Day in the Life

Dec 8, 1840

Journal Entry

December 08, 1840 ~ Tuesday

8th was a rainy day in London yet I
spent the day vary pleasantly we all conclu-
ded to visit St James Park, Buckingham
Palace & the Queens coaches, horses, &c. Elder
Young & Br Williams went on before us to
see, the Queens horse guard parrade, & as it
rained they returned home thinking we should
not come so we did not see them during the
whole days walk. Elder Kimball & myself with
two of the Saints that accompanied us walked
to Saint James Park went through the whole
length of it, their was a pond of water in the
centre of it with many Ducks, Geese & Swans
in it, we, visited the Palace, Queens stables as follo[ws]

A visit to the ^Museews or Pimlico &^ Stables of her Majesty
Queen Victcoria

The first stable we nentered contained her
state horses composed of 12 in number which
were the most Beautiful cream colloured Hanovarians
we also saw 12 Arabians. The Hanovarians were
the most Kind & intelligent for Horses or any thing
of the Brutal creation I ever saw, they were
about seventeen hands high & well proportioned
we visited all the stables containing her horses
which were 150 in number, which were kept
in the most perfect order for the Queens use.
We next visited the appartments containing
all the Harness for 150 horses. We saw the full
set of State Harness sufficient for sixEight
horses, which were for sixEight of the cream coulord
H^an^ovarians, which were made by order of George
the IV they were coverd with gold plate harness
for each horse weighed 150 lbs, evry set of
harnes was vary expensive containing much plate
we had a slight view of the Queen's riding
ground as we passed along one of the Lords & others
were riding at the time. We were all weig-
hed in the scales in which Prince Albert was weighed
Elder Kimball's weight was 160, mine was
142 which was 2 lbs more than I ever weighed
before. We next visited the Coach Rooms we
saw all of her Private coaches a number of which
were vary grand & expensive, & Lastly we visited
her state coach the following is a description
of it

DESCRIPTION
OF
HER MAJESTY'S STATE COACH

Finished in the Year 1762 The most superb
carriage ever built. Designed By Sir William
Chambers & executed under his Directions
The Paintings executed by CYPRIANT
The front Panel. Britannia seated on a throne
holding in her hand a staff of Liberty, attended dy
by Religion, Justice, Wisdom, Valour, Fortitude,
Commerce, Plenty, and Victory, presenting her with
a Garland of Laurel; in the back ground a view of

St. Paul's & the River Thames.

THE RIGHT DOOR
Industry And Ingenuity giving a Cornucopiæ
to the Genius of England. THE panels of each side
of right Door. History recording the reports
of Fame and Peace burning the Implements of war.
THE BACK PANEL. Neptune and Amphitrite
issueing from their Palace in a triumphant car drawn
by Sea-Horses, attended by the Winds, Rivers, Triton[s]
Naiads &c. bringing the Tribute of the world to the
British Shore. Upper part of Back pannel.
Is the Royal Arms beautifully ornamented with
the Order of St. George; the Rose Shamrock,
and Thistle entwined. THE LEFT DOOR.
Mars, Minerva, and Mercury supporting the Imper[i]al
Crown of Great Britain. THE Panels of each
side of Left Door. The liberal Arts and Sciences
protected. The Front and Four Quarter
panels over the paintings are plate Glass.
The whole of the carriage and Body is richly orni-
mented with Laurel and carved work, beautifully
gilt. The length 24 feet, width 8 feet 3 inches,
hieight 12 feet, length of pole 12 feet 4 inches weight
4 tons. The carriage & body of the coach is compos[ed]
as follows: Of four large Tritons who support the
body by four braces coverd with blue morocco leather
and ornamented with guilt buckles. The two
figures placed in front of the carriage bear the
driver and are represented in the action of drawing
by cables extending round their shoulders and the
cranes, and sounding shells to announce the approac[h]
of the Monarch of the O[c]ean: and those at the back carry
the Imperial Fasce[s]s, topt with tridents. The Driver's
Foot-Board is a large scollop shell, ornamented by
bunches of reesds & other marine plants. The pole
represents a bundle of Lances; the splinter Bar is
composed of a rich moulding issuing from beneath
a voluted shell & each end terminating in the head of a
Dolphin; and the wheels are imitated from those of
the ancient triumphal chariot. The Body of the
coach is composed of Eight palm Trees, which
branching out at the, top sustain the roof, and
four angular trees are loaded with trophies
allusive to the victories obtained by Great Britain
during the late glorious war, supported by four
lions' heads. On the centre of the Roof stands
three boys, representing the Genii of England,

