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Event: Visited the Gardens at KewDates: 1786-04-14 - 1786-04-14Short Description: Paid 5, 6d for lemonade and 6d was given to charity. Description: “The palace, or Dutch House, had been built by a London merchant in the 1630s. A century later, the royal family had commenced using it as a country house. Once the residence of George III’s older sons and their tutor, it had become Queen Charlotte and King George’s favorite residence near London. Like most royal estates, it was often open to the genteel public.” (Shackleford, p. 60) Jefferson commented exclusively on Archimedes’ screw for raising water. However, he never put this to use at Monticello, probably because the mountain was too high to raise water to; also, the water supply there was unreliable. Also, there were lemon trees at Kew, so perhaps the lemonade was fresh-squeezed. Further notes on this are footnoted to Dr. Johnson’s London, a book edited by Dorothy Marshall, on pages 154-155. Jefferson also paid 16/6 for a postilion and turnpikes that day. A postilion is the driver of a horse-drawn carriage, so perhaps he was paying for his passage away from Kew back to London. (Wikipedia) Event Type:'Tourist' Visit Record created by Lauren Schmidt Connected EvidenceSecondary Document-ShackelfordConnected PlacesKewGreenwich Observatory |