St Helena Letters to England 1717-1720
Introduction: This is the fourth volume in the series St Helena Letters to England. It includes outgoing official correspondence from the Governor and Council of St Helena to the East India Company in London reporting on the administration of the island, including matters such as government decisions, defence, military preparedness, trade and shipping, supply shortages, personnel issues, and judicial proceedings. They often included explanations of difficulties faced by the island and defences against criticisms from London of past actions or policies. The letters were usually copied or abstracted into the island records.
Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-2-4.
Text Transcription This transcription was produced by AI from handwritten document images held on the British Library's website, at about thirty pages per hour. Given the limitations described below, the text should be regarded as unreliable and used only as a search-and-find shortcut: once a relevant section has been located, it must always be checked against the source image via the hyperlinked Film Numbers listed in the main transcription table below.
Three specific problems affected the work. First, AI tends to prioritise meaning and readability at the expense of fidelity to the original, with a strong disposition to normalise spellings, expand abbreviations, and adjust grammar. It is particularly weak with unfamiliar surnames, and scrawled signatures often resist accurate transcription entirely. Transcriptions by eye of documents spanning four centuries have also shown that a single surname could be written in a wide variety of ways: the Crowie family name appears under six different spellings, and the Isaacs family name under sixteen. Searches for surnames are therefore hindered both by genuine variations in the originals and by mistranscriptions introduced by AI, and for this reason are best run phonetically. Second, the AI struggled with the late secretary hand, the script commonly used from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, in which the letter S appears in a form closely resembling a trailing L. Third, occasional passages in these volumes are written in a hand so obscure or poorly formed as to be difficult to read even by eye, sometimes compounded by heavy ink bleed-through from the reverse side or by the loss of sections of pages.
To mitigate these difficulties, a strict protocol was applied to each image, requiring the AI to rely solely on clearly visible ink strokes and to flag any uncertain reading, thereby reducing the risk of inferred or invented text. Two conventions are used. [...] marks text that could not be read with confidence; this may represent a single unreadable word, a full sentence, or occasionally an entire paragraph. Square brackets around letters or words indicate a conjectural reading supplied by the transcriber: brackets around a whole word, for example [Bazett], mean the entire word was unclear and a probable reading has been supplied, while brackets around individual letters within an otherwise readable word, for example B[a]z[e]tt, mean only those specific letters were unclear in the source and the unbracketed letters were legibly present.
Modern Summary and Analysis Each section of text was submitted for AI analysis in order to explain the archaic language in clear, modern UK English. These are not direct sentence by sentence replacements, but explanatory interpretations intended to clarify meaning while preserving the substance of the original. Where a specific individual is named within a section of the original text, that person will generally also be identified within the explanatory interpretation. However, where the original consists largely of lists of names, these are not usually repeated in the explanatory text.
Each text modern summary is followed by two forms of AI-generated analysis. The first, an Interpretations section, draws on wider information located on the internet to provide additional commentary on the material. The second, a Speculations section, offers one or more possible reflections on what the document might further suggest. The value of these notes ranges from the profound to the trivial or self-evident; time did not permit deletion of the latter.
Text Loss: There is significant bleeding of ink from the reverse side, particularly in the earlier sections of the volume. Many pages are tattered, with losses of both text and paragraph numbers.
Referencing Text Locations: A dual numbering system has been adopted, combining the British Library film number with the manuscript’s original page number. These are presented in the format: British Library Film No. / Document Page No.
Pagination: The volume contains two conflicting numbering systems: one in the top right-hand corner of each page, which has been followed, and another in the bottom left-hand corner, which numbers only every alternate page and has been disregarded. The page sequence begins on Film No. 5 at 5/1 and continues in order up to 211/207. Films 212 to 214 bear no page numbers, but Film 215 is marked as page 209. The sequence is therefore assumed to run as 211/207, 212/208, 213/209, 214/210, 215/209, 216/210 and so on. There are no breaks in either paragraph numbering or the subjects under discussion, so this appears to be a simple page-numbering error.
A similar issue occurs after 243/237. Film No. 245 has no page number, and Film No. 247 is marked as 239. The sequence is therefore assumed to run as 243/237, 244/238, 245/239, 246/240, 247/239, 248/240, 249/241 and so on. Again, as there is no break in either paragraph numbering or the subjects under discussion, this too appears to be a page-numbering error.
Dates: During the period covered by this volume, England and its colonies followed the Old-Style Julian calendar, under which the legal new year began on 25 March (Lady Day). The earliest date recorded in this volume is a letter sent from St Helena on 28 April 1717 and the last is a letter sent on 8 June 1720.
All these letters were sent to England during the administration of Captain Isaac Pyke (1714 to 1719) and Edward Johnson (1719 to 1723).
AI Generated Summary
Introduction
This account consolidates the East India Company's records of St Helena from the start of Isaac Pyke's governorship in 1714 to the opening of Edward Johnson's in 1720. The island was an English East India Company possession, valued chiefly as a watering and provisioning point where ships returning from India could take on fresh supplies. Pyke had taken charge in July 1714 after a mutiny scare under the previous administration, and the material is drawn almost wholly from the Council's letters home to the Court of Directors in London, carried by a succession of ships. [Film No. 5-11] [Film No. 55-104] [Film No. 208-209]
These are official self-reports and must be read as such. The Council wrote to defend its conduct, justify its spending, and in Pyke's case to win a better post; the later administration under Johnson wrote to present itself favourably against its predecessor. Much of the middle of the record forms long replies answering the Court's own paragraphs one by one, and the dispute with an unnamed informer is seen entirely through the eyes of the accused. [Film No. 5-9] [Film No. 159-163] [Film No. 209-211]
Governance and Administration
Pyke governed through a Council whose letters carried the signatures of Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. In April 1717 he broke with custom by sending home a letter under his own signature alone, the general letter having always carried the whole Council's names. He explained that, after years of service, he wished his own record to speak for him when the Court considered moving him to a more profitable place, a device giving him a private channel to London without breaking the rule that island letters be open and recorded. [Film No. 5] [Film No. 64]
Much administrative effort went into record-keeping, the Court's standing orders copied into a dedicated book with an alphabetical index so any instruction could be found by date. This continued a reform that followed the discovery of accounts left unbalanced since 1706. The volume of laws was sent home unsealed by the King George so that Governor Harrison of Madras could read it on the voyage and speak to it in London, a risk of tampering the Council plainly judged worth a respected advocate. It later admitted the book held many repetitions, but kept the reasons beside each order and invited the Court to return one consolidated code under its own authority. [Film No. 13-14] [Film No. 125]
The accounts were the Court's chief grievance. The Council admitted it had sent too many excuses and now sent the books instead, dispatching by late 1717 seventeen volumes, eight from the previous administration and nine for the years to 1715, with the qualification that the eight were all that could be found. A new room in the castle was fitted as an accountant's office, and the Governor gave up keeping the transfer journal himself, moving the very instrument of the old corruption into a staffed office. A separation of duties was built in, the secretary listing revenues, the storekeeper charging each inhabitant debtor, and the accountant posting the same sum, so one charge stood in three records kept by three hands. [Film No. 15, 41] [Film No. 62, 65]
Every account was settled once a year at Lady Day, 25 March, when families, land and cattle were reckoned together, making the books a single annual audit. The Council took a hard line on troublesome correspondents, urging the Court to ignore the letters of Mr Free on the reasoning that a man of groundless complaints would never cease while his letters earned a reading, the same view of attention as a reward it used with its clamorous men. When answering the Court paragraph by paragraph, it weighted each by how far it was disputed, closing undisputed heads with a single sentence of future obedience, and described its own constitution, the Governor holding only a casting voice and citing dated consultations in which he was outvoted and submitted. [Film No. 82] [Film No. 83, 84] [Film No. 118, 128]
The General Table, the Governor's dining hall, served as an instrument of government, a seat at it an entitlement of office so that exclusion was a recorded punishment. The Council reported the table's cost reduced to near half its level at its arrival while keeping plenty for visiting commanders, and set Bouchier's 77 eaters against its own 40 in 1715, relocating any charge of lavishness onto its predecessors. When Johnson succeeded in 1719, the new Council pressed reform of the bookkeeping that had troubled the old, conceding openly that the Court had had reason to complain of past transfers of credit and ruling that no transfer could be entered except in consultation, with the Governor keeping the book. This candour was calculated, presenting reform as proof of a fresh standard rather than a defence of the old. [Film No. 119, 120, 121] [Film No. 217-218]
Military Affairs and Defence
The fortifications were a constant charge, materials, the artificers' pay and slave clothing together never falling below £2,000 a year. Pitch and tar were wanted in nearly every letter, the gun carriages having stood untarred, so when a store ship finally brought them the Council acknowledged the arrival before judging the rest of the cargo. The garrison was poorly supplied, soldiers' clothing not having come for five years against a usual yearly need of about 140 suits and 40 grenadier caps, so the Council set the men's want beside the costed clothing of the Court's slaves to argue that London's lading repeatedly failed the military while trade goods came out. [Film No. 9, 13, 16] [Film No. 16]
The Council's central defensive worry was manpower. The island now held two more forts than before, with an enlarged main fort, yet fewer soldiers, no recruits having been sent to make up the mortality of the place in three years; of 24 soldiers ordered out on the Averilla in 1715 only eight had arrived. It set out the first systematic manning plan for the outworks, naming the guard needed at each post from Sandy Bay and Prosperous Bay to King William's Fort and the Sugar Loaf, on the standing doctrine that the island would fall wherever an enemy could land unopposed. The whole establishment came to 60 men on duty, trebled by three reliefs to a constant garrison of 180, the figures honest about wastage, one man in 20 ordinarily unfit and one in 10 in the rainy seasons. [Film No. 57] [Film No. 58, 59]
Care was taken with the soldiers' tea ration, weighed before the incoming guard's corporal every relief day and the men given the turn of the scale, an attention reflecting memory of the 1714 mutiny that short allowance and soldier debt had helped feed. Distant events reached the island chiefly through fear of foreign shipping, and in one season two ships supposed to be Dutch sailed almost round the island and alarmed the whole place before standing off, a manoeuvre the Council read as defeated by the scant wind under the South West Point rather than any change of purpose. It reported such alarms to prove its vigilance, then discounted the design to prevent a scare growing at India House. The lookout system produced a single continuous log of everything that moved within sight, strange sails entered as alarms graded by number, a double alarm denoting two ships. [Film No. 36] [Film No. 97] [Film No. 108, 126]
The barracks were the chief defensive work of the later period, and the Council justified them as counter-mutiny architecture. Soldiers had lodged loosely in the planters' kitchens, where they could cabal unobserved, so the Council cited the mutiny of Bouchier's time in 1713 and later plots to seize a ship, offering concentration under the Governor's eye as the cure. The new quarters were furnished to an auditable standard, each pair of soldiers receiving two cots, a table, two chairs, a porridge pot and a pail, the men resisting at first because they would rather lie anywhere than be overlooked by the fort. The work was large, two hundred and fifty feet in front and larger than the whole Castle interior, occupied by instalments as each part was finished. [Film No. 149, 150] [Film No. 155-159]
The most elaborate section of the great reply of 3 November 1718 concerned a new path cut across the hillside above James Valley. The Council gave it three purposes: a safety canopy preventing loose stone from falling on the barracks below, a convenient route, and an instrument of control, forcing the traffic between the Plantation House slaves and the punch houses far up the valley down a single way in sight of the Castle, so the licensed liquor trade passed where the island's duties could be watched. Accused of an unwarranted project, it produced an ancient order found among loose papers in the secretary's office, in which the Court's predecessors had commanded a good path twenty feet wide, casting the present eight-foot attempt as modest obedience. Its offer to leave the path unfinished cost nothing, for what was built could not be unbuilt and its use was in daily proof, a point its own speculation conceded was made in perfect safety. [Film No. 155-156]
The charge that the path weakened the fort was turned into its opposite. The Council described a traverse of three zigzag legs, every lower reach within musket shot of the Grand Fort, and invited the Court to compare it with any printed plan of Calais, whose only land approach ran over a causeway commanded by the citadel, a proof chosen for merchants whose atlases were on their shelves. The doctrine was that an enemy was better met at the fortified strength of James Valley than at a weaker landing place, an argument carrying the weight of alarms on 9 May and 7 July 1718 that had twice manned the works against strangers. The larger works told a different story, two half-bastions designed under five successive governors, Poirier, Goodwin, Roberts, Bouchier and Pyke himself, having lain unattempted for forty years, the Council admitting that nothing at all had been done to the fortifications in the past year and explaining the cause as a charge only London could vote. That five governments stalled on the same works for the same reason suggests structural neglect, though it equally suited the accused Governor to present it so. [Film No. 157] [Film No. 155-159]
Under Johnson the wider war reached the island. The declaration of war against Spain in 1719 was published by beat of drum and posted in the public places, with a proclamation recalling the King's seafaring subjects from foreign service to deny skilled mariners to the enemy, and the Court instructed the Council to caution returning commanders and watch for Ostend ships. The defences were tested in February 1720 when the Joseph under Captain Hale stood in for the road claiming to be in the Emperor's service from China. The Council treated her as an interloper, firing a shot across her bow from Munden's and compelling her to bear away only after a third gun was fired close, her agent Mr Waldo refused even wood and water, the Governor's silence serving as the denial, the monopoly enforced by artillery against just such an arrival. [Film No. 213] [Film No. 254-255]
Conspiracy, Crime and Punishment
Pyke's opening account stressed the danger he had inherited and overcome. He found the prison full of men left by the previous Governor for plotting a mutiny and planning to run off with a ship, their committal sound because they confessed before the new Council, the only safe ground for holding them once the ringleaders and evidence had been carried away. He claimed to have stopped two further piratical schemes, saving the Eagle Galley and perhaps the Nathaniel. The danger was ended not by trial but by dispersal, the sailors sent home and the landsmen to Bencoolen across separate ships so no man could combine with the others, a practical preference for exporting risk that cost nothing and made no martyrs among a small garrison. That one conspirator, Daniel Burges, was later reported among the Madagascar pirates confirmed what the men were capable of, and counting the saved ships by name turned a security policy into a measurable service in a letter that asked for advancement. [Film No. 6]
The garrison's deepest grievance was the holding of men beyond their contracted time, the Court having sent no men to replace the dead, yet the Council dared not let trained soldiers go. It proposed that the Court send ten soldiers a year so any time-expired man might have leave to go home, arguing shrewdly that freedom to leave would itself reduce the wish to leave. The retention policy bred the very desertion it feared, as the escape of the longboat showed: Fleurcus, a tailor who became chief manager of the theft, had learned the stone cutters' trade by writing out their tasks, risen to the craft rate of 5s a day, then learned navigation step by step, and being denied a higher rate and refused passage home was held because his daughter would fall on the parish, which she did anyway once he fled. The Council looked to the Dutch at Batavia for a better way, where men served a five-year contract, were discharged punctually, and were pensioned at sixty, asking only for power to give a gratuity since a seasoned old stander cost less than a fresh recruit who might die in two years. [Film No. 56, 57] [Film No. 60, 61]
Discipline was administered firmly but with an eye to keeping grievances local. Sergeant Southern, discharged for refusing a deduction from his pay, then declined to leave, so the Council let him stay during good behaviour rather than ship one more aggrieved voice to London in a season of anonymous charges. The most dramatic episode of 1718 was an attempted rising by two of the Court's slaves, who armed and recruited others and fortified a cave under the rock called Lot, holding off the garrison for three or four days by rolling down stones. The Governor refused the soldiers leave to fire, setting a term of one more day before lethal force, which went into the minutes as graduated escalation, and William Worrall then climbed above them and beat them down with their own weapon, one dying of his bruises and the other later proving a good slave. [Film No. 137] [Film No. 145, 146]
The Judiciary, the Jones Affair and the Southen Trial
The island ran its own courts, and the Council was at pains to present its justice as merciful. Fines were entered in the consultation books and collected through the same annual circuit as the rents, set moderate and lessened where the party submitted, with the cases of John Long, George Sanders and Ryan Wills cited as proof. Some penalties were openly meant to frighten rather than collect, as in Rider's case, where the fine was set in terrorem only and discharged on his submission, the money not Rider's own but Mr Powell's, so the record showed its clemency relieving the very adversary who organised opposition. Contested inheritance was settled by open trial rather than the Governor's discretion, a full transcript of the special trial over Thomas Gargen's estate sent home rather than a summary, letting the Court satisfy itself that the most combustible question on a small island was judged openly. [Film No. 64, 65] [Film No. 82] [Film No. 94]
Under Johnson the courts faced a major prosecution arising from the conduct of the chaplain, John Jones, a former private soldier raised to the ministry. The Governor laboured to refine his coarse manners by taking him into the plantation house, allowing him a school, and appointing him to read daily prayers with a private allowance, recorded in deliberate contrast with the earlier disputes over the parson. The relationship collapsed over a trifle at a wedding in September 1719, when the Governor joked about the day's catch of jacks and old wives, the proverb that there was a jack for every gill, which Jones took as a gibe at his marriage to an elderly woman. Ordered to leave the house, Jones refused to read prayers, calculating that the worst the Governor could do was stop his gratuity, and challenged him to see who had the most friends, trading on his connections to resist the island's authority. [Film No. 231-232] [Film No. 233-234]
The dispute hardened into formal process. The Governor issued a warrant against Jones for neglecting the form of prayer directed by the Court, stopped his gratuity, and recorded his insolent conduct, while Jones used the pulpit to reflect on the administration, persisted in reading the wrong collect in open defiance, and refused the garrison's military duties. When scandalous libels naming the Governor were posted in the valley in an unknown hand, coinciding with a concourse of people visiting the chaplain, the Council linked the attacks to his circle, exactly the pattern of the earlier informer controversy, and Jones was confined and shipped to England aboard the King George. The Governor, by then Edward Johnson, held that unrest had been stirred by Jones's restless temper, and opened the sessions with a long speech defending the rule of law, plainly an apologia putting his side of a contested quarrel on the record before any complaint reached London. [Film No. 235-237] [Film No. 234-243]
After Jones sailed, his supporters passed papers round the island for signature in his favour, and the Governor distinguished two documents, a seditious libel and a milder certificate of the chaplain's good behaviour. He arrested six signatories of the libel and Sarah Southen for publishing it, then bailed them for trial, while the signatories of the certificate, who claimed only a charitable wish to help Jones to a living in England, petitioned and were forgiven, the Council separating deliberate sedition from foolish goodwill. The court of 23 January 1720 opened with a long speech from the bench addressed to jury, planters and inhabitants together, the Governor recalling the goodwill of the general muster of 7 October, denying any personal motive, and reaching for the language of chartered authority in the commission the Lords Proprietors had given him. [Film No. 243-245] [Film No. 245-248]
Sarah Southen, indicted as the wife of the planter Thomas Southen, was charged with a misdemeanour for publishing the libel against the King's peace and procuring signatures to it. Witnesses described how she called William Beal into an inner room, pressed John Thwaits repeatedly, and sought the names of the churchwarden and clerk to lend the paper the colour of the parish, and the marshal John Hodgkinson deposed that he took the paper from her bosom. She was found guilty and sentenced to one hour in the pillory and sureties for a year. Of those indicted for signing, only Chelmondely Civilly, the civil surgeon already judged to understand little of his business, was found guilty, pilloried and ordered shipped off by the first vessel, the sentence serving the Council's wish for a better surgeon. John Worrall was fined for saying the Governor was a strong papist, a slander touching loyalty to the Protestant succession, and Thomas Free for spreading a report that the Governor would seize planters' estates, the penalties fitting ordinary English practice for misdemeanour rather than felony. [Film No. 244-248] [Film No. 248-253]
Settlement, Land and Agriculture
Land descended by a strong island custom under which a man's ground passed to his children past any stepfather. The Council defended this firmly when Free, having married Griffith's widow, demanded the leases of Griffith's land in his own name, citing a precedent he had himself created as clerk in granting Robinson the land willed to Onesiphorus Steward's children, an act the whole island had cried shame on, so the Council refused the claim and protected the orphans' inheritance. The Council also reported that fruitful seasons had restored the island, with provisions fallen to about two fifths of their former prices and the Court's stock more than doubled, a claim that flattered Pyke's management and was carried home with Harrison who could corroborate it in person, though the recovery seems real enough since the same plenty let the island offer to victual the whole returning fleet. [Film No. 66, 67] [Film No. 5-6, 12]
Environmental decay was a recurring theme and an early, considered diagnosis. The felling of the woods had left the soil exposed, so heavy rains washed away the surface while ground under thick wood held firm, and the remedy ran in a fixed order, fence first then plant, because the goats and cattle on the unenclosed waste would eat saplings as fast as they were set. Replanting began about the plantation house to cut the four-mile carriage of firewood, at last executing a wood-planting law long left unenforced for want of hands. The Council planted some 4,835 trees and several thousand gumwood, the native island timber, and offered passing servants as witnesses to lemons measured at twelve to fourteen inches around from trees only three years old. [Film No. 48-49] [Film No. 161-171]
Agricultural improvement was the achievement the Council valued most. It set about recovering the Bamboo Gut, the Court's oldest and chief plantation, exhausted after thirty years, carrying in good soil and sea sand by hand to open the heavy clay that lay within inches of the surface, rebuilding it toward a capacity of 200,000 yams. The Governor improved the ground by printed direction, following John Evelyn's book of gardening, and designed the Peak plantation as a rotation to bear in stages. The yam census ran in audited steps the Court could verify, 555,550 yams found planted on the Council's arrival in 1714, rising to 906,000 by December 1717 on the storekeeper Bazett's own count entered in consultation, the near doubling of the island's staple standing as the administration's most measurable success. [Film No. 71, 72] [Film No. 79]
The defence of the idle fortifications rested on a single choice, declared in the letter of 6 January 1718 and repeated in November: the plantations would come first, since walls needed labour, labour needed feeding, and every available slave was set to enlarging the plantations that would feed the future wall-builders. By 3 November 1718 the Council reported upwards of 1,236,000 yams growing, the plantations more than doubled and a tripling promised before the Governor left them, the exactness of the figure itself an argument that a government enumerating its yams did not invent its accounts. Agronomy fixed the pace, plantation ground among the rocks taking a year to clear and the yams two more to mature, a three-year gestation the Council pressed as the reason the fortifications had to wait, and fencing was hired out to the planters by the rod on a published advertisement of 21 May 1717 so its trained hands could stay on the crop. [Film No. 159-160] [Film No. 161-163]
New ground was broken at the High Peak, long reserved by Governor Poirier for feeding the slaves the Court was expected to send, with a house for one overseer and fourteen slaves and 27,000 yams planted before a storm interrupted the work. The cold of one season tested the whole programme and is itself revealing of the climate, the bean crop failing across the island, a thing the Council said was scarcely to be believed in London, the wealthy planter Gabriel Powell losing an expected 300 bushels off eight acres to the same cold, his loss recorded against the administration's own adversary proving the failure a real disaster. A review of the plantations under Johnson then exposed a striking discrepancy, the new count finding 727,650 yams where an account taken before his arrival had given 1,061,522, a difference of 333,872 at which the Council greatly wondered, letting the new Council establish an honest baseline and distance itself from its predecessor's optimistic reporting. [Film No. 160-163] [Film No. 76] [Film No. 223]
Supply and Provisioning
Feeding the establishment rested on yams, supplemented by imported rice and Cape wheat. Most of the island's yams grew on dry ground and turned unwholesome in the rains, sickening those who ate them, so rice was issued during the roughly twelve weeks of wet weather each year, a rainy year therefore costing more than a dry one. The Council costed the rice need precisely, ten pounds a head a week for about 200 slaves through twelve weeks coming to 24,000 pounds, set with the fort, poultry and sick at 15 tons and also given as 10 coyan of the Batavia measure so London could order it directly. Dairy came from 71 cows, the children always given their pint first, and fish from the establishment boat was shared by roster so each slave knew his turn, removing both favouritism and scramble. [Film No. 42-43] [Film No. 44, 52]
Self-supply in food was the goal that touched every other policy, the Council reporting that no yams had been bought even after 72 new slaves arrived, and that none would be except as a bridge for any fresh draft, the whole year's labour committed to fencing new ground and planting suckers to feed an establishment of about 230 souls reckoned as a family to be maintained. To secure rice cheaply it pressed a scheme modelled on the Dutch, that ships with spare room after loading their contracted tonnage be obliged to carry a few tons of rice for the island at half freight, as the Dutch topped up Europe-bound ships and sent an annual rice ship from Batavia, citing the rival company being shrewd since competition with Dutch efficiency was something the directors could not dismiss as island special pleading. Imported supply was ordered against the market, the Council asking for about 12 casks of pease a year to feed the calling ships in place of the failed callavances, capped at 7s a bushel because commanders would take pease only below what they cost from home or the Cape. [Film No. 72, 74] [Film No. 28-29, 37-38] [Film No. 81, 98]
Carriage on the island moved on slaves' backs, which the Council turned to ingenious account, every slave leaving Sandy Bay two hours early on Saturday carrying one paving stone on the walk he made anyway for his yams, and when the stones sufficed the same journey carried lime, so the plantation house floor was assembled at almost no extra cost. Clothing the enslaved people was a constant and unmet need, the island suffering badly for want of coarse thread, and the Council priced the whole clothing of one black at 40s a year even buying at the worst hand, blaming the shortfall on stowage since small parcels for the island lay unreachable in holds laden solid for London. A standing rule turned the Court's wish for refreshment into a sanction with teeth, any commander arriving without bringing the island one per cent in stores finding the Court's purse closed to all he carried except arrack and rice, enforced even against Captain Glegg to keep the rule credible. [Film No. 73] [Film No. 112, 113]
Under Johnson supply still depended heavily on goods bought from passing ships, and the records dwell on short and missing deliveries, four bales of quilts unreachable in the hold where Captain Pitt could not reach them, and stockings, women's bodices and jumps and fishing tackle excepted against at the foot of the bill of lading because never put aboard. The island's chronic need for strong liquor drove a hard bargain over arrack, the Council in early 1720 buying fifteen leaguers of Batavia arrack, some 2,400 gallons, from Captain Micklefield of the Marlborough at 5s 4d a gallon, the lowest he would take, having held out for the 4s it judged fair and had paid Captain Misener in 1717, but the captain knew the stores were empty and the rainy season near. Twenty-one chaldrons of coals sent by the Court were forwarded to Bencoolen, confirming the island did well enough without coals and would rather have tiles shipped as ballast, and a longboat was bought to fetch lime and cut stone from Sandy Bay, the whole purchase of arrack, Cape wine, seed, chinaware and the boat coming to £1,086 13s 7d. [Film No. 205-206, 213-214] [Film No. 240-241, 253]
Trade and Shipping
Each homeward letter opened with a catalogue of arrivals and departures, which the Court used to track which ships were safe and which overdue, naming a steady traffic through 1717 including the King George carrying Harrison home, the Drake, the Hamilton, the Stanhope and the Princess Amelia, with passing ships logged too, among them a Dutch fleet of 26 sail and a leaky Danish ship, the Salvator Mundi, allowed to refit and sail on. The catalogue doubled as the answer to the Court's questions about foreign competition, the Governor having turned away Ostend interlopers, the St Matthew and the Charles Galley, without instructions, then admitting possible over-zealousness, and banking the Court's endorsement at once when it approved. The island also served as a relay station, a standing paragraph of the Court's orders handed to every returning commander, and as the appointed rendezvous where the scattered homeward fleet reformed for the Atlantic, ships arriving singly but sailing in convoys of three. [Film No. 24-26] [Film No. 6-7, 27] [Film No. 107, 108]
Friction over unloading times ran throughout, the Council holding the flat ten-day discharge term impossible and proposing a rate of so many days per hundred tons, avoiding a formal protest with the store ship Success when the captain offered to charge demurrage for only the contracted ten days, while Captain Petts of the Stanhope refused the customary charge for a barrel of gunpowder because it was not in his charter party, his account sent home to force the charge into future contracts. Short delivery from store ships remained a quarrel the island could not win, Captain Misener's ship taking twelve days unlading and showing a great deficiency in the measure of her coals, the Council able to document, examine and demand but not to compel payment, so the minute and the captain's letter went home for the Court to enforce the debt where it held the freight. [Film No. 28-29] [Film No. 127]
The island lived by refreshing the homeward fleet, so keeping the goodwill of commanders was a constant policy, customs charged on commercial quantities, arrack by the cask and linen by the large bundle, while trifles of personal use passed free, the Council citing the Cape of Good Hope's own laxity as the competing standard and admitting it could not in any case stop determined men landing goods by night in the other valleys. The China ships supplied tea, and a strict literalism among commanders caused repeated trouble, Captain Charles Newton and Captain Charles Kesar both refusing to deliver tea because nothing in their own instructions directed it, so the Council bought four peculs from Kesar for the garrison ration and asked the Court to write the supply into the supercargoes' instructions, the only authority a ship's officer would recognise. The same obstacle recurred under Johnson, who asked the Court to direct its China supercargoes to buy four or six chests of bohea, framing the request as both garrison ration and a revenue opportunity through sale to the planters from the Court's storehouse rather than private hands. [Film No. 62, 63] [Film No. 101, 102] [Film No. 181-204]
The gravest commercial grievance of the later years was the Court's homeward ships provisioning at the Cape of Good Hope. A petition of the inhabitants, entered on 17 March 1719 and endorsed by the Council as true in fact, complained that for three years the ships had supplied so fully at the Cape that they now took less than a quarter of the provisions they once had at the island, so that for want of a market planters neglected their plantations and many could not pay even the small annual rents due for their land. The Council proposed concrete remedies, that the ships be forbidden the Cape or obliged to stay two days at the island for every day at the Cape, and pressed the case with arguments calculated to move a board jealous of its interest, that the Cape trade enriched the Dutch settlement there and that the island road was safe where the Cape anchorage was dangerous. By the spring of 1719 it could add that the Cape suffered a severe drought, its corn, wine and meat failing and an order published forbidding the sale of ewe sheep, the rival station's distress turned to argue the island's restored value, while it hinted darkly at other reasons it would not name for the ships' constant resort to the Cape. [Film No. 192-200] [Film No. 201-204]
Slavery and Coerced Labour
Slave labour was the foundation of the establishment, and the record is candid about the trade's brutality while treating the enslaved frankly as capital stock. The island took drafts from licensed Madagascar ships, about 72 slaves across five vessels in 1717, while the bulk went on to the planters, the West Indies or Bombay, one ship, the Sarah Galley, sailing for the Rio de la Plata and linking the Madagascar trade to the Spanish American market under the asiento. Of the 72 received, five soon died, three were sickly and two were judged mentally unfit, losses the Council charged to the trade's carriage rather than the island's keeping. Because captains released whatever slaves they chose, the Council repeatedly asked for a clause letting it pick its number from the whole cargo, for without it the Court's own station bid against planters at its own auctions, where 45 slaves had gone at about £21 a head. [Film No. 24, 47] [Film No. 10, 12-13]
