This is a fascinating glimpse into the ordinary life of English men and women, including a few of the famous - the near bankruptcy of the notorious Earl of Sandwich; letters on botany sent from Jamaica to Sir Joseph Banks at Kew Gardens; how an English country raised militia to meet the threat of a Napoleonic invasion; an insight into boarding school life of boys and girls about 1810; how a British naval officer participated in the blockade of the Chesapeake leading to the burning of Washington D.C.; the tragic story of a civil servant in India; documents abut the extinction of the Great Auk; and finally, a Parliamentary bribery trial. The central characters are members of the Rowley family of Huntingdonshire. Each chapter is based on original letters, documents and rare books.