Details

This is a financial ledger which has the title on the cover, 'Westminster Abbey: Coronation Account, 1911, GV: S W M'. S W M stands for Mr S W Maddick, an individual who was transferred from H M Offices of Works to supervise and design the electric lighting for Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in June 1911. Electric lighting had been installed for the first time in Westminster Abbey temporarily in 1902 for the Coronation of King Edward VII, but no decision was made about its permanent retention. Electric lighting was again introduced, initially on a temporary basis, for the 1911 Coronation, but after the ceremony, the supply cable and main fuseboards were not withdrawn and these became part of a permanent installation. Maddick's handwritten ledger begins on 25 February 1911, and provides full details of all the electrical and related works carried out and their costs including details of staff wages paid, the names of companies supplying equipment and labour, details of equipment and materials supplied, and meter readings for electricity consumed. The ledger does not stop after June 1911 but instead continues with regular entries up until 3 May 1913 as Maddick continued to supervise the permanent installation of electric lighting following the Coronation. An account of the installation of the electric lighting in Westminster Abbey was printed in 'the electrician', 1 August 1913, and a 6-page reprint of that article is enclosed within the ledger [digital version available].