The treatment of the Guinea slaves from Calabar shows both care and its limits, twelve of 42 living being sick despite double rations, weekly beef and a morning dram, the Council recording that slaves starved aboard ship devoured carrion ashore and took months to eat moderately. Hierarchy was built in, the chief slaves given European-fashion clothes, and Old Will, trained as a carpenter at Sir Harry Johnson's yard at Blackwall, stood at the top, yet the European craftsmen refused to teach slaves their trades, reasoning that every slave taught undercut their own wages. The Council compared its practice with the Dutch at Batavia, who used criminal slaves for the heaviest port and canal work, the model behind the island's own use of slaves in irons on the fortifications, while at Batavia free Chinese and Malay labour hired cheaper than slaves could be maintained. The frankness of these passages is the frankness of men explaining a labour system to its owners, the slaves themselves appearing only as costs, rations and capacities. [Film No. 16, 51, 53-54] [Film No. 54, 55, 56]
Having built up its own slave force toward 200, the Council ended the hiring of planters' slaves by a public advertisement, with hire to cease after 25 June 1717, executing a calculation made since 1714 that buying slaves was cheaper over time than hiring at 18d a day. To soften the blow it offered fencing work by the rod at the full price, the first to take it kept on longest, posting the notice a full month ahead to fix the date against any plea of surprise. The transition was not quite complete, the Governor still letting his own nineteen slaves at 12d a day, the rate Governor Roberts had been hated for, taking the resentment onto himself to set the market price by example. By Michaelmas 1718 the hire of slaves to the Court, found at 18d on the Council's arrival, was generally brought down to 12d, achieved not by decree but by buying good slaves on purpose to let them at the lower price, his promise to do so standing minuted in the consultation of 27 March 1716. [Film No. 17-19] [Film No. 46-48] [Film No. 130, 131]
The Council treated the enslaved as a depreciating stock with a computable maintenance rate, setting out a mortality table in which seasoned blacks died at about 1 in 10 a year and the newly arrived at 2 in 15 until acclimatised, and using the Governor's own slaves as a control group to answer a charge of ill usage, privately owned slaves dying at the same proportion as the Court's, which proved the mortality environmental rather than managerial. The quality of a cargo was held to depend on the captain's management of the passage, Captain White's blacks judged the worst the island had received, his joke that the consignment was a bite from the Bight of Guinea entered into the record to show why nothing he said deserved belief, against Captain Mackett who ran directly to the island and fed his people well. Skilled slaves were valued accordingly, the Governor's black gardener reckoned worth eighty pounds, the price of three ordinary slaves, yet charged to the Court at only eighteen pence a day, with two others taught under him to propagate a skill the island could not import. [Film No. 143, 144] [Film No. 142, 143] [Film No. 175-177]
Under Johnson slave supply continued through ships from Madagascar and Bombay, the Council receiving eleven men and six women from the Elizabeth in 1719 graded good and sound, but disputing the Court's assumption that the island was now well enough supplied, arguing that more than two-thirds of the slaves, the superannuated, the sick, the women bearing children and the young children, were incapable of labour and a great charge rather than a help, so a large nominal number masked a small effective workforce. The records set out the slaves' provisioning in detail, those at the plantations having five pounds of beef daily among seven with five pounds of yams each, those at the fort beef every other day with fish from the boat, and pease given to the sick and new arrivals. The Council cited the Court's own injunction in the Princess Amelia letter, which expressed concern for the slaves as unhappy people and directed their humane treatment, acknowledging that the slaves were human, the moral instruction met with a documented practice even as they appear only as numbers and rations. [Film No. 206, 212, 220] [Film No. 222]
Finance, Currency and Accounting
The island had almost no coin, the whole money stock reckoned at about £700 against yearly costs near £4,800, so goods were bought by drawing bills of exchange on the Court or by barter, sugar from India taken for ships' provisions so no charge fell on the London account. Bills were drawn in sets of three and sent by separate ships so the loss of one part did not destroy the claim, the Company's books serving as the clearing house even for private bargains between inhabitants and ship commanders, an emigrant such as George Sanders selling everything for store credit and carrying the value home as bills of £222 4s 7½d. To control the drain, the Council confined bill-financed buying to arrack at the fixed 4s a gallon, with rice, wheat and live cattle, and defended its prices by detailed costing, showing on cordage that the rope lost weight as it dried and buyers were trusted twelve months so the retail rate of 12d a pound barely paid. [Film No. 8, 13] [Film No. 89, 90] [Film No. 84]
Pyke offered the Court its first full costing of the establishment, a target of £5,000 a year built from a salary bill of about £3,000 and a £2,000 floor for fortifications, artificers and slave clothing, and made the General Table self-financing, the plantation feeding the household and slaves while arrack profits paid for the fort's drink, so this whole head of expense now cost nothing. He cleared himself on the standing suspicion that island governors took private profit on bills, explaining that bills went home in his name only because he headed the Council that drew them and that he never gained a penny, even renouncing the lawful 5 per cent agency commission on collecting Captain Hurst's debts, conceding that predecessors had taken such profit and citing the Litchfield bill as the known instance. Accusations of luxury were met by inviting verification from the ships' commanders, the Council denying the Governor had built a banqueting house or a ninepin ground and using the same channel that carried the accusation as the means of disproving it. [Film No. 9, 42, 44] [Film No. 86, 87] [Film No. 88]
Lacking coin, the Council ran an experiment in paper money, printed bank bills of 10s, 20s and 40s, which met early distrust until the supercargoes of the Hester accepted them at face value, and became truly useful only when the Court agreed to honour bills drawn against paper handed in, making them redeemable in sterling. The currency was finally launched through the payroll, the soldiers and labouring people taking their wages in the new small money from Michaelmas 1718, redemption into bills standing unlimited in amount with a customary floor of £20 to ration the cost of small redemptions, the unlimited guarantee sustaining the circulation while the floor filtered the trickle of small claims. The Council stated the island's finances as an identity the Court could not wish away, charges at a floor of about £5,000 a year against a whole revenue of lands and cattle scarcely £400, the gap drawn in bills every year, so the demand to end bill-drawing was answered with arithmetic. [Film No. 39-40] [Film No. 130] [Film No. 138, 139]
Under Johnson the chronic scarcity of coin still shaped much dealing, the money stock about £700 against a yearly charge near £3,000, bills drawn on the Court at thirty or twenty days after sight giving the London drawee time to verify before payment. When Joseph Staughton of Fort St David offered a bill for eight hundred dollars, the Council took it though it had no strict need, giving credit for two hundred pounds and fixing the working rate at four dollars to the pound, the dollar being the Spanish piece of eight common to the Indies and Atlantic. The largest draft of the season, one thousand pounds for Thomas Ceason and anchored in a consultation of 14 April 1719, simply lapsed when he failed to secure a passage home, the bookkeeping working as the Council claimed. Discipline over salaries was applied at once, the new Council not only stopping the gratuity but suspending the salary of Mr Tovey, while the estate of the orphan Mercy Carne was remitted as her fortune by bill, payable at Bencoolen where she had leave to go with Governor Pyke. [Film No. 206-207, 219] [Film No. 179-194] [Film No. 216, 219-220]
The Campaign of Accusations
The Court's letter of 21 March 1718 carried serious charges against the Governor, built on reports the Council could not trace, accusing him of great negligence, of running upon projects, and of neglecting the fortifications, a projector in the language of the day being a schemer of novelties, so the charge was that he wasted the Court's stock on innovations. The defence against negligence was the Governor's daily routine, not a mere denial, he scarcely missing a day among the workmen and blacks, marking out and directing the work since no other man on the island understood building, so the charge was answered by proving him the whole engineering department in his own person. The Council slowly reconstructed the whole supply chain of the accusations, finding its private proceedings had been leaking, the two suspects, the accountant and the secretary, accusing each other, and being unable to prosecute revived a secrecy rule word for word from Governor Roberts's order of 1708 so none could call it the present Governor's gag. [Film No. 116, 132] [Film No. 133] [Film No. 116, 139, 140]
The chaplain, Dr Joshua Thomlinson, emerged as the man who held the pen, though he was never formally charged, his own letters convicting him since he had mentioned matter only the leaked consultations could supply, turned into equivocal, deniable insinuations. His grievance of avoided insults dissolved on inspection, for he kept a boarding house and missed the table in shipping time because that was his season of trade, that house probably also his distribution network, his lodgers the very commanders and passengers who carried each season's mail. The dispute turned partly on money, the chaplain asking the Court to buy his house as a parsonage or pay its full rent, complaining that five pounds a year was too little, the Council entering his letter in his own words to let his demand testify to the reasonableness of what had been granted, and noting his accounts were made up by his own brother Joseph Thomlinson, a writer in the stores. The Governor's chosen remedy was to turn the Court's own pay-window into his tribunal, asking that every party tendering a bill in London swear how it was procured, so a clean man lost nothing while the perjury risk fell wholly on accusers. [Film No. 140, 141] [Film No. 173-175] [Film No. 136]
Personalities
The record turns on a handful of distinctive figures drawn with a sharp eye for character. Sergeant Southern was the eldest and fittest for ensign, careful and lately sober, yet the Court had paid his abandoned English wife in London, so he was charged £10 a year to reimburse the payment and chose to sell up rather than carry two households, the Council noting his island wife was a woman of spirit enough to exercise his patience. The rivalry of two clerks ran across three administrations, Alexander writing a good hand and sober but often drawn from the office by his plantation and eight living children, Free almost always drunk and a poor writer having supplanted him under Governor Roberts before Bouchier restored Alexander, the present Council keeping Alexander on the same two tests the place demanded. William Beats showed how the island policed unqualified medicine with reputation alone, a tailor turned publican credited with one good pill learned from the surgeons who drank at his house, who staked £27 on curing three sick slaves and lost all three, the real medical work falling to the doctor's mate John Hodgkinson, who could let blood but had no Latin. [Film No. 66, 68] [Film No. 66, 67] [Film No. 69, 70]
The dead accountant Captain Haswell dominates the personalities of 1718, chiefly through the affair of his lodging, his complaint of a mean lodging true for he lay in a sorry hole, but the squalor his own election, three escalating houses provided and refused or monetised before he chose to board cheaply with his brother-in-law the smith, keeping the best rooms for stores and subletting the rest. A Christmas blaze in the thatch then burnt his house to the ground, all the island's dwellings being thatched except three, one of them the parson's, letting the Court see which of its complainants lived best. The secretary Antipas Tovey continued under a measured disgrace, suspended from the Governor's table for a fixed term while his office and signature continued, having earlier wounded a writer, Francis Wrangham, in a drunken quarrel the Council reduced to a moral on hard drinking. William Worrall appears in instructive contrast, on the mountain the brisk young man who ended the slave rising without a shot, in the next paragraph the under-informed source of a complaint against Samuel Jessey's weeding bill which enquiry found honest. [Film No. 151, 152, 153] [Film No. 122, 137] [Film No. 145, 146]
Above them all stands Pyke, industrious and careful by his Council's account, inspecting the plantations weekly with a chair always in his train, going up and down the same day so the island's improvement was seen by every witness who might talk in London, including commanders such as Harrison who rode with him. The Council let a real solitude show through its rebuttal of the exclusion charge, that he wished there were room for the whole Council within the fort, keeping state in a crowded fort almost alone after Haswell's death. Other lives surface throughout: Mrs Mashbourne, a councillor's widow, married a Company writer, William Fairfax, her whole estate passing to him as £204 in bills; the carpenter Richard Swallow drew 6s a day and an apprentice walked off when refused a further 6d; the runaway Nick, taken from the negligent Walter Morris toward a debt, was exchanged aboard a slave ship for a more serviceable man. [Film No. 80, 86] [Film No. 153] [Film No. 21, 83]
The transfer of power to Johnson brought its own cast. The Worshipful Edward Johnson arrived on 13 June 1719 by the Craggs and took up the governorship after reading his commission before the Council, the legal act by which his authority took effect, succeeding Pyke, whose own balance of account, £244 6s 6d, was settled by bill the following month. The mortality of these years thinned the administration, Councillor Matthew Bazett the long-serving storekeeper dying on 5 April 1719 and the chief surgeon Joseph Du May carried off by the bloody flux, leaving the inferior Chelmondely Civilly and few capable hands, John Goodwin filling the storekeeper's place for want of any other fit man. Gabriel Powell, the wealthiest planter, worth about £5,000 and holding some 300 acres, appears throughout, drawing bills the Council could not refuse and signing both the petition against Tovey and the certificate for Jones, while Joseph Ormston rose from the man Tovey had counted on as honest Joseph to a seat on the Council, and the disabled soldier William Saxby was granted a brief to collect charity from the islanders to clear his debt to the stores. [Film No. 209-210, 219] [Film No. 207, 215] [Film No. 228, 239, 256]
The Case of Antipas Tovey
Soon after Johnson took office the principal inhabitants petitioned against Antipas Tovey, the former accountant, describing him as a malicious, drunken, quarrelsome and dangerous man, and setting out a pattern of violence, that he had stabbed the planter Sutton Jacaib with a penknife in the dark, wounded George Carne, and secretly drawn his sword and stabbed Francis Wrangham at a table while drinking, the eighteen subscribers drawn from the leading planters giving the complaint the weight of the settled community. Tovey tried to deflect the charge by accusing Pyke of maintaining slaves at the Court's expense and exchanging dead or sick slaves for healthy ones, but the Council investigated on oath with Captain John Wynn present as an independent witness, and Pyke produced his slave books, the two names Tovey fixed upon, Peter and Robin, proving to belong to the Court's slaves and not his own, the charge found malicious and groundless and a revival of a matter already settled. [Film No. 226-228] [Film No. 228-230]
The inquiry then turned decisively against Tovey as evidence of faction emerged. Alexander deposed that Tovey had proposed they together might manage all affairs, and Lacy swore that Tovey had said that, with honest Joseph Ormston behind him, they would knock them all down, and on this sworn testimony Tovey was suspended from the Council, his gratuity and his diet, and shortly resigned the accountant's office rather than face scrutiny under suspension, his fate reserved to the Court, the documentary case protecting the Council against any charge of unjust dealing. This was the same Tovey whose earlier drunken wounding of Wrangham the Council had once reduced to a moral on hard drinking, the leading planters now pressing what the previous administration had treated more leniently. [Film No. 230-231]
Conclusion
Taken together, these letters show a small, poor and crowded island governed with unusual care and ingenuity, and an administration working just as hard to be seen doing so. Its great work was provisioning, the near doubling of the yam crop and the recovery of worn ground that freed it from dear purchases, its great anxiety manpower, for forts multiplied while soldiers dwindled and no recruits came from home. Pyke's economies were real, the doubled stock, the self-financing table, the move from hired to owned labour, and the long-delayed account books sent home, yet the record is shaped at every turn by the need to justify, to pre-empt criticism, and in his case to earn promotion, met with the same instrument throughout, the dated consultation book offered to the Court as the proof of everything claimed. [Film No. 5-11, 41-44] [Film No. 59, 79, 96]
The transfer to Johnson marked a reckoning with the past, the new Council conceding old faults to mark its distance from them and exposing the inflated yam count of 333,872 as the clearest sign of a deliberate honesty set against its predecessor, even as it met the violent faction of Tovey and the restless defiance of Jones with the same documentary rigour. What the official voice obscures is easy to name, for the slaves appear only as costs and capacities even where the writing is most candid about their suffering or speaks of their humanity, the planters' grievances reach us filtered through a Council eager to show them groundless, and the people who signed Jones's papers, with Sarah Southen herself, are heard only through the prosecution that silenced them. Read critically, the correspondence is a rich source for how the Company governed at a distance, provided the reader remembers that it was written by the governors, for their masters, and with their own futures in mind. [Film No. 217-218, 223, 230-231] [Film No. 7, 47, 222, 248-252]
Film No | Page No. | OCR Transcription | Modern Summary with Analysis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena letters to England 1717 - 1720 Photographer Shelley Date photographed 21 Feb 2022 Additional comments | ||||
Book cover | ||||
Letter Book to England begun by the King George Capt. Lewis. Comr. Aprill ye 28th 1717. | ||||
Blank page | ||||
1 | Letter ⅌ Ship King George Capt Lewis Hon:ble Srs 1: As it is always my duty to Acqua- int your Honrs: from time to time with the State of this your Island So it has very rarely been Omitted, The St Helena Letter has hitherto been Signed by all your Councill here and this only by your Governr: (Who' Seen and read by them and Entered in the Book as other Publick Letters are) And I do this because as I have Served your Honrs: e Soverall years I hope by giveing Accots of my Actions to make my Integrity So farr Appear to your Honrs that whenever you Shall think fitt to remove me hence I may not be thought undeserv= ing your Honrs favour in obtaining Some better I mean Some more Proffitable Employment. 2: At my Arrivall here all kind of Provisions were Scarce & Dear but every thing of that Nature that is Proper refreshment for your Shipping is now reduced to about two fifths of the former prices and in Such Plenty that all your Shipping may be fully Supplyed and can Spare the French if your Honrs allow it when they touch here too, But this is to be Attributed to the fruitfull Seasons that it has pleased God to send us which has e made the Country flourish more than of late | The Governor's letter went home by the ship King George, Captain Lewis, and was addressed to the Court of Directors. 1: The Governor opened by saying that keeping the Court informed of the island's condition was a standing duty, and one very rarely neglected. The general letter from St Helena had always carried the signatures of the whole Council. This letter bore the Governor's signature alone, though the councillors saw and read it before it was entered in the book like other public letters. The Governor explained his reason for writing in this way. After several years in the Court's service, he hoped that an account of his own actions would demonstrate his integrity. Whenever the Court thought fit to move him from the island, he wished not to be considered undeserving of its favour in securing a better and more profitable post. 2: Provisions of every kind were scarce and expensive when the Governor first arrived. Everything suitable for refreshing the Court's shipping had since fallen to about two fifths of the former prices. Supplies were now so plentiful that all the Court's ships could be fully provided, with enough left over for French ships touching at the island if the Court allowed it. The Governor credited this recovery to the fruitful seasons God had sent, which had made the country flourish more than of late. Interpretations The Governor's decision to write over his own signature, while letting the Council read the letter and enter it in the book, created a private channel to the Court without breaching the rule that island correspondence be open and recorded. The device let him plead his personal record and career hopes directly, separate from the collective voice of the Council letters signed by Pyke, Howell, Bazett and Tovey throughout the season. The offer to spare provisions to French ships subject to the Court's permission shows how tightly victualling foreigners was controlled. The Council had refused the Jason provisions on 29 January 1715 and had bound Mr Carne to his good behaviour for selling beef to a French ship, so any relaxation needed express authority from London. The King George, under Captain Samuel Lewis, reached the island on 22 April 1717 carrying Governor Harrison home from Madras, so the letter travelled with the senior homeward fleet of that season. Speculations The claim that refreshment prices had fallen to about two fifths of their former level was probably aimed at a specific audience as much as a general report. The Council letters of 2 July 1717 declared the island able to victual and refit the whole returning fleet, and a Governor seeking a more profitable post had every reason to fix the credit for that turnaround on his own administration before Harrison, a senior Company figure aboard the same ship, gave his own account in London. The timing of a personal plea for advancement looks deliberate. Harrison had seen the island's recovery at first hand during his call, and a letter carried home in his ship could be read alongside his testimony, giving the Governor an independent witness to the state of the island much as Mr Scattergood had been offered as a witness on 26 January 1716. | ||
2 | and has been a great Encouragem: to our Industry and by that means this Country which of it Self is none of the best is So greatly Improved beyond what I found it that I hope in a Short time more it may come up to what it was in Governr Poiriers time, and the monthly Accots will Shew that all your Stock is now more then double what it was on my Arrivall. 3: When I came here I found the Prison full of guilty Persons Committed & left in Custody by the Last Governr: for Conniveing at Mutiny & to runn away with Some Ships and they could not be Committed unjustly because they owned their Crime to me and your Council here for which they had been Accused. And Since then I have prevented two other Pyraticall designs which are mentioned in our Generall Letter to your Honrs: by the Nathaniell and the Mary which I hope has tended to your Honrs Interest and Saved the Eagle Galley at least, if not the Nathaniell too, which might have been in Some danger if their designes had not been timely Discovered, and now all those Des= perate People are So Dispersed that there is no farther fear of Danger. 4: Perhaps I may have been too zeal[...]bout the Ostend Ships, to which I Shall Say & | The improvement in provisions had greatly encouraged industry on the island. The country, none of the best in itself, was now so much better than the Governor found it that he hoped it would shortly match its condition in Governor Poirier's time. The monthly accounts would show the Court's stock at more than double its level at the Governor's arrival. 3: The Governor recalled that on coming to the island he found the prison full of guilty men, committed and left in custody by the last Governor for plotting a mutiny and planning to run away with a ship. Their committal could not be called unjust, because they admitted to the Governor and Council the crime of which they stood accused. Since then the Governor had prevented two further piratical schemes, described in the general letters sent home by the Nathaniel and the Mary. He hoped this service had advanced the Court's interest. It had saved the Eagle Galley at least, and perhaps the Nathaniel too, which might have been in some danger had the plans not been discovered in time. All those desperate men were now so dispersed that no further danger was feared. 4: The Governor allowed that he might have been too zealous concerning the Ostend ships, to which he said [...] Interpretations The prisoners found at the handover were the mutiny party of 1714, whom Bouchier left in gaol when he sailed on 28 June 1714 after Captain Brown had discharged the chief ringleaders. The Governor's stress on their confession answered a real legal weakness: the principal offenders and the evidence had been carried off, so the admission of guilt before the new Council on its arrival of 8 July 1714 was the only safe foundation for holding the rest. The two prevented schemes were the Eagle Galley conspiracy, broken in July 1715 when Commodore Osborne offered to man the ship, and the blood-oath plot of 3 March 1716 to seize a vessel from the road at night. The claim that the danger was ended rested on the policy of dispersal, the sailors sent home and the landsmen to Bencoolen across separate ships through 1716, with the report of 13 August 1716 that Daniel Burges lay among the Madagascar pirates confirming what the men were capable of. The dispersal of conspirators rather than their trial and execution reflects the island's limited criminal jurisdiction over capital matters and the practical preference for exporting risk. Removal cost nothing, produced no martyrs among a small garrison, and placed each man where he could no longer combine with the others. Speculations Counting the saved ships by name turned a security policy into a measurable service. A claim to have preserved one and possibly two Indiamen, each worth far more than the island's annual establishment, was the strongest possible entry in a letter whose first paragraph asked the Court to remember the writer for a more profitable post. The opening concession of paragraph 4, admitting possible over-zealousness about the Ostend interlopers before the Court could raise it, looks like a deliberate pre-emption. The Council had turned away the St Matthew on 11 May 1716 and the Charles Galley on 11 July 1716 without instructions either way, and had asked the Court on 13 August 1716 for a rule. A Governor defending refusals made in a legal vacuum had reason to frame them as excess of loyalty rather than excess of authority. | ||
3 | more at present than that I intended thereby to Dis= =courage as much as Possible I could any fforreign trade that is newly Introduced to your Honrs prejudice or might hinder your Exportation and wanted only your Honrs Directions to Sett me right in that Affaire 5: The people of this place are not the Easiest under Governmt: as their Continuall Complaints und all former Governors: will shew, but I have made a Shift to keep them in Some tollerable Order, And now I think they are all very quiett and as well Contented as they ever will be. 6: We lately sent out a very large Indent of Stores wanted here but if your Honrs please to look over the Letter that came with that Indent you'l find We did not desire all the things Mentioned there but told the uses they were for and we desired of your Honrs: that Such or as many of them might be Sent as you thought most Necessary for us, and as We did not alleadge an Absolute Necessity for all the things therein Mentioned but left it to your Honrs: to send Such as you Judged fittest, meaning to represent at one view every thing that would be usefull or necessary We hoped yor Honrs: would be the better pleased with it. 7: We have also drawn Severall Bills of some of them for large Sums of money for the | The Governor said no more on the matter at present than that his intention had been to discourage as far as possible any foreign trade newly introduced to the Court's prejudice, or that might hinder its exports. He asked only for the Court's directions to set him right in that affair. 5: The people of the island were not the easiest to govern, as their continual complaints and the experience of all former Governors showed. The Governor had nevertheless managed to keep them in some tolerable order. He believed they were now all very quiet and as well contented as they would ever be. 6: A very large indent of stores wanted at the island had lately been sent out. The Governor asked the Court, on looking over the letter that came with that indent, to note that the Council had not asked for everything mentioned in it. The letter set out the uses each article would serve and asked the Court to send such of them, or as many, as it thought most necessary. The Council had not claimed an absolute need for every item listed. It left the choice to the Court, meaning to present at one view everything that would be useful or necessary, and hoped the Court would be the better pleased with it. 7: Several bills had also been drawn, some of them for large sums of money, for the supplying [...] Interpretations The defence of the indent shows how requisitioning from London actually operated. A station listed every conceivable want with its purpose, the Court applied its own judgement of cost and shipping room, and the covering letter served as the contract of expectations between them. Framing the list as a complete prospectus rather than a demand protected the Council from the charge of extravagance that a large indent would otherwise invite. Paragraph 4 closed the Ostend matter on the same footing the Council took on 13 August 1716, when it asked for instructions after turning away the St Matthew on 11 May 1716 and the Charles Galley on 11 July 1716. The Ostend ships were the new competition the Company most feared, private ventures from the Austrian Netherlands cutting into the East India trade, and the Governor presented his refusals as protection of the Court's export trade pending a rule. The remark that the islanders were as contented as they would ever be carried the weight of the litigation record behind it. The Council had named Powell, Cason, Thomas Wrangham, Richard Swallow and Blunt as the promoters of every contention in its long reply to the Court's letter of 14 March 1716, and a Governor whose justice had been complained of to London had reason to describe quiet as the most that could be achieved. Speculations Asking to be set right over the Ostend ships converted a request for orders into a display of obedience. The Governor had in fact chosen the more restrictive course on his own judgement, refusal being reversible where assistance was not, so inviting correction cost nothing while fixing on record that any error ran in the Court's favour. The careful explanation that bills for large sums were drawn for supply, placed immediately after the defence of the indent, suggests the Governor anticipated the two charges being read together. Heavy drawing on the Court and heavy indenting could look like an expensive administration, so each was pre-emptively tied to necessity and to the Court's own discretion. | ||
4 | Supplying this place with Severall Goods that were not in your Honrs: Stores which we thought We coud not refuse doeing at the request of those who had Creditt due to them in your Stores, And 'tis my Humble Opinion that 'twould be better if they were all pay'd off; but Submitt that to your Honrs: Wisdom, And as to the buying Goods that must be paid for by drawing Bills on your Honrs: We have made an Order that no Goods Shall be bought in that manner but Arrack at four Shillings ⅌ Gallon, & Rice & wheat or live Cattle, and in a place where there is no money 'tis not Possible to doe otherwise 8: As to the backwardness of your Accots the Accomptant has answered in Consultation According to your Honrs: Orders and given his reasons And tho' I have Always Charged him as if every Deficiency were his fault yet that I know that he wants hands Sufficient to Assist him and he is now at them early and late to get them ready for Some of this Summers Shipping. 9: These Generall heads I have mentioned be= =cause I am desireous of nothing more than of Approveing my Self on all Occasions So as to give your Honrs: whatever Satisfaction I am | The bills were drawn to supply the island with several goods that were not in the Court's stores. The Council thought it could not refuse to do so when asked by people who held credit due to them in the stores. The Governor gave his opinion that paying all those credits off would be better, while submitting the point to the Court's judgement. On the buying of goods that had to be paid for by drawing bills on the Court, the Council made an order that no goods should be bought in that manner except arrack at 4s a gallon, with rice, wheat and live cattle. In a place where there was no money, no other course was possible. 8: Concerning the backwardness of the accounts, the accountant answered in consultation according to the Court's orders and gave his reasons. The Governor had always charged him as if every deficiency were his fault. He knew nevertheless that the accountant lacked sufficient hands to assist him. The man was now at the books early and late to have them ready for some of this summer's shipping. 9: The Governor said he had raised these general points because he wanted nothing more than to prove himself on every occasion, so as to give the Court whatever satisfaction he was a[...] Interpretations The order confining bill-financed purchases to arrack at 4s a gallon, rice, wheat and live cattle was the formal limit on the mechanism that drained the London account. Every bill drawn at the island was a charge presented in London, so restricting them to provisions of first necessity, at the standing arrack price fixed by 19 February 1715, separated essential victualling from the private trade in ship's goods that the resolution of 11 March 1715 had been framed to stop. The store credits behind the bills were the accumulated debts the Company owed islanders for produce and services taken into the stores. With the whole island money stock reckoned at £700 0s 0d against yearly costs near £4,800 0s 0d, credit holders could only realise their balances through goods or bills, and the Governor's preference for paying them off recognised that standing credits forced the Council into exactly the purchases it wished to avoid. The accountant's defence in consultation shows the Court's audit reaching individual officers by name. The books had not been balanced for the eight years to 1714, the reconstruction had run ever since, and the requirement that the responsible officer answer on the record, with his reasons entered, converted a general arrear into a documented question of personal performance and staffing. Speculations The Governor's admission that he blamed the accountant for every deficiency while knowing the man was understaffed reads as a calculated piece of candour. It presented the Governor as a hard taskmaster to the Court while quietly converting the accounts arrear into a fresh argument for the clerical hands the island had requested repeatedly, the stores establishment having run at six persons since Bouchier's time. Promising the accounts for some of this summer's shipping tied a deadline to the homeward fleet the island was then refitting. The season's ships, including the King George carrying this letter, were the only post, so the promise committed the accountant to a date the Court could verify by what the next arrivals delivered. | ||
