an advertisement,
offering a reward of £1000 to any person who might have found the
said ticket, and would deliver it up. Payment was stopped. A wholesale
linen-draper in Cornhill (who had ordered his broker to buy him ten
tickets, which he deposited in a chest), on copying the numbers for the
purpose of examining them, made a mistake in one figure, and called
it 14,168 instead of 14,068, which was the £20,000 prize. The lottery
being finished, he sent his tickets to be examined and marked. To his
utter astonishment, he then found the error in the number copied on his
paper. On his demanding payment at the lottery office, a _caveat_ was
entered by old d’Aguilar’s executors; but, an explanation taking place,
the £20,000 was paid to the lucky linen-draper.
The lottery office-keepers plumed themselves on their sale of tickets
which became prizes, and certainly did not hide their lights under
bushels. The following is a list of “Capital Prizes sold by Richardson,
Goodluck, and Co. in the State Lotteries drawn in and for the year
1802”:--
Three prizes of £20,000
Three ” 5,000
One ” 2,000
Three ” 1,000
Four ” 500