The Account Book of Richard Latham, 1724-1767

This account book of a small yeoman farmer in Lancashire, running from 1724 (just after his marriage) to his death in 1767, provides a record of expenditure on domestic, personal, and farming items. It is unique in offering a detailed view of household life and domestic economy in a stratum of society from which very few documents of any sort have survived. Shedding light on the informal economy of the locality, entries cover payment for services, clothing, household goods, seeds, farming equipment, servants, medical expenses, books and education. A computer-generated concordance provides a comprehensive listing of all references likely to be of interest to historians.