Description:

EARLY ENGLISH TURNPIKE LETTER
Interesting A.L.S. of one Edward Smythe, penned at the heyday of turnpikes in England and the creation of turnpike trusts to manage them, 3pp. 4to., Brandon, Dec. 3, 1839, to Reverend William Newcome of Hockwold Hall, Norfolk, England. Smythe discusses the "...Title Acts...in the case of your Tenant...I met Wm. Lee on Business yesterday at [?] but as we were not so highly favored...with Roast Beef & plum pudding to chat over, nothing was said about the Hockwold Surveyors. I must confess that I am not...conversant in Turnpike Trust matters...have but few Books...All I can make out from them is that the Parishioners are not exempted from the common Law liability of repairing Turnpike Roads yet a Duty is imposed on the Trustees to expend the Trusts in the improvement of them and they are liable to pay a portion of a Fine imposed on a Parish upon a judgment against them for neglect or repairs...". Turnpike Trusts - bodies set up by Parliament to extract tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Britain - reached their height in the 1830s, with over 1,000 controlling some 30,000 miles of road in Wales and Great Britain. Over the course of the next decades, however, this system waned with the ascendency of railroads which were now maintained by principalities. Very good condition.

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September 27, 2012 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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