It’s the middle of August and as ever it appears to be silly season so we thought why not join in with some great Wife and Husband banter!
We came across this great YouTube video of Olivia Colman reading a letter from a well-to-do wife to her husband purportedly written in the year 1617.
Read after watching.
The young woman, Elizabeth Spencer, fell in love with William Compton, a man not only penniless but also burdened with £28,000 in debt. Once he gained control of her father’s fortune, he quickly squandered £72,000 with reckless gambling within the first two months.
To put this in perspective, the average income in 1600 was less than £25 per year, with 83% earning less than £50 annually. Only a small fraction of society, the affluent class, made more than £100 per year. Her fortune was a staggering £800,000!
This might seem extravagant, but what would this mean in today’s world of multimillionaires and billionaires? Could the likes Kirsty Bertarelli or Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken manage with just 20 dresses, 2 cars, staff for 3 properties, security, and travel expenses?
Despite the warnings from her lover’s past behaviour, she requests him to commit to financial stability, show generosity to those in need, and restrict from lending their fortune recklessly. Her understanding and tolerance for his flaws are commendable, with her only insistence being to maintain the lifestyle she was born into and has grown accustomed to. This might sound demanding, but considering the scale of their wealth, her requests were relatively modest, especially compared to the amount he had already squandered on gambling.
