The Jennings Receipts (BC:2025:028)

In October 2024 Ballycastle Museum received a donation of a metal spike holding/piercing more than 1600 receipts, bills, letters and other documents.  We have carefully scanned and accessioned the documents on the spike (affectionately known in the office as the ‘paper kebab’) as BC:2025:028.

It forms a detailed and fascinating social history of the Jennings family who lived at 49 Castle Street Ballycastle.  The receipts, invoices etc. range in date from 2002 back to 1939.  They were placed on the spike roughly in chronological order as they were dealt with or received by the family.

Before being donated, the spike had been stored somewhere on the premises, possibly in the workshop of Mr John Jennings who was a boot maker and shoe mender.  Due to the passing of time and the surrounding environment, the outer edges of many documents had become discoloured and brittle.  Luckily due to the nature of the paper kebab a central portion of many of the earlier documents was preserved and in good enough condition to be scanned and interpreted.

Explore the themes below to discover some of the stories revealed as the layers were peeled away…

Electricity Bills

Looking at bills and receipts, part of the story of the Jennings family could be followed going back through time. Electricity bills were the most numerous and one of the most consistent documents on the spike.  It was interesting to see how the electricity providers name, the bill format, size and shape and monetary amount changed through the decades. Here are some examples of the electricity bills for 49 Castle Street, Ballycastle.

Shopping in Ballycastle

The Jennings family lived in 49 Castle Street from 1939.  They bought many things they needed from the local shops, food, clothes etc.  As we moved back through time the price of services changed, money changed from pounds, shillings and pence to decimal currency.  Here are some examples of the receipts and bills from Ballycastle businesses and surrounding areas.

Going to School in Ballycastle

Some of the children in the Jennings family went to school in Ballycastle.  Marie Jennings attended school during the Second World War.  Here are some of the documents related to her time in Cross and Passion College – bills for school fees, receiving music and dance lessons and letters from the school about uniform requirements.

More images to come!

Accommodation and personal connections

While Mr John Jennings ran his shoe making and repair business, Mrs Jennings ran guest accommodation for many years. Among the receipts there were numerous letters asking about availability and accepting Mrs Jennings’ terms.  It was lovely to see how personal they were, showing connections being built by the family with people in Ireland, England, Scotland and further afield.

Some families stayed with the Jennings on multiple occasions and their letters to book accommodation show the personal relationship they had with the family.

More letters to come!

Life and Times in Ballycastle

The ongoing need for day-to-day essentials can seen through the regular bills and receipts for milk, coal and electricity. The journey of their lives can also be glimpsed through a wedding at the Antrim Arms and also sadly through death certificates of family members and the associated bills from grave inscribers etc.

Here are a selection of licences, bills, receipts, and documents to give a small example of the rich variety of information that was made available because of this donation. It is a special snapshot through time of a family who lived, died, shopped, worked and belonged to the close community that is Ballycastle.

Images to follow.

Click here to find out more about no.49 Castle Street

Click here to find out more about the Ballycastle project