About two centuries ago, there lived in the good old city of Hereford,
one Mrs. Joyce Jefferies, of whose singular establishment, during nine
years, a minute record has been preserved. In a cathedral town, olden
features of English life may be traced more considerably than in other
towns of less antiquity and extent. Hereford is thought to be derived
from the British Hêre-fford, signifying the "old road." It has its
Mayor's Court, view of Frankpledge, and court of Pie Pondre; though it
has lost its monastic edifices; and, two centuries ago, its castle,
built by Harold, was in ruins, which, as materials, were worth no more
than 85_l_. One of the gateways of the town walls has been fitted up as
a prison. There are several hospitals or alms-houses. Its Saxon
cathedral occupies the site of a former church of wood; it is dedicated
to St. Ethelbert, whose name was given to its nine days' fair; two of
its fairs are "for diversions." In short, amidst broad streets, and red
brick houses, and other modern aspects, are many interesting traces of
old times and habits, furnished with its two crosses and a stone pulpit.
Its river, the Wye, teems with salmon[48] and grayling; the whole county
appears like one orchard; cider and perry are made everywhere; and there
is a good deposit of tobacco pipe clay. In one of its towns, on Shrove
Tuesday, a bell rings at noon as a signal for the people to begin frying
their pancakes; and among its festal records is that of a Morrice dance,
performed by ten persons--a "nest of Nestors"--whose united ages
recorded one thousand years.
In this old city, then, lived Mrs. Jefferies, upon an income averaging
500_l_. a year, in a house in Widemarch Street--the street in which
Garrick, the actor, was born--which she built at a cost of 800_l_. but
which was ordered to be pulled down in the time of the Rebellion, under
Charles I., and the materials sold for 50_l_. This was a calamitous
loss. Besides, the old lady lived beyond her means, not by
self-indulgence in costly luxuries, but in indiscriminate gifts; and
three-fourths of the entries in her accounts consist of sums bestowed in
presents, of loans never repaid, or laid out in articles to give away.
She continued in the city till the year 1642, when, driven by stress of
war, she abandoned it, and sought refuge in the dwellings of others.
Ultimately, in 1644, she gave up housekeeping to the day of her death.
The household establishment of Mrs. Jefferies is by no means, for a
single person, on a contracted scale. Many female servants are
mentioned; two having wages from 3_l_. to 3_l_. _4_s. per annum, with
gowns of dark stuff at Midsummer. Her coachman, receiving 40_s_. per
annum, had at Whitsuntide, 1639, a new cloth suit and cloak; and, when
he was dressed in his best, exhibited fine blue silk ribbon at the knees
of his hose. The liveries of this and another man-servant were, in 1641,
of fine Spanish cloth, made up in her own house, and cost upwards of
nine pounds. Her man of business, or steward, had a salary of 5_l_.
16_s_. A horse was kept for him, and he rode about to collect her rents
and dues, and to see to her agricultural concerns. She appeared abroad
in a coach drawn by two mares; a nag or two were in her stable; one that
a widow lady in Hereford purchased of her, she particularly designated
as "a rare ambler."
Mrs. Jefferies had a host of country cousins; for, in those days, family
connexions were formed in more contracted circles than at present, and
the younger people intermarried nearer home; and she was evidently an
object of great interest and competition among such as sought for
sponsors to their children. She seems to have delighted in the office of
gossip, or _God-sib_, that is, _sib_, as related, by means of religion.
The number of her god-children became a serious tax upon her purse. A
considerable list of her christening gifts includes, in 1638, a silver
tankard to give her god-daughter, little Joyce Walsh, 5_l_. 5_s_. 6_d_.;
"at Heriford faier, for blue silk ribbon and taffetary lace for skarfs,"
for a god-son and god-daughter, 8_s_.; and 1642, "paid Mr. Side,
gouldsmith in Heriford, for a silver bowle to give Mrs. Lawrence
daughter, which I found, too, called Joyse Lawrence, at 5_s_. 8_d_. an
oz., 48_s_. 10_d_." But to Miss Eliza Acton she was more than maternally
generous and was continually giving proofs of her fondness in all sorts
of indulgence, supplying her lavishly with costly clothes and sums of
money--money for gloves, for fairings, for cards against Christmas, and
money repeatedly to put in her purse.
We have mentioned Mrs. Jefferies' loans. She had various sums placed out
at interest, on bond and mortgage, varying from three hundred pounds and
upwards, and one of eight hundred pounds. The securities were frequently
shifting; and the number of persons who paid to her irregularly enough,
in this way, in two years, was little short of one hundred. The
borrowers of these moneys were knights, yeomen, gentry, farmers, and
tradesmen; burgesses, and aldermen, and Mayors of Hereford, with many
others. The collection of interest upon principal so detached and widely
dispersed, must have been attended with difficulty. The principal itself
must have incurred risk of diminution; but the convenience of the Three
per Cents. was then unknown, and eight per cent. was the interest upon
these loans. This practice of lending money in small sums must formerly
have been more general than at the present day: there were then few
modes of employing money so as to realize fair interest; it was often
hoarded by "making a stocking," and various modes of concealment.
