The information contained within these receipts, vouchers, invoices, bills and related correspondence, provides a unique source of detailed information relating to the goods and services provided to Jesus College and its estates by people in Cambridge and neighbouring counties over nearly 200 years.
Originally, the contents of each bundle was used to compile the annual College accounts for the corresponding year. Entries in the College Accounts are highly summarised and contain almost none of the same detail as listed in the vouchers. Some suppliers of goods and services waited several years before submitting their invoice for payment and as such, goods and services detailed in some vouchers date from up to five years before the year of accounts in which they were included. A few date to the following year.
The catalogue entries for individual vouchers are not full transcriptions and are designed to give researchers an indication of the type of information they can expect to find in a particular voucher. As such, it was decided that references to goods and services and any other information would be listed when it is first mentioned. However, individual costs and multiple entries for the same good or service within the same voucher is not included. The total for all goods and services listed in a voucher is listed where it exists. For further information on costs of individual goods and services and to specific quantities of goods mentioned, researchers should contact the Archivist.
