CHAPTER XXIX.
Parliamentary Committee on the high price of provisions—Bounty on imported corn, and on rice from India and America—The “Brown Bread Bill”—Prosecution of bakers for light weight—Punishment of a butcher for having bad meat—Price of beef, mutton, and poultry—Cattle shows—Supply of food from France—Great fall in prices here—Hotels, &c.—A clerical dessert.
PARLIAMENT bestirred itself in the matter of food supply, not only in appointing “a Committee to consider the high price of provisions,” who made their first report on the 24th of November, 1800; but Mr. Dudley Ryder (afterwards Earl of Harrowby) moved, on the 12th of November, in the same year, the following resolutions, which were agreed to:—
“1. That the average price at which foreign corn shall be sold in London, should be ascertained, and published, in the London Gazette.
“2. That there be given on every quarter of wheat, weighing 424 lbs., which shall be imported into the port of London, or into any of the principal ports of each district of Great Britain, before the 1st of October, 1801, a bounty equal to the sum by which the said average price in London, published in the Gazette, in the third week after the importation of such wheat, shall be less than 100s. per quarter.
“3. That there shall be given on every quarter of barley, weighing 352 lbs., which shall be imported into the port of London, or any of the principal ports of each district of Great Britain before the 1st of October, 1801, a bounty equal to the sum by which the said average price in London, published in the Gazette in the third week after the importation of such barley, shall be less than 45s. per quarter.
“4. That there be given on every quarter of rye, weighing 408 lbs., which shall be imported into the port of London, or into any of the principal ports of each district of Great Britain, before the 1st of October, 1801, a bounty equal to the sum by which the said average price in London, published in the Gazette of the third week after the importation of such rye, shall be less than 65s. per quarter.
“5. That there be given on every quarter of oats, weighing 280 lbs., which shall be imported into the port of London, or into any of the principal ports of each district of Great Britain, before the 1st of October, 1801, a bounty equal to the sum by which the average price in London, published in the Gazette in the third week after the importation of such oats, shall be less than 30s. per quarter.
“6. That there be given on every barrel of superfine wheaten flour, of 196 lbs. weight, which shall be imported into such ports before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each barrel of such flour so sold, shall be less than 70s.
“7. That there be given on every barrel of fine wheaten flour, of 196 lbs. weight, which shall be imported into such ports before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale, by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each barrel of such flour so sold shall be less than 68s.
“8. That there be given on every cwt. of rice which shall be imported into such ports in any ship which shall have cleared out from any port in the East Indies before the 1st of September, 1801, and which shall be sold by public sale, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each cwt. of rice so sold shall be less than 32s.
“9. That there be given on every cwt. of rice, from America, which shall be imported into such ports, before the 1st of October, 1801, and sold by public sale by auction, within two months after importation, a bounty equal to the sum by which the actual price of each cwt. of such rice so sold, shall be less than 35s.”
Thus we see that the paternal government of that day did all they could to find food for the hungry; and it is somewhat curious to note the commencement of a trade for food, with two countries like India and the United States of America. Still more did the Government attempt to alleviate the distress by passing an Act (41 Geo. III. c. 16), forbidding the manufacture of fine bread, and enacting that all bread should contain the whole meal—i.e., all the bran, &c.—and be what we term “brown bread.” Indeed the Act was called, popularly, “The Brown Bread Bill.” It came into force on the 16th of January, 1801, a date which was afterwards extended to the 31st of January, but did not last long; its repeal receiving the Royal Assent on the 26th of February of the same year.
So also the authorities did good service in prosecuting bakers for light weight; and the law punished them heavily. I will only make one quotation—Morning Post, February 5, 1801. “Public Office, Bow Street. Light Bread. Several complaints having been made against a baker in the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury, for selling bread short of weight, he was, yesterday, summoned on two informations; the one for selling a quartern loaf deficient of its proper weight eight ounces, and the other for a quartern loaf wanting four ounces. A warrant was also issued to weigh all the bread in his shop, when 29 quartern loaves were seized, which wanted, together, 58 ounces, of their proper weight; the light bread was brought to the office, and the defendant appeared to answer the charges. The parties were sworn as to the purchase of the first two loaves, which being proved, and the loaves being weighed in the presence of the Magistrates, the defendant was convicted in the full penalty of five shillings per ounce for the twelve ounces they were deficient; and, Mr. Ford observing that as the parties complaining were entitled to one moiety of the penalty, he could not with justice remit any part of it.
