Album of 250 printed pawnbroker's tickets, completed in manuscript, for pledges (pawns) transacted with Isaac Collis, of 5 Church Street, Whitehaven. The volume would have originally been about 24 cm in width (i.e., oblong); the fore-edges of tickets in the album bear the perforations from which receipts for the pledged item(s) were torn off, given to the customer by Collis. All of the tickets are completed in black ink with the pawner's name, address, details of the item(s) pledged, their value, the pawnbroker's charges (from 2d to 6d), and the signature of the pledged. Tickets are in chronological order, from February 19, 1879, to March 22, 1881.

Items most frequently pawned include watches, jewelry, or cutlery, of gold or silver. There are also tickets for more unusual items: Bessie Homan and Elizabeth Honan, of Chapel, both pledged their sealskin jackets, for 6 months. Sarah Graham, of Beanthwaite, pledged opera glasses and a "clarionette." Also pawned were a Brussels carpet, and a piece of silk and velvet. Some of the pawners were unable to write and could only sign with an 'x', which was attested with the signature of the pawnbroker. Given the focus on jewelry in the present volume, it is possible that Collis kept other volumes to record transactions for other categories of objects.

Pawnbrokers > Great Britain.

Pawnbroking > Great Britain.

Loans, Personal > Great Britain.

Jewelry > Great Britain.

Clocks and watches > Great Britain.

Whitehaven (England) > Economic conditions.

Pawnbroker's tickets.

Account books.

Blank forms.

Ephemera.