ON Wednesday, October 14, 1778, Samuel Robinson left his home in Walmgate, York, with something under his arm. He made his way towards the city centre before ducking into the dark alley called Lady Peckett's Yard.

There he pushed open the door underneath the sign of the three golden balls and became the first customer of the day for shop proprietor, George Fettes. Samuel handed over the item - a waistcoat - and was given a few coins in return.

It was not a quality item of clothing. Mr Fettes wrote in his pledge book: "One waistcoat but on account of its being worm-eaten must be forfeited if not redeemed in one month". It went unclaimed, and was sold for one shilling.

Two hundred and twenty five years later, that exchange has been immortalised in the title of a new book. The Worm-Eaten Waistcoat by Alison Backhouse is a fascinating account of the life of an 18th-century York pawnbroker.

George Fettes settled in York after leaving his native Edinburgh (where his father's cousin Sir William Fettes founded the school Tony Blair was later to attend, Fettes College).

To become a tradesman at that time, you had to be awarded the Freedom of the City of York. This was granted in three ways: by patronage, ie if your father or grandfather was a Freeman; by apprenticeship; or by paying a fee.

Mr Fettes became a pawnbrokers' apprentice, but for some reason had to purchase his Freedom anyway in 1794, at the princely sum of £25.

We would have known little more about his professional life, had it not been for the survival of a book measuring 13ins by 8ins, containing nearly 500 pages of handwritten records.

This is George Fettes' pledge book for the period July 1777 to Boxing Day 1778. It contains nearly 11,000 entries, detailing the name, address and job of the customer, the item they pawned, the sum advanced and the date the item was redeemed (if it was).

Pawnbrokers have been providing the same service for hundreds of years, and continue to do so: there are at least three pawnbrokers in York today.

The system has never changed. Personal items, the pledges, are left with the pawnbroker in exchange for cash. The owner of the pledge agrees to pay interest on the sum advanced and will receive the goods back when the loan and interest have been repaid. If the customer defaults, the pawnbroker can sell the pledge to recover his costs.

George Fettes' pledge book, long cherished in the City of York Archives, is unique. There is not thought to be such a book from so early a period anywhere else in the country.

It is a treasure trove of information which, thanks to Alison Backhouse's efforts, is now accessible to all.

Six years ago Rita Freedman, City Archivist, asked Alison, a volunteer at the archives, if she would input a list of the names and addresses onto computer.

The initial task grew and she eventually created a database of all the information contained in the pledge book. After publishing an award-winning essay based on her work, Alison expanded it into the book.

The project had particular meaning to this former Queen Anne School pupil because her father owned a Fossgate dry cleaners - Cleanalt - which had an entrance onto Lady Peckett's Yard. Alison has walked its length "hundreds and hundreds of times".

The pawnbroker's pledge book grants us insight into ordinary life in York in the 1700s. "It tells us about the poor people at the time, what they wore, how they furnished their houses, how they lived," said Alison.

The book provides a vital record of the clothing worn by the poor. The most pawned item was a checked apron. Handkerchiefs, waistcoats (worm-eaten or not), cotton gowns and leather breeches were also regularly exchanged for cash.

The book also reveals the grinding poverty of the day. People would pawn their coats in the middle of winter, their children's frocks and shirts, tinder boxes, paper bags, all for a few bob.

"They pawned their buttons, they pawned their knives and forks," said Alison.

"What's the use of knives and forks if there's nothing to eat? Your teaspoon wouldn't fill you up."

The same names keep cropping up again and again in Mr Fettes' book. People used the pawnbroker to survive from week to week. Monday was the busiest day for leaving items; Saturday the busiest for redeeming them.

Most of the items were worth very little: nearly 9,000 of the pledges recorded were worth less than five shillings.

Mr Fettes had many regulars who could be trusted to redeem their items. Otherwise, as Alison says, "there are some things he would have had a great deal of problems selling."

Sometimes, the slightly better off found themselves in Lady Peckett's Yard having fallen on hard times. Silver watches and sugar nippers engraved with the owner's initials, four yards of lace and gold coins were deposited with Mr Fettes. Not all were redeemed.

Among the more unusual pledges were one quart bottle of peppermint, a small picture of a nun, some goose and hen feathers in a mat basket and one pair of "everlasting breeches".

Those with more chutzpah than cash would bring in items belonging to other people. "Remember," writes Alison, "the part of Lady Peckett's Yard leading to Fossgate was once called Cheat's Lane and apparently with good reason."

Pawnbrokers have an image problem, admits Alison, possibly based on Dickens' downbeat descriptions of them. But they have always provided a valuable service.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, stayed with George Fettes at Lady Peckett's Yard several times on his visits to York, conferring a sense of respectability on his trade.

"People tried their families and friends first, and then pawnbrokers," said Alison. "It's local, it's quick, you could spend the money on what you wanted, you didn't have to pay it back and no loan sharks would come after you."

The pawnbroker's in Lady Peckett's Yard was later taken over by Henry Hardcastle, who went on to expand into premises on Stonegate and Petergate. He disposed of the Lady Peckett's Yard shop some time after 1921, but his son and grandson, also called Henry, carried on the family business.

The Worm-Eaten Waistcoat by Alison Backhouse is published by the author, price £6.99. It is on sale in York at the Barbican Bookshop, Fossgate, the City Archives, Exhibition Square, the Central Library, Museum Street and city museums. Alison will also be selling it at the York Family History Fair at York Racecourse on June 28

Updated: 11:20 Monday, June 16, 2003