“Respecting the other 29 loaves, as it was the report of the officers who executed the warrant, that there were a considerable number more found in his shop that were of full weight, it was the opinion of him, and the other Magistrates then present, that the fine should be mitigated to 2s. per ounce, amounting to £5 16s., which the defendant was, accordingly, obliged to pay, and the 29 loaves, which, of course, were forfeited, Mr. Ford ordered to be distributed to the poor.
“A search warrant was also executed at the shop of a baker near Drury Lane, against whom an information had also been laid for selling light bread; but, it being near three o’clock in the afternoon when the officers went to the shop, very little bread remained, out of which, however, they found eight quarterns, three half quarterns, and four twopenny loaves, short of weight 28 ounces, and on which the baker was adjudged to pay 2s. per ounce, and the bread was disposed of in the same manner as the other.”
As we have seen, the price of bread in London was regulated by the civic authorities, according to the price of flour—and it is gratifying to find that they fearlessly exercised their functions. September 1, 1801: “A number of Bakers were summoned to produce their bills of parcels of flour purchased by them during the last two weeks, according to the returns. Many of them were very irregular which they said was owing to the mealmen not giving in their bills of parcels with the price at the time of delivering the flour. They were ordered to attend on a future day, when the mealmen will be summoned to answer that complaint.”
Nor were the bakers, alone, subject to this vigilance, the butchers were well looked after, and, if evil doers, were punished in a way worthy of the times of the “Liber Albus.” Vide the Morning Post, April 16, 1800: “Yesterday, the carcase of a calf which was condemned by the Lord Mayor, as being unwholesome, was burnt before the butcher’s door, in Whitechapel. His Lordship commended the Inquest of Portsoken Ward very much for their exertions in this business, and hoped it would be an example to others, that when warm weather comes on they may have an eye to stalls covered with meat almost putrified, and very injurious to the health of their fellow citizens.”
Just at that time meat was extraordinarily high in price—in May, only a few weeks after the above quotation, beef was 1s. 6d. and mutton 1s. 3d. per lb., whilst fowls were 6s. 6d. each, and every other article of food at proportionally high rates. Yet, as was only natural, every means were taken to increase the food supply. Cattle shows were inaugurated, and great interest was taken in them by the neighbouring gentry. As an example we will take one held in September, 1801, where Mr. Tatton Sykes was judge, and there were such well-known county gentlemen present as Mr. Denison, Major Osbaldeston, Major Topham, &c., &c. The prizes were not high; but, then, as now, in agricultural contests, honour went before the money value of the prize.
But, with the treaty of peace with France came comparative plenty. The French were keen enough to, at once, take advantage of the resumption of friendly relations; and, knowing that an era of cheaper food was to be inaugurated, prices fell rapidly here. For instance, no sooner did the news of peace reach Ireland, than the price of pork fell, in some markets from 63s. to 30s. per cwt.; and beef dropped to 33s. 6d. or 30s. 6d. per cwt. Butter, and other farm produce had proportionable reductions. In London, one shopkeeper somewhat whimsically notified the change. At the time of illumination for the peace, he displayed a transparency, on one side of which was a quartern loaf, under which were the words, “I am coming down,” and by its side appeared a pot of porter, which rejoined, “So am I.”
When the pioneer boat, loaded with provisions from France, arrived at Portsmouth, the authorities were at a loss as to what to do with her; so she was detained until an order could be received permitting her to trade and depart within 24 hours. Her cargo was sold out at once, and no wonder, for she sold pigs at 16s. each, turkeys 2s. 6d. each, and fowls 2s. a couple, whilst eggs were going at 1s. 6d. a score.
Whilst on this subject, mention may be made of the kind of provision made for the men’s feeding, otherwise than at home. The Hotel proper, as we know it, was but in its infancy; and, as far as I can gather, there were but some fifteen hotels in London. This does not, of course, include the large coaching inns, which made up beds, because they catered for a fleeting population; nor does it take cognizance of the coffee houses, many of which made up beds, especially for visitors from various counties, where they might possibly meet with friends, or hear the last news about them, and see the county newspaper; whilst all, without exception, and most of the taverns, supplied their customers with dinners, and other food—in fact, they acted as victuallers, and not as the keepers of drinkeries, as now. There were, besides, many of the cheaper class of eating houses, called cook shops, scattered over every part of the town, at which a plentiful dinner might be obtained at, from a shilling, to eighteenpence. In addition, there were very many à la mode beef houses, and soup shops, so that every taste, and purse, was consulted.
Before closing these notes on feeding, early in the century, I must chronicle a “little dinner.” Morning Post, July 26, 1800: “At a village in Cheshire, last year, three clergymen, after dinner, ate fourteen quarts of nuts, and, during their sitting, drank six bottles of port wine, and NO other liquor!”
