Postcard published by Timothy White Co, Newbury (Ref: PC_Throckmorton)
In 1811, Sir John Throckmorton entered into an extraordinary wager at a dinner party. He bet a huge 1,000 guineas that he could have a coat made in the time between sunrise and sunset on one given day. This was not just making the coat out of cloth, but actually starting right from scratch and going through all the processes involved in making the cloth – shearing the sheep, spinning the wool, weaving, dyeing and finishing the cloth before the tailor could make up the cloth into a coat.
This extraordinary feat took place on 25th June 1811, presumably in order to get advantage of one of the longest days of the year! In the end, the whole process took just 13 hours and 20 minutes and took place at Newbury in Berkshire. Sir John wore the coat to dinner that very same evening and won the bet.
Mr John Coxeter of Greenham Mills, who was the mastermind behind the event and at whose mill the cloth was processed, was given a silver medal by the Agricultural Society for his part in the coat’s creation.
The coat – said to have been on show at the Great Exhibition of 1851 – has been proudly displayed at the Throckmorton family’s home at Coughton Court for many years and can still be seen there today.