Recently, a visitor in our searchroom ordered the item D/EEG/F24, the inventories of furniture, books, jewellery, and plate property of J H Cope. When the document was opened, we discovered a large number of loose papers, letters, and wallpaper samples. This prompted a re-cataloguing project, as we set about piece numbering the various loose ephemera, and re-discovering this wonderful slice of early-Edwardian English life for the upper echelon.
The volume belonged to John Hautenville Cope and his wife Emma Elizabeth Cope (née Thoyts). It covers two of their homes, the first being 13C Hyde Park Mansions (a flat in Marylebone, London) which they moved into in September 1901, and the second being 18 Harrington Court Mansions (in South Kensington), which they moved to in 1908. The inventory is remarkably detailed, listing every piece of furniture, work of art, book and carpet in their homes. Through these lists, it is possible to piece together aspects of their lives.
Floor plan for flat 13E Hype Park Mansions. While not their own flat, it is likely their flat would have had a similar layout to this.
The first thing of note is that whilst J H Cope is named on the front page, it appears that it was actually his wife who wrote this book. More than that, she was also the one who was the primary correspondent for house-moving and renovation work, with most letters addressed ‘Madam’. They were clearly a wealthy family, with wealthy social connections. Many of the items they owned have been listed with their values and, converting this into today’s money, we can see they were gifted a £5 dinner service set for their wedding gift by one friend in 1899, which is worth about £560 today! Just 9 years later, Emma Elizabeth writes “(terribly chipped now 1908)”. At least we can be sure the set was well loved and used.
Given their status, it was likely worries surrounding theft of valuables that led them to keep such an extensive inventory. It appears Emma Elizabeth periodically conducted ‘complete reviews’ to keep track of any items that had gone missing. During one complete review, she noted that ‘Some of my Linen has undoubtedly been stolen by whom I cannot say but sheets & towels were missing when I had a complete review Oct 1903’. Another note in 1907, this time signed by J H Cope, listed more missing linens.
Despite this apparent clear evidence of theft, it seems that Mrs Cope did have some trust in her servants. Another list within the linen’s section is signed by “E. Floyd”. Looking at census data, E Floyd is likely Edith Ellen Floyd, one of two servants working for the Cope’s in 1911. Mrs Cope clearly trusted Edith enough to complete the list in her place.
Alongside this factual information, there are some very charming personal touches within the book. Mrs Cope drew pictures of some of her items, from sugar spoons to chairs to each one of her silver frames.
The section that most clearly shows their interests is their long lists of books. They show an interest in a wide range of subjects, including military history, birds, botany, county history and genealogy. These latter subjects are ones that Mrs Cope appears to have had a keen interest in, as she was the author of a few books about history and reading old handwriting. One of her published works, How to Decipher and Study Old Documents (1893), is still in print today under the name How to Read Old Documents. In fact, the first book listed in the genealogy section of this inventory is “Mss. [manuscript] Cope Family, written by ourselves”, and further down “Mss. Typed + bound Thoyt family”. In the 1921 census, both Mr and Mrs Cope are listed as authors, so it seems they both had a passion for writing, literature, and history. It is therefore no wonder that the books section is the largest out of all their possessions.
The above is just a small snapshot of the information you can discover from records such as inventories, and there is yet more to find out about the Copes and families like them.