Narrative

Everyday Print

1. Receipts enabled a record of financial transactions and a sense of accountability. They also tell us much about what people were up to. For example, these receipts from the Parish of St. John, Hampstead, Middlesex reveal contributions to the repair of highways, the prosecution of war, and support of the poor; and information about property taxes and everyday expenses, including servants, carriages, and windows, as well as expenses for lighting and patrolling the town.