Autograph account book, in pen and brown ink, kept by Sir William Clayton for the year 1784. The accounts are kept within Shave's Suffolk memorandum-book, or, Complete pocket ledger (Ipswich, 1784). The printed ledgers include blanks for accounts and for memorandums, but Clayton records only account information. He begins the year with £742 in hand. His total revenues for the year will total £1757; his expenses, £2072, for a total "balances against" of £315. Clayton is aged 22 in 1784, having just graduated from Queen's College. His accounts reflect the expenses of young man enjoying himself at London and travelling around England & Wales. His expenses include hotels, coaches, chaises, and many dinners. Entertainments include balls, the opera, many plays, and occasional music. He employs the services of a washerwoman, blacksmith, hair dresser, chambermaid, porter, hatter, and tailor. His consumer activity includes payments for a purse, tooth brushes, gloves, buckles, a coat and waistcoats, silk stockings, oranges, wine, a gun, gunpowder, flints, knives, and forks. Clayton also notes semi-regular losses (or occasional winnings) at cards.
