Item 219 - Account Book kept by Surgeon Major Peter Freyer, Moradabad, NWP, India and 46 Harley St, London, [until c 1905 and of 27 Harley St, thereafter] recording in detail the income and expenditure of Peter Freyer in India and England, over a 20 year period.

c 330pp

Account Book kept by Surgeon Major Peter Freyer, Moradabad, NWP, India and 46 Harley St, London, [until c 1905 and of 27 Harley St, thereafter] recording in detail the income and expenditure of Peter Freyer in India and England, over a 20 year period. It begins by giving details of his income, expenditure and investments. His income while residing in India included his pay of 750 rupees, a jail allowance of 100 rupees, a railway allowance of 120 rupees, dividends from investments and fees from private practice, which in March 1892 were over 2,000 rupees. His expenses in India included his butcher's bill, his servants' pay, house rent, his club bill, income tax and a monthly payment to the Indian Family Pension Fund. The Indian accounts were kept on a monthly basis. From 18 Apr 1893-13 Oct 1894 Freyer was away from India on furlough. The account keeping changes from rupees to sterling while he was on leave, however the account of his income and expenditure in India continues to be in rupees and on 16 Dec 1893 a payment of 8,800 rupees from the Rampur State is recorded [see P57/106]. On his return to India in Oct 1894, he lived in Benares and the fees for his private practice become more detailed, giving some individual names. For February, March and the first 2 weeks of April 1895 he received pay as the civil surgeon at Mirzapur and for the second 2 weeks of April as civil surgeon, Benares. On 1 May he left Benares for Bombay and spent 4-17 May on the 'Caledonia' travelling from Bombay to Marseilles.
On Freyer's return to England on a permanent basis in 1895 the style of account keeping changes. Details were kept of his yearly expenditure in a chronological order, which included club and society memberships, servants' wages, family clothing, school fees, electrical supply, coal, cigars. Other expenses included such items as £2.2.0. 'Moffett Testimonial cheque' (23 Jan 1896) and £52.10.0. paid to R Hardy and Sons for 3 months hire of a carriage and horse (23 Oct 1899). Annual expenses included income tax on his pension of £365, a family pension fund, an allowance to his wife, household expenses, contingencies for entertaining, travelling etc. Annual motor car expenses begin in 1908. Freyer's annual expenditure for the year 1905 was approximately £3,096, while his professional income alone amounted to £3,735 for that year. The continuity of the expenditure account is interrupted at the end of 1895 by a small section recording the costs of furnishing 46 Harley St, from Dec 1895-May 1896, with additional costs for house furnishing in the following years up to Feb 1912, including carpets for 27 Harley St in Feb 1906.

From 1899 Freyer's income is recorded in pencil under 4 main headings: pension, dividends and interest on home investments and on Indian investments and private practice. The figures for the gross sum received from his private practice have been rubbed out for some years but it is still possible to read the figures, which in 1901 amounted to £3,136 and in 1912 to £4,763 with £941 working expenses. Some years record income earned from the sale of his books, for example in 1902 £30 from the sale of Stricture of the Urethra. Separate sections for the school expenses of his children Kathleen and Dermot show that Kathleen received board and instruction from a Miss Brook from 1894 to 1901 and from Oct 1901 until July 1903, she attended a school in Paris. Dermot was educated at a school at Temple Grove run by Rev H B Allen and spent holidays with Miss Brook 1893-1898 and in Sept 1898 he went to Wellington College and from there to Cambridge.

A section on Freyer's investments records the date of investment, description, amount and number of shares, their value, dividends etc. A remarks' column records the sale, transfer and withdrawal of various investments. Besides holding a 'paid up' life insurance policy with Standard Life Assurance, Freyer held shares in Indian banking corporations, Indian juke, paper and cotton mills, Indian steam navigation and other enterprises. He also held a number of the Government of India promissory notes. Among the home investments were many shares in railways including English, Australian, Canadian and Argentine. Also investments in gas light, navigation, Guinness, local government projects and government stocks and shares. Brief details of letters written to the investment companies are recorded in another separate section. Includes newspaper cuttings relating to investments inside the back end paper. This account book was bought from Traill and Co, Wholesale and Retail Stationers, Calcutta. Very dark maroon coloured cover, with clasp and key, size 22x27x3 cms.

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27/06/2013
14/07/2025