In 1719, a man called Ben Browne left Troutbeck and made a 300-mile journey to London where he was to undergo training as a clerk to a lawyer, according to the National Trust charity in Europe. He would often write back home to his father, with only 65 letters having survived 300 years later.
The letters were recently put on display at the Townend home, where the letters had gone through a conservation process and highlight a young adult life very familiar to us.
The contents of the letters
According to The Guardian, the letters detailed Browne’s daily life as he worked 12-hour shifts copying legal documents, while also maintaining a social life and buying many books to annotate (many of which are still available to see at Townend). He also had to send back items found in London to family back home, including “’Cap for Parson Sawrey & two necklaces for him’, ‘Linnen for a gown and cape for Mrs Birkett Merrers’ and ‘Chocolate & Coffee for my mother’,” per The Guardian.
Smithsonian Magazine describes Browne’s letters that offer “vivid details about work, nightlife, romance and local gossip.” He shared many personal details, such as when he fell in love with his employer’s maid to complaining about being short on money to buy more fashionable clothes. His letters also highlighted the social tensions of his time.
In one, he explains to his father “ … very great mobbing by the weavers of this town. … they are starved for want of trade,” per National Trust, which were protests against the importation of calico from India.
Emma Wright, a collections and house manager at Townend, shared the following with National Trust: “Young Ben was in London for 16 years and his letters are full of fascinating details of his life during this time, with his numerous requests for money towards his keep and for what he needs to live a fashionable lifestyle, not to mention some bombshell surprises like his secret marriage. ... In one surviving letter from old Ben, though, we discover he is keen for his son to find out a bit more about a rumour he has heard, of a duel in London between a local Troutbeck man and a Londoner!”
The Guardian reports that these letters showed concerns and wishes that are not that different from ones young adults have today, especially his concerns for money as everything in London was expensive. Browne would often ask for money from his parents to help him cover rent and buy extra things he needed to live a life in London.
Wright explains, “These letters are so relatable, and they show nothing has really changed. Like the emails or text messages they may receive today, many parents with a child going off into the world will appreciate how [Browne’s father] must have felt getting news of [him] and requests for help, while any young person who has arrived in a big city to study or work will recognise the situations in which young Ben finds himself,” per The Guardian.