Letter from John A.S. Hanham [Sir John Hanham] to William Robinson

Information

Scope & content: Written from Lydeard House, Taunton, [Somerset]. Manuscript
He believes the bread to be well made and sound; in respect of wholesomeness he believes it to be the same as ordinary bread; he himself found it so and it seems to agree with everybody he has met at sea; there are several sorts of biscuits, some whiter and firmer than others, usually known as cabin biscuit as opposed to crew’s bread; there is an intermediate quality for second class passengers, but he thinks the ‘crew’ is the best; the ‘cabin’ is white, fine and pleasant to eat but he believes it contains a good deal of rice; the ‘crew’ contains more bran and is therefore more wholesome; the man he recommends, who used to be master of their workhouse, makes as good as any and has set up some steam biscuit works at Poole; the bread that was sent to Robinson would be easy to digest – Captain Hanham always found it so and was very fond of it