BRITISH STATE LOTTERIES

One of the most prominent historical lotteries was the British Museum Lottery 1753. At the time, it was considered that the British Museum owed much to the scandalously conducted lottery launched in 1753 on the death of its founder, Sir Hans Sloane, who died in 1753. The collection he left to the museum was worth more than £80,000 in return for £20,000 to his two daughters (see his will dated 1739). His collection was left to the King for the nation, but the King was not interested so Parliament which was very keen to have the collection was fearful of the cost involved which was why a lottery was instigated.

The lottery was considered to be a big scandal. There were 100,000 tickets at £3 each, paid for in two instalments of £1 and then £2. It is understood that nearly all the tickets were sold before they were offered to the public. Rich financiers Sampson Gideon and Peter Leherpe sold tickets before the lottery publicly opened, despite the Act of Parliament setting up the lottery stating that no one person should hold more than twenty tickets. After a couple of days, the lottery tickets were known to be selling at a huge premium and were being resold at a profit. Some people had more than 5,000 tickets. The name of the lottery winner was not known, but the winning ticket number was 46885. As a result of the lottery, the British Museum was in net receipt of over £95,000.

Between 1567 and 1826, hundreds of lotteries were organised, some of which were illegal. The scandals and corruption associated with the lottery system was responsible for their demise. However, the treasury estimated that money raised by state-run lotteries up to 1826 was around £35 million.

The first English lottery took place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to benefit the Cinque Ports.

A Royal Proclamation declared that 400,000 tickets would be for sale at 10 shillings each and the prize fund would amount to £60,000. The main prize was £5,000, part paid in cash to the amount of £3,000 and the remaining £2,000 in tapestries and gold and silver plates. The profit was said to be £100,000.

To promote the lottery twenty Surveyors of the Lottery were appointed but the uptake only sold 34,000 tickets. The draw took place between 11 January and 6 May 1569. Two large drums were used in the draw; the process involved the numbered counterfoils being drawn from one drum, and then being paired with a ticket from the other drum, leading to the award of a prize. This process formed the basis of other lottery draws.

Many lotteries were affected by various sophisticated frauds and scandals but some were properly undertaken and remained beneficial. The State of Virginia in the USA received significant financial support from lotteries run in England by the Virginia Company for around ten years from 1612.

Oliver Cromwell banned lotteries but they were reinstated after the Restoration, primarily to support charities.

Parliament authorised its first lottery in 1694 in order to boost funding for the war with France. It wanted to raise £1 million by selling 100,000 tickets at £10 each. It became known as the Million Lottery but tere were many problems - many of those participating did not receive their annuities on time, so further legislation had to be introduced to enable participants to receive annuities lasting sixteen years and yielding £6 over the period with their stake returned.

Private and illegal lotteries inceased and they often cheated many people out of their money so Parliament introduced the Act of Suppression in 1699 which only suspended activity. The government continued to use lotteries but was exploiting the urge to gamble.

State-run lotteries were common during the eighteenth century but this required more vigorous attempts to stamp out illegal operations. Lotteries were taxes in disguise but they invoked excitement. The government tried many ways to make the lotteries more attractive to everyone; they did not sell tickets direct to the public but used brokers who sold tickets. This meant that the lottery reached a wider audience because tickets were more affordable but still retained their tempting stakes. Despite this many still lost out.

An English lottery granted the Virginia Company of London the right to raise money to help establish settlers in the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. More than 200 lotteries were sanctioned between 1744 and 1776 and played a major role in financing the infrastructure. The founding of Princeton and Columbia Universities and the University of Pennsylvania were all financed by lotteries.

By 1792 there was a consensus that lotteries were having a detrimental effects on individuals. - so much so that the courts issued a statement expressing concerns over the link between the lottery and cases of fraud.

The final lottery took place on 18 October 1826 and had a prize fund of almost £1.5 million with four top prizes of £30,000. It was the one hundred and seventieth state lottery to be held since 1694. After this date, there were no further lotteries in Britain and the public could only participate in small-scale raffles or tombola held at gatherings to raise money for charity.

The Lottery Office was a division of the Inland Revenue and the records relate to the administration of state lottery schemes. Records are as follows:

Lottery books in series IR 4 - 1713-1844

1. Lottery Office papers in series IR 55 - 1713-1844
2.  
3. Documents relating to the 'Million Lottery' in series C46

Although it is unlikely that you will find records relating to a specific person, it is clear from the history that many people, particularly in the late 1700s and early 1800s, were gripped by the fervour of lotteries;p they were marketed strongly and many people hoped that they stood a chance of a “big win”.

The lottery was available to everyone and many people from the poorer classes participated, often spending beyond their means. In some bankruptcy papers, there is clear reference that lottery participation was one of the reasons why they declared bankruptcy.  It is also clear that your ancestors may well have been swept up by the gambling fever which spread rapidly across the country.