"This vast empire on which the sun never sets, and whose bounds nature has not yet ascertained"

Macartney, George. [Two manuscript receipt books and an account book].

Three remarkable documents containing the private and household expenditures of the Governor of Madras during the first years of his tenure.

The set begins with the handwritten personal accounting ledgers from 1781, the year in which Sir George Macartney (1737-1806), one of the best-known colonial administrators of the East India Company and the British Empire, first set foot in India. Newly appointed governor of the Madras Presidency and a veteran of three years advancing British and Company interests in Grenada, Macartney would also play a role in the breakdown of diplomacy between Qing China and Britain, and would be remembered as probably the first to describe the British Empire as one on which "the sun never sets". His arrival as governor of Chennai (then known as Madras, the capital of the Madras Presidency of the East India Company) was significant, representing the intentions of the Company and British Empire not only to exert control over the region, but also to integrate its socio-cultural ethos into the fabric of Indian life. Symbolically, Macartney was more than just a colonial functionary; he epitomized the traditions of British nobility. His residence, whose accounts are meticulously detailed in these ledgers, reflect the material reality of this role.

In the first volume containing Lord Macartney's personal accounts, the final two leaves are signed by Macartney twice, certifying the veracity of the financial statements and total expenditures since his arrival; his private accounts were held by prominent English banking firms practiced in dealing with East India, including Thomas Coutts Esq. The second two volumes describe in fantastic detail household expenditures during his tenure as Governor of Madras from 1781 to 1785. They also provide insights into individual employee or contractor compensations, occasionally paired with the recipient's signature in English or Tamil, confirming payment. William Greene, Macartney's adept bookkeeper, kept these meticulous records, evidenced by his recurrent signatures within. Through the ledgers, a vision of a British household in India takes shape: the all-important (and first-listed) dubash, or interpreter, followed by the silk-stocking washers, compradores, candle lighters, water women, British musicians, five butlers, three cooks, pantry boys, pastry cooks, tea boys, a beer boy, a washerman, an invitation writer, and more. Purchases include pickles, coconut and lamp oil, salt peter, wine, vinegar, sugar candy, limes, sheep, four sets of buttons, the bill for a river journey by barge, and butter.

The management and operations of Macartney's household were particularly noteworthy. In an era in which British households in India were still navigating the blend of British and Indian customs, Macartney's home emerged as an exemplar of British elegance and organization, adapted to the Indian context. This fusion of British imperial customs with local traditions in household management would set a template that many British officials and households would emulate in the decades of increasing British presence and rule that followed.