Scotland & Ireland, supporting the Imperial
Crown of Great Britain, and holding in their
hands the sceptre sword of state, and ensigns
of Knighthood their bodies are adorned with festoons
of laurels, which fall from thence towards the
four corners. The inside of the Body is
lined with rich scarlet embos^s^ed velvet, superbl[y]
laced and embroidered with gold as follows: In
the centre of the Roof is the star, encircled by the
collar of the Order of the Garter and surmoun-
ted by the Imperial Crown of Great Britain, pendent
the George and Dragon, in the corners, the Rose,
Shamrock, and Thistle entwined. The hind Lounge
is ornamented with the Badge of the Order of St.
Michael, and St George; and on the front the Badge
of the Order of the Guylph and Bath ornamented
with the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle and Oak -
Leaf. The Hammer Cloth of the same costly
materials. The Harness for Eight Horses is made
of red morocco leather, & decorated with blue ribb-
ons, the Royal Arms & other ornaments richly gilt
and it is used when Her Majesty goes in state,
drawn by Eight cream-coloured horses and is kept
in the Royal Mews Pimlico."

The foregoing is taken from a printed hand bill presen-
ted me by one of the overseers of the Mews, who
Also informed me that one peace of cloth or triming
belonging to the coach cost £1000 pounds the whole
cost of the coach cannot be assertained but it
is an immens sum. the first story of the Muse
Mews is occupied by Horses, Harness, & coaches,
the second stories are occupied by the families
of the coachmen, & waiters of all description.
Mr James West, Her Majesty's state coachman
invited us to Dine with him and we excepted the
invitation. We saw all of his state dresses which
ware richly trimmed & ornamented with gold
one coat was exceding heavy in consequence of
the weight of Gold it contained. When we left
him he made us a present of three small orname-
nts just alike for, B. Young, H. C. Kimball & W
Woodruff, it was composed of fine polished brass
about four inches in circumferance a lion in the
centre & a crown upon the top they were worn
as ornaments upon the Queens state coach.

We walked from this Mews to the National gallery
& after visiting all the paintings we returned
home, somwhat weary after a long walk in a rainy
day in London distance of the day 10 miles

The state coachman informed me that her Majes[ty]
would be quite familiar & even sociable in
many respects, with some of her subjects but
was kept distant by her Ministry 10 m[iles]

People

Browse people Wilford Woodruff mentioned on this day in his journal. Click on the person's name to view a short bio and other pages they are mentioned on or click on "View in Family Search" to view their FamilySearch profile.

Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
26 Aug 1819 - 14 Dec 1861
20 mentions
Historical Figure
1 mention
Historical Figure
Young, Brigham
1 Jun 1801 - 29 Aug 1877
3427 mentions
Apostle, Family
2 mentions
Historical Figure
George IV of the United Kingdom
12 Aug 1762 - 26 Jun 1830
16 mentions
Historical Figure
2 mentions
Historical Figure
Kimball, Heber Chase
14 Jun 1801 - 22 Jun 1868
1455 mentions
Apostle
West, James
abt. 1801 - unk.
3 mentions
2 mentions
Historical Figure
1 mention
Historical Figure
30 mentions
Scriptural Figure
2 mentions
Historical Figure
1 mention
Historical Figure
26 mentions
Saint George
unk.-abt. 303
5 mentions
Historical Figure
Victoria of the United Kingdom
24 May 1819 - 22 Jan 1901
64 mentions
Historical Figure
2 mentions
Historical Figure

Events

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Dec 8, 1840