5 | able, and I hope I have made a good Essay towards it by Endeavouring to lessen your Charges in this too unproffitable place and I hope I Shall in another year and when a few more Blacks Arrives Reduce the Sum Totall of your Honrs Expences to five thous: pound ⅌ annm: which I think will not be Extravagant when the Sallary's of your Civill & Military e Officers and your Garrison here amount to about three thous: pound, and the Materialls sent over for your ffortifications &c: and paymt: of your Artificers and Cloathing of your Blacks has never yet been So little as two thous: Pound, this I think I may the Safelier venture to Say because ye Charge of your Generall Table is So reduced that your Plantation House finds us, and all your Blacks in Provisions and the Proffits of Arrack Sold discharges the Wine & Arrack Spent at ye ffort & Generall Table which never was don untill this present year So that this great Article is now brought to be no Expence. 10: Since the Sailing of Capt: Mackett in the Drake, of whom and his Ketch We received nineteen very good Blacks. Capt: Burrnham in the Hamillton Galley Arrived here on the 26: March, and Stayed three days, He delivered for your Honrs use fourteen healthy & good | The Governor hoped he had made a good start towards that satisfaction by striving to lessen the Court's charges at this unprofitable place. Within another year, once a few more slaves arrived, he hoped to bring the whole of the Court's expenses down to £5,000 0s 0d a year. He thought that figure not extravagant when the salaries of the civil and military officers and the garrison came to about £3,000 0s 0d, and when the materials sent over for the fortifications, the pay of the artificers and the clothing of the slaves had never yet fallen as low as £2,000 0s 0d. He felt the safer in saying so because the cost of the General Table was now so reduced that the plantation house fed the Governor's household and all the Court's slaves in provisions, while the profits of arrack sold discharged the wine and arrack spent at the fort and the General Table. That had never been done until this present year, so this great article of expense now cost nothing. 10: Since Captain Mackett sailed in the Drake, from him and his ketch the island received nineteen very good slaves. Captain Burnham in the Hamilton Galley arrived on 26 March and stayed three days. He delivered fourteen healthy and good slaves for the Court's use. Interpretations The £5,000 0s 0d target was the first full costing of the establishment offered to the Court, built from a salary bill of about £3,000 0s 0d and a floor of £2,000 0s 0d for fortification materials, artificers' pay and slave clothing. The plan rested on substituting owned slave labour for hired hands at 18d a day, which is why its delivery was conditioned on a few more slaves arriving, completing the argument the Council had pressed since asking for 200 slaves on 12 November 1714. Making the General Table self-financing closed a long-running drain. The plantation, credited in the store books for provisions to the table since the orders of 1706 to 1710, now covered the household and the roughly 200 Court slaves in food, while the storehouse arrack monopoly, defended by the standing 4s price and the twelvepence duty commenced in December 1715, threw off enough profit to pay for the fort's own drink. An internal accounting transfer and a trading margin between them removed a whole head of expense without any new revenue. The slave deliveries belong to the licensed Madagascar run of early 1717. The Drake under William Mackett had arrived on 28 February 1717 and sold 45 slaves to the planters at public outcry, the ketch under Henry Mackett following on 5 March, and the Hamilton under Charles Burnham on 26 March, each ship bound onward to the West Indies while the island took its draft on the Court's account. Speculations Pitching the savings claim at the General Table first was a shrewd choice of proof. Establishment costs and fortification materials could be argued over, but the table was the expense the Court associated with gubernatorial self-indulgence, so showing it brought to nothing in the present year gave the most visible possible token of an economising administration, and the consultations of 24 August and 2 October 1716 stood behind the claim as auditable record. The phrase reserving the achievement to this present year quietly dated the reform to the Governor's own management rather than to good fortune. The same seasons that doubled the stock could have been credited with feeding the table, so the letter took care to tie the saving to the deliberate arrangement of plantation supply and arrack profit instead. | ||
6 | Blacks and he Sold to Some of the Planters fifteen Sick blacks that were likely to dye for Sixty pound Store Creditt for which We have drawn Bills on your Honrs Dated 30th March 1717 11: The Stringer Capt: Clark Comandr: Arrived here on the 17: Aprill, and Stayed Eight days & the Gentlemn: who are Supra Cargoes of her have made So happy a Dispatch that I hope the Stringer will prove a wellcom Shipp. 12: The King George Arrived here the 22d: of Aprill 1717 in whom was the Honble: Edward Harrison Esqr: Governr: of Madrass who I hope if enquired of will give your Honrs: Some Account of this your Island, he haveing taken the pain's to goe up the Hills and View Severall parts on both Sides of the Country. 13: The new Blacks prove very well & are all good, but Especially those brought by Captn: Mackett who were the best of any kind as good as I have ever Seen So that I could have wish'd We had had more of his but all of them Shall be as usefully Employed as possible, and I doubt not but when the rest are Arrived they will fully Answer your Honrs: Expectations, and because | Captain Burnham also sold to some of the planters fifteen sick slaves who were likely to die, for £60 0s 0d in store credit. Bills on the Court for that sum were drawn, dated 30 March 1717. 11: The Stringer, Captain Clark commander, arrived on 17 April and stayed eight days. The gentlemen who were supercargoes of her were given so quick a dispatch that the Governor hoped the Stringer would prove a welcome ship. 12: The King George arrived on 22 April 1717, carrying the Honourable Edward Harrison Esq, Governor of Madras. The Governor hoped that Harrison, if asked, would give the Court some account of the island, since he took the trouble to go up the hills and view several parts on both sides of the country. 13: The new slaves were doing very well and were all good, especially those brought by Captain Mackett, who were the best of any kind the Governor had ever seen. He could have wished for more of them. All of them would be employed as usefully as possible. He had no doubt that when the rest arrived they would fully answer the Court's expectations, and because he ha[...] Interpretations The sale of fifteen dying slaves to the planters for £60 0s 0d in store credit shifted the mortality risk off the Court's account. At £4 0s 0d a head against the public outcry average of about £21 0s 0d on 18 March 1717, the price reflected the gamble, the Court realised credit instead of burying its own purchases, and the planters bet their own store balances on nursing the survivors. The same management by quality appears in the exchange that month of four Guinea slaves for four judged more useful. Harrison's tour of the hills converted a passing dignitary into an inspecting witness. A retiring Governor of Madras carried more weight at India House than any island despatch, and his sight of both sides of the country gave the Court an independent check on every claim in this letter, repeating the device used with General Aislaby in March 1716 and Mr Scattergood in January 1716. The praise of quick dispatch for the Stringer's supercargoes points at the standing quarrel over turnaround time. The Council had protested against Captain Mawson and Captain Hunter over the ten-day unloading term it held impossible, so a ship cleared in eight days was paraded as proof that delays lay with the ships, not the island. Speculations Recording that the sick slaves were likely to die, in the same letter that drew the bills for them, protected the Council against a later charge of selling the Court's property cheap. If the fifteen died the price was justified, and if they lived the planters' gain could not be laid to concealment, the condition having been declared on the face of the record. The wish for more of Mackett's slaves, set beside the praise of their quality, quietly endorsed the Madagascar supply line the Court had chosen by licence. The Council had ranked Madagascar above Calabar since 8 December 1714, and confirming the judgement from delivered results encouraged the Court to keep the run going while the island still wanted hands. | ||
7 | I have no other end but to Act So as to deserve your favour all my Resolutions Shall tend that way, and no Endeavours Shall be wanting in me that may either tend to the Improveing of this place for the Relief & Refreshmt: of your Ships or give your Honrs: any other Satisfaction. I am. Honble: Srs Yor: Honrs: most humble and faithfull Servant Isa: Pyke P: S: 14: For the use & necessity of these people here We have bought of Capt: Lewis fifteen hundred Gallons of Arrack, & Some Rice amountg: to four hund: twenty Eight pound five Shill: & nine pence for which We have drawn Bills of Exch: on yor Honrs: dated ye 28: Aprll: 1717. & pray their Acceptance. I am Honble Srs Yor most humble & faithfle Servt: Isa: Pyke Margin Notes: Union Castle St Helena ye 28th Aprill 1717. St Helena the 28th Aprll: 1717. ⅌ Shipp King George. | The Governor closed by declaring that he had no other aim than to act so as to deserve the Court's favour. All his resolutions would tend that way, and no effort would be wanting in him that might improve the island for the relief and refreshment of the Court's ships, or give the Court any other satisfaction. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 28 April 1717 and signed by Isaac Pyke as the Court's most humble and faithful servant. A postscript followed as paragraph 14. 14: For the use and necessity of the people of the island, the Council bought from Captain Lewis 1,500 gallons of arrack and some rice, amounting to £428 5s 9d. Bills of exchange on the Court were drawn for that sum, dated 28 April 1717, and the Governor asked that they be accepted. The postscript was dated at St Helena on 28 April 1717, signed by Isaac Pyke and sent by the ship King George. Interpretations The purchase from Captain Lewis fell squarely within the Council's own order, restated in paragraph 7, confining bill-financed buying to arrack, rice, wheat and live cattle. Placing the £428 5s 9d transaction as a postscript over the Governor's sole signature, with an express request for acceptance, gave the Court immediate notice of a large drawing the moment the letter was opened, the bills travelling in the same bottom as their justification. The dating of 28 April 1717 puts the letter's despatch on the day the King George was passed by the Dutch fleet of 26 sail, at the close of her six-day call from 22 April. The whole document was therefore composed and signed within the turnaround of a single homeward ship, which explains its compressed survey of the season from the Drake in February to the Stringer and King George in April. Speculations Buying 1,500 gallons of arrack from the very ship carrying the letter home served the monopoly as much as the people's necessity. Spirits left aboard an Indiaman in the road tended to leak ashore into private hands, as Captain Hunt's and Captain Granger's sales had shown, so taking the whole parcel into the store at the fixed price extinguished a rival supply while stocking the only licensed source. The closing pledge tied the Governor's private suit to a measurable public test. Improvement of the island for the refreshment of shipping was the one service the Court could verify from every returning captain, so staking his claim to favour on that ground invited exactly the kind of corroboration Harrison and Lewis could supply in person. | ||
8 | ⅌ Dartmo: Capt: Tho: Blou Hon:ble Srs 1: We think Some Account of yor Island may be Expected as often as Opportunity offers & Shall therefore give your Honrs this Short Accot: which We hope will be more Satisfactory than to trouble you wth a Tedious Letter. 2: The Island is in a good State and in Such plenty that We have Sufficient to ffurnish all your Honours returning Ships with what Provisions they need require which are the produce of this place. 3: The people are healthy and in good Order as well in the Garrison as the Country, and the Blacks are not Sickly. 4: We have received thirty Blacks out of the Mercury from Capt: White, and if your Honrs: doe think fitt to Lycence any more Ships from Mada =gascar We pray that one Article of the agreemt may be that We may have Liberty to Choose out of the whole Number Such Blacks as We think fittest, and then We Shall have the best otherwise We have abundance of Contention to gett those who are tollerably good, And when we have as good as We can gett without being Suffered to Pick a planter Shall have that Priviledge wch is refused to us, We mention this as a necessary Article because We know the Voyage is very proffitable, and even better termes then | A new letter to the Court of Directors went home by the Dartmouth, Captain Thomas Blow. 1: The Council thought some account of the island would be expected as often as opportunity offered. It therefore gave the Court this short report, hoping that would be more satisfactory than troubling the Court with a tedious letter. 2: The island was in a good state and in such plenty that the Council had enough to furnish all the Court's returning ships with whatever provisions they needed of the island's own produce. 3: The people were healthy and in good order, in the garrison and the country alike, and the slaves were not sickly. 4: Thirty slaves were received out of the Mercury from Captain White. If the Court thought fit to license any more ships from Madagascar, the Council asked that one article of the agreement should give the island liberty to choose the slaves it thought fittest out of the whole number. The island would then have the best. Otherwise there was abundant contention to get those who were tolerably good. When the Council had secured as good as it could get without being allowed to pick, a planter would enjoy the very privilege refused to the Court's own establishment. The Council called this a necessary article because it knew the voyage was very profitable, and even better terms than these [...] Interpretations The demand for first pick was aimed at a real defect in the licensing arrangement. The Madagascar ships of 1717, the Drake, the Mercury ketch, the Hamilton, the Mercury and the Sarah Galley, carried slaves on the Court's account by licence but sold the bulk at the island or carried them on to the West Indies and Bombay, so the island's draft came from whatever the captains chose to release. Without a contractual right of selection the Court's own station competed at its own auctions against planters bidding transferred credit, as at the outcry of 18 March 1717 where 45 went at about £21 0s 0d a head. The argument from profitability was a negotiating point about where the surplus of the licence trade should sit. The Council reckoned the Madagascar run lucrative enough that licensees could bear a selection clause and still come, so the article cost the Court nothing while converting its licensing power into better labour for the establishment. This letter is the Council's despatch, signed collectively, in contrast to the Governor's sole-signature letter of 28 April 1717 by the King George. The Dartmouth under Captain Thomas Blow had reached the island from Madras on 1 May 1717 and sailed homeward with Governor Harrison's fleet, which dates this conveyance to early May 1717. Speculations The promise of brevity in the opening paragraph was itself a managed expectation. The year's substantive reporting had gone by the Catherine, the Annabella and the British Merchant between January and March 1717, so a short letter by the Dartmouth kept the duplicate-despatch chain unbroken at minimal clerical cost while the accountant's office was, by the Governor's own account, fully engaged on the arrears. The complaint that planters obtained picking rights denied to the Court reads as a deliberate appeal to the Court's sense of precedence. Framing the grievance as an inversion of rank, the proprietor served worse than its tenants, was more likely to move the directors than a plain request for better slaves. | ||
9 | these we desire may be very well afforded. 5: Governr: Harrison that went home in the King George will give your Honrs Accot: of yor Shipp= =ing better then We can, And therefore We Shall only Add that the Success Comanded by Capt: Clapham is the next Ship to be Expected She being now at the Cape, the Borneo Sailes now with this, and the Grantham who is here Comanded by Capt: Collett We beleive will Sail wth: the Success. The Susannah is passed by, But. The Rochester The Prince Frederick, and The Stanhope We are informd may be expected here this Season, We are in great want of Pitch and Tarr for them but of every thing Else We doubt not but to Supply them fully. We have drawn no Bills by either of these Ships but taken Sugar in barter for what they wanted. We are Honble: Srs Yor: Honrs: most humble & faithfull Servants. P: S: Your Honrs: Orders and Instructions sent here from time to time hath been Copyed out into a Book for that Purpose Margin Notes: Union Castle St Helena May ye 8th 1717. | The Council asked that even better terms than these might be very well afforded by the licensees. 5: Governor Harrison, who went home in the King George, would give the Court a better account of its shipping than the Council could. The Council therefore added only that the Success, commanded by Captain Clapham, was the next ship to be expected, being now at the Cape. The Borneo was sailing with this letter, and the Council believed the Grantham, at the island under Captain Collett, would sail with the Success. The Susannah had passed by. The Council was informed that the following ships might be expected at the island this season: The Rochester The Prince Frederick The Stanhope Pitch and tar for these ships were in great want, but the Council had no doubt of supplying them fully with everything else. No bills were drawn by either of the present ships. Sugar was taken in barter for what they wanted. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 8 May 1717, signed as the Court's most humble and faithful servants. A postscript followed. The Court's orders and instructions sent to the island from time to time had been copied out into a book for that purpose, and [...] Interpretations Settling both ships' wants by barter in sugar, with no bills drawn, shows the cashless victualling economy at full stretch. Sugar arrived in quantity from India, eighty-nine casks by the Mary alone on 16 May 1716, and taking it in payment turned the island's surplus refreshment directly into store stock without adding a single charge to the London account, the point the Council took care to record after a season of heavy drawing. The shipping intelligence fixes the despatch between the Governor's letter of 28 April 1717 and the Success season. The Success under Captain Clapham, the homeward ship distinct from Captain Graves's store ship of the same name, duly reached the island on 9 May 1717, the day after this letter was signed, and the Borneo under Captain Burrows carried the letter as one of the season's arrivals from Bencoolen. The copying of the Court's orders into a dedicated book extended the documentary reform begun after the eight-year accounting collapse, when all former letters were gathered into one indexed volume. A standing book of instructions made every order citable by date in consultation, and put the Council's compliance, or its reasoned departures, on a footing the Court could audit. Speculations Deferring the shipping account to Harrison was a calculated economy of credibility as much as of paper. A retiring Governor of Madras travelling with the fleet could answer the directors' questions in person, so the Council spent its short letter on the two things only it could certify, the island's stock of provisions and the want of pitch and tar, leaving the rest to a witness the Court would trust above any written list. The renewed cry for pitch and tar, set against confidence in everything else, kept a two-year-old grievance precisely targeted. The gun carriages had stood untarred since at least February 1717 and the convoy ships had once brought naval stores as a matter of course, so naming the one deficiency while boasting general plenty told the Court the failure lay in London's lading, not the island's management. | ||
10 | and an Alphabett, or abstract made out at one End, So that at one view your Honrs: will See the Contents of the whole ranged under proper head and sent it you by Govrnr: Harrison in the King George but did not Seale it up because he might read those Laws &c: over, in his passage home We are Honble: Srs Yor: Honrs: most humb: and faithfull Servants. Margin Notes: Union Castle St Helena ye 8th May 1717. Duplicate of this Letter went by ye Success Capt Clapham Comr: who Saild home ye 16th May 1717. | An alphabet, or abstract, was made out at one end of the book, so that the Court could see at one view the contents of the whole arranged under proper heads. The book was sent to the Court by Governor Harrison in the King George, but was not sealed up, so that Harrison might read over those laws and other matters on his passage home. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 8 May 1717 and signed as the Court's most humble and faithful servants. A duplicate of this letter went by the Success, Captain Clapham commander, who sailed home on 16 May 1717. Interpretations Leaving the book unsealed converted a records transmission into a vetted submission. Harrison, the most senior Company servant afloat that season, could study the island's laws and standing orders through the voyage and arrive at India House ready to speak to them, so the Council's legal regime reached the directors with a reading already made by a Governor of Madras rather than as a cold file. The choice carried risk, since an unsealed packet had no protection against tampering or loss of integrity, and the Council plainly judged the advocacy worth more than the seal. The alphabetical abstract at one end of the volume belongs to the same indexing discipline applied to the letter books after the accounting collapse, where marginal notes and an index were expressly framed as devices against embezzlement. Arranging the Court's accumulated orders under heads turned years of scattered instructions into a searchable code, which both eased compliance and made any breach of a standing order impossible to excuse as ignorance. The endorsement that the duplicate went by the Success under Captain Clapham, sailing 16 May 1717, completes the season's chain of paired conveyances. The Catherine's loss in the Straits of Sunda had just proved the worth of the practice, and the eight-day interval between the original by the Borneo and the copy by the Success kept the two bottoms apart on the same passage. Speculations Routing the compiled laws home through Harrison's own hands looks like a move to secure approval for the island's legal practice before its critics were heard. The planters' complaints about the administration of justice had gone to London, and the Council had answered them through its consultations. A respected outside reader who had walked the island and could now read its whole code gave the Council an advocate positioned to answer objections in the committee room itself. | ||
11 | Letter ⅌ Ship Stanhope Capt: Geo: Pitt: Hon:ble Srs We have recd your Honrs Genll: Letter dated the 22d: Febry 1716. by the Store Ship the Success which Arrived here on the 15: Inst: and is now very near unladen, it Contains 78. Parras which We will as soon as that Ship is Dispatcht Endeavour to Answer So as may be most to your Honrs Satisfaction that is by Sending Home your Books of Accounts here, And altho' we have sent many too many Excuses Concerning them heitherto the Govrn: now Sends the last Excuse that he intends to make about them, and that is the Copy of our Yesterdays Consultation whereby your Honrs will We hope be able to Judge of their readiness and where & how they Stick. We are at Present behind hand in the Copys of the Consultations because the Governr: has Employed the Sect:ys to forward the Books of Accots: and is willing the want of those last Consultations be for the Present imputed to him So that those Books be finished to go home, which as soon as done the Copys of the Consultations Shall quickly follow if not go with them. There are in your Honrs Letters Severall Materiall matters relating to the Governr: which Shall be as directly Answerd in our Consultations and doubt not but The Govr will give your Honrs Entire Satisfaction | A new letter to the Court of Directors went home by the ship Stanhope, Captain George Petts. The Council acknowledged the Court's general letter dated 22 February 1716, brought by the store ship Success, which arrived on 11 June and was now very nearly unladen. The letter contained 78 paragraphs. As soon as the ship was dispatched the Council would try to answer it in the way most to the Court's satisfaction, that is by sending home the island's books of accounts. The Council admitted it had sent many, too many, excuses about those books. The Governor now sent the last excuse he intended to make, a copy of the previous day's consultation, by which the Court would, it was hoped, be able to judge how ready the books were and where and how they stuck. The copies of the consultations were at present behindhand, because the Governor had set the secretary to forwarding the books of accounts. The Governor was willing that the want of the latest consultations be imputed to him for the present, so that the account books could be finished to go home. As soon as that was done the copies of the consultations would quickly follow, if they did not go with them. Several material matters in the Court's letters related to the Governor. These would be directly answered in the consultations, and the Council did not doubt the Governor would give the Court entire satisfaction. Interpretations The promise to answer a 78-paragraph instruction by sending the account books home marks a shift in the standard of proof between island and Court. The paragraph-by-paragraph written reply had been the Council's method since the despatch of 12 November 1714, but on the accounts the Court evidently now required the primary records themselves, the books in London being the only answer that excuses could no longer substitute for, eleven years after balancing stopped in 1706. Enclosing yesterday's consultation as the final excuse turned the apparatus of record against the arrear it documented. A dated minute showing exactly where the books stuck gave the Court an auditable snapshot rather than another promise, and committed the named officers to the state of progress it described. The trade-off openly avowed between the consultation copies and the account books exposes the limits of a one-secretary office. Both duties fell on the same few hands, so the Governor's acceptance that the missing consultations be charged to him personally priced the delay in accountability rather than denying it, while keeping the Court's chosen priority first. The reference to material matters relating to the Governor signals that the Court's letter of 22 February 1716 carried charges or queries against Pyke himself. Routing the answers through the consultations placed his defence on the signed collective record rather than in private correspondence, the same instrument the Council had used against the planters' complaints. Speculations The phrase admitting many, too many, excuses reads as a calculated disarming of the Court's patience. After the accountant's defence in consultation and the staffing plea of 28 April 1717, repetition of reasons risked sounding like obstruction, so the Governor chose confession and a single dated exhibit instead, converting a record of delay into evidence of candour. The dating of this letter places it after 2 July 1717, the Success under Captain Graves having arrived on 11 June and being nearly unladen, and the Stanhope, which reached the island from Bombay on 18 June and sailed on 26 June, evidently waiting on the season's homeward dispatch. The Court's general letter of 22 February 1716 had taken nearly sixteen months to arrive, a measure of how far the correspondence cycle, not the will of either side, set the pace of accountability. | ||
12 | The Goods by this Store Ship, So farr as we have Examined them come out very well, We forbear troubling your Honrs: with the Particulars till We have gone thro' the whole, The Pitch and Tarr was an Acceptable Article and was much wanted. Altho' We Shall not by this give your Honrs: a full Answer to your Letter We take leave to mention one Particular about Blacks Cloathing your Honrs: will have when the Rest of the Blacks are Arrived near two hundred Slaves for whose use will be every year Expended for each. Of the Men One Blankett One Jackett 2 pr: breeches & Seven yards of Kersey. two Shirts One Capp abt: ten of the Chiefs have Cloaths of ye Europe Fashion & 2 Ells of Sacking to make each a bag Of the Women One Blankett. One Jackett & Petty Coat Seven Yards Kersey 2: Shifts, 2 Coifs & 2: Handkerchiefs abt: 8. or 10. of ye Chiefest have Stuff Gowns & petty Coats & 2. Ells of Sacking to make a bag. It is now five years Since any Cloathing Came over here for the Soldiers and We are now without. The Ordinary and usuall Expence of Such things here is about 140. Suits ⅌ year & 40. Grannadeer Caps but Shall be more particular when we make out the Indent | The goods by this store ship, so far as the Council had examined them, came out very well. The Council held back the particulars until it had gone through the whole. The pitch and tar were acceptable articles and much wanted. Although this letter would not give the Court a full answer, the Council took leave to mention one particular about slave clothing. Once the rest of the slaves arrived the Court would have nearly 200 slaves, for whose use the following would be spent every year for each. For the men: One blanket One jacket, two pairs of breeches and seven yards of kersey Two shirts One cap About ten of the chief slaves had clothes of the European fashion, and 2 ells of sacking to make each a bag. For the women: One blanket One jacket and petticoat Seven yards of kersey 2 shifts, 2 caps and 2 handkerchiefs About 8 or 10 of the chief of these had stuff gowns and petticoats, and 2 ells of sacking to make a bag. Five years had now passed since any clothing came over for the soldiers, and the garrison was now without. The ordinary and usual expense of such things at the island was about 140 suits a year and 40 grenadier caps, but the Council would be more particular when it made out the indent. Interpretations Kersey, the staple of both clothing scales, was a coarse, hard-wearing woollen cloth woven in narrow lengths, the standard cheap fabric of English labouring dress, and seven yards was the allowance to cut a year's garments for one person. Stuff, reserved for the eight or ten chief women, meant a lighter worsted dress fabric, so the distinction between kersey and stuff gowns, like the European-fashion clothes of the ten chief men, built rank visibly into the slave establishment. The 2 ells of sacking for a bag, an ell measuring 45 inches, gave each slave the means to carry rations and effects, and fits the practice of valuing trusted slaves above the rest, as Old Will's family had been valued and he alone allowed shoes, stockings, a hat and coat. The costed clothing scale converted the request for supply into a fixed per-head establishment charge the Court could multiply by 200. It made good the Governor's promise of 28 April 1717 to bring the whole expense within £5,000 0s 0d a year, clothing of the slaves having been named there among the heads that had never yet fallen below £2,000 0s 0d, and it followed the standing demand for 1,000 blue long cloth shirts and tap sails pressed since 24 February 1716. The five-year gap in soldiers' clothing, against a usual consumption of 140 suits and 40 grenadier caps a year, dates the last issue to about 1712, under Bouchier. The garrison had been reported near barefoot on 13 December 1715, so the complaint extended a documented pattern of the Court's lading failing the military establishment while trade goods came out. Grenadier caps, the tall mitre-fronted caps worn in place of brimmed hats, point to a grenadier element kept up within the garrison's 140-suit establishment. Speculations Holding back the full survey of the store ship's cargo while singling out pitch and tar for praise was a pointed piece of selection. The want of those two articles had been pressed in nearly every letter since 1715 and the gun carriages had rotted untarred, so acknowledging their arrival first told the Court its one chronic lading failure was at last mended, while reserving judgement on the rest until the examination protected the Council's right to protest shortfalls on the bills of lading later. Presenting the clothing scale before the formal indent looks designed to forestall abatement. An indent line of cloth and blankets could be cut in London as discretionary, but a published per-head scale for the Court's own 200 slaves, with the soldiers five years naked of issue beside it, framed the coming requisition as arithmetic rather than appetite. | ||
13 | As to taking Cloth out of the Ships tho' it may prevent our buying yet Wee at this time We have no thread upon the Island to make their Cloathing with which will put us to very great Streights, Neither is there any Triming Come for the fine Cloth which will retard the Selling of it. We thank your Honrs: for the Allowance of Tea to your Soldiers which We believe has done them a great Deal of Good and the first Ship which brings tea We will take out two Pecoll of the Ordinary Sort, and We pray Your Honrs: to give Direction to your China Ships Supra Cargoes to buy each year about twenty Pounds or Cattees of Sowing & Stitching Silk of Sundry Collours for the use of this place. As to the People of this place We now think they are all very quiett & in good Order, and We think none of them have any matter whereon to ground a Complaint unless they Shall do it for not Hireing of their blacks which are to be discharg'd this week We do not know of any thing Else and for that the Govr: lately Published the following Advertizemt: which for the Present will Answer their Purpose as well and We hope be more to your Honours Advantage. | Taking cloth out of the ships, though it might prevent the Council buying, raised a present difficulty. No thread remained on the island to make the clothing up, which would put the establishment in very great straits. No trimming had come for the fine cloth either, which would slow its sale. The Council thanked the Court for the allowance of tea to the soldiers, which it believed had done them a great deal of good. From the first ship that brought tea the Council would take out two peculs of the ordinary sort. It asked the Court to direct its China supercargoes to buy each year about 20 pounds or catties of sewing and stitching silk of various colours for the use of the island. The people of the island were now thought to be all very quiet and in good order. None of them, in the Council's view, had any ground for complaint, unless they made one of the ending of the hire of their slaves, who were to be discharged this week. The Council knew of nothing else. For that reason the Governor lately published the advertisement entered before, which for the present would answer their purpose as well, and the Council hoped be more to the Court's advantage. Interpretations The pecul and the catty were the standard Chinese trade weights, the pecul of about 133 pounds dividing into 100 catties of about a pound and a third each, and the sewing and stitching silk was the strong thrown silk thread of the China trade used for making up and finishing garments. The request for 20 pounds a year of it in sundry colours, alongside the want of plain thread and trimming, shows the island ordering not cloth but the means of converting cloth into clothing, the same lesson recorded on 13 December 1715 when ready-made shirts proved more useful than linen without thread. The two peculs of ordinary tea put the garrison ration of Christmas 1715 onto a permanent supply footing. The ration had been proposed on 24 February 1716 at a catty a guard twice a week, with the Court asked to order a yearly parcel, and the Court's allowance now acknowledged converted an island experiment in soldiers' health into an established charge, drawn from the China ships through their supercargoes. The phrase about taking cloth out of the ships refers to the Court's standing entitlement to a proportion of cargo from passing Indiamen, the mechanism behind the one per cent order pressed against captains since 14 March 1716. The Council's point was practical, that exercising the entitlement without thread and trimming would strand unsaleable and unmakeable cloth in the store, tying up stock the island could neither wear nor sell. The timing note that the hired slaves were to be discharged this week fixes this letter within days of 25 June 1717, the cut-off published in the advertisement, and confirms the despatch as the Stanhope letter under Captain Petts, the ship having sailed on 26 June. The admission that the discharge was the one likely ground of complaint shows the Council briefing the Court ahead of any planter grievance arriving by the same fleet. Speculations Pairing the confession of a coming grievance with the full text of the advertisement was a pre-emptive defence by exhibit. Any planter complaint about the end of hire would reach London after the Court had already read the notice, with its month's warning and its offer of paid fencing, so the Council fixed the frame of fairness before the other side could state its case. The request routed through the China supercargoes rather than the Indian presidencies shows supply lines being matched to product quality. Madras had supplied fanams and cloth, but silk thread of sundry colours was a Canton article, and naming the buying agent in the order spared the island the substitutions that had dogged its indents. | ||
14 | Island St Helena By ye Worsh: Isaac Pyke Esqr: Govr &c: Council. An Advertizemt: The Governr: and Council do's hereby give Notice that & Whereas the Hon: Compas work is now well advanced and they are Supply'd wth a Considerable Number of working Slaves and are also in daily Expectation of receiving Severall more, So that there is not further Occasion to Hire blacks as formerly. But that no person may too Suddenly b disappointed in not having timely Notice to provide other work for there blacks this Advertizement is Published to inform them that they will Continue to hire working Blacks as Usuall Untill the 25th day of June next Ensuing but not after that time. And whereas Severall Planters have mor blacks then they have Occasion to Employ in their own Plantations The Governr: & Councill will for their Encouragement of all Industrious men let out a Considerable quantity of Fencing work by the Rodd to whosoever are willing to undertake it, for which Shall be paid the full | An advertisement followed, issued at the island of St Helena by the Worshipful Isaac Pyke Esq, Governor, and the Council. The Governor and Council gave notice that the Company's building and field labour was now well advanced. The establishment was supplied with a considerable number of labouring slaves and expected several more daily, so there was no further need to hire slaves from the planters as before. So that no one would be caught out too suddenly, without timely notice to find other employment for these slaves, the advertisement informed the planters that the Council would continue to hire labouring slaves as usual until 25 June next, but not after that time. Several planters had more slaves than they could employ on their own plantations. For the encouragement of all industrious men, the Governor and Council would let out a considerable quantity of fencing by the rod to whoever was willing to undertake it, for which the full price would be paid. Interpretations The advertisement executed the labour transition the Council had costed since 12 November 1714, when it argued that hiring at 18d a day was dearer over two years than buying slaves outright. With the establishment near 200 after the Madagascar deliveries of early 1717, the standing hire of planters' slaves, lately 49 at a time for the rainy season, could be ended, and the cut-off of 25 June converted a market the planters had relied on for income into a closed internal labour force. The fencing offer cushioned the same blow it followed. Letting fencing by the rod, a piece-rate on the standard measure of five and a half yards, replaced day-hire with task-work, which paid for finished output rather than attendance and so shifted the risk of idle or slow labour from the Company to the undertaking planter. The choice of fencing also served a programme the Council had pressed since proposing the enclosure of about 80 acres at Dead Wood and a year's labour of 100 men on the Great Wood, protecting timber and grazing from the cattle. Publication by advertisement, rather than by order in consultation alone, was the mechanism for giving legal notice to the whole community. A posted public notice over the Governor's name fixed the date against any later plea of surprise, the same care for recorded fairness shown in phrasing the withdrawal as protection for the planters rather than as the price cut it effectively was. Speculations The timing repeated a manoeuvre the Council had foreseen on its own account. The planters had never forgiven Governor Roberts for cutting slave hire from 18d to 12d a day, and the Council had predicted it would lose their goodwill once its own slaves were secured. Ending hire altogether rather than cutting the rate avoided an open quarrel over price, while the paid fencing let the same slaves earn the planters money on the Company's terms, a softer landing than Roberts had offered. The phrase reserving payment of the full price for fencing reads as a deliberate assurance against the suspicion that task-work would be undervalued. Planters asked to redeploy displaced slaves needed confidence the new rates would not be screwed down once hire ended, so the promise was the commercial bait that made the notice an offer rather than a bare termination. | ||
