25 June 1811: The Throckmorton coat challenge

On this day in 1811, wealthy clothmaker John Coxeter set out to win Sir John Throckmorton's 1,000-guinea challenge to make a coat from scratch in a single day.

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The Southdown sheep were shorn early in the morning

These days we're so used to machine manufacturing that we can pluck a coat off the rack and not stop to think on the processes it took to get it there. But in 1811, the technological advancements brought about by the industrial revolution were viewed with open-mouthed wonder.

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Chris Carter
Wealth Editor, MoneyWeek

Chris Carter spent three glorious years reading English literature on the beautiful Welsh coast at Aberystwyth University. Graduating in 2005, he left for the University of York to specialise in Renaissance literature for his MA, before returning to his native Twickenham, in southwest London. He joined a Richmond-based recruitment company, where he worked with several clients, including the Queen’s bank, Coutts, as well as the super luxury, Dorchester-owned Coworth Park country house hotel, near Ascot in Berkshire.

Then, in 2011, Chris joined MoneyWeek. Initially working as part of the website production team, Chris soon rose to the lofty heights of wealth editor, overseeing MoneyWeek’s Spending It lifestyle section. Chris travels the globe in pursuit of his work, soaking up the local culture and sampling the very finest in cuisine, hotels and resorts for the magazine’s discerning readership. He also enjoys writing his fortnightly page on collectables, delving into the fascinating world of auctions and art, classic cars, coins, watches, wine and whisky investing.

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