About 65 letters sent by Browne to his father back in Troutbeck, in the historical county of Westmorland, now part of Cumbria, have survived the intervening 300 years. Today they go on display at Townend, the Browne family home that is now cared for by the National Trust.
The letters are full of vivid descriptions of Browne's new life in London, where he trained as a clerk to a lawyer, as well as his need for funds. Early on, he encountered social unrest in the form of violent protests by Spitalfields silk weavers against imports of calico from India.
It was, he wrote home, a "very great mobbing by the weavers of this town... they are starved for want of trade".
As time went on, his letters frequently requested money to help pay his rent, and to buy stockings, breeches, wigs and other items necessary for his new life. He hoped his parents would not think him extravagant, but "my Cloaths which [I] have now are but mean in Comparison [with] what they wear here".
This story is from the March 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the March 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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