15 | price as formerly and as a farther Encouragement for their dilligence & Industry all those who first under= =take this work Shall have the Priviledge of being Employ =ed till the last, and the last undertaker to be discharged first. And forasmuch as there is plenty of Fencing work to be done any Person that Shall undertake a Parcell of the Said work may Apply himself to the Govrnt: who will agree with them for Such parts or Parcells of the Sd: work as is nearest to them or is most Convenient for themselves to do. Dated at Union Castle in James valley this 25. day of May 1717. Our last to your Honrs: was by the Dartmouth Capt: Blow, dated the 8th of May 1717: wherein We gave Advice of all Ships Arrivall & Departure Hence to that time, Since which Arrived the Success Captn: Clapham from Bombay on the 9th of that month, by whom sent a Duplicate of the Letter ⅌ Dartmo: and Sailed with the Grantham on the 16th of Said month. The Success Store Ship Capt: Graves Comdr: Arrived here on the 15th June 1717, and will Saile for Bencoolin very Suddenly. The Stanhope Capt: Wentworth George Pitts Comander Arrived here on the 18th June from Bombay which he left on the 24. Janry last, but not | The fencing would be paid at the full price as before. As a further encouragement to diligence and industry, all those who first undertook this labour would have the privilege of being employed until the last, and the last to undertake it would be discharged first. Since there was plenty of fencing to be done, any person willing to take on a parcel of it could apply to the Governor, who would agree with them for such parts or parcels of the fencing as lay nearest to them or was most convenient for them to do. The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 25 May 1717. The Council's last letter to the Court went by the Dartmouth, Captain Blow, dated 8 May 1717, giving notice of all ships' arrivals and departures to that time. Since then the Success, Captain Clapham, arrived from Bombay on 9 May. A duplicate of the Dartmouth letter was sent by her, and she sailed with the Grantham on 16 May. The Success store ship, Captain Graves commander, arrived on 11 June 1717 and would sail for Bencoolen very suddenly. The Stanhope, Captain Wentworth George Petts commander, arrived on 18 June from Bombay, which she left on 24 January last, but not [...] Interpretations The first-in last-out privilege built a queueing incentive into the fencing scheme. With day-hire ending on 25 June 1717, the planters' real fear was how long the substitute earnings would last, so ranking security of employment by order of enrolment rewarded prompt commitment and punished holding back, recruiting the labour force before the discharge took effect and without raising the rate by a penny. Allotting parcels by nearness and convenience, settled individually with the Governor, fitted the task to the geography of scattered plantations. A planter's gang could fence land within reach of its own quarters without losing travel time, which kept the piece-rate viable for the undertaker, while leaving the allocation in the Governor's hands meant every agreement was a personal compact with the government rather than a tradable right. The shipping recital fixes the season's sequence: the Dartmouth letter of 8 May 1717, the homeward Success under Captain Clapham arriving 9 May from Bombay and sailing with the Grantham on 16 May carrying the duplicate, the store ship Success under Captain Graves arriving 11 June bound shortly for Bencoolen, and the Stanhope under Captain Wentworth George Petts arriving 18 June from Bombay, left on 24 January. The recital confirms the two ships named Success in the same season as distinct vessels, the duplicate chain unbroken across them. Speculations Dating the advertisement 25 May 1717, exactly a month before the 25 June cut-off, made the notice period itself part of the defence prepared for the Court. A round month between publication and discharge answered in advance any charge of surprise, and the Council's covering remark that it knew of no other ground of complaint shows the interval was chosen with the London audience in mind as much as the planters. | ||
16 | the Coast of Carrwarr till the 19th ffebry following & will Sail Hence on the date of this Letter; He brought the following news of the next Seasons Shipping (Vizt: That he expected the Princess Emelia Captain Misener to Sail in ten days after him from Bombay but was to be dispatcht from Callicutt. The Sarum Pivot Capt: George Newton was at Bombay in ffebrury bound for Mocha And we also are in Expectation of the King William from the Coast of Coremandell and of the Rochester from Bencoolin. We are Hon:ble Srs Yor: Honrs: most Humble and faithfull Servants Isaac Pyke Geo Haswell Matthw Bazett Antipas Tovey (Signd) Margin Notes: Union Castle St Helena June ye 29:th 1717. | The Stanhope had stayed on the coast of Canara until 19 February following her departure from Bombay, and would sail from the island on the date of this letter. Captain Petts brought the following news of the next season's shipping. He expected the Princess Amelia, Captain Misener, to sail ten days after him from Bombay, but she was to be dispatched from Calicut. The Sarum pirate, Captain George Newton, was at Bombay in February bound for Mocha. The Council also expected the King William from the Coromandel coast and the Rochester from Bencoolen. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 29 June 1717 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations The dating of 29 June 1717 fixes this as the Stanhope letter, the ship sailing the same day after her call from 18 June, and places it three days before the general letters of 2 July 1717 by the Success. The signatures of Pyke, Haswell, Bazett and Tovey show the secretary restored to the subscription, his name having returned to the homeward letters since 12 January 1717 after the assault judgement of 18 May 1716. The forward intelligence served the standing function of the shipping catalogue as a safety register. Naming the Princess Amelia under Captain Misener, due out of Calicut ten days behind the Stanhope, and the expected King William and Rochester, let the Court track which of its ships were in safety and which overdue, the same ship-by-ship accounting that had exposed the loss of the Catherine in the Straits of Sunda earlier in the year. The reading of the Sarum as a pirate rests on a fine judgement of the manuscript, and the alternative reading of the word as pinke, a small narrow-sterned cargo vessel, would materially change the sense. A pirate ship reported lying openly at Bombay in February bound for Mocha sits oddly with Company port practice, while a pink under Captain George Newton on the Mocha run would be an ordinary trade movement, and the latter is perhaps the more coherent reading, though the rendering above follows the apparent letter forms. Speculations Closing the letter with the expected arrivals from the Coromandel coast and Bencoolen gave the Court a forward check on the island's own conduct. The Council had been criticised before over turnaround and supply, so publishing in advance which ships it expected to receive and refresh invited the directors to test the next season's performance against a list the island had set itself. | ||
17 | By Ship Princess Emelia Capt: Misener Comdr: Hon:ble Srs 1: We hope your Honrs: will Pardon our not Adding to the foregoing Letter which tho' very Short Contains all that is Materiall here and it being So few days Since that was Written and the Circumstances of this place being the Same We think there is no Occasion to make any Alterations therein but to assure you that our Promises Contained in that Letter Shall be perform'd Exactly. 2: Yet We take leave to Acquaint your Honrs: that Capt: Mashborn's Widdow being Married here last Thursday to One Mr: Fairfax who has been Some time here in your Service as a Writer We have bought her Cattle and four Blacks which together with her other Creditt in your Stores amounts to the Sume of Two hundred & four Pounds thirteen Shillings & Eight pence for which We have drawn Bills on yor: Honrs payable to Mr: William Fairfax dated ye 24:th July 1717. 3: The Governor: has made a new Memorandms: of Sundry things much wanted by us Most of those Articles being of Such Stores as We have none of here, And because tis Possible some of them may require | A new letter to the Court of Directors went home by the ship Princess Amelia, Captain Misener commander. 1: The Council hoped the Court would pardon its adding nothing to the previous letter. That letter, though very short, contained everything material at the island. Only a few days had passed since it was written, and the circumstances of the place were unchanged, so the Council saw no reason to alter anything in it. It assured the Court that the promises contained in that letter would be performed exactly. 2: The Council nevertheless took leave to report that Captain Mashbourne's widow married a Mr Fairfax last Thursday, a man who had served the Court for some time at the island as a writer. The Council bought her cattle and four slaves, which together with her other credit in the Court's stores came to £204 13s 8d. Bills on the Court for that sum, payable to Mr William Fairfax, were drawn and dated 24 July 1717. 3: The Governor made two memorandums of sundry things much wanted at the island, most of those articles being stores of kinds the island had none of. Because some of them might require time [...] Interpretations The Fairfax settlement shows how marriage converted a widow's scattered assets into a single negotiable claim on London. Mrs Mashbourne, widow of the councillor and plantation overseer who died in 1715, held cattle, four slaves and store credit that could not leave the island as they stood, and had been paid £16 10s 0d by bill as recently as 12 January 1717. The Council's purchase turned the whole estate into £204 13s 8d in bills payable to the new husband, the property passing to him on marriage, while the Court's establishment absorbed exactly the assets, stock and labour, that its rebuilding programme wanted. The arrival of the Princess Amelia under Captain Misener confirms the forward intelligence Captain Petts gave on 29 June 1717, the ship having been expected ten days behind the Stanhope out of Bombay with her dispatch from Calicut, and the bills of 24 July fix this letter at the close of July 1717. The two memorandums of wants, framed because the island had none of the articles at all, continue the indent method defended in the King George letter of 28 April 1717. Separating absolute deficiencies into their own schedules, distinct from the comprehensive annual indent, told the Court which lines could not be cut without leaving the island bare. Speculations Recording that the circumstances of the place were unchanged within days of the 25 June discharge of hired slaves quietly certified that the transition had passed without disorder. The Council had named that discharge as the one likely ground of complaint, so a calm letter at the end of July was itself evidence that the fencing scheme had absorbed the displaced labour as designed. Drawing the bills payable to Fairfax by name, rather than to the widow, put the Court on notice of where the money would be presented and by whom. A writer in the Court's own service collecting £204 13s 8d in London was traceable in a way a remarried widow at the island was not, which suited the audit-minded habit of naming every payee the Council had followed since the bills of 1714. | ||
18 | time to provided We desire to be Excused for Send= =ing this before the Generall Indent which the Govr will draw out and Send as Soon as the Inventory of your Goods now in the Stores is made out. 4: Capt: Misener Comender of this Ship ye Princess Emilia has given us a List of Goods he has on Board which he desires us to Register which We have done by Entering the Same in our Consultati= =on Book a Copy of which List of Goods goes home herewith. 5: What Necessary Supplyes Capt: Misener wanted here he paid for in Arrack at four Shillings ⅌ Gallon which We have placed to Account as comes herewith. 6: According to your Honrs: Orders Jno Poultor goes now in this Ship Princess Emilia and we have taken his Bills on William Dawsonne Esqr: for Sixteen Pounds Seven Shillings & Eleven Pence half penny Payable to your Honrs the first of which Bill comes herewith. We are Hon:ble Srs Yor: Honrs: most Humble & faithfull Servts: Isa: Pyke Geo: Haswell Matt: Bazett. Antips: Tovey. Margin Notes: Union Castle St Helena July the 25:th 1717. | Some of the wanted articles might require time to provide, so the Council asked to be excused for sending the memorandums ahead of the general indent. The Governor would draw out the indent and send it as soon as the inventory of the Court's goods now in the stores was made out. 4: Captain Misener, commander of this ship the Princess Amelia, gave the Council a list of goods he had on board, which he asked to have registered. The Council did so by entering the list in its consultation book, and a copy of the list went home with this letter. 5: Whatever necessary supplies Captain Misener wanted at the island he paid for in arrack at 4s a gallon, which the Council placed to account as appeared in the papers sent herewith. 6: According to the Court's orders, John Poulter now went home in this ship the Princess Amelia. The Council took his bills on William Dawsonne Esq for £16 7s 11½d, payable to the Court, the first of which bills went home with this letter. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 25 July 1717 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations The registration of Captain Misener's cargo list in the consultation book served the private trade controls. An Indiaman commander's goods were saleable on his own account within limits, so a declared manifest entered on the island's record, with a copy sent to London, fixed what he carried before any sale and let the Court check his dealings at the island against his declaration, the same documentary discipline the Council had applied through bills of lading and protests since 1715. Payment for the Princess Amelia's supplies in arrack at 4s a gallon ran the victualling trade through the storehouse monopoly in reverse. The standing price fixed by 19 February 1715 governed sales to ships as well as purchases from them, and settling in spirits rather than bills kept the transaction off the London account entirely, like the sugar barter recorded on 8 May 1717. The Poulter remittance shows the bill mechanism handling a private man's affairs under the Court's eye. Poulter went home by order, his means travelled as bills drawn on a named London drawee, William Dawsonne, payable to the Court, so the money moved without a coin leaving the island and the Court collected in London whatever was due before accounting to the man, the first bill travelling with this letter and the remaining parts to follow by other ships against loss at sea. Speculations Promising the general indent only after the inventory of the stores was complete tied the two reforms into one sequence. An indent drawn from a verified stock list could not be padded or duplicated, so the delay the Council excused was itself the proof that the requisition, when it came, would be arithmetic from the books rather than estimate, the standard the Court had pressed since the accounts fell behind. | ||
19 | List of the Packett ⅌ Ship Princess Emilia Capt: John Misener Comander. N 1: Duplicate of Genll: Letter by the Stanhope Capt: Went: Geo: Pitt Comdr: wth a Postscript now added of ye 25th July 1717 2: Indent of Goods for St Helena very much wanted. 3: Surgeons Indent for St: Helena 4: What Soldrs: Cloaths are wanted at St: Helena 5: Duplicate of Consultn: of the 25th June 1717. 6: Church Register from the Chaplain 7: Copy of Goods Registered on St: Helena on board Ship Princess Emilia 8: John Poulters first Bill of Exchange for 16:l 7:s 11:d ½ drawn Payable to yor: Honrs: by William Dawsonne Esqre: 9: Ship Stanhopes Accot: Omitted when She Saild. 10: Ship Princess Emilias Accot: in ye Stores 11: Capt: John Miseners Accot: in Dto 12: Receipt for the Packt: ⅌ Stanhope Capt: Went: Geo: Pitt 13: List of ye Packett | A list followed of the packet sent by the ship Princess Amelia, Captain John Misener commander. Number 1 A duplicate of the general letter by the Stanhope, Captain Wentworth George Petts commander, with a postscript now added of 25 July 1717. Number 2 An indent of goods for St Helena very much wanted. Number 3 The surgeon's indent for St Helena. Number 4 A note of what soldiers' clothes were wanted at St Helena. Number 5 A duplicate of the consultation of 25 June 1717. Number 6 The church register from the chaplain. Number 7 A copy of the goods registered at St Helena on board the ship Princess Amelia. Number 8 John Poulter's first bill of exchange for £16 7s 11½d, drawn payable to the Court by William Dawsonne Esq. Number 9 The ship Stanhope's account, omitted when she sailed. Number 10 The ship Princess Amelia's account in the stores. Number 11 Captain John Misener's account in the stores. Number 12 A receipt for the packet by the Stanhope, Captain Wentworth George Petts. Number 13 A list of the packet. Interpretations The packet manifest shows the two memorandums of wants promised in the letter travelling as items 2 to 4, the general indent of goods much wanted, the surgeon's indent and the soldiers' clothing note. Splitting medical supplies and garrison clothing into separate schedules under their responsible officers let the Court route each to the right buying committee, and the clothing note made good the warning by the Stanhope that the garrison stood five years without issue. Item 9, the Stanhope's account omitted when she sailed, repaired a gap in the season's records by the next conveyance. Every ship's dealings at the island were accounted to the Court, so an account missed at departure on 29 June 1717 followed within the month, keeping the audit chain unbroken in the same manner as the duplicate letter and consultation that headed the packet. The numbered list with item 13, the list of the packet itself, and item 12, the signed receipt for the previous ship's packet, completed the chain of custody running since the St George manifest of 1 December 1715. Each conveyance carried proof of what the last had taken, so India House could detect any loss or abstraction between island and London by matching receipts against lists. The church register from the chaplain was the island's standing demographic return of marriages, christenings and burials. The register had supplied the finding of 130 deaths to 100 christenings reported on 12 November 1714, and its regular transmission gave the Court the population data behind every argument about recruits, settlers and the militia. Speculations Item 7, the copy of Captain Misener's registered cargo, turned the packet itself into an instrument of trade control. The captain had asked for the registration, presumably to protect his goods from later dispute, but sending the copy home meant his declared stock could be compared in London with whatever he landed or sold elsewhere, a check on private trade obtained at the trader's own request. | ||
20 | Generl: Lettr ⅌ Ship King William Capt Hon:ble Srs 1: Your Honrs Letter by the Success Capt: Binjamin Graves who arrived here the 15th of June last We received Containing 78. Parras to which We take leave to Answer as follows, and Shall begin with Shipping or an Account of First: Ships Returned home or that have touched here. 2: The Catherine Capt: William Tucker Comander from Bombay &c: Arrived the 2d Janry 1716/17 & departed the 13th Janry The Cardonel Capt: Mawson from Madrass Arrivd: the 22d Janry & Departed the 20th Febry The Arabella Capt Christo: Hinton Arrived on the 31:st Janry & departed the 23d ffebury. The Sarah Galley Henry Bloom Comandr: from Madagascar Arrived wth Negroes on the 31:st Janry and departed the 6th ffebry for Rio de la Platas. The Brittish Mercht: Capt Thoms: Gilbert from Mocca arrived the 18th ffebry & Departed March the 10th: The Drake Capt: William Mackett from Madagascar arrived the 28th ffebry, and departed wth: the Mercury Ketch Henry Mackett Mastr: from Madagascar &c on the 18th March. | The Council received the Court's letter by the Success, Captain Benjamin Graves, who arrived on 11 June last. The letter contained 78 paragraphs, which the Council took leave to answer as follows, beginning with shipping, or an account of, first, ships returned home or that had touched at the island. 2: The shipping account ran as follows. The Catherine, Captain William Tucker commander, from Bombay and other ports, arrived on 2 January 1717 and departed on 13 January. The Cardonnel, Captain Mawson, from Madras, arrived on 22 January and departed on 20 February. The Annabella, Captain Christopher Hinton, arrived on 31 January and departed on 23 February. The Sarah Galley, Henry Bloom commander, from Madagascar, arrived with slaves on 31 January and departed on 6 February for the Rio de la Plata. The British Merchant, Captain Thomas Gilbert, from Mocha, arrived on 18 February and departed on 10 March. The Drake, Captain William Mackett, from Madagascar, arrived on 28 February and departed with the Mercury ketch, Henry Mackett master, from Madagascar, on 18 March. Interpretations This letter opens the full reply to the Court's 78-paragraph instruction of 22 February 1716, promised in the Stanhope letter once the Success was unladen. Answering a Court letter point by point had been the Council's method since the despatch of 12 November 1714, which dealt with 97 paragraphs in the same way. The catalogue of arrivals and departures served a practical purpose in London. The Court used these lists to confirm which of its ships were safe and which were overdue, so each homeward letter opened with the port record before anything else. Two dates here differ from the reports sent during the season. The Catherine is listed as arriving on 2 January 1717, though the general letter she carried was dated 12 and 13 January. The Sarah Galley is here said to have sailed for the Rio de la Plata, though the February postscript reported her carrying 370 slaves for Bombay. The list was compiled later from the port records, so its dates are probably the more reliable, while the letters written at the time are the better witness to where each ship said she was bound. The Sarah Galley's destination links the Madagascar slave trade to the Spanish American market, where slaves entered through Buenos Aires under the asiento contract. Her call fits the pattern of the licensed ships of 1717: the island took a small draft, 10 slaves in her case, and the rest went on to an Atlantic buyer. Speculations Placing the plain shipping list first, ahead of the difficult subjects the reply would have to cover, was probably deliberate. The accounts arrears and the questions touching the Governor still lay ahead, so the Council led with material that was easy to verify and impossible to dispute. | ||
21 | James Winter Comandr: Janry 6:th 1717 On the 15th March Arrived a Dane Ship Named the Salvator Mundi Capt: Robert Davison Fauy from Trincumbar and Departed the 15: Aprill for Denmark, they were very leaky & Stayd to refitt. The Hamillton Capt Charles Burnham from Madagascar Arrived here the 26th March & Departed for the West Indies the 29th The Stringer Galley Capt: John Clark Comander from China Arrived the 8th Aprill & Departed the 25th On the 8th: Aprill a Single Ship Passed by the Island. The King George Capt: Lewis Comandr: with Govr: Harrison from Madrass Arrived on the 22d Aprill & Departed the 29th On the 28: Aprill the Dutch Fleet of 26: Sail passed by the Island. On the same day Arrived the Grantham Capt: Collet Comdr: from Bengal who Departed the 16:th May. The Same day arrived the Mercury from Mada= =gascar Capt: White wth Negroes & Departed ye 3d of May The Burneo Capt: Daniel Burgess fro Bencoolin arriv'd on the 29th of Aprill and Departed the 9th of May. | The list continued with a ship under James Winter commander, departed 6 January 1717. On 15 March arrived a Danish ship named the Salvator Mundi, Captain Robert Davison, from Tranquebar. She departed on 15 April for Denmark, having been very leaky and stayed to refit. The Hamilton, Captain Charles Burnham, from Madagascar, arrived on 26 March and departed for the West Indies on 29 March. The Stringer Galley, Captain John Clark commander, from China, arrived on 8 April and departed on 25 April. On 8 April a single ship passed by the island. The King George, Captain Lewis commander, with Governor Harrison from Madras, arrived on 22 April and departed on 29 April. On 28 April the Dutch fleet of 26 sail passed by the island. On the same day arrived the Grantham, Captain Collett commander, from Bengal, who departed on 16 May. The same day arrived the Mercury from Madagascar, Captain White, with slaves, and departed on 3 May. The Borneo, Captain Daniel Burgess, from Bencoolen, arrived on 29 April and departed on 9 May. Interpretations The list gives several dates that differ from the season's running reports. The Salvator Mundi is here entered as arriving on 15 March, where the letter of 18 March 1717 reported her arrival on 8 March, and the Stringer under Captain John Clark appears here from China where the Thinger Galley under the same commander was reported on 19 April. The retrospective port record probably governs the dates, while the names show the usual variation between readings of the same ship. The Borneo's commander appears here as Daniel Burgess, the supercargo elsewhere recorded as Daniel Burrows, a separate man from the conspirator Daniel Burges reported among the Madagascar pirates on 13 August 1716. The bare entries for ships that only passed, the single ship of 8 April and the Dutch fleet of 26 sail on 28 April, show the catalogue recording everything sighted, not merely everything served. Passing traffic mattered to the Court as intelligence of Dutch movements and of English ships that chose not to call, and the 26 Dutch sail were the same fleet reported passing the King George in the letters of 2 July 1717. The Salvator Mundi's month-long stay to refit shows the island's neutral port function. A leaking Danish ship from Tranquebar was repaired and sent on for Denmark, treatment consistent with the rule the Council had stated on the interlopers: ships in amity with the English could have refreshment and refit for their money, while unlicensed English traders were turned away. Speculations The level of detail kept on foreign and passing ships suggests the catalogue doubled as the island's answer to the Court's standing questions about competition. The directors had asked how interlopers and foreign traders were to be treated, so a record showing every Dane, Dutchman and unidentified sail, with dates and conduct, demonstrated that nothing touched or passed the island unobserved. | ||
22 | The Dartm: Capt: Thom: Blow Comdr: from China & Madrass Arrived on the 4th of May, and departed in Company with the Borneo. The Success Capt: Thomas Clapham from Bombay Arrived on the 9th of May and Departed wth: the Grantham on the 16th The Success Store Ship Capt: Benjn: Graves Comander from England Arrived the 15th June, & Departed for Bencoolin the 2d July. The Stanhope Capt: Wentworth George Pitts from Bombay Arrived on the 16th June & Departed ye 29:th The Princess Emelia Capt: Jno: Misenor from Bombay Arrived the 16th July & Departed the 25:th We have heard that the Hannover Princess Ann the Townshend and the Duke of York had toucht at the Cape in their Passage outward bound The King William Capt: James Winter Comdr: Departed from Madrass the 22d August last & from the Cape of Good Hope in fourteen days to this place where he Arrived wth Capt: Hunter (late of the Catherine) Passangr: on the 22d December and departs this 6th Day of Janry 1717/18 He left at Madrass the Prince Frederick and Marlbro' Captn:s Martin who he believes would be Dispatcht in four or five | The Dartmouth, Captain Thomas Blow commander, from China and Madras, arrived on 4 May and departed in company with the Borneo. The Success, Captain Thomas Clapham, from Bombay, arrived on 9 May and departed with the Grantham on 16 May. The Success store ship, Captain Benjamin Graves commander, from England, arrived on 11 June and departed for Bencoolen on 2 July. The Stanhope, Captain Wentworth George Petts, from Bombay, arrived on 18 June and departed on 29 June. The Princess Amelia, Captain John Misener, from Bombay, arrived on 10 July and departed on 25 July. The Council had heard that the Hanover, the Princess Anne, the Townshend and the Duke of York touched at the Cape on their passage outward bound. The King William, Captain James Winter commander, departed from Madras on 22 August last and came from the Cape of Good Hope in fourteen days to the island, where he arrived with Captain Hunter, late of the Catherine, as a passenger, on 22 December. She was to depart this 6 January 1718. Captain Winter left at Madras the Prince Frederick and the Marlborough, Captain Martin, who he believed would be dispatched in four or five weeks. Interpretations The dating entries fix this letter at the turn of the year, signed for dispatch by the King William on 6 January 1718, nearly seven months after the Court's letter arrived by the Success on 11 June 1717. The shipping catalogue therefore runs the whole season from the Catherine in January 1717 to the King William's own arrival on 22 December, and the heading date of 6 January earlier in the list now reads as the conveying ship's departure, converted forward to 1718 under the old calendar. Captain Hunter's passage home as a passenger closes the story of the Catherine, lost in the Straits of Sunda on her homeward voyage. Hunter had commanded her on the outward run of 1716, when the Council protested against him over the seventeen-day unloading, and his survival to travel by the King William confirms the first report that the crew were saved and gone to Batavia, while command on the fatal passage had lain with Captain William Tucker. The four ships heard of at the Cape outward bound, the Hanover, the Princess Anne, the Townshend and the Duke of York, gave the Court its forward register of the next season's traffic, the same safety-list function the catalogue served for ships already accounted for. The Hanover was the ship that had carried the fanams and pice from Madras in 1715 under Commodore Osborne, now on a fresh outward voyage. Speculations Recording the King William's run of fourteen days from the Cape was probably more than navigational colour. The Council had long argued that St Helena lay conveniently on the homeward track and deserved a standing reserve of naval stores, so a fast passage logged in the Court's own letter quietly reinforced the island's claim to be the natural refreshment stop for the whole returning trade. | ||
23 | weeks after he Sailes from thence. He heard at Bencoolin that the Hester had past by Batavia for Borneo. Capt Winter left the Rochester in Bencoolin road the 4th of March 1716/17: and might be dispatcht in three months after. He heard at Madrass that the Hannover was Arrived at Bengall and the Cardigon, the St George, Desbowerie & Duke of Cambridge were Arrived at Madrass 3: The Governr returns his most humble thanks to your Honrs: for your Approbation of his behaviour to the Ostend Ships and will take care to Observe your Honrs: Instructions by your Secrett Committee for the future in relation to Such Matters And do's Assure your Honrs: that So long as he Shall have the happyness to Serve you nothing Shall be wanting in him to Promote your Interest 4: As to the 10th Parrd: of your Honrs: Letter We have given Copys of that Parrd: and Shall Continue to do So to Each of your Returning Ships Accompanyed by the Governrs: Letter of Some farther Caution of which Letter a Copy goes home to your Honrs: herewith | Captain Winter believed the Prince Frederick and the Marlborough would be dispatched four or five weeks after he sailed from Madras. He heard at Bencoolen that the Hester had passed by Batavia for Borneo. He left the Rochester in Bencoolen road on 4 March 1717, and she might be dispatched within three months after. He heard at Madras that the Hanover had arrived at Bengal, and that the Cardigan, the St George, the Desbouverie and the Duke of Cambridge had arrived at Madras. 3: The Governor returned his most humble thanks to the Court for its approval of his conduct towards the Ostend ships. He would take care in future to follow the instructions of the Court's Secret Committee on such matters. He assured the Court that, as long as he had the happiness to serve it, nothing would be wanting in him to promote its interest. 4: Concerning the 10th paragraph of the Court's letter, the Council gave copies of that paragraph to each of the returning ships and would continue to do so, accompanied by a letter from the Governor adding some further caution. A copy of that letter went home to the Court with this dispatch. Interpretations The Court's approval closed the Ostend question the Governor had reopened in his letter of 28 April 1717, where he admitted possible over-zealousness and asked to be set right. The refusals of the St Matthew on 11 May 1716 and the Charles Galley on 11 July 1716, made without any rule to follow, now stood ratified, and the matter passed to the Secret Committee, the directors' standing body for intelligence and politically sensitive business, which kept future instructions on foreign competition out of the general correspondence. The 10th paragraph circulated to every returning commander, with a cautionary covering letter from the Governor, shows the island used as the Court's relay station for fleet-wide orders. Homeward ships from every presidency converged on St Helena, so a standing instruction handed to each captain there reached the whole returning trade without depending on its having been issued in India, and the copy sent home let the Court verify the exact wording its commanders received. Speculations The subject of the circulated paragraph was probably the Ostend competition itself, given its placement immediately after the Secret Committee's instructions. A warning to homeward captains, reinforced by the Governor's own caution, fits the moment: two English interlopers had been reported abroad in February 1717, one in India and one at Madagascar, and returning ships were the men most exposed to recruitment or seizure by such ventures. The Governor's fulsome thanks for approval, set against his careful submission of April, completes a managed exchange. Having invited correction when the outcome was uncertain, he banked the Court's endorsement on the record the moment it came, so that any future complaint from Ostend interests or their English backers would find the policy already approved at home. | ||
24 | 5: We have read over the new Charter Party and doubt not of its being more Correct than the last yet We could wish that any Certain time were Limitted for unlading your Store Ship as So many dayes as your Honrs thought Proper for every Hundred Tonns She brings here And also that your Hon:rs would in Charter Party Order the Payment of the Barrell of Gunpowder which Some Ships do Scruple and Capt: Pitt in the Stanhope did Absolutely refuse to pay because it was not Mentiond in his Charter Party, he cleared all his other Accounts and left the Sume of Six Pounds Sixteen Shillings & Six pence upon Ballance which is the Price usually Charged for the Barrell of Gunpowder and that is the reason of his Accots: being sent home Unclosed and if that your Honrs think fitt We would have Added, that if a Ship be fitt to carry more than She is lett out for that they Shall if your Agents in India think fitt to put it on board be Obliged to bring for the use of this Island any quantity of Rice not Ex= =ceeding three tons for every Hundred Tonn lett for at half freight, and that unless they do take Some Such quantity of Rice for the use of this Island they Shall not be permitted to have more goods laden on board them than the Exact Tonnage | 5: The Council read over the new charter party and did not doubt it was more correct than the last. It wished nevertheless that a fixed time were set for unlading the store ship, at so many days for every hundred tons she brought, as the Court thought proper. It also asked the Court to order in the charter party the payment for the barrel of gunpowder, which some ships scrupled to pay. Captain Petts of the Stanhope absolutely refused to pay it because it was not mentioned in his charter party. He cleared all his other accounts and left £6 16s 6d on balance, the price usually charged for the barrel of gunpowder, and that was the reason his account went home unclosed. If the Court thought fit, the Council would have added that, if a ship was fit to carry more than her contracted tonnage, she should be obliged, where the Court's agents in India thought fit to put it on board, to bring for the use of the island any quantity of rice not exceeding 3 tons for every hundred tons of her contracted tonnage, at half freight. Unless she took some such quantity of rice for the island's use, she should not be permitted to have more goods laden on board than the exact tonnage contracted. Interpretations The barrel of gunpowder was the standing charge levied on every ship for the saluting and signal powder the fort expended on her behalf, priced at £6 16s 6d. Captain Petts's refusal exposed the weakness of any island custom not written into the charter party, the contract between the Court and the ship's owners that fixed every charge a commander must answer. His unclosed account, sent home as item 9 of the Princess Amelia packet of 25 July 1717, turned the dispute into the Court's own debt-collection problem and the strongest possible argument for writing the charge into the next contract. The unlading proposal scaled the discharge term to cargo size, replacing the flat ten-day term the Council had condemned as impossible since its protests against Captain Mawson on 29 June 1715 and Captain Hunter on 26 June 1716. A rate of days per hundred tons would have ended the standing conflict in which every store ship's commander faced a deviation penalty the island itself called unachievable, while still binding him to a measurable standard. The rice clause harnessed the captains' private trade to the island's food supply. Commanders habitually loaded beyond contracted tonnage for their own account, so conditioning that privilege on carrying up to 3 tons of rice per hundred tons at half freight made the island's staple a toll on private cargo space. Rice had been begged from every presidency since 1715, and the clause would have converted an annual entreaty into a self-enforcing term of every charter. Speculations Leaving Petts's £6 16s 6d unpaid rather than compounding it was probably a deliberate test case. The sum was trivial against his cleared accounts, but writing it off would have licensed every future commander to refuse, so the Council sent the unclosed account home where the Court could stop the money against him and, better still, amend the charter party so the question never arose again. | ||
