Wednesday 29 August 2012

29th August 1812: "How long this is to continue, we cannot tell"

The Saturday 29th August 1812 edition included a desperate-sounding article from their Huddersfield correspondent about the situation in the town:
We have now upwards of 1000 Soldiers in this town—the Publicans are very much distressed to accommodate them. There are only about 33 Public-houses in the town, so that each house has, on an average, upwards of 30 soldiers. How long this is to continue, we cannot tell.
 As Brooke & Kipling point out (1993, p.32), under the law, publicans were obliged to provide straw, candles, food and drink to the troops billeted there, and rarely received payment that was sufficient to cover costs.

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