Settling a score, 1732 fashion

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Speaking of the site newspapers.com, here is a clip from the 1732 Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia). Note that at the time cue sticks did not have tips and the Piftols were loaded by hand. The story seems to have come from Bath, England and the perp had been a fellow at Oxford.

A half crown would be 2 1/2 shillings or 1/8 of a pound.

CropperCapture[7].jpg
CropperCapture[8].jpg
 

Bob Jewett

AZB Osmium Member
Staff member
Gold Member
Silver Member
How much is Half a crown?
Two and a half shillings or 1/8th of a pound. A pound was a lot of money back then. Winning 4000l as mentioned in the clip would have made him rich but for losing it all back.

It's kind of hard to compare because the standard goods were different then, but from the interwebz it seems like the annual wage of an unskilled worker would be about 20 pounds.
 
Last edited:

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
"kicked him down the stairs"

+1, best part of the story hands down

Ahhh, the old wait till they get to the top of the stairs, grab the bannisters and swing your feet up, and push on the back with a mighty force.
I have seen this ploy, first hand, a couple of times before, very effective.
Not very sporting of him to walk up and fire point blank.
 
Top