Brown paper over hard cover, inscribed H. Hood, containing maths exercises by Francis Hood, 1843 and invoices by Henry Hood, 1847-8

Hardback book with dark brown corrugated cover, with homemade dust jacket of brown paper, labelled H. HOOD in black ink. The lining paper and flyleaf are bright green, and each page of the book has a very narrow double ruled margin in red. The book has been used by two Hood sons, five years apart. The book was started by Francis, and was then turned upside down to be completed by Henry in 1848.

The first page features an elaborate inscription reading 'HENRY HOOD', surrounded by arabesques, floral garlands, and a fish comprised of curviliear gestures. Throughout, the title pages are elegantly illuminated, and the worked examples are finely written in copperplate. There are no mistakes or blots, suggesting that the working out may have been done elsewhere and copied into this book once corrected.

The following section of the book is entitled 'Invoices or Bills and Parcels'. Each landscape page has a heading of a place and date, followed by a list of goods and prices. Goods include foodstuffs like lump sugar, rice, raisins and pepper, cream cheese and butter, and fabrics including serge, shalloon and drab. Each is costed by weight and subtotalled, and then the whole order is totalled.

The next section is Reduction: "the method of changing one denomination into another denomination". There are several examples to a page, each worked in long multiplication with black ink. Units of measurement include yards and nails, hundredweights, English and Flemish ells, stones, pounds and hogsheads.

The third section is Rule of Three Direct. The title of this section is embellished with a bird's head emerging from a flurry of ornament. This rule involves the scaling of values according to set ratios. The prices, commodities and measurements from the previous sections are now combined in real-world examples.

The second half of the book is oriented the opposite way.

The green flyleaf features a drawing in blue ink of a classical pedestal, bearing the name F. Hood. The next page shows the remains of a scroll and the words 'F. Hood - Ashbourne', but they have been erased. A similar scroll has been started on the following page, but only an 'F' is completed. A printed design of oakleaves and lilies adorns the next page, surrounding an engraving of Newstead Abbey, topped by the initials VR. At the centre, in blue ink, is written 'Francis Hood. November 1843'.

The first page of work is entitled 'Simple Interest Continued'. This involves working out the numbers of days in a repayment period and total amounts to repay. The calculations are completed in blue ink with one example per page.
The next is Case 3, involving repayments in installments.
Case 4 is calculating interest on current accounts, deducting interest on credit and debit amounts accordingly. These complex examples are worked over a whole page of multiplication and addition.

The next title is 'Discount or Rebate', followed by several pages of worked examples requiring calculation of total money paid given certain levels of discount. The working is in blue ink, with subtotals and final answers highlighted with red underlining. There is one blank page before the book is completed by Henry's later work.

Given by Barbara Jones

This collection of books belonged to Derby tailor Francis Hood and his children.

Francis was born in Ashbourne, Derby, in 1800. In 1823 he married Susanna Wilson, and they had five children. All their names, apart from the youngest, Susanna, appear on the exercise and copy books. Francis was a successful tailor, and the enterprise grew to be a flourishing family business.

George (born 1827) was a tailor with his father by the age of 14. He died aged only 24.

Elizabeth (born 1830) became a milliner and dressmaker. She married Scottish draper John Train, but was soon widowed, and thereafter is listed is woollen goods trader as well as dressmaker.

Francis (born 1832) moved to Australia, possibly before his twentieth birthday, where he stayed the rest of his life.

Henry (born 1836) was an apprentice in 1851. Ten years later, at the age of 25, he inherited the family business, and by 1881 was employing 6 men and 2 boys. He was married to Elizabeth from Somerset, and they had six children. He was able to retire in his mid-sixties and move to a country house on the proceeds of the business. Soon after, Elizabeth died, but Henry remarried at the age of 72 to a woman 31 years his junior. His second son George (born 1868) continued the Hood dynasty from the 1890s, though the shop in St John Street, Ashbourne, remained ‘Henry Hood & Son’ in 1900.

Susanna (born 1838) never married, and lived with Elizabeth. She was also a dressmaker.

The books were passed down through Henry’s children to the donor’s husband.

The Hoods were a family of tailors based in Ashbourne and Derby, whose sons were taught accounting, measuring, letter-writing and numeration in preparation for the trade.

Francis Hood (b.1799) enrolled his sons George, Francis (b. 1832) and Henry at Mr Hawkesworth’s Commercial and Mathematical Academy, and they also benefited from printed textbooks and copybooks to practice their copperplate handwriting.

This exercise book belonged to the younger Francis, who used it for his exercises calculating interest on loans, current accounts, and repayment plans. However, this book was appropirated five or so years later by younger brother Henry. Henry's work involved writing out practice invoices for sugar, raisins and cloth, and simple calculations of measurement and ratio. The two boys both had graceful and stylish handwriting, and were careful and neat with their work. However, it is Henry who clearly took great pleasure in penmanship. His title pages are embellished with birds, fish, and ornate floral garlands.

B.281-2012