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Donkey milk knowledge archive · Historical source
Thackeray, “The Newcomes” (1855): ass’s milk on doctor’s orders in Brighton
In William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel “The Newcomes” (1853–1855), a genteel family travels to Brighton with a sickly son. The mother demands ass’s milk from her landlady every morning because the doctor has prescribed it.
- Author
- William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863)
- Work
- The Newcomes. Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, edited by Arthur Pendennis, Esq., London: Bradbury and Evans, vol. 1 (1855)
- Passage
- Chapter IX “Miss Honeyman’s”, pp. 93–94 (vol. 1, London 1855)
- Time & place
- Serialised 1853–1855; book edition cited vol. 1, 1855 · London (set in Brighton)
- Type of source
- Novel of society
In the original words
What the original says
And you will have the kindness to order fresh milk every morning for my little boy—ass's milk—Doctor Goodenough has ordered ass's milk.
And you will kindly order fresh milk every morning for my little boy – ass’s milk – Doctor Goodenough has prescribed ass’s milk.
As for Doctor Goodenough, he says laughing has saved that boy's life.
As for Doctor Goodenough, he says laughing has saved that boy’s life.
English rendering: our own translation by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, following the sense of the text.
A look at the original
What the passage looks like
Page 94 of volume 1 of the book edition (London: Bradbury and Evans 1855): Lady Ann Newcome orders ass’s milk for her son from her Brighton landlady.
The page comes from a freely accessible digitised copy. Click to open the passage at the library.
University of California, Berkeley, Digitalisat via Internet Archive; gemeinfrei
Background
Who, when, what kind of text
Alongside Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray was the most famous English novelist of his time; he made his name with “Vanity Fair” (1847–1848). “The Newcomes” appeared in monthly parts from Bradbury and Evans from 1853 to 1855 and then in two volumes, illustrated by Richard Doyle. The novel is narrated by Arthur Pendennis, a character from Thackeray’s earlier work.
The novel portrays a family grown rich in banking and its relations in London society. Chapter IX is set in Brighton, the fashionable resort on the south coast. There the impoverished but proud Miss Honeyman lets rooms to visitors. A London physician, Doctor Goodenough, has sent Lady Ann Newcome’s family to her.
Content
What the source reports about donkey milk
Lady Ann arrives with children, governess and servants. Her little son is sickly and coughing; the travelling basket contains a bottle of syrup “when the cough is troublesome”. No sooner has she arrived than Lady Ann states her terms: separate meals for servants, governess and family, and fresh milk every morning for the boy – ass’s milk, because Doctor Goodenough has ordered it.
The scene ends not with the milk but with a quarrel: Miss Honeyman refuses to cook fifteen separate meals for seven people. Thackeray mentions the ass’s milk in passing, as a matter-of-course part of a genteel child’s seaside cure. Shortly before, the narrator remarks that Doctor Goodenough says laughing has saved the boy’s life.
At a glance
Figures & facts from the source
Timeline
Where this source stands in the history of donkey milk
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Critical assessment
How reliable is this source?
Source value
A novel, not a factual source. Thackeray does, however, describe the habits of wealthy London society closely. The passage can be checked page by page in a scan of the 1855 book edition and matches the full text at Project Gutenberg.
Ass’s milk as a status marker
The milk stands in a series of demands through which Lady Ann displays her rank. That the doctor prescribed it is not explained but taken for granted, which suggests that Thackeray’s readers knew ass’s milk as a usual medical recommendation for sickly children.
Today’s assessment
The scene is a literary record of spa culture around 1850, not evidence of any effect. The novel claims no healing effect for ass’s milk; the doctor jokingly credits the boy’s improvement to laughter.
Our assessment
In Thackeray, ass’s milk is so ordinary that it appears only in a subordinate clause. That is exactly what makes the passage interesting for us: it shows how firmly the milk belonged to the everyday life of genteel families at the seaside around 1850.
References
Sources to check
- Primary sourceW. M. Thackeray, The Newcomes. Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, edited by Arthur Pendennis, vol. 1, London: Bradbury and Evans 1855, chapter IX, p. 94 (University of California, Berkeley copy in the Internet Archive)
https://archive.org/details/memoirsonewcomes01thacrich/page/n121/mode/1up - SupplementaryFull text of the novel at Project Gutenberg (eBook 7467), chapter IX
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7467
More sources and studies in the research archive. Summarised by the DON DONKEY’S editorial team, as of November 2026.