Some of Mrs. Jefferies's entries respecting those who do not repay loans
are curious. Thus, M. Garnons, an occasional suitor for relief, she
styles "an unthrifty gentleman;" amuses herself in setting down a small
bad debt; and, after recording the name of the borrower, and the
trifling sum lent, adds, in a note by way of anticipation, "which he
will never pay." In another case, that of a legal transaction, in which
a person had agreed to surrender certain premises to her use, and she
had herself paid for drawing the instrument upon which he was to have
acted, she observes, "but he never did, and I lost my money." In all
matters she exhibits a gentle and generous mind. It was natural enough
that she should describe the Parliamentary folks who pulled down her
house as "fearful soldiers."
Here is a slight sketch of the personal appearance of Mrs. Jefferies in
a specimen or two of her dress, among many that occur in her book of
accounts. Her style of dress was such as became a gentlewoman of her
condition. In 1638, in her palmy days, she wore a tawny camlet coat and
kirtle, which, with all the requisite appendages, trimmings, and making,
scrupulously set down, cost 10_l_. 17_s_. 5_d_. She had, at the same
time, a black silk calimanco loose gown, petticoat, and bodice, and
these, with the making, came to 18_l_. 1_s_. 8_d_. Next month, a Polonia
coat and kirtle cost in all 5_l_. 1_s_. 4_d_. Tailors were then the
dressmakers: she employed those in Hereford, Worcester, and London; and,
strange to say, sometimes the dresses were so badly made in London that
they had to be altered by a country tailor. She had, about the same
period, a head-dress of black tiffany, wore ruff-stocks, and a beaver
hat with a black silk band, and adopted worsted hose of different
colours--blue, and sometimes grass-green. Among the articles of her
toilet were false curls, and curling-irons; she had Cordovan (Spanish
leather) gloves, sweet gloves, and gold embroidered gloves. She wore
diamond and cornelian rings, used spectacles, and carried a whistle for
a little dog, suspended at her girdle by a yard of black loop lace. A
cipress (Cyprus?) cat, given to her by a Herefordshire friend, was, no
doubt, a favourite; and she kept a throstle in a twiggen cage.
A young lady who resided with her was dressed at her expense in a manner
more suited to her earlier time of life: for instance, she had a green
silk gown, with a blue satin petticoat. At Easter, she went to a
christening arrayed in a double cobweb lawn, and had a muff. Next, she
was dressed in a woollen gown, "spun by the coock's wife, Whooper,"
liver-coloured, and made up splendidly with a stomacher laced with
twisted silver cord. Another article of this young lady's wardrobe was a
gown of musk-coloured cloth; and when she rode out she was decked in a
scarlet safeguard coat and hood, laced with red, blue, and yellow lace;
but none of her dresses were made by female hands.
Of the system of housekeeping we get a glimpse. In summer, she
frequently had her own sheep killed; and at autumn a fat heifer, and at
Christmas a beef or brawn were sometimes slaughtered, and chiefly spent
in her house. She is very observant of the festivals and ordinances of
the Church, while they continue unchanged; duly pays her tithes and
offerings, and, after the old seignorial and even princely custom,
contributes for her dependants as well as herself, in the offertory at
the communion at Easter; has her pew in the church of All Saints at
Hereford dressed, of course, with flowers at that season by the wife of
the clerk; gives to the poor-box at the minster, and occasionally sends
doles to the prisoners at Byster's Gate. Attached to ancient rules in
town and country, she patronizes the fiddlers at sheep-shearing, gives
to the wassail and the hinds at Twelfth Eve, when they light their
twelve fires, and make the fields resound with toasting their master's
health, as is done in many places to this day. Frequently in February,
she is careful to take pecuniary notice of the first of the other sex,
among those she knew, whom she met on Valentine's Day, and enters it
with all the grave simplicity imaginable: "Gave Tom Aston, for being my
valentine, 2_s_. Gave Mr. Dick Gravell, cam to be my valentine, 1_s_. I
gave Timothy Pickering of Clifton, that was my valentine at Horncastle,
4_d_." Sends Mr. Mayor a present of 10_s_. on his "law day;" and on a
certain occasion dines with him, when the waits, to whom she gives
money, are in attendance at the feast; she contributes to these at New
Year and Christmas tide, and to other musical performers at
entertainments or fairs; seems fond of music, and strange sights, and
"rarer monsters." "Gave to Sir John Giles, the fiddler, and to 2 others
on 12th day;" "to a boy that did sing like a blackbird." She was liberal
to Cherilickcome "and his Jack-an-apes," some vagrant that gained his
living by exhibiting a monkey; and at Hereford Midsummer Fair, in 1640,
"to a man that had the dawncing horse." To every one who gratified her
by a visit, or brought her a present, she was liberal; as well as to her
own servants and attendants at friends' houses. She provided medicine
and advice for those who were sick and could not afford to call in
medical aid; and she took compassion on those who were in the chamber of
death and house of mourning, as may be seen in this entry: "1648, Oct.
