Reference
X95/322/2
Title
Copy letters from Thomas Sworder of Hertford to members of the Vyse family
Date free text
12 Apr 1862
Production date
From: 1862 To: 1862
Scope and Content
Copy letters
1. From: Thomas Sworder at Hertford;
To: Henry Vyse
"I beg to acknowledge the Rect. this day of yr lre of 1st Inst but I do trust you will not punish me for the faults of my Nephew. I certainly am bound to pay you £2500 but not £7000 that is beyond my power to pay even is I was liable. I did not know at the time I signed the Note for £2500 that he owed you anything. Had you told me so I'd perhaps have hesitated before I signed this. I have supported my Nephew & am supporting him but he owes me a very large sum so that I cannot go on any longer. I have however been into his affairs very carefully with Mr.Saunderson the accountant & I am quite satisfied that if you will give time he can sell off £20,000 worth of property & reduce his liabilities to a mere shadow but this cannot be done at once & if he is stopped, the sacrifice will be so great that there will be little or nothing for any one. When I signed the note to you I did so because I knew he had been obliged to get rid of his Brother Robert & I knew he wanted Capital but I can tell you the truth when I say that I signed that Note to you on the faith that the £2500 shd be pd to Burr & Crabb but which has not been done. The consequence is that I am placed in great difficulty & the times have been so bad for Brewing that he had been carrying on a large Business to great disadvantage. Under all the circumstances I entreat your forbearance & if it will be any satisfaction I will wait upon you & show you how his affairs stand to the best of my knowledge & I am quite confident that if he can get thro the present year he can by selling property & reducing his Capital pay off all the pressing liabilities & have a considerable surplus to spare. I was at Luton all Day to Thursday & went into figures with my Nephew & with Mr.Saunderson the accountant. Mr.Saunderson assures me the Brewery is in a most healthy state doing a good Business & likely to be a Capital concern & the difference in the price of Malt & Hops will ere long make a good income of itself & pay the Interest on £40,000 so pray don't push matters as far with me as if I am compelled to pay you the £2500 I owe you I cannot assist my nephew thro the present year & I feel sure that if his affairs are now well managed all will be right & you need not lose anything. I have arranged to go to Luton once every month to check him & to see that the immense Load of Debts on the Books (£12,000) are got in.
Pray let me know if yo uwish to see me & I will run up on Thursday next & if so my Nephew had better be summoned to meet me. I will do anything I can in reason to meet your wishes but pray be merciful".
2. From: Thomas Sworder, Hertford: 12 Apr 1862
To: Edmund Waller Vyse, Luton
"Quite Private
I think it right to tell you that in consequence of the adverse times for brewing & the necessity of his having to take the Welch Brewery off his Brother Robert's hands my Nephew Mr.Thos Sworder of Luton is very much pressed for money. But I went into his affairs on Thursday last with Mr.Saunderson the accountant & himself & I believe that if he can go on for a year or two he can sell off about £20,000 worth of property & have a handsome surplus. The Brewery is a Capital concern but it wants good management & a great reduction of the Debts on the Books which amt to about £1200. He also wants a little assistance to meet the Bills coming due for Malt & Hops to prevent their Dishonor [sic]. May I appeal to you & to Mrs.Vyse his Wife's Mother to assist. I will be required I think to get him over this year & then the reduction in the price of Malt & Hops will come into Play & £2000 a year can be saved out of them alone at present prices. I wd not appeal to you but I have lent him large sums & I am under great Responsibility & I shd be sorry indeed for his wife & children that he shd become Bankrupt & that that splendid Business shd be lost for a little timely assistance. It now brings in abt £500 per wk & with that Receipt a very little more would be required to enable him to tide over his present difficulties. I wd not recommend you to give him money but to see yourself that the Bills are paid as they become due. I would gladly co-operate with you & go into the Books with you & shew you everything I know.
Pray do this for the sake of his wife who I believe is at present ignorant of his difficulties and pray excuse me for writing to you on this unpleasant Business. if we could sell the Welch Brewery that would at once reduce his Debts £5,000".
3. From: Thomas Sworder, Hertford: 12 Apr 1862
To: Mrs.Richard Vyse
"I have written to Mr.Edmund Vyse to ask him & you to assist my Nephew Mr.Thos.Sworder of Luton in meeting the pecuniary difficulties he is just now encountering in consequence of the late very adverse times as regards Brewing and of his having been obliged to get rid of his Brother Robert & take his Welch Brewery upon himself. I believe Mrs.Thos.Sworder has no idea of her Husband's Difficulties & I hope she never may. I do not like to tell her & so I think their difficulties may with a little management & co-operation be overcome. I appeal to you to assist for the sake of Mrs.Tom's peace & comfort & to prevent a serious disgrace in the Shape of Bankruptcy. Pray excuse my troubling you on so unpleasant a matter & I shd not have done so but I did not like to write to Mrs.Tom for fear of its consequences upon her".
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