25 | Contracted for in England, Some Such like Order will always Supply us with Rice Eno' and We believe for the Sake of carrying home a few Tonns more than the Ship is lett out for every Comander will be ready to Comply with it. 6: As to the 12th Parrd: We unloaded this last Ship the Success but not in the Exact time yet have not Pro= =tested because the Capt: desired and Offered us (when he Saw he could not Compleat the unloading in that time) that if the Governr: would make no Protest against him that he would reckon no more than the ten working days mentioned in his Charterparty We thought that was more for your Honrs: Interest than makeing of any Protest, when we could not Charge him with want of Dilligence 7: We Shall Continue the Advices We have of Ships and Shall be always glad whenever We find We have given your Honrs: Satisfaction As We hope We have done in the Desbowerie and the Nathaniel but for the Antigue Sloop We did not trade with her tho We bought Some Goods on your Honrs: Accots: which Shall be mentioned in a Paper that goes home in this Packett and is Marked No: (11.) 8: Altho your Honrs do Complain of us for not Sooner Answering the Cardonels and the Catherines | Some such order in the charter parties contracted in England would always keep the island supplied with rice enough. The Council believed every commander would readily comply for the sake of carrying home a few tons more than his ship was let out for. 6: Concerning the 12th paragraph, the Council unloaded this last ship the Success, though not in the exact time, yet entered no protest. The captain, when he saw he could not complete the unloading in that time, asked and offered that if the Governor would make no protest against him, he would reckon no more than the ten weekdays mentioned in his charter party. The Council thought that was more to the Court's advantage than making any protest, when it could not charge him with want of diligence. 7: The Council would continue its advices of ships and would always be glad to find it had given the Court satisfaction, as it hoped it had done over the Desbouverie and the Nathaniel. As for the Antigua sloop, the Council did not trade with her, though it bought some goods on the Court's account, which would be set out in a paper going home in this packet, marked number 11. 8: The Court complained of the Council for not sooner answering the Cardonnel's and the Catherine's letters [...] Interpretations The bargain with Captain Graves over the Success inverted the usual unloading dispute to the Court's profit. Instead of a protest supporting a deviation claim that the island itself called impossible to meet, the captain volunteered to charge demurrage for only the ten contracted days however long the discharge ran, so the Court paid no more than the contract price and the commander escaped a formal mark against him. The arrangement conceded in practice what the Council had argued since 29 June 1715, that the ten-day term could not be kept by a diligent ship. The Antigua sloop was the small Atlantic trader the Council had reported on 12 January 1717 running between the Cape and the Guinea coast for money the island could not supply. Declaring purchases on the Court's account, itemised in packet paper number 11, while denying any trade with her drew the line the monopoly required: provisions might be bought from a foreign or country vessel for the Court, but the island's people were not to deal with her, the same distinction applied to interlopers since 1716. The Court's satisfaction over the Desbouverie and the Nathaniel acknowledged the island's handling of the two crises of spring 1716, the salvage of the storm-soaked cargo washed and repacked after 6 April 1716, and the blood-oath conspiracy of 3 March 1716 broken before the Nathaniel sailed with Gwyn aboard. Both had been reported at length in the letters of 10 May and 22 May 1716, and the directors' approval now entered the record beside their approval of the Ostend refusals. Speculations The offer from Captain Graves was probably worth more to him than the days he saved. A protest entered at the island travelled home with the ship's own papers and could cost a commander his next command, so trading an uncertain demurrage claim for a clean record suited him exactly, and the Council took care to minute that the initiative was his, protecting itself against any charge of waiving the Court's rights. | ||
26 | Letter yet We hope our reasons sent by Captain Tucker in the Old Catherine will be Acceptable as a full Excuse for that delay And we are loth to write any thing till well Considerd and your Honrs Letters are So full that We believe it very hard for any one to Send a Proper Answer thereto on the Sudden nor without much Consideration which is also the Present Case and your Honrs will find that Severall Consultations have been wholly taken up to Answer Some Single Parragraph. 9: As to the Madera Wine it is much better than the last and the Casks came in good Condition and all the Pipes full which in Drawing off Contained one with another one Hundred Gallons So that We had no Occasion to make any Protest on that Accot 10: We have sent to Bencoolin Yams and Yam knobs and Potatoes four Tubbs Such as we believe will grow well there and being fully Supplyed with Garden Seeds from the Cape by Governour Harrison We alsoe Sent them twenty two Small Parcells of those Seeds and a Paper of Directions about raiseing the Yams and doubt not but they will answer. 11: We Supply all the Planters every year with Seeds, Slips, Stocks and plants Gratis to Encourage | The Council hoped the reasons sent by Captain Tucker in the old Catherine would be accepted as a full excuse for that delay. It was loath to write anything until well considered. The Court's letters were so full that the Council believed it very hard for anyone to send a proper answer on the sudden, or without much consideration, which was also the present case. The Court would find that several consultations had been wholly taken up in answering some single paragraph. 9: The Madeira wine was much better than the last. The casks came in good condition and all the pipes full, which on drawing off contained one with another a hundred gallons, so the Council had no occasion to enter any protest on that account. 10: Four tubs of yams, yam knobs and potatoes were sent to Bencoolen, of kinds the Council believed would grow well there. Being fully supplied with garden seeds from the Cape by Governor Harrison, the Council also sent Bencoolen 22 small parcels of those seeds and a paper of directions about raising the yams, and did not doubt they would answer. 11: The Council supplied all the planters every year with seeds, slips, stocks and plants free of charge, to encourage their [...] Interpretations The defence of slow answers rested on the consultation system itself. Every reply to a Court paragraph had to be settled and minuted in council before it could be written, so the directors were invited to read the consultation books, where whole sittings dealt with a single paragraph, as proof that delay meant deliberation rather than neglect. The reasons carried by Captain Tucker had gone home in the Catherine's packet of 12 and 13 January 1717, and the ship's later loss in the Straits of Sunda explains the care to hope the excuse had arrived and been accepted. The wine audit shows the gauging routine applied to every consignment. A pipe was the standard large wine cask of about 105 gallons, so pipes averaging a hundred gallons on drawing off were full within ordinary allowance, and the absence of a protest was itself a recorded finding. The previous Madeira had come four pipes short in bad casks on 6 July 1715, which is the comparison behind the satisfaction here. The plant consignment to Bencoolen is the relay recorded in the memorandum of 3 July 1717, the four tubs of yams and potatoes and the Cape seed sent by the Success under Captain Graves. The figure of 22 parcels here, against 24 in the memorandum, is a small variance between the running record and this retrospective answer. Naming Governor Harrison as the source of the Cape seed adds to the account of his call of 22 to 29 April 1717, the retiring Governor of Madras provisioning the island's garden stock on his way home. Speculations The free issue of seeds, slips and plants to the planters was the productive face of the same policy that ended slave hire. The Council wanted the private plantations improving the island's refreshment trade rather than depending on the Company, so giving away propagating stock cost the garden little and bound every planter's orchard to the establishment's nursery, the source built up from Cape seed since 1714. | ||
27 | their propogateing of Garden trade for the Re= =feshment of Your Shipping. 12: But as for Vine Plants only five of those which came by the Cardonnell do grow and by the Success we received none at all So that our want of Such things is the Same as it was for Severall years Past. Secondly Concerning Goods or Stores received from England or India. 13: Haveing Enterd at large the Accots of the Stores in our Consultation dated the 17th day July We pray your Honrs to be referrd thereto, The Pitch and Tarr was much wanted here. 14: The Indent by the St George was Large be= =cause every usefull thing was mentioned therein yet as for Deals & Timber We Shall only Say for the future that your Honrs: can never Send too much, the Church in the Country wants new Flooring & Roofing and that below wants re= =building, and Sixteen of the Planters want to rebuild their Houses which are ready to tumble on their heads, and Since the writing that Indent in Consultacon of the 15th Novbr: 1715. two have Actually fallen down and the Plantation House in the Country must be new Roofed yet= | The free issue was made to encourage the planters' propagation of garden produce for the refreshment of the Court's shipping. 12: As for vine plants, only five of those which came by the Cardonnell grew, and none at all were received by the Success, so the island's want of such things remained the same as it had been for several years past. Secondly, concerning goods or stores received from England or India. 13: The account of the stores was entered at large in the consultation dated 17 July, to which the Council asked the Court to refer. The pitch and tar were much wanted at the island. 14: The indent by the St George was large because every useful thing was mentioned in it. As for deals and timber, the Council would only say for the future that the Court could never send too much. The church in the country wanted new flooring and roofing, and the one below wanted rebuilding. Sixteen of the planters wanted to rebuild their houses, which were ready to tumble on their heads. Since the writing of that indent in the consultation of 15 November 1715, two had actually fallen down. The plantation house in the country needed a new roof, yet [...] Interpretations The vine failure continued a request running since 12 November 1714, when the Council asked for fresh vines from the Cape or Madeira and reckoned the vineyard three years from recovery. Five survivors from the Cardonnell's consignment of early 1717, and none by the Success, meant the wine-growing ambition stayed where it had stood for several years, dependent on planting stock that rarely survived the passage, the same problem of degenerating imports the Council reported for seed on 2 July 1717. The timber demand priced the island's whole built fabric at once. The two churches had been failing since the despatch of 2 August 1715 proposed exchanging both for one sound building, the plantation house had been reported greatly decayed in the long reply of late 1716, and sixteen planters' houses stood near collapse with two actually fallen since the indent of 15 November 1715. Setting these facts behind the rule that the Court could never send too much deals and timber answered, in advance, the charge of extravagant indenting that a large St George list had invited. The stores account referred to the consultation of 17 July keeps the audit in the books rather than the letter. The Council had promised the particulars of the Success's cargo once examination was complete, and lodging the full account in a dated consultation, with the letter giving only the reference and the satisfaction over pitch and tar, made the consultation book the single authoritative record the Court could check. Speculations Counting the sixteen planters who wished to rebuild was probably aimed at the Court's revenue sense as much as its sympathy. Houses ready to tumble belonged to the tenants whose rents, militia service and produce sustained the establishment, so framing the timber want through their need, with the two collapses as proof the indent had been no exaggeration, turned a building-materials request into an argument about keeping the paying population housed and settled. | ||
28 | we cannot goe about it for want of Tiles for many of the Old ones are So broken that they will not Serve again the next year We Shall do Pretty well without Coals and if in Stead of Coals your Honrs Shall think fitt to Ballast the Store Ship with Tyles they will be of great Service for if We had eno' We Should Cover the Blacks Houses with Tile which woud less Subject them to the Danger of Fire than thatching do's the last Black House was thatched and burned down about five years ago as will appear by Consultation sent Home long Since and Thatched Houses are So much Exposed to Such Accidents that we think it a great Mercy the town which is all Thatched has Stood So long as it has, Every planter who is able to build woud be glad to have tiles at a reasonable Price but this also being a bulky article We Shall not Insist on it but leave the Consideration to yor: Honrs: wisdom yet We take leave to remind you that We for want of Tiles use most of yor: deal boards for Covering your Honrs: Buildings with and tho' tis more Expensive 'tis not So Dureable for Deals rott here and are good for nothing in Six years time and Some that are bad Perrish Sooner. | The new roofing of the plantation house could not begin for want of tiles, since many of the old ones were so broken that they would not serve again. The next year the island would do well enough without coals. If instead of coals the Court thought fit to ballast the store ship with tiles, they would be of great service. Given enough, the Council would cover the slaves' houses with tile, which would expose them less to the danger of fire than thatching. The last slave house thatched burned down about five years ago, as appeared by a consultation sent home long since. Thatched houses lay so open to such accidents that the Council thought it a great mercy the town, which was all thatched, had stood as long as it had. Every planter able to build would be glad to have tiles at a reasonable price. Tiles being a bulky article, the Council would not insist on this, but left the consideration to the Court's wisdom. It took leave to remind the Court that, for want of tiles, most of the deal boards were used for covering the Court's buildings. Though that was more expensive it was not so durable, for deals rotted at the island and were good for nothing in six years' time, and some bad ones perished sooner. Interpretations The proposal to ship tiles as ballast solved the cost problem the Council itself raised. Heavy, low-value goods could only cross cheaply in the bottom of a ship that needed weight anyway, and coals had filled that office, the Catherine delivering 20 chaldrons against an invoiced 31½ in 1716. Tiles in their place would carry the same stabilising function while delivering roofing the island could not make, the failed brick trials of 8 December 1714 having shown local clay would not fire, and a skilled tile maker never having come. The fire argument turned roofing into a question of protecting the Court's capital. A thatched slave house had burned about five years earlier, around 1712, with the consultation already in London, and the whole of James Town, fifty houses at the 1714 count, stood thatched within musket shot of the stores and magazine. Tiling the slaves' quarters first put the fireproofing where the Court's own property and about 200 of its slaves were concentrated. The deal-board complaint priced the false economy of the existing practice. Deals, the imported softwood boards begged in every indent, rotted within six years when used as roofing in the island's weather, so the dearest imported timber was being consumed on the shortest-lived duty, and the ordinary expense of boards for repairs alone had been put at 600 a year on 13 December 1715. Speculations Offering to give up coals entirely was probably the concession that made the tile request credible. The Council knew bulky indents invited cutting, so it surrendered an article of equal ballast value, lime-burning having been managed at one fifth coal by measure since 1715, and framed the swap as costless to the Court, with the planters' willingness to buy at a reasonable price hinting the cargo could even turn a profit at the store. | ||
29 | 15: We have Endeavoured all We could to have a tyle maker but cannot gett one; But that relateing to another General head Shall mention it again under the title of Artificers &c: 16: As to the 20th: We believe your Honrs: Sometimes have been tired with the too great length of our Letters which We woud remedy if We knew how, but finds it requires more Ingenuity than We are Masters of yor Honrs: are at London where all your Directions are Penn'd by men of the brightest Parts, We have no body but our Selves and tho' We take your Honrs: letters to us for Copys to write ours by yet when We have Answered them the best We can We have Judgement Eno' to find We are vastly Short and if We discover So much our Selves who have Sometimes the frailty of thinking perhaps too well of our own Performances We may well conclude that when our weak Notions &c Preambles fall under a Scrutiny of Such Clear Judgemts: as your Honrs: youl find them full of Imperfections yet that We may not run into the Same fault while We are Endeavouring our Excuse We resolve to write as Short and as Plain as we can and will Endeavour our Utmost to come a little nearer to our Coppy. 17: To the 22d: Our Docter commends the Medicines Sent as good in themselves but of Some of the Sorts | 15: The Council tried all it could to engage a tile maker but could not get one. That belonged to another general head and would be mentioned again under the title of artificers. 16: Concerning the 20th paragraph, the Council believed the Court had sometimes been tired by the too great length of its letters, which it would remedy if it knew how, but found it required more ingenuity than the Council was master of. The Court sat at London, where all its directions were penned by men of the brightest parts. The island had nobody but the Council itself. Though it took the Court's letters as the copies to write its own by, yet when it had answered them as best it could, it had judgement enough to find it fell vastly short. If the Council discovered so much itself, having sometimes the frailty of perhaps thinking too well of its own performances, it could well conclude that when its weak notions and preambles came under the scrutiny of such clear judgements as the Court's, they would be found full of imperfections. So as not to run into the same fault while making this excuse, the Council resolved to write as short and as plain as it could, and would do its utmost to come a little nearer to its copy. 17: On the 22nd paragraph, the island's doctor commended the medicines sent as good in themselves, but of some of the sorts [...] Interpretations The complaint answered in paragraph 16 reverses the usual direction of grievance in the correspondence. The Court had rebuked the island for prolixity, the same fault the Council had laid against the Court's own 78 and 97 paragraph letters, and the answer concedes the point while reminding the directors that a council of four, writing between consultations, faced drafting standards set by a professional secretariat at India House. The promise to write short and plain entered the record as a measurable undertaking the Court could test against every later despatch. The tile maker want ties the roofing proposal of paragraph 14 back to the skilled artificer campaign running since 12 November 1714. A tile or brick maker had been asked for since the clay trials of 8 December 1714 failed for want of method rather than material, and the cross-reference to the coming head of artificers shows the reply organised by subject across the Court's paragraphs, the structure the letter announced at its opening. The doctor commending the medicines was Joseph Du May, the island's one surgeon since Thomas Price sailed home in January 1716, whose own failing health had carried the apothecary request through every letter of 1716. His professional certificate on the consignment, sorted into good kinds and defective sorts, continued the practice of auditing medical supply as exactly as cordage or arrack. Speculations The elaborate humility of paragraph 16 reads as a composed performance rather than plain apology. Self-mockery about weak notions and preambles, delivered in a sentence of studied length, let the Council absorb the rebuke without conceding any matter of substance, and the closing joke of coming nearer to its copy flattered the directors as the model while committing the island to nothing but brevity it had every practical reason to want anyway. | ||
30 | We had eno' and of Some other We can be Supply'd with from your Ships and he has written out an Indent that went by Capt Misenor and also goes herewith Containing a List of those things which are wanted that We cannot be Supply'd with here which we pray your Honrs: to Send. 18: In our Consultations of the 17:th July last We have remarked on the Severall goods received by the Success which came out very well to which Consultation please to be refered. 19: To the 25th by the Thistleworth We desired a great Number of blew or Chequered Shirts please to Consider our Occasions for those things & then Order According as our wants Shall Appear to you, Your Honrs: have now near two hundred Blacks We mention that number full because We are in Expectation of more for two hundred Blacks there are required four hundred Shirts one half the largest Size at two a Piece ⅌ annm The Severall Planters have about four hundred more (tho that will not Appear in the Present yearly Accot:) to whom might be Proffitably disposed one Shirt Each ⅌ year the Soldiers and Poorer Sort of Planters would buy every year two a Piece at least of the Chequered Sort which would be four hundred more, the | Of some of the sorts the island had enough, and others could be supplied from the Court's ships. The doctor wrote out an indent, which went by Captain Misener and also went with this letter, listing the things wanted that could not be had at the island, and the Council asked the Court to send them. 18: The Council remarked on the several goods received by the Success in its consultation of 17 July last, which came out very well, and asked the Court to refer to that consultation. 19: On the 25th paragraph, by the Thistleworth the Council asked for a great number of blue or chequered shirts. It asked the Court to consider the island's needs for those things and order according as its wants appeared. The Court now had near 200 slaves. The Council named that number in full because more were expected. Two hundred slaves required 400 shirts a year, one half of the largest size, at two apiece a year. The several planters had about 400 more, though that would not appear in the present yearly account, to whom one shirt each a year might be profitably sold. The soldiers and the poorer sort of planters would buy every year at least two apiece of the chequered sort, which would be 400 more. The profit [...] Interpretations The shirt arithmetic converted the request of 24 February 1716 for 1,000 shirts into a costed annual market of about 1,200. The Court's own 200 slaves took 400 a year as establishment charge, the planters' roughly 400 slaves could absorb one apiece as sales, and the soldiers and poorer planters another 400 of the chequered sort, so the indent line was presented as a trading proposition in which the store turned the Court's cloth into profit while clothing the whole labouring population. The aside that the planters' 400 slaves would not appear in the present yearly account is the first census of private slaveholding offered to the Court, doubling the island's known slave population at a stroke. The yearly account returned only the Court's own slaves with ages and employments, so the Council was supplying intelligence the formal records did not carry, and incidentally measuring the labour force behind the planters whose hire the Company had just ended on 25 June 1717. The surgeon's indent travelling in duplicate, by Captain Misener on 25 July 1717 as item 3 of the Princess Amelia packet and again with this letter, applied the duplicate-despatch rule to supply papers as well as correspondence. After the loss of the Catherine proved the risk, no single bottom was trusted with anything whose miscarriage would cost a year. Speculations Naming the slave establishment at a full 200 in expectation of more was a small but deliberate act of forward accounting. An indent scaled to the present muster would arrive short after the next Madagascar deliveries, so the Council booked the higher figure now, with its reason stated, rather than explain an overage later, the same habit of pre-empting the auditor that ran through the season's letters. | ||
31 | Proffit of the Eight hundred Sold would pay the Prime Cost of those four hundred used and Shirts ready made are much Properer for the Peoples use here then Cloth to make them with for we have not People Enough to make Such things the Women here have full Employmt in makeing finer Linnen for themselves, Husbands & Children besides the Price of making a Course Shirt here is raised to 8.d or if large to 9d besides finding thread, and for Such Shirts your Honrs: may have them brought here ready made & Sell them at fifty ⅌ Ct Proffit for 2s: or 2s Each Shirt but at this time We are So Scarce of thread that there is none of the Courser Sorts to be had and the blacks Cloths are made & mended wth fine thread doubled or Trebled or wth: thread Stockins unravelled As to the Cloth mentioned in this Parrd: that We bought of Mr: Powell We have Sent home one Piece wth Post your Honrs twelve Shillin and one Ps of the best and a nother of the Worst of your Honrs Sold in the Stores for nine Shillgs and hope We Shall be Excused if We undertake to Say it was your Interest at that time for us to do So when you Compare the Sorts of Cloth together and we also believe you wont blame the People for refuseing yours and buying So much better and Cheaper Elsewhere but now we are | The profit on the 800 shirts sold would pay the prime cost of the 400 used by the establishment. Ready-made shirts were much more suitable for the people's use at the island than cloth to make them with, since there were not people enough to do such needlework. The women at the island had full employment making finer linen for themselves, their husbands and children. Besides, the price of making a coarse shirt at the island had risen to 8d, or 9d if large, with the maker finding the thread as well. The Court might have such shirts brought to the island ready made and sell them at fifty per cent profit, for 2s or 2s 6d each shirt. At this time, however, thread was so scarce that none of the coarser sorts could be had, and the slaves' clothes were made and mended with fine thread doubled or trebled, or with thread stockings unravelled. As to the cloth mentioned in this paragraph, which the Council bought from Mr Powell, one piece was sent home that cost the Court 12s, with one piece of the best and another of the worst of the Court's own cloth sold in the stores for 9s. The Council hoped to be excused for saying that buying from Powell was in the Court's interest at that time, as the Court would see on comparing the sorts of cloth together. The Council also believed the Court would not blame the people for refusing its cloth and buying so much better and cheaper elsewhere. Interpretations The shirt scheme was priced as a self-financing clothing establishment. At a making cost of 8d to 9d plus thread, against a ready-made selling price of 2s to 2s 6d at fifty per cent profit, the margin on the 800 shirts sold to planters and soldiers covered the prime cost of the 400 issued free to the Court's slaves, so the whole annual clothing charge promised in the scale by the Stanhope could be made to vanish into the store's trading account, the same mechanism that had made the General Table self-supporting by 28 April 1717. The thread famine shows the making-up constraint at its extreme. Slave clothing was being sewn with fine thread doubled and trebled, or with unravelled thread stockings, the large-footed cotton stockings asked of Bengal since 1715 now cannibalised for their yarn, which is the practical background to the standing requests for sewing silk by the China ships and for finished goods over cloth, the lesson first minuted on 13 December 1715 when shirts proved more useful than linen without thread. The cloth comparison sent home turned a defence into a physical exhibit. Three pieces travelled together, Powell's at 12s and the best and worst of the Court's own sold at 9s, so the directors could judge by hand why the islanders refused the Company cloth and why the Council bought from the wealthiest planter it had elsewhere denounced. The method follows the returned blue cloth and old arms of 1 December 1715, evidence in kind preferred to assertion. Speculations Defending a purchase from Mr Gabriel Powell, of all sellers, probably explains the careful apology wrapped round it. The Council had exposed his understorehouse trade and his designs on the Court's plantations in the long reply of late 1716, so admitting his cloth beat the Court's own on quality and price risked the charge of inconsistency or favour. Sending the samples let the cloth itself carry the argument, with the Council's judgement reduced to arithmetic anyone could repeat. The remark that the women were fully employed on finer linen for their families quietly rebutted any suggestion that the island harboured idle hands that could sew for the store. It framed the labour shortage as universal, reaching even to needlework, and so closed the cheaper alternative the directors would otherwise have proposed, supplying cloth and paying island wages to make it up. | ||
32 | working up all that trash which cannot last long because Six Shirts of Such Cloth will not Serve a working black one year and when this bad Cloth is gone we will Endeavour to Supply our Selves wth: Coarse Cloth from the Ships but had much rather be Supplyed with a quantity of blew & Chequered Shirts ready made and that alsoe woud turn to a more Proffitable Account We found the before mentioned bad Cloth in the Stores when we came here. 20: As to the 27. We thank your Honrs for your Permission of takeing the two Pecoll of Tea of both the Sorts out of your Ships as to the Soldiers Allowance the Lance of the Guard every releif day Sees the Tea weighed and are So farr from being Cheated that they will always See they have the turn of the Scale the rest Shall be Sold but for that which is intended for Sale We could wish it were put up in Cattey or two Cattee Potts wch: is a Package very Acceptable to our People here tho' not So Proper for the London Markett where we pray your Honrs: for the future do Order Your Supra Cargo's that two or four Chests every year be So put up for the use of this place. 21: As to the 28: Parrd We thank your Honrs: for your Approbation of our buying Arrack of Capt | The establishment was using up all that poor cloth, which could not last long, because six shirts of such stuff would not serve a labouring slave one year. When this bad cloth was gone the Council would try to supply itself with coarse cloth from the ships, but would much rather be supplied with a quantity of blue and chequered shirts ready made, which would also turn to a more profitable account. The bad cloth mentioned before had been found in the stores when the Council first came to the island. 20: On the 27th paragraph, the Council thanked the Court for permission to take the two peculs of tea, of both sorts, out of its ships. As to the soldiers' allowance, the lance corporal of the guard saw the tea weighed every relief day. The men were so far from being cheated that they would always see they had the turn of the scale. The rest would be sold. For the tea intended for sale, the Council wished it put up in catty or two-catty pots, a package very acceptable to the people at the island though not so proper for the London market. The Council asked the Court for the future to order its supercargoes that two or four chests every year be so put up for the use of the island. 21: On the 28th paragraph, the Council thanked the Court for its approval of the buying of arrack from Captain Arland [...] Interpretations The weighing ritual on relief days built audit into the tea ration at the point of issue. The lance corporal of the incoming guard witnessed the scale, and giving the men the turn of the scale, the small overweight where the balance settles in the receiver's favour, meant the ration could never be the subject of the petty fraud complaints that had dogged stores issue, the allowance itself standing as approved since its proposal of 24 February 1716 at a catty a guard twice a week. The packaging request shows retail thinking applied to the China trade. Tea for London travelled in bulk chests, but island buyers purchased by the pound, so catty and two-catty pots, the small sealed jars of the Canton trade holding about a pound and a third and twice that, turned the cargo into sellable units without breaking bulk at the store. Two to four chests a year so packed, ordered through the supercargoes, fixed the island's retail supply as a standing line in the China investment, alongside the sewing silk asked for in the Stanhope letter. The condemnation of the inherited cloth completed the indictment of the old stores. Six shirts a year of the bad stuff against two of sound cloth quantified the waste, and dating the stock to before 8 July 1714 laid the loss at the door of the unaudited Bouchier stores, the same books that had gone unbalanced from 1706. Speculations The care to record that soldiers always received the turn of the scale was probably aimed at the Court's memory of the garrison's grievances. Soldier debt and short allowance had fed the mutiny of 1714, so a ration witnessed by the men's own corporal, weighed generously and minuted to London, demonstrated that the establishment's most combustible constituency was being handled with visible fairness. | ||
33 | Arland & Capt: Holden, as to the other things Sheep are Constantly twenty four Shillgs Each here and have been at that Price many years and Rice is always twelve Shillings ⅌ hundd: weight yet Sometimes if e Courser than Ordinary less, As to the Preference of Some of the Counl: to buy any Necessaries there Shall be mention for the future of what is bought, 22: We thank your Honrs: for your Directions Sent to Bombay their Goa Arrack will not do here unless Batavia Arrack is not to be had but they have very good Rice upon all that Coast & dulls &c: for bedding are much wanted here We could wish that your Honrs woud give them Orders, that when any Ship has her Charter Party tonnage on board if the Capt Can take in more as Some times it happens notwithstanding Bombay Tonnage being Bulkyer than other Tonnage that they would Ship Rice for this place to fill all up. We believe the Captns: for the Bennefit of the Owners would be willing to bring it us for half the usuall ffreight twould Save your Honrs: money and be Some Advantage to themselves and if your Honrs think fitt to give Such Directions to your Coast & Bay Ships 'tis more likelier to be Complyed with by Some of them because those Goods being finer and better | The Court had approved the buying of arrack from Captain Arland and Captain Holden. As to the other things, sheep constantly cost 24s each at the island and had stood at that price many years. Rice was always 12s a hundredweight, though sometimes less if coarser than ordinary. As to the preference of some of the Council to buy any necessaries there, mention would be made for the future of what was bought. 22: The Council thanked the Court for its directions sent to Bombay. Their Goa arrack would not do at the island unless Batavia arrack could not be had, but they had very good rice on all that coast, with quilts and other goods much wanted at the island for bedding care. The Council wished the Court would order that, when any ship had her charter party tonnage on board, if the captain could take in more, as sometimes happened, Bombay tonnage being bulkier than other tonnage, they should ship rice for the island to fill all up. The Council believed the captains, for the benefit of the owners, would be willing to bring it for half the usual freight. That would save the Court's money and be some advantage to themselves. If the Court thought fit to give such directions to its Coast and Bay ships, compliance was more likely from some of them, because those goods being finer and better packed [...] Interpretations The standing prices quoted, sheep at 24s each for many years and rice at 12s a hundredweight, gave the Court the benchmarks against which every purchase entry in the island's accounts could be audited. Publishing fixed local prices was the Council's protection against the suspicion that necessaries were bought dear, the abuse it had charged against Bouchier, who bought from the planters at near double price, and the undertaking to mention in future what each councillor bought answered the Court's evident query about members trading on their own preference. The half-freight rice clause reappears here refined by stowage knowledge. Bombay cargoes, the bulkier tonnage, left ships measured full before they were weighed down, so rice could ride in the remaining capacity at half freight, profiting the owners on space otherwise empty while provisioning the island below the cost of freighted supply. The proposal repeats in the Court's own paragraph order the scheme already urged at paragraph 5, where it was framed as a charter party condition on excess lading. The verdict on Goa arrack as acceptable only when Batavia failed restates the quality ranking the Council had given Bombay directly on 4 July 1716, when Mr Thomas Hope's two butts came good but unwanted. Batavia spirit, distilled by the Chinese from molasses and toddy where sugar and fuel were cheap, held the cost and quality advantage the Council had explained to the Court on 1 December 1715, so the Bombay connection was steered toward rice, quilts and bedding goods, the wants pressed on that presidency since 1716. Speculations The closing remark that the Coast and Bay ships were the likelier to comply, their goods being finer and better packed, shows the Council matching its scheme to the realities of stowage. Fine Bengal and Coromandel cargoes left more usable room than Bombay bulk, so the rice clause was aimed where spare capacity actually existed, a detail meant to convince the directors the proposal had been thought through from the hold upward. | ||
