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Robert Peake London coach builder father of Archibald Henry Peake Premier of South Australia. Printed handbill with anecdotes a poem 'The Troubles of Lord Alphonsius Fitz Noodle' and two jeux d'esprit.

Best.-Nr. 13867 — London. 1840s or 1850s. 2pp. 12mo. Printed on facing pages on one side of a landscape 8vo leaf with blank reverse. In fair condition on aged paper laid down on part of a leaf removed from an album. The left-hand page carries three items: 'The Confidence Trick. A scene in Oxford Street.' a series of puns with a purpose now lost beginning 'A stout "Nave" Met a green "Felloe"' 'Anecdotes of the old Coaching Days' beginning 'Talleyrand bought a new coach but did not pay for it.' and 'Lord Lyndhurst'. The last reads in full: 'Ordered Robert Peake to build him a Chariot. It was finished and approved of. The bill was sent in and discharged. Afterwards a pair of commode handles to lay hold of while ascending the steps were affixed for which an extra charge was made. To this his Lordship demurred "But my lord" said the coachmaker "if you ordered a builder to build you a house you would not expect him to furnish it." "No Peake I should not replied Lord Lyndhurst;" "but I should certainly expect him to put balusters to the stairs." "The coachmaker caved in."' The second page carries a 24-line poem in three stanzas titled 'The Troubles of Lord Alphonsius Fitz Noodle' the first stanza of which reads: 'One morning Lord Alphonsius saw His "Break" fast in the Stable; But when his Lordship's back was turned T'was not discover-able. T'is said "the coachman took it out" And all his family treated; That mirth and jollity prevailed While round it they were seated.' The final item beneath the poem reads: 'Why are so few water drinkers in Liverpool Because Shakespeare says "The quality of Mersey is not strained." How do the Liverpudlians generally qualify it With the "dew off Ben Nevis."' In 1841 Peake was in business in Duke Street Bloomsbury as a coach builder; two years later he is listed as a tobacconist in Margate; In 1851 he is listed as a 'Coach Trimmer' in Jersey; between 1854 and 1862 he was again working in London as a coachbuilder. In 1862 he emigrated with his family to Austalia where he ended his days working as a school teacher. From the archive of William Silk b.1824 coachbuilder of the firm Silk & Sons Long Acre London and with a note by him in bottom left-hand corner: 'by Robert Peake.' A scarce ephemeral item: no copies on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat. [London. 1840s or 1850s.] unknown