Lancashire Gentleman

'Few men in my Rank of Life have been more engaged in Public Life than I have been, or had more Acquaintance and Connections with Men of all Ranks and all Degrees from the Peer of the Realm to the Pauper in the Workhouse.'Richard Hodgkinson never wrote more aptly of his long life which spanned the turbulent and momentous Georgian years of revolution and social unrest. Born into a rural England he died eighty-four years later with the Industrial Revolution in full spate.Hodgkinson was a talented and ambitious man who rose from being usher in a grammar school to become the trusted steward to wealthy families and landowners. His colourful and observant journals and letters to family and friends vividly depict the fortunes of everyday Georgian life including his concern over the desperate plight of the handloom weavers. He also travelled extensively in England and Scotland and his detailed diaries reveal perceptive comments on politics and public figures, humour, gossip and entertaining descriptions of the many places he visited as an inquisitive tourist. Hodgkinson wrote with great elegance and style, but in the dark years following the death of his younger son he had to face the penalty of ambition.This is a very remarkable collection of letters and journals which, together with numerous illustrations, provides a unique and fascinating record of the life of a man who lived through one of the most important eras of English history.