34 | Packt they have ofner room to Spare for half a Score Tonn of Rice than your other Shipping have & if your Honrs: approve of this We believe it will be the more Effectually Complyed wth in case it be Ordered that no Ship Shall have more then her Tonnage let for put on board unless She take in two or three Tonns ⅌ hundd: of Rice for St: Helena, This Sort of Method or Somewhat like it We are informed is used by the Dutch who when they have put on board the goods intended for Europe in case the Ship be not filled up they Send on board Rice to fill up with for the use of their Cape of good Hope besides one Ship that goes from Batavia to the Cape every year with a lading of Rice and returns with Wheat & Wine haveing mentioned the most need= =full part of this in our 5h: Parrad: about your new Charter party We pray to be Excused this repetition. 23: We are very glad to find your Honrs: Approve of our Accounts of the Sorts and quantitys of Goods received and Shall continue that Method According to your directions 24: To the 30th about the Inventory please to be Re= =ferred to our Severall Consultations where tis Menti= =oned, but Perticularly to Consultation of Tuesday the 5:th of November, and that Inventory goes home herewth | The finer and better packed cargoes of the Coast and Bay ships left them more room to spare for half a score tons of rice than the Court's other shipping had. If the Court approved, the Council believed compliance would be the more effectual if it were ordered that no ship should have more than her contracted tonnage put on board unless she took in two or three tons or hundredweight of rice for St Helena. The Council was informed that this method, or something like it, was used by the Dutch, who, when the goods intended for Europe were on board and the ship not filled up, sent rice aboard to fill her for the use of their Cape of Good Hope. The Dutch besides sent one ship every year from Batavia to the Cape with a lading of rice, returning with wheat and wine. Having mentioned the most needful part of this in the 5th paragraph about the new charter party, the Council asked to be excused the repetition. 23: The Council was very glad to find the Court approved its accounts of the sorts and quantities of goods received, and would continue that method according to the Court's directions. 24: On the 30th paragraph, about the inventory, the Council asked the Court to refer to its several consultations where it was mentioned, particularly the consultation of Tuesday 5 November, and that inventory went home with this letter. Interpretations The Dutch precedent gave the rice scheme the authority of proven practice. The Dutch East India Company provisioned its Cape station by topping up Europe-bound ships with rice and by a dedicated annual rice ship from Batavia returning with Cape wheat and wine, so the Council was asking its own Court to do for St Helena what its chief rival already did for the equivalent refreshment station on the same route. Intelligence of Dutch method had reached the island steadily through passing ships since the reports of Batavia's fortification and the Cape trade in 1715 and 1717. The inventory sent home with this letter made good the sequence promised by the Princess Amelia on 25 July 1717, where the general indent was to wait on the inventory of the stores. Its completion, minuted in the consultation of Tuesday 5 November, dates the stocktaking to the autumn of 1717 and supplied the verified base from which the accounts, eleven years in arrear, could at last be drawn for London. The approval recorded at paragraph 23 settled the form of the goods accounts, the sort-and-quantity method the Council had used in its running audits of every cargo since 1715, with shortfalls endorsed on the bills of lading. The Court's endorsement turned an island practice into the directed standard, closing one of the open questions between station and home. Speculations Citing the Dutch was probably chosen as the one argument the directors could not dismiss as island special pleading. Competition with Dutch efficiency ran through the Court's own concerns, from Batavia arrack to the Cape trade stripping the island's market, so presenting the rice clause as a copy of Dutch logistics converted a supply request into a matter of keeping pace with the rival company. | ||
35 | 25: As to the Accots: of Coin We Shall not trouble yor: Honrs: any further about that being Sent here or Advanc= =ing the Rates when any is brought Seeing it do's not meet with your Approbation. 26: As to the Bills we Carryed out with us We have Signed about half of them and Some of them have received again and given money for them According to the Advertisemt: We Published when We first delivered them out to Encourage the people to take them for at their first Comeing abroad the People had no Notion of them and were not Easily Induced to think Such bills a Sufficient Security for their money and if the Supra Cargoes of the Hester had not Convinced them by Proffering to take any of them We Should have found more difficulty then we did but of late We have not Deli= =vered any out because We could not then So well avoid drawing Bills for those who had them Ex= =pected bills for them on your Honrs: at any time when they delivered up any Parcell of those Bank bills as we call them but hereafter Since yor: Honrs: has thought fitt in your 33: Parrd: to Confirm the Creditt of those Bills by drawing on you for what is received in We Shall disperse them the freelier & the People will take them with more Cheerfulness | 25: Concerning the account of coin, the Council would trouble the Court no further about coin being sent to the island or about advancing the rates when any was brought, since neither met with the Court's approval. 26: As to the bills the Council carried out with it, about half of them were signed. Some of those were received back, with money given for them according to the advertisement published when they were first delivered out, to encourage the people to take them. At their first coming abroad the people had no notion of them and were not easily persuaded that such bills were sufficient security for their money. Had the supercargoes of the Hester not convinced them, by offering to take any of them, the difficulty would have been greater than it was. Of late none had been delivered out, because the Council could not then well avoid drawing bills for those who held them, the holders expecting bills on the Court at any time when they delivered up any parcel of those bank bills, as the Council called them. Since the Court had now thought fit, in its 33rd paragraph, to confirm the credit of those bills by drawing on it for whatever was received in, the Council would disperse them the more freely, and the people would take them with more cheerfulness. Interpretations The bank bills were the island's experiment in paper money, the printed notes of 10s, 20s and 40s carried out by the new Council and put into circulation through a public advertisement. Paper without precedent commanded no trust, the early resistance being minuted in the consultations of 31 January and 27 February 1716, and acceptance was finally made by the Hester's supercargoes in March 1715, whose offer to take the notes at face value gave them the endorsement of the China trade's own money men, the most credit-conscious dealers who touched the island. The mechanism conceded in the Court's 33rd paragraph was convertibility. Holders treated the notes as claims on London, expecting bills of exchange whenever they surrendered a parcel, which had forced the Council to stop issuing rather than draw on the Court without authority. The Court's undertaking to answer drawings for whatever paper came in made the notes formally redeemable in sterling, and with that backing the Council could circulate them freely against an island money stock reckoned at only £700 0s 0d on a £4,800 0s 0d annual establishment. The abandonment of the coin schemes at paragraph 25 closed the long campaign for an engineered currency, the six-shilling dollar, the marked coin, the overvalued petises and heavy fanams pressed in every letter from 6 July 1715 to the long reply of late 1716. The Court's refusal left paper as the only instrument the island could multiply, which gives the timing of the bank-bill revival its logic: denied coin, the Council turned to the credit the Court had at last agreed to stand behind. Speculations Recording for the Court's benefit that the Hester's supercargoes had rescued the launch was probably meant to teach as well as report. The episode showed that the notes' credit rose or fell with visible redemption, exactly the lesson of the 33rd paragraph, so the Council retold it at the moment the Court took on the redeeming role, a tactful way of saying the new undertaking must be honoured promptly if the paper was to pass. | ||
36 | for we orderd that whoever Shall bring in bank bills to the Vallue of ffifty Pounds that they Shall not be re= =fused a bill on your Honrs: for that Sume We made alsoe an Order that Sundry Small Articles of Goods brought by the Catherine Shoud be Sold for ready money only or Bank Bills which to further their Creditt We have always Esteemed as Such but We did not find that Order either Satisfactory to the people or agreable to your Honrs Interest and therefore have given Creditt as formerly only with more Caution not to make bad debts yet the Sume of Seven hundred Pound is not Eno' to pay your Garrison for a year, for the Military and Civill List amounts to near 3000:lb and the Labouring Soldiers pay not included now We intend to give a new Currency to your Honrs bank Bills and Shall pay the Garrison and the working Soldiers wth them and believe the bills we now have will be Sufficient 27: As to oblige Bolt to Clear his debt in the Stores We threatned him that We would do So but yet We thought it was not Proper to do it because his debt was for Land bought of your Honrs: and there was no other way then for him to Clear it but by Delivering up the Land again and in that Place your Honrs have no need of any but he Continues to pay Interest | An order was made that whoever brought in bank bills to the value of £50 0s 0d should not be refused a bill on the Court for that sum. The Council also ordered that sundry small articles of goods brought by the Catherine should be sold for ready money only, or bank bills, which to further their credit the Council always treated as such. That order proved neither satisfactory to the people nor agreeable to the Court's interest, so credit was given as before, only with more caution against making bad debts. Yet the sum of £700 0s 0d was not enough to pay the garrison for a year, the military and civil list coming to near £3,000 0s 0d without the labouring soldiers' pay. The Council now intended to give a new currency to the Court's bank bills, and would pay the garrison and the labouring soldiers with them, believing the bills now held would be sufficient. 27: As to obliging Bell to clear his debt in the stores, the Council threatened him that it would do so, but thought it not proper to act, because his debt was for land bought of the Court. He had no other way to clear it but by delivering up the land again, and in that place the Court had no need of any. He continued to pay interest [...] Interpretations The £50 0s 0d redemption rule fixed a minimum parcel for conversion into bills of exchange, which protected the paper's credit at the top while keeping it circulating below. Anyone could be sure of sterling in London for an accumulated £50 0s 0d, but everyday holders of 10s and 40s notes had no claim worth presenting, so the small denominations stayed in the market as money instead of returning to the store as cheques, the balance between confidence and circulation the whole scheme needed. Paying the garrison and labouring soldiers in bank bills converted the establishment's largest cash outflow into the engine of circulation. Wages near £3,000 0s 0d a year, beside the labour pay, would push paper through every pocket on the island against a coin stock of £700 0s 0d that could not begin to meet them, and the bills returned to the Court's own till through the stores and the arrack monopoly, completing a closed paper circuit that needed almost no coin at all. The failed cash-only experiment with the Catherine's goods shows the limits of monetary reform in a credit economy. Requiring ready money or notes for small store goods was meant to force the paper into use, but the people had bought on store credit for a generation, so the order collapsed back into managed credit with stricter limits, the £20 0s 0d ceiling discipline of 12 November 1714 surviving where compulsion failed. The Bell case turned on the difference between a store debt and a land debt. A store debtor could be stopped from further credit until he cleared, but Bell owed for land purchased from the Court, recoverable only by surrendering the land itself, which in that quarter the Court did not want back. Interest punctually paid made him a performing borrower, so the threatened severity was dropped as worse for the Court than the debt. Speculations The phrase giving the bills a new currency suggests a fresh issue or reissue rather than mere encouragement, probably replacing worn paper at the same time, the want the Council had raised on 26 January 1716 when it asked for a bank bill of about twelve months' date back. Launching the reissue through the pay table put the new notes first into the hands least able to refuse them and most certain to spend them at once. | ||
37 | 'till he has cleared the Account by his work for wch: he has five Shillings ⅌ day and that work is Masonary Thirdly touching your Servants Civil or Military, the Accots: of St: Helena in Generl: & also touching your Hon:rs Slaves Cattle, Lands & Revenues. 28: In answer to your Honrs: 35:th Parrd: We pray you to be referred to our Consultations of the 24 & 31:th of Decbr: 1717: and have at last Sent Home Eight Books of the Accounts in Governr Rouchers time, which is all that we found and alsoe Nine Books of Accots: Since that time Ending wth: the year 1715. The Govr: has now the Transfer Journall in his keeping and having built a new room in the Castle he has fitted up an Office for the Accomptant and all the Books are now brought there and they who doe belong to that office Shall be lookt after So as to make a better dispatch or give Account in Con= =sultation of the reasons of their delay. 29: As to the Widdow Carrie if your Honrs: please to look over the Consultations of the 15:th 22:d & 29:th Octobr: & 5:h day of Novbr: last youl find the whole State of that Case which She and her Children here has represented to us in Severall Petitions which We doubt is all the Answer We Shall be able to gett | Bell continued to pay interest until he cleared the account by his labour, for which he had 5s a day, that being masonry. Thirdly, concerning the Court's servants, civil or military, the accounts of St Helena in general, and also the Court's slaves, cattle, lands and revenues. 28: In answer to the Court's 35th paragraph, the Council asked it to refer to the consultations of 24 and 31 December 1717. Eight books of the accounts of Governor Bouchier's time were at last sent home, which was all that could be found, together with nine books of accounts since that time, ending with the year 1715. The Governor no longer kept the transfer journal himself. A new room having been built in the castle, he fitted up an office for the accountant, where all the books were now brought. Those who belonged to that office would be looked after, so as to make better dispatch, or give account in consultation of the reasons of their delay. 29: As to the widow Carne, if the Court looked over the consultations of 15, 22 and 29 October and 5 November last, it would find the whole state of that case, which she and her children represented to the Council in several petitions. The Council doubted that was all the answer it would be able to get [...] Interpretations The dispatch of seventeen account books, eight from Bouchier's administration and nine for the years to 1715, was the substantive answer to the arrears question that had run through every letter since the books were found unbalanced from 1706. Sending the primary volumes home, promised by the Stanhope, transferred the reconstruction of the worst years to India House while the island carried the accounts forward, and the qualification that the eight books were all that could be found fixed on the record that any further gap lay in the old administration's keeping, not the new one's. Bell's clearance at 5s a day in masonry shows debt being recovered in scarce skill at a premium wage. Ordinary stone layers' pay of 5s a day had been the Council's complaint when it priced Nicholas Sheriff's stone cutting in 1715, so crediting Bell at the full craft rate retired his land debt while the fortification programme got the mason it could not otherwise hire, both sides of the bargain serving the Court. The new accountant's office in the castle gave the books a fixed, supervised home for the first time, completing the documentary reform that began with presses and an indexed letter book in 1715. Taking the transfer journal out of the Governor's personal keeping separated the record of credit transfers, the very instrument of the old corruption, from the office most able to abuse it, and the standing rule that delays be accounted for in consultation made the office's performance a matter of minuted record. The widow Carne's petitions reopen the affairs of the Carne family after the death of George Carne, the planter whose composite settlement of land, cattle, goats, slaves and plate had cleared the Keeling orphans' money and his £316 0s 0d store debt on 8 December 1714. The case as she and her children stated it was left wholly in the consultations of 15, 22 and 29 October and 5 November, the Council declining to retell in the letter a matter already fully minuted. Speculations The Governor's surrender of the transfer journal was probably as much self-protection as reform. Charges touching him personally had come out by the Court's letter of 22 February 1716, and a Governor who kept the credit-transfer record in his own hands could never disprove favouritism, so moving the journal into a staffed office with the other books put the most sensitive ledger beyond the reach of that suspicion. | ||
38 | for Mr John Carne. 30: As to the Generall Table We think it is now reduced as low as it Properly can be That monthly Account Shews the Expence the Store Ship always Setts the Price on Europe Wine for the following year which is Either Dearer or Cheaper According as we buy of them Those at board Wages are allowed 12d ⅌ day Each if they were Such Persons as usually Dined with the Governr: in the Hall but board Wages for Such as dine wth the Steward is only Eight pound ⅌ annd. As to those who are allowed 12d ⅌ day We Shall not trouble your Honrs with any further Account then to referr you if you please to our Consultation of the 8th Octobr: where youl find the Table Ordered to be Enlarged and all board Wages will then Cease Unless the Surgeons who Cannot Come into a room where there is Pork and there is no keeping of a Table here for Such a number of People without having Pork His mate also must have board Wages of Eight Pound ⅌ annu because he is always going after the blacks to one part or other and Cannot be here Constantly at Meal times 31: The Expence of Rice is now more than ever because the Number of the blacks are increased their Allowance is but 10:lbs Each ⅌ week & they | That was all the answer likely to be had for Mr John Carne. 30: The General Table was now thought to be reduced as low as it properly could be. The monthly account showed the expense. The store ship always set the price on Europe wine for the following year, dearer or cheaper according to what the Council bought it at. Those at board wages were allowed 12d a day each, if they were such persons as usually dined with the Governor in the hall, but board wages for such as dined with the steward came only to £8 0s 0d a year. As to those allowed 12d a day, the Council would trouble the Court with no further account than to refer it to the consultation of 8 October, where the Court would find the table ordered to be enlarged and all board wages then to cease, except for the surgeon, who could not come into a room where there was pork. There was no keeping a table at the island for such a number of people without having pork. His mate also had to have board wages of £8 0s 0d a year, because he was always going after the slaves to one part or other and could not be at the fort constantly at meal times. 31: The expense of rice was now greater than ever, because the number of slaves had increased. Their allowance was but 10 [...] each a week, and they [...] Interpretations Board wages were the cash paid in place of a seat at the Company's table, scaled by rank: 12d a day for those of standing to dine with the Governor in the hall, £8 0s 0d a year for those who messed with the steward. The consultation of 8 October enlarged the table and abolished the allowance, converting cash payments back into rations in kind, which cost the establishment less and kept the saving inside the same plantation-supplied economy that had made the table self-financing by 28 April 1717. The two exceptions show the allowance surviving only where attendance was physically impossible. The surgeon's exclusion from any room where pork was served points to a dietary law, most probably that he was a Jew, and the Council's blunt finding that no table for so many could be kept without pork made his case permanent. His mate's £8 0s 0d recognised that medical duty followed the roughly 200 slaves across the island and could not keep fort hours, so the cash survived as the price of a mobile post. The wine pricing rule made the annual store ship the island's price-setter for Europe wine, the following year's selling rate fixed by what the Council paid at her side. Tying the retail price to the landed cost, declared in advance, removed discretion from a trade the Court watched closely and left the margin auditable from the invoice, the same principle as the standing 4s arrack price. The rice paragraph ties the rising charge directly to the grown slave establishment, the allowance running at a fixed weekly measure per head. Rice had been begged from every presidency precisely because the yam crop could not carry the whole ration, and the half-freight rice clause pressed twice earlier in this letter was the Council's proposed remedy for the very cost increase admitted here. Speculations Citing the surgeon's inability to enter a room with pork, without further comment, suggests the Council expected the Court to understand and accept the religious ground at once. Naming the reason plainly, where a vaguer excuse might have invited query, protected an officer the island could not spare, the medical establishment having run on one man since Du May was left alone in January 1716. | ||
39 | Cannot Subsist with less We had rather enlarge it to two Pound of Flour Each ⅌ week & ten Pound of Rice than abate of that but the Allowance of Rice is uncertain for we give them Rice only in rainy weather when the Yamms are not So good and here We begg leave to inform you of that matter We have here many Sorts of Yamms a Red Yam and white Yams, Mountain and Valley Yams all which may be Divided into two Sorts vizt Such as Grow in Swampy ground where they be Always Watered & Such as grow on Dryer ground where the Water Cannot be brought to Run over them and the greatest Number of our Yams are Such now these Yams that grow on the Dryer ground are Scarce fitt to Eate in the rainy Seasons and they frequently give Distempers to Such as do eat them So that at those times We give them Rice for which reason in a rainy year We Expend more Rice then in a dry yeare Sometimes we buy wheat from the Cape Ships which answers better and the rice we receive from Bengall is of great use to us and tis for this reason We mentioned the Article of Rice in our thoughts on your Honrs new Charter party of which We therefore pray your Honrs Consideration the Expence of Rice at 10:lbs a head ⅌ week is 2000: wlb besides what wast by drying and to give them wheat or Rice the two | The slaves could not subsist with less. The Council would rather enlarge the allowance to two pounds of flour each a week and ten pounds of rice than abate any of it. The allowance of rice was uncertain, for rice was given only in rainy weather, when the yams were not so good, and here the Council took leave to inform the Court of that matter. The island had many sorts of yams, red, green and white yams, mountain and valley yams, all of which could be divided into two sorts, those that grew in swampy ground where they were always watered, and those that grew on drier ground where the water could not be brought to run over them. The greatest number of the island's yams were of the second kind. The yams that grew on the drier ground were scarce fit to eat in the rainy seasons, and they frequently gave distempers to those who ate them, so at those times the slaves were given rice. For that reason more rice was spent in a rainy year than in a dry one. Sometimes wheat was bought from the Cape ships, which answered better, and the rice received from Bengal was of great use. For this reason the Council mentioned the article of rice in its thoughts on the Court's new charter party, of which it asked the Court's consideration. The expense of rice at ten pounds a week each came to 2,000 [...] weekly, besides what went by drying, and to give them wheat or rice the two [...] Interpretations The yam taxonomy explained to the Court why the island's staple could not carry the ration alone. The unwatered dry-ground yams, the majority of the crop, turned unwholesome in the rains and sickened those who ate them, so rice was not a luxury import but the wet-season substitute for a staple that failed exactly when it was most needed. The seasonal rule, rice in rainy weather only, made the charge swing with the climate, which is why a rainy year cost more and why no fixed annual figure could be promised. The ration arithmetic shows the scale the establishment had reached. Ten pounds of rice a head a week across about 200 slaves consumed a ton weekly when yams failed, the figure of 2,000 pounds behind the broken sum, before allowing for wastage by drying, and the Council's declared preference for enlarging the allowance with two pounds of flour rather than abating it set the floor of subsistence as non-negotiable. The working ration had stood at a piece of beef and fifty pounds of yams a week with corn or rice unlimited since 12 November 1714, and rice now substituted for the yam component at roughly five pounds of yams to one of rice. The Cape wheat purchases tie this paragraph to the Governor's letter of 18 March 1717 to the homeward commanders, which had asked for wheat among the Cape goods at a hundred per cent premium. Wheat answering better than rice gave the establishment a second wet-season grain, and the layered supply, island yams, Bengal rice, Cape wheat, spread the subsistence risk across three sources no single failure could empty. Speculations The closing reference back to the charter party rice clause shows the letter arguing as a single structure rather than paragraph by paragraph. The dietary explanation here supplied the why for the half-freight scheme pressed at paragraphs 5 and 22, so a director who doubted the clause as a freight subsidy now met it again as famine insurance for the Court's own 200 slaves, the same proposal twice armed. | ||
40 | rainy Seasons is about twelve weeks in the year which is 24,000. watlb besides a Small matter more to the use of the ffort and bringing up of Young Poultrey and to the Sick blacks. 32: The Number of Sick blacks as near as we Can Compute is about ten Constantly and in the rainy Seasons never less then 30. and Sometimes more these Sick blacks have always Either Flour, Bread, Wheat or Rice the Same allowance as the healthy ones because if they do not Eat it those who look after them always do it for them So that on a Computation of the whole Expence of Rice for 200 Souls we think we may reckon up 15 Tons or 10 Coin of the Batavia measure. As to wine we have Reduced it So that We hope the Proffits on the Arrk: will fully defray our Expences in Arrack & Wine & Beer We have now lessned our Expence of Europe wine to three bottles ⅌ day out of Shiping but less than Six in Shipping time will not doe, But Shall always do as if for our Selves and Reduce every Expensive Article as low as Possible. 33: As to the 42d Parrd: This place is So well known to your Honrs: and the People too that a Description of Either would be Impertinent and therefore We Shall only Say that the Difference between heat & | Wheat or rice was given through the two rainy seasons, about twelve weeks in the year, which came to 24,000 pounds weight, besides a small matter more for the use of the fort, the raising of young poultry and the sick slaves. 32: The number of sick slaves, as near as could be computed, was about ten constantly, and in the rainy seasons never fewer than 30 and sometimes more. The sick slaves always had either flour, bread, wheat or rice, the same allowance as the healthy ones, because if they did not eat it those who looked after them always did it for them. On a computation of the whole, the expense of rice for 200 souls could be reckoned at 15 tons, or 10 coyan of the Batavia measure. As to wine, the Council had reduced it so far that it hoped the profits on the arrack would fully defray the expenses in arrack, wine and beer. The expense of Europe wine was now lessened to three bottles a day out of shipping time, but fewer than six in shipping time would not do. The Council would always act as if for itself, and reduce every expensive article as low as possible. 33: Concerning the 42nd paragraph, the island was so well known to the Court, and the people too, that a description of either would be impertinent. The Council would only say that the difference between heat and cold [...] Interpretations The rice computation now stood complete for the auditor: ten pounds a head a week for 200 through twelve weeks of rains made 24,000 pounds, and with the fort, poultry and sick added the year's provision was set at 15 tons, given also as 10 coyan of the Batavia measure. The coyan was the bulk grain measure of the Dutch East Indies, here running at about a ton and a half each, and quoting it let the Court order the quantity directly in the market where rice was bought and shipped. The sickness figures, ten slaves constantly ill rising to 30 and more in the rains, gave the Court its first standing morbidity rate for the establishment, about five per cent doubling to fifteen in the wet. The rule that the sick drew the full ration, on the frank ground that their keepers would otherwise eat it, priced an unavoidable leakage into the account rather than pretending invalid allowances could be cut, the same candour applied to wastage by drying in the rice sum. The drink account closed the circle begun with the General Table reforms. Arrack profits were now to carry the whole cost of arrack, wine and beer, with Europe wine rationed to three bottles a day between fleets and six when ships were in, hospitality at the table being part of how the island serviced commanders during shipping time. The store's spirit margin, defended since the 4s price and the twelvepence duty, had become the fund from which the establishment drank free of charge to London. Speculations The declaration that the Council would always act as if for itself was probably the sentence the whole expense section was built to earn. Every figure before it, rations, sickness, bottles counted by the day, showed husbandry a private owner would recognise, and the phrase offered the Court the standard by which the coming year's accounts, at last going home, should be read. | ||
41 | Cold is very great in this Place and the Alteration always on a Sudden So that the most Temperate People require more Strong Liquor here than in Some other parts Wine is not always to be had nor Always good neither nor will it go So farr as Distilled Liquors and as an Alteration of weather often happens here in less then an hours Space from Sultry Hott to very Cold and the mountainy Part of the Country is not only Windy but alwayes Exposed to great Damps & ffogs even in the times We call the dry Season We are apt to think it Easier to drink water for a Constancy in England than in this place The physicall People We Sometimes Converse wth (that is the Ship Surgions) tell us that Strong Liquor is Necessary to all People who have no other bread but these watery roots (for a yam is called the Water Parsnip) And We also find it So Wherefore tho' We Shall Encourage Temperance & Sobriety as well by our Example as Precept yet it is in vain to Disswade the use of Arrack among these People who preferr it before the Choicest Wines but for our Selves and the use of your Generall table We Should be very Glad if we could every year have a Small Supply of Port or Lisbon Wine whatever quantity your Honors: thought fitt Should fully Content Us and We hope | The difference between heat and cold was very great at the island, and the change always sudden, so the most temperate people needed more strong liquor there than in some other places. Wine was not always to be had, nor always good, nor would it go as far as distilled liquors. A change of weather often happened in less than an hour from sultry heat to very cold. The mountainous part of the country was not only windy but always exposed to great damps and fogs, even in the times called the dry season. The Council thought it easier to drink water for a constancy in England than at the island. The medical people it sometimes conversed with, that is the ship surgeons, said that strong liquor was necessary to all people who had no other bread than these watery roots, for a yam was called the water parsnip, and the Council found it so. Therefore, though it would encourage temperance and sobriety by example as well as precept, it was vain to dissuade the use of arrack among people who preferred it before the choicest wines. For itself and the use of the General Table, the Council would be very glad of a small yearly supply of port or Lisbon wine, in whatever quantity the Court thought fit, which would fully content it, and it hoped [...] Interpretations The medical case for spirits rested on the dietary theory of the day. Ship surgeons, the only physicians who touched the island since the medical establishment fell to one man, held that a population whose bread was a watery root needed distilled liquor to fortify the diet, the yam's nickname of water parsnip carrying the point, and the Council adopted the doctrine as its answer to any charge that the storehouse traded in drink too freely. The climate argument supported it from the other side, sudden swings from sultry heat to cold and the perpetual damps and fogs of the high ground making the island, by the standards of the time, a place where water alone could not safely be drunk for a constancy. The defence of arrack also protected the revenue the establishment now ran on. The whole drink expense had just been declared chargeable to arrack profits at paragraph 32, the island's consumption standing at seventy leaguers a year through the store monopoly, so a Court persuaded that spirits were a medical necessity would not press the temperance that the Council professed to encourage but declared vain among people who preferred arrack before the choicest wines. The request for port or Lisbon wine for the General Table named the durable Iberian wines that bore long sea carriage and a moderate climate better than French growths, and left the quantity wholly to the Court. After the table had been made self-supporting and Europe wine rationed by the bottle, the ask was framed as the one indulgence of an administration that had cut every other expensive article, its scale set by the very economies recited before it. Speculations The careful phrase that temperance would be taught by example as well as precept probably glanced at the island's record of officers undone by drink, the late doctor dying in debt through his drunken courses and the gunner French unable to bear liquor. The Council could not police the people's arrack, but it could show the Court that the table itself drank port by allowance, sobriety demonstrated at the top while the storehouse sold to everyone below. | ||
42 | be less Expencive to your Honrs too than our buying it out of Ships where the Price of every thing is Pro= =portiond to our want of it So that Such wine as is Sold at London for two Shillings dos very often Cost four Shillings here and the year before Govr Boucher went off he being Sick and wanting Some twas raised to Seven Shillings ⅌ bottle. 34: We pass over the Case of Mr: Tovey & Wrangham and hope every one who was Concerned therein will make Such due reflections on the will Consequences of hard drinking that your Honrs: may not be e troubled for the future with any Accounts of the like Nature. 35: To the 46:th We will only Say We hope the overseers monthly Accots: is to your Honrs: Satisfaction & Shall take care it be Continued yet Just at this time 'tis a little Difficult because the Poor man has been Sick two months and could not bring it in. 36: And the Account of the Gunners Expence is always Entered in the Consultation Book as it is brought in. 37: The report of the Surveys of the Severall Plantacons are alsoe Entered and Just at this time no blacks are Hired but the Governrs: because none other will yet let theirs at 12d ⅌ day as he does and the | The Council hoped a yearly supply would also be less expensive to the Court than buying wine out of ships, where the price of everything was proportioned to the island's want of it. Wine sold at London for 2s very often cost 4s at the island, and the year before Governor Bouchier went off, he being sick and wanting some, it was raised to 7s a bottle. 34: The Council passed over the case of Mr Tovey and Wrangham, and hoped everyone concerned in it would so reflect on the ill consequences of hard drinking that the Court need not be troubled in future with any accounts of the like nature. 35: On the 46th paragraph, the Council would only say it hoped the overseer's monthly accounts were to the Court's satisfaction and would take care they continued. Just at this time that was a little difficult, because the poor man had been sick two months and could not bring them in. 36: The account of the gunner's expense was always entered in the consultation book as it was brought in. 37: The reports of the surveys of the several plantations were also entered. Just at this time no slaves were hired except by the Governor, because no one else would yet let theirs at 12d a day as he did, and the Governor [...] Interpretations The wine pricing exposed the seller's market every passing ship enjoyed. Prices at the island were proportioned to its want, London 2s wine fetching 4s in the road and 7s when Bouchier lay sick in 1714, so the request for a yearly allowance by the store ship was costed as a saving to the Court, not an indulgence, the same argument that had justified buying the King George's arrack whole on 28 April 1717. Attributing the Tovey affair to hard drinking gave the Court a closed and impersonal account of an awkward case. The secretary had wounded the writer Francis Wrangham, been imprisoned by the Governor, fined £40 0s 0d to the fortifications with £25 0s 0d damages at the Court of Judicature of 18 May 1716, and restored to the subscription by January 1717, so the Council reduced the whole matter to a moral on drink and declared it would not recur, sparing a serving colleague further report. The hire note at paragraph 37 reveals the aftermath of the advertisement of 25 May 1717 from the planters' side. With Company hire ended from 25 June, the only slaves let out were the Governor's own at 12d a day, the rate Governor Roberts had been hated for imposing, and no other owner would yet follow him down to it. The Governor was setting the market price by his own example, taking the planters' resentment on himself rather than on a Company order. Speculations Citing the 7s bottle of Bouchier's last sickness was probably a small settling of accounts as well as evidence. The figure showed the old Governor's establishment paying famine prices for his comfort, against the new table's three bottles a day and self-financing drink account, the contrast between administrations drawn once more without a direct word of censure. | ||