29. For a pound of shugger to send Mrs. Eaton when her son Fitz Wm. lay
on his death-bed, 20_d_."
Our Herefordshire Lady's Diary takes us through nine years of the time
of the dispute between Charles I. and the Parliament: it, accordingly,
possesses much historic interest. In 1638, she paid the unpopular impost
of Ship-money, unsuccessfully opposed by Hampden, as well as another
tax, called "the King's provision;" and she finds a soldier for her
farm, and for her property in Hereford, when the Trained Bands are
called out and exercised. Now, too, old ancestral armour, or Train-band
equipments, that hung rusting in manor-houses, were taken down and
repaired. And when Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick had been agitating, Laud
impeached and imprisoned, and Lord Strafford tried and beheaded, she
took a decided interest in passing events, and sent for some of the
pamphlets and newspapers that swarmed from the press. Thus, we find paid
for a book of Strafford's Trial, and his portrait, and Laud's, and some
other portraits, 4_s_. 1_d_. And when the Parliament soldiers discharged
their muskets, at or near her dwelling, we find this item: "Gave the
sowldiers that shott off at my window, 1_s_. and beer." Then we find
her, amidst great confusion, packing up her beds, furniture, and boxes,
and taking flight in her carriage: but she was mercilessly plundered of
"much goods, two bay coach mares, and some money, and much linen and
clothes."
How her possessions were made away with at Hereford is a sad tale. Sir
Henry Slingsby, a noted Royalist officer, mentions the havoc in terms of
much regret. The orchards, gardens, trees, and houses were all
destroyed. Before her house was pulled down, she sent her steward to
save some part of the property, and make presents of the produce of her
gardens, "gardin salitts," &c.
As years advance, symptoms of infirmity appear. The spectacles, and
favourite "guilt spoone," and diamond ring, are missing, and found and
brought by her attendants, who always have a reward. It has been related
of Prince Eugene of Savoy, that his servants took dexterous advantage of
his foible of immoderate anger, and threw themselves in the way of his
fits of passion, that they might get a sound beating from him, and its
never-failing accompaniment, a reward to make it up. Thus, probably, the
attendants of Mrs. Jefferies, though in a different method, might make
profit of her failing memory, by hiding and reproducing the above
valuables, in order to a remuneration. Then, a fair is held at
Worcester, and the maids from Horncastle of course attend it: our lady
gives each a shilling, when Barbara, the dairy-maid, pretends that she
had lost her shilling, and her mistress gave her another. But the maids
were always in favour, and not content with making them presents at
stated times, she invented vicarious means of slipping vails into their
hands.
Age seems to have abated nothing of her generous feeling, or of the
ardour of her domestic affections. In all those events which usually
bring joy to families, and occasion entries in our parish registers, she
heartily sympathised. A marriage, even of a servant, was an occurrence
that always appeared highly to interest her. When Miss Acton was
married, she gave her a handsome portion, arranged the settlement, and
defrayed incidental expenses; and to the entries she adds, "God bless
them both." The clerks in the solicitors' offices are not forgotten;
and, "Paid the butcher for a fatt weather to present this bride wooman
at her wedding-day, 6_s_. 6_d_." The portion was made up in instalments,
and on the last payment, she notes: "So I praise God all the 800_l_. is
paid, and we are even." Then, what joy was there at a christening, when
"ould Mrs. Barckley and myself Joyse Jeffreys were Gossips. God bless
hitt: Amen." Also, "Gave the midwyfe, good wyfe Hewes, of Vpper Jedston,
the christening day, 10_s_.;" and, "Gave nurce Nott ye same day,
10_s_."
Thus did she continue to go on, with blessings upon her lips and her
right hand full of gifts, without intermission, till the grave closed
over all that was mortal, and amiable, and singular in the character and
conduct of one whose parallel is not easy to be found.
As respects herself, little did she think that, in compiling these
accounts, she was about to present, after a lapse of upwards of two
centuries, a more expressive memorial of her virtues than any that her
surviving relatives could have placed upon her tomb.
"And so it has fallen out, that nothing appears to have been hitherto
done to mark the spot where she lies; neither has the exact period of
her decease been ascertained, though the codicil of her will carries her
forward to 1650, and it has been shown that she was buried in the
chancel of the parish church of Clifton-upon-Teme, on the borders of
Worcestershire. But her memory is still revered by those to whom her
existence and character are known: and a brass tablet has been placed
near the spot where she is believed to have been interred, with an
inscription transmitting the name and virtues of Mrs. Joyce Jefferies to
future times."[49]