Item 9 - Letter from Charles E. Grant to W. Aldis Wright

1 folded sheet

King’s College, Cambridge.—Asks for help in explaining the use of the word ‘fer’ in the accompanying entries (from college accounts; not present). It appears that a ‘fer’ was equivalent to the twelfth part of a sheep.

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Transcript

King’s College, Cambridge
April 4th 1887 {1}

My dear Wright,

I send you one or two entries in which the word “Fer” occurs {2}. If you can help me to an explanation I shall be very grateful as Thorold Rogers wants to know something, and I am unwilling to give the enemy occasion to scoff.

The two entries relating to mutton seem to shew that a “Fer” was equivalent to the twelfth part of a sheep. This gives 10d a fer for mutton and 1s/ a fer for beef—about the right proportion I sup-pose. The low price of sheep in the second entry is, I imagine, due to a special contract with the College tenant; the third entry giving the market price. I do not know how to account for the fractions of sheep which came from tenants, except by supposing that there was a contract weight and that the College paid for the overplus or subtracted the deficiency as the case might be. Thus two small sheep might = 1 ov. 9 fer. di: (i.e. 21½ fer {3}, the contract weight being 24 fer). Or possibly the butcher sold some portions of the meat to the public, and only charged the College with what he actually supplied to them.

Yours very truly
Charles E. Grant

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{1} The first three figures of the year are printed.

{2} These entries are not present.

{3} ‘i.e. 21½ fer’ interlined above a caret. Comma supplied.

This description was created by A. C. Green in 2022.