43 | Governr: letts nineteen Labouring Blacks at that Rate We have received ten blacks of the Sarah Galley Eleven out of the Drake Seven out of the Mercury Ketch fourteen out of the Hamilton and thirty out of Ship Mercury in all Seventy two, of these blacks Macketts in the Drake prove the best and Whites in the Mercury the Worst yet both came from the Same Place. We are very glad to find now the Governr has liberty to Choose which he will do in case your Honrs think fitt to Send any more or not receive any, Out of the 72. new blacks five are dead and three more very Sickly and two are fools yet to all outward Appearance the two fools look like as good Slaves as any of the Rest We pray your Honrs notwithstanding to Insert a Clause in the next Licences that your Agents at St: Helena may have full Power and free Liberty to Choose their Appointed Number out of the whole Cargoe which will Save us a great deal of Conten= =tion, The Letters we wrote to Severall parts of India have procured us none but two from Bombay and those two are very good ones Our Computation of the Number of Blacks of the 24th Janry Dom: 1715/16: is not too large your Honrs cant but know the State of this Island as well as we that live on it haveing Such frequent Accots from every | The Governor let nineteen labouring slaves at that rate. The island received ten slaves from the Sarah Galley, eleven out of the Drake, seven out of the Mercury ketch, fourteen out of the Hamilton and thirty out of the ship Mercury, in all seventy-two. Of these slaves, Mackett's in the Drake proved the best and White's in the Mercury the worst, yet both came from the same place. The Council was very glad to find the Governor now had liberty to choose, which he would do in case the Court thought fit to send any more, or would receive none. Out of the 72 new slaves five were dead, three more very sickly and two were fools, yet to all outward appearance the two fools looked like as good slaves as any of the rest. The Council asked the Court nevertheless to insert a clause in the next licences, giving its agents at St Helena full power and free liberty to choose their appointed number out of the whole cargo, which would save a great deal of contention. The letters written to several parts of India procured none but two from Bombay, and those two were very good ones. The Council's computation of the number of slaves, dated 24 January 1716, was not too large. The Court could not but know the state of the island as well as those who lived on it, having such frequent accounts from every returning [...] Interpretations The tally completes the season's intake from the licensed Madagascar run, 72 slaves across five ships against the larger sales that went on to the planters, the West Indies and Bombay. The wastage figures, five dead, three sickly and two mentally unfit within months of landing, quantified the risk the island bore when it took whatever the captains released, and the comparison of Mackett's best with White's worst from the same coast proved the variance lay in selection and carriage, not source, the exact point the demand for first pick was built on. The selection clause asked for here repeats the article proposed in the Dartmouth letter of 8 May 1717, now sharpened by the Court's interim grant of liberty to choose to the Governor personally. Writing the right into the licences themselves would bind every future contractor before sailing, and the Council's alternative, that the island would otherwise receive none, turned a request into a condition, affordable now that the establishment stood near its full 200. The two slaves from Bombay were the pair delivered by the Stanhope on her call of 18 to 26 June 1717, the whole yield of the standing requests to the presidencies for eight or ten by every ship since 1715. The contrast between India's trickle and Madagascar's 72 settled in practice the ranking of sources the Council had argued since 8 December 1714. The defence of the computation of 24 January 1716 answered a Court query against the plea for 200 more slaves carried home by the Kent. The Council's reply, that the directors knew the island's state as well as its inhabitants from the frequent accounts of every returning ship, turned the Court's own information system into the warrant for the figure. Speculations The remark that the two fools looked outwardly as good as any was probably aimed at the inspection problem inherent in the trade. Soundness of body could be judged at a sale, soundness of mind could not, so the Council was warning the Court that even free choice would not eliminate loss, and pricing into the record a defect no clause could exclude. | ||
44 | returning Ship and if your Honrs please to be remembred that We have no Carriage but by blacks We use indeed two Carts in the Fort Valley to bring Stones but up ye Mountains every thing tho' never so heavy is Carryed by the Negroes the ground is full of rocks in most Parts and where tis not Stony we have a Clay within few Inches of the Surface which Sort of ground requirs a great deal of Labour We are told by all the planters and partly know it our Selves that formerly the Country before the Wood was Destroyed was much fruitfuller than it is now not a Stick of wood is burnt at the Plan= =tation House but is fetcht above four Miles from it All these things being Considered We think fewer than that Computacon which was but 200. working blacks woud be too few but we could very well Employ 100: more yet when We have that Number we Shall wholly leave off hireing any Slaves We have not Demanded the Parsons black of him because he has been Sick or Pretended to be So ever Since the Store Ship was here 38: We do own that this Number of Slaves alledged by us to be wanted is much greater than was in Govr: Poiriers time yet We think if he were living now he woud require as large a Number as We doe at least, We have already Spoken of the Soil which we think | The Court had such frequent accounts from every returning ship. The Council asked it also to remember that the island had no carriage but by slaves. Two carts were indeed used in the fort valley to bring stones, but up the mountains everything, however heavy, was carried by the slaves. The ground was full of rocks in most parts, and where it was not stony there was a clay within a few inches of the surface, which sort of ground required a great deal of labour. All the planters said, and the Council partly knew it itself, that formerly, before the wood was destroyed, the country was much more fruitful than it was now. Not a stick of wood was burnt at the plantation house but was fetched above four miles from it. All these things considered, the Council thought fewer than that computation, which was but 200 labouring slaves, would be too few, but it could very well employ 100 more. Yet when it had that number it would wholly leave off hiring any slaves. The parson's slave had not been demanded of him, because he had been sick, or pretended to be so, ever since the store ship was at the island. 38: The Council owned that this number of slaves alleged by it to be wanted was much greater than was kept in Governor Poirier's time. Yet it thought that if Poirier were living now he would need as large a number, at the least. The soil had already been spoken of, which the Council thought was [...] Interpretations The carriage argument grounded the labour demand in the island's bare physical facts. With no draught animals or roads beyond two stone carts in the fort valley, every load that went up the mountains travelled on a slave's back, and even the plantation house's firewood came four miles by the same carriage, the deforestation diagnosed in the long reply of late 1716 having stripped the nearer ground. Labour demand was therefore set by terrain and environmental decay, not by the scale of cultivation alone. The revised target raised the establishment from the 200 of the computation of 24 January 1716 to 300, with a firm undertaking that at that strength all hire would cease for good. The promise priced the request for the Court: 100 more slaves bought once against a hire bill at 12d a day that the advertisement of 25 May 1717 had suspended but, by this paragraph's own admission, not quite extinguished, the Governor still letting nineteen at that rate. The unclaimed parson's slave shows the spare-slave levy in operation. Inhabitants' surplus slaves had been called on for the Court's labour since the wood-planting law went unenforced for want of hands, and the chaplain, Dr Thomlinson, evaded the demand by a sickness the Council pointedly declined to credit, the latest passage in a quarrel running since his scandalous petition of 17 September 1716. The appeal to Governor Poirier's time met the Court's obvious benchmark head-on. Poirier's establishment had run on fewer slaves, but the comparison ignored what had changed since, the worn soil, the destroyed woods and the fortification programme, so the Council argued that the standard era proved nothing about present need, even granting the old Governor's economy. Speculations Conceding that the country had been more fruitful before the wood was destroyed, on the planters' word partly confirmed by the Council's own observation, was probably a deliberate sharing of blame as well as a statement of fact. The felling lay at the door of earlier administrations and the arrack stills, so admitting the decline framed the enlarged slave demand as the cost of repairing inherited damage, not of present ambition. | ||
45 | was impoverished by cutting down the Wood for by that means the raines being unrestrained which fall here e Sometimes wth great Impetuosity the upper Surface of the ground is often washed away as We See every rainy Season and it has not done So where wood grows thick So that now to improve the ground even only to make it as healthy as formerly there must be many Acres of Land planted wth Wood but first of all the ground fenced in, Else the Goats & Cattle which graze on the Waste land (as we call all that is not Enclosed) will destroy it as fast as it is planted and because this is a thing as Necessary as any for bringing back this Island to as flourishing an Estate as formerly and will be Some time before it is grown up large Eno' to be usefull We have begun with it and have planted wood about your Plantaion House to Prevent that loss of time & Labour for futurity in Fetching wood from So great distances as at Present, We have now begun to Enclose Land for makeing more Plantaions that We may not be Obliged any more to buy yamms as formerly but upon a review of what We have now wrote for we hope nothing will appear to be Contrary to Our promise in the 35:th Parrd: by the St George where We took leave to Say that instead of increasing yor: Charges we knew no likelier way to lessen it then by Sending over a Sufficient Number of blacks | The soil was impoverished by the cutting down of the wood. By that means the rains, which sometimes fell with great impetuosity, ran unrestrained, and the upper surface of the ground was often washed away, as could be seen every rainy season. The ground had not suffered so where wood grew thick. To improve the ground now, even only to make it as healthy as before, many acres of land had to be planted with wood, but first of all the ground fenced in. Otherwise the goats and cattle that grazed on the waste land, as all unenclosed ground was called, would destroy the planting as fast as it was set. Because this was as necessary as anything for bringing the island back to as flourishing a state as before, and would take some time before the growth was large enough to be useful, the Council had begun on it. Wood was planted about the plantation house, to prevent for the future the loss of time and labour in fetching wood from such distances as at present. The Council had now begun to enclose land for making more plantations, so that it need never again buy yams as before. On a review of what was now written, the Council hoped nothing would appear contrary to its promise in the 35th paragraph by the St George, where it took leave to say that, instead of increasing the Court's charges, it knew no likelier way to lessen them than by sending over a sufficient number of slaves [...] Interpretations The erosion analysis repeated for the Court the environmental diagnosis first set out in the long reply of late 1716, felling exposing the topsoil to rains of great impetuosity until it washed away, with the surviving thick woods standing as the control that proved the cause. The remedy ran in a fixed order, fence first and plant after, because the goats and cattle ranging the waste, the island's term for all unenclosed ground, would eat the saplings as fast as they were set, the same conflict between grazing and timber that had prompted the Great Wood enclosure proposal of 26 January 1716. The replanting begun about the plantation house executed at last the wood-planting law of Governor Roberts, judged the most necessary law at the island but unenforced for want of hands through 1716. Starting at the plantation house attacked the four-mile firewood carriage named in the previous paragraph, so the first planting was sited where it would release the most slave labour soonest, even though the growth would take years to be useful. The new enclosures for yam plantations aimed at ending purchase for good, extending the eighteen months without buying reported by December 1716 into a permanent self-supply. The whole programme was then squared with the undertaking given in the 35th paragraph of the St George letter of 1 December 1715, that slaves in sufficient number were the surest way to lessen the Court's charges, fencing, planting and provision-ground all being labour-bound investments that only the enlarged establishment could carry. Speculations The invitation to review what was now written against the old promise was probably placed deliberately at the close of the labour section. The Council had just asked for 100 slaves beyond its own earlier computation, so it pre-empted the charge of appetite by showing every addition feeding the original bargain, charges falling as the establishment grew, with the St George paragraph cited by number so the directors could verify the consistency themselves. | ||
46 | and now we have about half that Number We alledge Occasion to buy Severall 100,000 Suckers ⅌ annm and ask for ten or fifteen tons of Rice ⅌ annm: and 1000. or 1200 Shirts ready made but We hope youl Please to Consider that the whole 100,000 Suckers will not Cost above one hundd Dollars or 25:lbs The Rice is So Cheap in India that at Batavia it is Sold for twenty five Rx Dollars ⅌ Coin and the Coin being 2700. Dutch pounds or 2900 English Pounds which is less than three Shillings & Six pence the Neat hundred or three pound ten Shillings the Tonn and in Bengall or on the Coast of Mallabarr tis much Cheaper and the Proffit of the Shirts Sold will pay for those which are used So that We hope the Charge of your blacks may be all reduced to a much Lower rate then they have ever yet Stood your Honrs: in. 39: Just at this time none of your blacks are putt out to any body Save a man to the Parson, another to the Smith and a Girle to the Secretary, no body are Idle or insignificantly Employed tho' Some times (about once a week) they do carry a Chair & Some times in Shipping time two or three Chairs into the Country for one day a thing we look on very Necessary & Can be no great loss of time and tho' Chairs were never Carried here till Governr: Roberts time yet before | Now the island had about half that number. The Council claimed occasion to buy several hundred thousand yam suckers a year, and asked for 10 or 15 tons of rice a year and 1,000 or 1,200 shirts ready made. It hoped the Court would consider that the whole 100,000 suckers would not cost above a hundred dollars, or £25 0s 0d. Rice was so cheap in India that at Batavia it sold for 25 rix dollars a coyan, and the coyan being 2,700 Dutch pounds or 2,900 English pounds, that was less than 3s 6d the neat hundredweight, or £3 10s 0d the ton, and in Bengal or on the coast of Malabar it was much cheaper. The profit on the shirts sold would pay for those used, so the Council hoped the charge of the Court's slaves could be brought to a much lower rate than it had ever yet stood at. 39: Just at this time none of the Court's slaves were put out to anybody, except a man to the parson, another to the smith and a girl to the secretary. Nobody was idle or insignificantly employed, though sometimes, about once a week, they carried a chair, and sometimes in shipping time two or three chairs, into the country for one day, a thing the Council looked on as very necessary and no great loss of time. Though chairs were never carried at the island until Governor Roberts's time, yet before [...] Interpretations The cost schedule priced the whole slave establishment's upkeep in the Court's own terms. A hundred thousand yam suckers at about £25 0s 0d planted the new provision grounds, rice at Batavia cost 25 rix dollars the coyan, converted for the directors through the Dutch pound to under 3s 6d a hundredweight or £3 10s 0d a ton with Bengal and Malabar cheaper still, and the shirt trade paid for the slaves' clothing out of its own margin. Set against hire at 12d a day, the figures argued that 200 slaves fed, clothed and seeded cost less than the old system's wages alone, the arithmetic behind the promise that charges would fall to the lowest rate ever. The rix dollar conversion shows the rice scheme costed in the money of the market it would buy in. The rix dollar was the Dutch trade dollar of the eastern factories, and quoting the Batavia price in it, with the coyan weighed out in both Dutch and English pounds, gave the Court figures its own supercargoes could verify, the same Dutch benchmark used for the Cape rice ships earlier in the letter. The register of slaves put out, one man to the parson, one to the smith and a girl to the secretary, answered the standing suspicion that Company slaves served private convenience. Three named placements, each with an office attached, against a establishment near 200 otherwise fully employed, met the Court's query with an exhaustive list rather than a general denial, and the parson's man sits beside the parson's own undemanded slave two paragraphs earlier, the exchange of obligations between chaplain and Company running in both directions. The chair carriage was the island's sedan transport, slaves bearing a chair into the country about weekly and two or three in shipping time, when commanders and passengers had to be entertained at the plantation. Dating the practice to Governor Roberts's time and defending it as necessary shows the Council pricing even ceremonial labour against the charge of idleness, one day a week conceded and justified rather than concealed. Speculations Quoting the suckers at a hundred dollars before giving the sterling was probably a deliberate echo of how the island actually paid, in the Spanish dollars the coin schemes had tried to retain. The double pricing let the Court see both the trivial size of the outlay and the Council's habit of reckoning in the money that circulated, a quiet reminder that the station ran its economy in foreign coin for want of English. | ||
47 | then there were on Such Occasions as many Blacks Employed to carry Hammocks as now to carry a Chair We do take great Care of the blacks healths & have a very good Docter yet we have already Men= =tioned in the 32d Parrd of this letter We usually have from ten to thirty Sick there are now but 12 out of the 42 Guinea blacks now liveing yet none dyed for want of Care or Victualls the Guinea blacks when they first Came had each a double Allowance of Rice and Yams besides each one Piece of beef a week and a dram every morng yet they Eat Carry= =on and any kind of Nastiness but we were informed both by Capt: Mackett that sent us them and by Captn White that all those who came from the Bite of Guinea (that is from Callebarr) would do Soe and we find now by Experience among them that all Maugre Blacks that is those who by ill keeping on board have been reduced to a low State of health for want of Necessary Provisions do when when they Come a Shore devour any Carryon or unwholsome thing they find and those Appetites are a long time before they can be regulated to use a moderate way of Eating. 40: The allowance of Rice to Each Black in the Rainy time as has been noted in the 32d Parrd is ten pound ⅌ week & Yams in the dry Season 50:lbs | Before Roberts's time there were on such occasions as many slaves employed to carry hammocks as now carried a chair. The Council took great care of the slaves' health and had a very good doctor. Yet, as already mentioned in the 32nd paragraph of this letter, from ten to thirty were usually sick. There were now but 12 sick out of the 42 Guinea slaves now living, yet none died for want of care or victuals. The Guinea slaves when they first came had each a double allowance of rice and yams, besides each one piece of beef a week and a dram every morning, yet they ate carrion and any kind of nastiness. The Council was informed, both by Captain Mackett who sent them and by Captain White, that all those who came from the Bight of Guinea, that is from Calabar, would do so. The Council now found by experience among them that all meagre slaves, that is those who by ill keeping on board had been reduced to a low state of health for want of necessary provisions, devoured when they came ashore any carrion or unwholesome thing they found, and their appetites took a long time before they could be regulated to a moderate way of eating. 40: The allowance of rice to each slave in the rainy time, as noted in the 32nd paragraph, was ten pounds a week, and yams in the dry season 50 pounds weight [...] Interpretations The Guinea cohort's condition extended the Calabar history that began with the Sitwell consignment of 1714, the source the Council had begged the Court to abandon since 12 November 1714. The mortality count, 42 now living of a draft that had numbered more, with 12 sick, was set against a regimen of double rations, weekly beef and a morning dram, so the losses were charged to the trade's carriage, not the island's keeping, with both delivering captains cited as witnesses that the behaviour was general to the Bight. The observation on starved appetites recorded a clinical finding from experience. Slaves reduced by ill keeping aboard devoured carrion and filth ashore and took months to regulate to moderate eating, which the Council had met with managed feeding rather than punishment, the dram each morning being the standard medicinal spirit issue of the time. The account served the selection argument too, since meagre slaves were exactly what free choice out of a whole cargo would let the island refuse. The hammock comparison completed the defence of the chair carriage. Visitors had always been borne into the country, by hammock before Governor Roberts and by chair since, with the same number of slaves employed either way, so the practice the Court might read as new state was shown to be the island's oldest transport under a different name. Speculations Naming Captain White as a co-witness was probably a careful balancing of the record. His Mercury cargo had just been rated the worst of the season against Mackett's best, so quoting him on the habits of Bight slaves used his expertise while implying his delivery, drawn from the same coast he described, carried the defects he himself had warned of, the Council's politeness doing the censure's office. | ||
48 | weight but ten pound of Rice is a better allowance then 50:lbs of Yamms which is their Provision all the dry Seasons that is Generaly nine months in the year besides this allowance of Rice or Yams there is a boat that fishes every other day We take one dish of Fish for the Fort and the rest We give the blacks So many one time and So many another 'till they are all Served round and So they knowing their Turn they Come for it as the boat comes in. As for those who live in the Country your Honrs have 71. Cows of whom usually 20. give Milk, the Fort has 2lb of butter ⅌ day out of Shipping time and four pound in Shipping time and as many quarts of Milk and the rest of the Milk is Divided among the blacks in the Country a Pint a Piece ⅌ day as farr as it goes and they who Miss it one day have it the next but the young black Childrn: have it always. 41: To your Honrs: 51. Parrd: We thank yor: Honrs for haveing us So much in your minds and wish that the usefull Handicrafts had presented We are Sure they are greatly wanted and nothing will make work Cheaper but makeing workmen Plentier We Pray your Honrs to look over our Consultation of the 27th August last where Mr: Swallow the Carpenter (who had Six Shillings ⅌ day for himself, and three | Ten pounds of rice was a better allowance than the 50 pounds of yams which were the slaves' provision all the dry seasons, that is generally nine months in the year. Besides this allowance of rice or yams there was the boat that fished every other day. One dish of fish was taken for the fort, and the rest given to the slaves, so many at one time and so many at another until all were served round. Knowing their turn, they came for it as the boat came in. As for those who lived in the country, the Court had 71 cows, of which usually 20 gave milk. The fort had two pounds of butter a day out of shipping time and four pounds in shipping time, with as many quarts of milk, and the rest of the milk was divided among the slaves in the country at a pint apiece a day as far as it went. Those who missed it one day had it the next, but the young slave children always had it. 41: On the Court's 51st paragraph, the Council thanked the Court for keeping the island so much in mind, and wished the useful handicrafts had presented themselves. They were greatly wanted, and nothing would make labour cheaper than making workmen plentier. The Council asked the Court to look over its consultation of 27 August last, where Mr Swallow the carpenter, who had 6s a day for himself and 3s [...] Interpretations The ration system now stood complete for the Court: yams at 50 pounds a head a week through the nine dry months, rice at ten pounds in the twelve rainy weeks and judged the better diet, fish from the establishment boat every other day shared by roster, and dairy from 71 cows of which 20 milked, the fort taking butter and milk scaled to shipping time and the country slaves a pint apiece in rotation. The children's standing priority on milk, written into the rule, protected the establishment's future labour at the point where infant mortality was most easily bought off. The fish roster shows distribution engineered to prevent contention. Serving so many at a time until all were served round, with each slave knowing his turn and meeting the boat, removed both favouritism and scramble from a perishable issue that could not be stored, the same orderly queueing principle the fencing scheme had applied to the planters. The wage evidence opens the answer on handicrafts with the island's standing proof that scarcity set the price of skill. Richard Swallow, the sickly carpenter on whom the whole building programme had leaned since Maynard went to Bencoolen, drew 6s a day with more for his men, against the 4s 6d the Council had proposed for artificers recruited in England since 12 November 1714, so every craftsman the Court failed to send was paid for again in the rates the island had to bear. Speculations The maxim that nothing made labour cheaper than making workmen plentier was probably aimed at the Court's purse rather than its sympathy. Wage complaints had failed for three years to bring artificers, so the Council recast the request as price theory, supply against rates, with Swallow's 6s a day standing as the running cost of every year the directors delayed. | ||
49 | Shillings for two and two Shillings for one ⅌ day for three apprentices) Petitioned for Advanceing their Wages which We did to two of them from three Shillings to three & Sixpence but one of them as your Honrs will find by our Consultacon of the 15:th Octobr: last desired a further Advance of 6:ds ⅌ day more and has therefore left the work by this your Honrs may See how We are Imposed upon for want of Handicraft men and they will Demand According as they think you want We coud wish and We hope youl please to Excuse our Pressing it So farr (when we have perhaps wrote too often to you already about it) and that youd please to Send us a few working men and to agree wth them to find their own Provisions at half a Crown a day there are a thousd good workmen in and about London that would be glad to go to a much worse Place then this on Such terms, and We believe there is not one of your Honrs but have Some poor work men Depending on your Families that woud think themselves Advanced by having a Constant Employ =ment on Such Terms or if your Honrs Shoud think fitt to pay their wives Passage out it would fix them here the better We have room Enough for Industrious working people but no body Else Can live here | Mr Swallow had 6s a day for himself, 3s for two of his apprentices and 2s for one, a day, for three apprentices. They petitioned for an advance of their wages, which the Council granted to two of them, from 3s to 3s 6d. One of them, as the Court would find by the consultation of 15 October last, asked a further advance of 6d a day more, and on refusal left the labour. By this the Court could see how the island was imposed on for want of handicraft men, who would demand according as they thought the Court's need. The Council hoped to be excused for pressing the matter so far, having perhaps written too often about it already, and asked the Court to send out a few craftsmen, agreed with to find their own provisions at half a crown a day. There were a thousand good workmen in and about London who would be glad to go to a much worse place on such terms. The Council believed there was not one of the directors but had some poor workmen depending on their families who would think themselves advanced by constant employment on such terms. If the Court thought fit to pay their wives' passage out, it would fix them at the island the better. There was room enough for industrious labouring people, but nobody else could live there. Interpretations The Swallow shop's wage history gave the Court a documented case of scarcity pricing. The master at 6s a day, apprentices raised from 3s to 3s 6d, and one walking out when refused a further 6d, with the consultation of 15 October cited as proof, showed craftsmen rating their pay by the Court's need rather than the labour's worth, exactly the imposition the Council said only plenty of hands could cure. The recruiting offer was costed to undercut the island rate by half. Half a crown a day, 2s 6d, with the man finding his own provisions, stood against Swallow's 6s with the establishment's burdens besides, and the proposal repeated the self-providing terms the Council had urged since the long reply of late 1716, when it asked that incoming tradesmen find their own tools and diet for a fixed wage. London's thousand willing workmen was the labour market the directors could see from their own windows, the argument carried to their doorstep. The wives' passage clause addressed the desertion problem in standing recruitment. Single men served their term and left, as the island's whole history of departing artificers showed, but a man whose family had crossed at the Court's charge was fixed, the same reasoning behind the request of 26 January 1716 for six of each trade with families preferred, and behind Maynard's request in 1715 that his wife come over once he settled. Speculations The appeal to the directors' own poor dependants was probably the boldest stroke in the letter, converting a supply request into a personal favour each director could do his own clients. Patronage filled Company posts at every level, so inviting the Court to nominate workmen from the families that depended on them aligned the island's want with the directors' private obligations, recruitment by interest where recruitment by advertisement had failed. | ||
50 | 42: As to getting Carpenters out of Shipps their mates are Either bungling fellows or Else their Apprentices and tho' We have often tryed yet We can gett none and if there were Such none of them would come a Shoar to live here upon less terms than We pay to others of the same trade but from Engld: We think Such workmen woud Easier be found. 43: We have Endeavoured to bring up blacks to trades here and Some We have taught to lay Stones but Joynery or Carpentry We cannot have them taught the Europeans will not Shew them, they talk e among themselves that teaching a black is a hinderance to their trades and that they Shall be less Depended on if they Shew the Blacks their Art Old Will was taught his Carpentry in Sr: Harry Johnsons Yard at London Jack Greivee learnt of him but is not workman good Eno to Shew others his Employmt is making Stiles & Gates in the Enclosed Plantations, and now We are divide= =ing your Honrs Pasture ground into ffeilds he is not Sufficient 44: At Batavia the Dutch Company have none but Criminall Slaves who work at all Sorts of Laborious work loading & unloading Ships, Carry= ing burthens, Stowing their Ware Houses, Sawing Timber, but Chiefly in Clearing their Canalls and | 42: As to getting carpenters out of ships, their mates were either bungling fellows or else their apprentices. Though the Council had often tried, none could be got, and if there were any fit, none of them would come ashore to live at the island on lesser terms than were paid to others of the same trade. From England the Council thought such workmen would be easier found. 43: The Council had tried to bring up slaves to trades at the island, and some had been taught to lay stones, but joinery or carpentry they could not have them taught. The Europeans would not show them. They said among themselves that teaching a slave was a hindrance to their trades, and that they would be the less depended on if they showed the slaves their art. Old Will was taught his carpentry in Sir Harry Johnson's yard at London. Jack Greivre learnt of him, but was not workman good enough to show others. His employment was making stiles and gates in the enclosed plantations, and now that the Court's pasture ground was being divided into fields he was not sufficient. 44: At Batavia the Dutch Company had none but criminal slaves who laboured at all sorts of heavy tasks, loading and unloading ships, carrying burdens, stowing their warehouses, sawing timber, but chiefly in clearing their canals and carrying [...] Interpretations The craftsmen's refusal to teach slaves was a deliberate restraint of trade, named as such. The European tradesmen reasoned among themselves that every slave taught was a hand that undercut them and lessened the island's dependence on their 6s a day, so the apprenticeship policy pressed since Cleeve resisted it in 1714, and attempted again when John Beal was bound to Maynard in 1716, broke on the instructors' self-interest rather than the learners' capacity, stone laying having been taught where the teachers had no monopoly to lose. The genealogy of slave carpentry on the island ran through one London yard. Old Will, the trusted elder valued above all the Court's slaves, had his trade from Sir Harry Johnson's yard, the great Blackwall shipbuilding establishment, and Jack Greivre learnt of him, but the line thinned at each remove, Greivre sufficient for stiles and gates in the enclosures but not to teach, and now outpaced by the field divisions the pasture reform required. The skill the Europeans would not transmit was dying out of the establishment by simple succession. The Batavia comparison opened the labour argument on the Dutch model again, this time from its penal side. The Dutch Company's heavy port labour, lading, warehousing, sawing and canal clearing, was done wholly by criminal slaves, the system the island had copied in miniature when Jack Batavia and George were set to the fortifications in irons in 1714, and the precedent prepared whatever proposal the next passage carried. Speculations Naming Sir Harry Johnson's yard was probably meant to carry weight at the Court beyond mere biography. Blackwall built and repaired the Company's own ships, so the detail certified Old Will's training in the best school the directors knew, and quietly showed that a slave properly taught in London had given the island decades of carpentry the free tradesmen now refused to reproduce. | ||
