The collection consists of 3 farm account books, mainly for Hill Top Farm, Midhurst, Sussex but also including accounts for property at nearby Heyshott and Cranmore and for various persons. The accounts record payments made and received for taxes, rents, wages, animals, supplies, etc. Hill Top Farm was apparently purchased by William Fisher in 1809 with the assistance of his father, Richard Fisher of Mill End, Hambledon, Buckinghamshire, who died in 1813. The first account book opens with notes about the purchase of the farm in 1809. There follow notes about its rental to Admiral Sir Robert Stopford (1788-1847) during 1816-1821. There is a list of fields and acreages made in 1823. The first account entry is dated 1823 and the latest 1852. The entries in the second account book, in the same hand, date from 1826-1830. The entries in the third account book, in a different hand, date from 1867-1872. By 1872 (or earlier?) Hill Top had passed to Richard Fisher, a collector of Italian prints and other works of art, who died in 1890. A number of loose enclosures have been removed to MS P648.
