Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

Brown's bank account appears in the Drummonds Bank ledgers from 1753 until his death in 1783. His executors' account then appears from 1783 to 1789. For decades his account been a key source for the study of landscape and garden history. Landscape historian David Brown, who has become very familiar with the account in recent years, has contributed a brief note on his own view (PDF 117 KB) of its importance and value to garden historians.

The accounts appear on one or more open spreads (‘folios’) in each of the annual sets of ledgers of Drummonds Bank 1753-1789, and PDF copies of the accounts as they appear on each folio can be accessed through the relevant account folio list:

• Lancelot Brown bank account folio lists 1753-83 (PDF 165 KB)
• Executors of Lancelot Brown bank account folio lists 1783-89 (PDF 68 KB)

The information contained in the Drummonds Bank customer account ledgers is not always easy to understand, and a detailed guide to using these accounts for historical research is available in our source overview (PDF 181 KB).