] ] In 1813 Henry was made Receiver General for Taxes for Oxfordshire.

] He was the public official to whom taxes are paid, and who in turn remits them to the Treasury.

Thanks for that explanation, Jack: it was niggling me.

] That's typical. Prices usually fall at the end of a prolonged war, when government demand ceases to prime the economy.

Yes, indeed. But Henry (and others who lost) may be pardoned for not realising that. Economics was barely developed in that time, and the FR/Napoleonic wars were unprecedentedly long and expensive. And a lot of Industrial Revolution had been happening since the start of them. The economic landscape had changed dramatically since the last time there had been an end of a war.

I wonder what Henry thought of the retrenchment theme in `Persuasion'. He might have thought that it was a dig at him, but I don't think so, since it was he who ensured that it was published after her death.

By the way, I've been looking for Henry's "Biographical Notice of the Author" on the Jane Info pages and can't find it. Have I missed it?