51 | Carrying the Earth out of their Ballast boats Either to make ground by filling up Swamps in their Marshes or to their ffortifications which are Numerous quite round the Citty and these Fortifications are first made of Earth which is a large Bank Cast up of about 30. foot thick at the Bottom & Sloaping or Battering in to 20 and this is Cased over wth Cutt Stones by Degrees but as to Slaves for trades the Dutch Company can hire both Chineese and Malay People So cheap that it is not worth their whiles to keep Slaves of their own for that Purpose of late they have Encouraged the Coffee Plantations at Batavia to a great Degree there are Some that have 30,000. Coffee trees & most wealthy men have Some and those indeed are managed by their Slaves as Private mens Servants & the Company have Contracted to Encourage that Sort of Plantation to take all their Coffee at a Certain Price but We have not heard that the Dutch Company have Employed any of their own Slaves that way tho they have Severall brought up in their Gardens, Our Governr Says their Coffee is very good and Grows as large and fine as at Moab in Arabia (which is the Sultans Residence) yet at Batavia they have a Constant Sea & Land Breeze which Comes in wth Squalls of Rain So that they Cannot So well cure their Coffee by drying | The criminal slaves carried the earth out of the Dutch ballast boats, either to make ground by filling up swamps in their marshes, or to their fortifications, which were numerous quite round the city. Those fortifications were first made of earth, a large bank cast up about 30 foot thick at the bottom, sloping or battering in to 20, and then cased over with cut stones by degrees. As to slaves for trades, the Dutch Company could hire both Chinese and Malay people so cheap that it was not worth their while to keep slaves of their own for that purpose. Of late they encouraged the coffee plantations at Batavia to a great degree. Some men had 30,000 coffee trees, and most wealthy men had some. Those plantations were indeed managed by their slaves as private men's servants, and the Dutch Company contracted, to encourage that sort of plantation, to take all their coffee at a certain price. The Council had not heard that the Dutch Company employed any of its own slaves that way, though several were brought up in its gardens. The Governor said their coffee was very good, and grew as large and fine as at Moab in Arabia, which was the Sultan's residence, yet at Batavia there was a constant sea and land breeze which came in with squalls of rain, so that they could not so well cure their coffee by drying [...] Interpretations The Batavia account answered the labour question with a market the island lacked. The Dutch kept their own slaves only for penal drudgery because free Chinese and Malay labour hired cheaper than slaves could be maintained, so skilled trades came by wage, not by teaching slaves, and the island's failure at slave apprenticeship was thereby shown to the Court as the absence of any such hiring pool, not mismanagement. The coffee intelligence described a guaranteed-price contract as the engine of a new colonial crop. The Dutch Company undertook to take all the private planters' coffee at a certain price, and on that security wealthy men set out plantations of 30,000 trees run by their household slaves, a model of company-backed private cultivation directly relevant to an island that gave its planters free seed and sought crops to occupy them. The fortification description, an earthen bank 30 foot thick at the base battering to 20 and cased by degrees in cut stone, gave the Court a measured engineering report on the strongest works in the eastern seas. Intelligence of Batavia's bastions had been sent home since 19 February 1715, and the detail here, gathered from the same ship traffic, kept the island's own modest walls and half bastions in instructive comparison. The Governor's comparison of Batavia coffee with Moab in Arabia drew on his own knowledge of the Mocha trade's vocabulary, the Arabian source then supplying Europe through ships like the British Merchant from Mocha that February. The curing problem he noted, sea and land breezes bringing squalls that spoiled the drying, identified the one step where Arabia kept its advantage over Java. Speculations The length and care of this Dutch digression suggests the Council was answering a Court appetite for intelligence as much as arguing its labour case. The directors' letters had asked repeatedly about Dutch movements and methods, so a connected account of Batavia's labour market, public works and the new coffee scheme, sourced from commanders and the Governor's own conversations, gave India House material it could get nowhere else in English, and cast the island as the Company's listening post on the homeward route. | ||
52 | of it So as to have the bright Colour which the Coffee of Betle Fakiel in arabia has and therefore will neither keep nor look So well as that do's the Dutch Company have alsoe many thousands of other Slaves which they Send to work in their Spice Islands where they cant run away but our Governour Sayes he does not remember that the Dutch East India Company keeps any quantity of Slaves at Batavia unless Some few in their Gardens and the Criminall ones before mentioned. 45: As to the Eagles men We Shall observe your Honrs: Directions in Cases of like Nature but as to Fleureus, Bates, Shoales & Poulter that Stole away the long Boat We can Say but little, when they were here We thought them Honest tho' they have not proved So Fleureus ye Cheif manager when he came here was a taylor, but he came Acquainted wth the Stone Cutters who could not write & being Expert wth his Pen and Ingenious drew out and marked their work and learned their Trade and then had 5s ⅌ Day after that he came Acquainted wth: one Welch who had made Some Proficiency in Numbers & Practiced Some Parts of the Mathematicks & So to Navigation which when he had gained Some | The Batavia coffee could not be cured by drying so as to have the bright colour of the coffee of Betle Fakiel in Arabia, and therefore would neither keep nor look so well as that did. The Dutch Company also had many thousands of other slaves, sent to labour in their Spice Islands, where they could not run away. The Governor said he did not remember that the Dutch East India Company kept any quantity of slaves at Batavia, except some few in their gardens and the criminal ones mentioned before. 45: As to the Eagle's men, the Council would observe the Court's directions in cases of a like nature. As to Fleurcus, Bates, Shoales and Poulter, who stole away the longboat, little could be said. While they were at the island the Council thought them honest, though they had not proved so. Fleurcus, the chief manager, when he came to the island was a tailor, but he grew acquainted with the stone cutters, who could not write. Being expert with his pen, he ingeniously drew out and marked their tasks, learned their trade, and was then paid 5s a day. After that he grew acquainted with one Welch, who had made some proficiency in numbers and practised some parts of mathematics, and so to navigation, from which, when he had gained some knowledge [...] Interpretations The Court's directions on the Eagle's men closed the long file of the Eagle Galley conspirators, the standing rule for like cases replacing the improvised dispersals of 1715 and 1716 that had scattered the gunner, boatswain, Adier, Gwyn, Wells and Cook across separate homeward ships. The new case, four men stealing the longboat, showed the escape problem outliving the old gang, the boat-hauling order of 1716 notwithstanding. Fleurcus's career, reconstructed for the Court, traced how a tailor became an escape's chief manager through the island's own skill shortages. The stone cutters could not write, so a man expert with his pen made himself indispensable by drawing and marking their tasks, learned the trade alongside them, and rose to the craft rate of 5s a day, the wage that had been the stone layers' benchmark since 1715. Literacy among the illiterate trades, then mathematics and navigation from Welch, equipped him step by step for the sea theft, each acquisition honest in itself. The Spice Islands deportations completed the Dutch labour intelligence with the geography of control. Thousands of slaves were sent where escape was impossible, islands without exit, the same logic by which the island had judged Bencoolen too dangerous for sailors who knew ships and had kept its own conspirators from the eastern seas. Speculations The detail that Fleurcus learned the stone cutters' trade by writing for them probably carried a warning the Council did not state outright. The island's defence against combination had always been examining men apart and keeping records they could not read, so a clerk among the illiterate labourers was a manager in the making, and the story showed the Court how skill scarcity made the establishment teach its own deserters their means of escape. | ||
53 | knowledge in he put in Practice wth your Honrs boat None of them were Concerned So much as wth the managemt of a boat before Unless Bates who was yor: Coxswain here and always had Charge of yor Boats So by Fleureus' Skill & Direction & Bates Experience & managemt for he could keep no Account himselfe We conclude they made that adventure and Drew in Godfrey Shoales a Crazey man & Poulter the Cooper (without whose Connivance they could not have gone) to Assist them wth their Labour and to Run that Hazard with them Fleureus because We did not give him Six Shillings ⅌ day had asked leave to go Home which We could not well grant because his Child a Girle must have been maintained by the Parrish as has happened Since, The Governr has mentioned his thoughts of this in Consultation of the 23 of July last, and we are Sencible it is a hardship when a man has Served his Contracted time that he is not Permitted to go off and would if We could avoid it be unwilling to refuse Such liberty to any man that has Served out his time but your Honrs Since We have been here have not been pleased to Send out men to Supply the Mortality of the Place We have two more Forts than formerly and the main Fort is also bigger yet we have fewer Soldiers if your Honrs Should | Fleurcus put his navigation knowledge into practice with the Court's boat. None of the four had been concerned so much as with the managing of a boat before, except Bates, who was the Court's coxswain at the island and always had charge of the Court's boats. So by Fleurcus's skill and direction and Bates's experience and management, for Fleurcus could keep no account himself, the Council concluded they made that venture, drawing in Godfrey Shoales, a crazy man, and Poulter the sentry, without whose connivance they could not have gone, to assist them with their labour and run the hazard with them. Fleurcus, because the Council did not give him 6s a day, had asked leave to go home, which could not well be granted, because his child, a girl, must have been maintained by the parish, as had happened since. The Governor set out his thoughts on this in the consultation of 23 July last. The Council was sensible it was a hardship when a man had served his contracted time that he was not permitted to go off, and would, if it could avoid it, be unwilling to refuse such liberty to any man who had served out his time. Yet the Court, since the Council came to the island, had not been pleased to send out men to supply the mortality of the place. There were two more forts than before, and the main fort was also bigger, yet there were fewer soldiers. If the Court thought [...] Interpretations The escape's anatomy assigned each man his function: Fleurcus the navigator and director, Bates the coxswain supplying boat skill and the standing access his charge of the Court's boats gave, Shoales the labour, and Poulter the sentry whose connivance unlocked the watch, the inside man without whom the boat-hauling precautions of 1716 meant nothing. The Council's note that Fleurcus could keep no account himself, for all his pen and mathematics, marked the difference between literacy and reckoning, and explained why the venture needed Bates's management. The refusal of leave shows the retention policy generating the very desertion it feared. Fleurcus, denied the 6s rate and then denied passage home, was held because his daughter would fall on the parish, the island's poor-relief charge, which she did anyway once he fled, so the Council kept the man and got the burden both. The candid finding that holding time-expired men was a hardship, minuted in the Governor's consultation of 23 July, prepared the request that followed. The garrison arithmetic pressed the Court with its own works. Two new forts and an enlarged main fort since 1714, defended by fewer soldiers than before, with no recruits sent to supply the mortality of the place in three years, made the retention of time-expired men the only manpower policy London had left the island, the same complaint carried by the Averilla on 2 August 1715 when of twenty-four soldiers ordered out only eight came. This Poulter, the conniving sentry, is distinct from the John Poulter sent home by the Court's order in the Princess Amelia on 25 July 1717 with his bills on William Dawsonne. Speculations Describing Shoales as a crazy man was probably more than abuse, since it sorted the four for the Court's justice. Fleurcus and Bates carried the design, Poulter betrayed a post, but a man not sound in mind was drawn in for his labour, a gradation of culpability that would matter if any of them were taken and tried, and that showed the Council weighing men it had lost as carefully as men it kept. | ||
54 | think fitt to Send us over ten Soldiers every Year We could then give leave to those who desired it to go home and tis Probable that if they knew they could have leave at any time to goe off that fewer would desire Such leave and We humbly Conceive they would be much better Contented to Stay We alsoe think the Charge to yor Honrs would be the very Same all but their Severall Passages out which is not very Consi= =derable now in time of Peace And we hope when your Honrs Consider of it Youl please to think it may be worth while to keep So many People Easey and well Contented while they Perform their Service We take leave to represent to your Honrs how many men are Necessary at Each Fort or place of Easey Access for Landing & Shall begin with Sandy Bay where there is two Guns but we think Six would be more Necessary & for that Guard there Should be one Officer and two men Constantly, the next is Prosperous bay where there ought to be four men & one officer Constantly and below at Keywins Landing place one man at Matts mount or fflagstaff Hill always one man, at King Williams Fort & Bankses Platt form and the Sugar loafe two Officers and five Men | If the Court thought fit to send over ten soldiers every year, leave could then be given to those who wished to go home. Probably, if men knew they could have leave at any time to go off, fewer would want such leave, and the Council humbly believed they would be much better contented to stay. The charge to the Court would be the very same, all but their several passages out, which was not very considerable now in time of peace. The Council hoped that when the Court considered it, it would think it worthwhile to keep so many people easy and well contented while they performed their service. The Council took leave to set out how many men were necessary at each fort or place of easy access for landing, and began with Sandy Bay, where there were two guns, but six would be more necessary, and for that guard there should be one officer and two men constantly. The next was Prosperous Bay, where there ought to be four men and one officer constantly, and below at Keewins landing place one man, at Matts Mount or Flagstaff Hill always one man, at King William's Fort and Bank's platform and the Sugar Loaf two officers and five men [...] Interpretations The ten-soldiers-a-year scheme converted a grievance into a rotation system at almost no cost. A fixed annual draft replacing mortality and discharges would let every time-expired man go, and the Council's insight that freedom to leave would itself reduce the wish to leave turned the psychology of confinement into an argument the directors could test, the whole charge being the same pay either way plus peacetime passages out. The guard schedule began the first systematic manning establishment for the island's outworks offered to the Court, post by post: Sandy Bay, held by Captain Pollard's two guns since the King Fisher's visit and judged to need six with an officer and two men standing, Prosperous Bay with its officer and four covering the windward landing and the alarm route run since Sinnock's day, single sentries at Keewins landing and on Flagstaff Hill, and two officers with five men across King William's Fort, Bank's platform and the Sugar Loaf, the northern works the long reply of late 1716 had marked for repair as places of consequence. The schedule's premise, places of easy access for landing, applied the strategic doctrine standing since 1714, that the island fell wherever an enemy could land unopposed, the reasoning that had condemned Bouchier's handling of the French ships at Rupert's and driven the fortification programme since. Counting the posts against the garrison's actual strength supplied the arithmetic for the complaint that fewer soldiers now held more forts. Speculations The careful note that passages cost little now in time of peace was probably aimed at the Court's strongest objection before it could be raised. Wartime freight and impressment had once made every man sent east expensive, so dating the scheme to the peace told the directors the cheap moment to adopt it was the present one, and that delay would price the reform back out of reach if war returned. | ||
55 | At Ruperts there ought to be always one Officer & three men. At Mundens Point One Officer & four men, at the Main Fort, one Ensigne one Gunner one Serjt: one Corporll: one Lance and twenty five men at Lemon Valley two men at So: West Point one man and at the Peak one man wch makes Sixty men alwayes on duty in the Severall parts of the Island, and there being three Guards or Releifs trebles that number wch makes One hundd: & Eighty men in all and if We Should raise two other Platforms one against the Landing at Ruperts and the other at the West rocks a fewer Number would not doe there ought then to be Six men more in a Guard We have not been Particular in the Gunners Crew because Six of them are to be under= =stood as Part of the Number of Officers before Mentioned and therefore We only name two Mates and four Montrosses for him We hope your Honrs: will not think Us Extravagant in Mentioning So many men as Necessary which youl find to be realy So when you please to make any Particular Enquiry of those Gentlemen who know this place the best and this will be or ought to be the Constant Garrison for out of these there are Usually one in twenty but in the rainy Seasons Comonly one in ten | At Rupert's there ought always to be one officer and three men, at Munden's Point one officer and four men, at the main fort one ensign, one gunner, one sergeant, one corporal, one lance and twenty-five men, at Lemon Valley two men, at South West Point one man and at the Peak one man, which made sixty men always on duty in the several parts of the island. There being three guards, or reliefs, that trebled the number, which made 180 men in all. If two other platforms were raised, one against the landing at Rupert's and the other at the West Rocks, a fewer number would not do, and there ought then to be six men more in a guard. The Council had not been particular about the gunner's crew, because six of them were to be understood as part of the number of officers mentioned before, and therefore it named only two mates and four matrosses for him. The Council hoped the Court would not think it extravagant in naming so many men as necessary, which the Court would find to be really so on making any particular enquiry of those gentlemen who knew the island best. This would be, or ought to be, the constant garrison, for out of these there were usually one in twenty, but in the rainy seasons commonly one in ten, always [...] Interpretations The establishment now stood complete in figures the Court could check: sixty men on duty across the named posts, trebled by the three-relief system to a constant garrison of 180, with six more a guard, eighteen in all, if the two proposed platforms at the Rupert's landing and the West Rocks were built. The relief structure, three watches rotating so every post was always manned, was the multiplier that turned a modest duty roster into a garrison demand nearly double anything the island had held, and made the case of the previous paragraph, more forts and fewer soldiers, exact. The gunner's crew of two mates and four matrosses defined the island's permanent artillery establishment. Matrosses were the gunner's labourers and assistants, who traversed, sponged and loaded the pieces under the mates, and counting six of the crew within the officers already named kept the schedule honest against any charge of double counting, the kind of audit-proofing the whole letter practised. The closing sickness allowance converted the morbidity rates of paragraph 32 into military arithmetic, one man in twenty ordinarily unfit and one in ten in the rains, so the constant garrison of 180 was the effective strength only after wastage, and the true recruitment need ran above the establishment figure. The invitation to verify the whole by enquiry of the gentlemen who knew the island best meant the returning commanders and passengers, Harrison above all, the same independent witnesses the Council had cultivated all year. Speculations Holding back the two new platforms as a conditional addition was probably deliberate modesty in the schedule's design. The Council asked only for the garrison its existing works required, showing the extra eighteen men as the price of further security rather than bundling them into the demand, so the directors were left to choose between two costed levels of safety instead of being asked to swallow one large establishment whole. | ||
56 | alwayes Sick and uncapable of Performing any duty We do cause Severall to Stay by our Perswasions and fair means and wherever they doe Deserve it none want Encouragement. 46: And altho We have troubled your Honrs So farr on this head be pleased to permitt us a little farther Digression which is to Acquaint your Honrs with a Method the Governr: remembers to be used by the Dutch Company who Send over yearly in Each Ship great Numbers of Soldiers to Batavia they who goe first Contract (as We Suppose your Honrs Soldiers do) to Serve the Company five years when their time is out they are discharged Immediatly and at Liberty to live in those Parts of India or to return Home paying their own Passage or to take to any other Employmt as they like best Many of those Soldiers not knowing how to do better (as will be the Case with of ours) take on again and make a new Contract to Serve their Compa: three years more and Soe if they Continue in that Service they Contract from three year to three years Some of them who have deserved it are often advanced in the Second listing and if there be no Vacancies in the Military Employments to preferr all those who have deserved well they give them a gratuity in money So that most of them who live their times out for the | One in ten in the rainy seasons were always sick and incapable of performing any duty. The Council caused several men to stay by persuasion and fair means, and wherever they deserved it none wanted encouragement. 46: Although the Court had been troubled so far on this head, the Council asked leave for a little further digression, to acquaint the Court with a method the Governor remembered to be used by the Dutch Company, who sent over yearly in each ship great numbers of soldiers to Batavia. Those who went first contracted, as the Court's soldiers were supposed to do, to serve the company five years. When their time was out they were discharged immediately and at liberty to live in those parts of India, or to return home paying their own passage, or to take any other employment as they liked best. Many of those soldiers, not knowing how to do better, as would be the case with the island's own, took on again and made a new contract to serve their company three years more, and so, if they continued in that service, they contracted from three years to three years. Some who had deserved it were often advanced in the second listing. If there were no vacancies in the military employments to prefer all those who had deserved well, they were given a gratuity in money, so that most of those who lived their times out for the first [...] Interpretations The Dutch enlistment model supplied the missing half of the rotation scheme proposed at the last paragraph. Batavia's garrison ran on five-year first contracts discharged punctually at term, with re-engagement by free three-year contracts, promotion at re-listing for the deserving, and money gratuities where no vacancy could prefer them, so retention was bought with liberty and reward rather than enforced by refusing passage, the very practice the Council had just confessed as a hardship in the Fleurcus case. The Governor's remembering of the method marks the intelligence as Pyke's own, gathered like his Batavia coffee and fortification reports from his years of eastern conversation, and offered here as the second Dutch precedent of the letter after the Cape rice ships. Citing the rival company's personnel economy continued the letter's standing technique of arguing reform through the example the directors most respected and most feared. The aside that the island's men, like the Dutch, would mostly re-enlist for want of better prospects was the scheme's financial warrant. Free discharge would not empty the garrison, because the same men would contract again voluntarily, now contented, so the Court risked passages for ten men a year against the desertions, escapes and discontents that compulsion had bred since 1714. Speculations The careful parenthesis comparing the first contract to what the Court's soldiers were supposed to do probably carried a quiet barb. The island's men had served under terms honoured only in the keeping, time-expired soldiers held for want of replacements, so the Dutch system was being praised precisely for performing the bargain the Company made but did not keep, a criticism safe only in the form of admiration for the rival. | ||
57 | first five years Service list again for three years more and if we were to Encourage them on this manner tho' Some would go Home every year yet the most part woud Stay and Enter anew in your Hon:rs Service and if We were Allowed to reward those wth a gratuity who had lived here Commendably and were willing to List againe We believe it would be less Chargeable to yo: Honrs than Paying Passage for Fresh men out of England Especially if it be Considered that many of those Fresh men who are Sent over dye in the first two years So that one Old Stander who is Seasoned to the Place is of more Consequence than a new Comer, the Dutch do alsoe Encourage their Soldiers to List anew in their Service by allowing all those who have listed a Second time wth them to be Super= =anuated at Sixty and Some times at fifty Six years of Age and these Superanuated men have Part of their pay & Cloathing and are not Obliged to doe any duty So that most of them Maintaine themselves in Some Petty Employment or being hired by other Soldiers in the Companys Service to Stand Centry or Perform any other Military Service for them while they Either work at their trades or Perform Some Short Voyages in the parts ad= =jacent to Batavia Perhaps your Honrs Know | Most of those who lived out their first five years' service listed again for three years more. If the island's men were encouraged in this manner, though some would go home every year, yet the most part would stay and enter anew in the Court's service. If the Council were allowed to reward with a gratuity those who had lived at the island commendably and were willing to list again, it believed that would cost the Court less than paying passage for fresh men out of England, especially considering that many of those fresh men who were sent over died in the first two years, so that one old stander who was seasoned to the place was of more consequence than a newcomer. The Dutch also encouraged their soldiers to list anew in their service by allowing all those who had listed a second time with them to be superannuated at sixty, and sometimes at fifty-six, years of age. Those superannuated men had part of their pay and clothing and were not obliged to do any duty, so most of them maintained themselves in some petty employment, or were hired by other soldiers in the company's service to stand sentry or perform any other military service for them, while they either followed their trades or made some short voyages in the parts adjacent to Batavia. Perhaps the Court knew all [...] Interpretations The re-enlistment gratuity was costed against the mortality of recruits. Fresh men from England died heavily in their first two years, the seasoning the island's sickly seasons exacted, so a bounty paid to a seasoned old stander willing to list again bought proven survival cheaper than a passage bought a probable grave, the same actuarial reasoning the Council had applied to slaves when it ranked an acclimatised hand above a new purchase. The Dutch pension described was a half-pay superannuation at sixty, sometimes fifty-six, for twice-listed men, keeping part pay and clothing with no duty owed. The detail that pensioners hired themselves to serving soldiers to stand their sentries shows the Batavia garrison running an internal market in duty itself, watches bought and sold among the men, while the veterans plied trades or coasted in the adjacent seas, a reserve of seasoned men kept in the colony at a fraction of their old cost. The proposal completed the career structure the digression had been building, enlistment, free discharge, re-listing with reward, and now provision for age, so that service at the island would carry a man from recruit to pensioner without the dead end that made every time-expired soldier a Fleurcus in waiting. The Council asked only for the gratuity power, leaving the pension as Dutch example for the Court to draw on. Speculations The closing deference, that the Court perhaps knew all this already, was probably placed to disarm the directors' pride before the digression's length could offend it. A Governor lecturing India House on Dutch administration risked seeming to teach his masters, so the Council framed two pages of policy as mere reminder, the same studied humility that had dressed the letter's apology for prolixity at paragraph 16. | ||
58 | all this a great Deal better than We do yet because we would be glad to make every body Easey and Contented wth Staying here when We cant without great Inconveniency Suffer them to go unless we were better recruited here than Stand wth your Honrs pleasure at present We have adventured to to add to your trouble by reminding yor Honrs of what is done on the Island Java that you might if your Honrs pleased to Ordr Something to that Purpose here 47: The List of revenues is every year delivered by Our Secretry to the Storekeeper who when he Reckons wth the Inhabitants makes them Debtor for the Same and then the Accomptt takes Notice of it in Each mans Account for Customs at the Waterside at the going away of each Ship that Account is brought in and over lookt by the Councill who alwayes Charge for every thing of Consequence but Excuse trifles as when a planter goes on board if he bring a Single Piece of Cloth or Chints or a few bottles of Arrack We never Charge that nor what a Comander of a Ship brings on Shoar for his own use tho' We know that Sometimes these are Pretences Yet we think the Comanders of your Ships do and ought to Expect as good usage here as they have at the Cape of | Perhaps the Court knew all this a great deal better than the Council did. Yet because the Council would gladly make everybody easy and contented with staying at the island, when it could not without great inconvenience suffer them to go unless better recruited than stood with the Court's pleasure at present, it ventured to add to the Court's trouble by reminding it of what was done on the island of Java, so that the Court might, if it pleased, order something to that purpose at St Helena. 47: The list of revenues was delivered every year by the secretary to the storekeeper, who, when he reckoned with the inhabitants, made them debtor for the same, and then the accountant took notice of it in each man's account. As for customs at the waterside, at the going away of each ship that account was brought in and overlooked by the Council, which always charged for everything of consequence but excused trifles. When a planter went on board, if he brought back a single piece of cloth or chintz or a few bottles of arrack, that was never charged, nor what a commander of a ship brought on shore for his own use, though the Council knew that sometimes these were pretences. Yet it thought the commanders of the Court's ships did and ought to expect as good usage at the island as they had at the Cape of [...] Interpretations The revenue circuit described at paragraph 47 ran the island's rents and dues through three offices in sequence, the secretary listing, the storekeeper charging each inhabitant debtor at the reckoning, and the accountant posting it to every man's account, so the same sum stood in three records kept by three hands, the separation of functions the new accountant's office had been built to enforce. The customs practice declared a working de minimis rule at the waterside. Every ship's account was reviewed by the full Council at her departure, everything of consequence charged, but a planter's piece of chintz or few bottles, and a commander's personal goods, passed free even where the Council knew the personal use was sometimes pretence, tolerated leakage priced below the cost and friction of collecting it. The standard invoked for commanders, usage as good as the Cape's, made the Dutch station the island's open competitor for the goodwill of the Court's own captains. Commanders chose where to spend their refreshment money, the trade the island lived by, so customs courtesy was retention policy, the same reasoning that had supplied interlopers' rivals and victualled the French for their money since 1715. Speculations Admitting in the same breath that the exemptions were sometimes pretences and that they would continue was probably a deliberate display of governing judgement for the directors. The Council showed it was not deceived, then showed it chose tolerance anyway for the trade's sake, forestalling any informer's report of waterside laxity by owning the practice first and giving its commercial reason. | ||
59 | good hope where Such Small matters are never Stopt but if any Arrack Comes on Shoar here in a Cask tho it be a Small one it pays Customes and any large bundle of Linnen do's the Same, As to the blew Cloth of Captain Fitzhugh he was Charged Debtor in the Stores for the Same but the Chints was Claimed by one of the Sea men who might for ought we then knew to the Contrary as well have Claimed the Blew Cloth too, Since the time We layed 12d ⅌ Gallon Arrack there has none been brought on Shore to Sell that We know of and We think that Trade is now at an End as to other Matters of the Private Store Houses Arrack being the Chief e Article we think now or within twelve months last Past they have done your Honrs: Very little Damage But as to So great a Strictness of Forfeiting all goods that come a Shoar without first paying duty it will be Such a Discouragemt to the Comanders who now and then defray Part of their Charges by Exchangeing one odd thing or other for Provisions for their Ships that many of them will never think it worth their while to take Pains to Hitt this Island and Such a Mistake will tend more to your Honrs Prejudice than the Small benefit that may be otherwise Obtained by too great Strictness will Account for besides if We were thus Strict it could not hinder them because if they would they might | At the Cape of Good Hope such small matters were never stopped. If any arrack came on shore at the island in a cask, though a small one, it paid customs, and any large bundle of linen did the same. As to the blue cloth of Captain Fitzhugh, he was charged debtor in the stores for it, but the chintz was claimed by one of the seamen, who might, for anything then known to the contrary, as well have claimed the blue cloth too. Since the duty of 12d a gallon was laid on arrack, none had been brought on shore to sell that the Council knew of, and it thought that trade was now at an end. As to other matters of the private storehouses, arrack being the chief article, the Council thought that now, or within the twelve months last past, they had done the Court very little damage. As to so great a strictness as forfeiting all goods that came ashore without first paying duty, it would so discourage the commanders, who now and then defrayed part of their charges by exchanging one odd thing or other for provisions for their ships, that many of them would never think it worth their while to take pains to call at the island. Such a mistake would tend more to the Court's prejudice than the small benefit otherwise obtained by too great strictness would account for. Besides, if the Council were thus strict, it could not hinder them, because if they would, they might land [...] Interpretations The customs line was now drawn precisely for the Court: commercial quantities, arrack by the cask however small and linen by the large bundle, always paid, while the trifles of personal use passed, the Cape's own laxity cited as the competing standard. The Fitzhugh case showed the rule applied upward, the commander charged debtor in the stores for his blue cloth from the Derby's call of June 1716, with the chintz escaping only because a seaman claimed it, a claim the Council recorded its doubts of even while allowing it. The twelvepence duty was reported as having killed the landed arrack trade outright, none brought ashore to sell within knowledge since the duty took effect, and the private storehouses, whose understorehouse trade by Powell, the parson and the parson's wife the duty had been laid to suppress, reduced to doing very little damage within the last twelve months. The structural solution proposed at 12 November 1714 and commenced in December 1715 had, on this account, completed its purpose. The argument against forfeiture weighed enforcement against the calling trade itself. Commanders defrayed part of their charges by exchanging odd goods for provisions, the sugar barter of 8 May 1717 being the season's example, so confiscating goods landed before duty would teach captains the island was not worth their pains, and the Court would lose the refreshment custom to save a trifling revenue, strictness costing more than it collected. Speculations The closing concession that strictness could not in any case hinder determined smugglers was probably the argument's quiet foundation. An island of open bays and one searcher could not seal its coast, so the Council's policy of charging the visible and excusing the small made virtue of necessity, taxing what offered itself rather than pretending to a control the geography denied. | ||
60 | Land any quantity of Goods in the night time in one of the other valleys and we ne're the wiser But we will take care no great quantity of Goods Shall Come even tho' they do pay Customes and We will restrain the Private Store Houses which are now So much lessened that hardly any but Mr: Powells Can be called So and he deals at present for So little that it is Scarce worth while takeing Notice of And We do promise promise your Honrs as long as We are here We will Promote your Interest & Discourage every thing that We think would lessen it. 48: All ffines Sett by us have been Entered in our Consultation Books and Shall be Continued, The method for paying them is, the Secretrd: Writes them out once a year and Delivers the List to the Storekeeper against the 25 of March who when he reckons with the People &c: Charges them Debt:rs to your Honrs: for the Same as they did by the rents and revenues, As to fines We think they Always have been Moderate but notwithstanding that We have lessened them when the Partys have Submitted as will Appear by John Longs Case in Consultacon of the 15:th day of Septembr: 1715. and George Sanders Case in Consultacon of the 31:t May 1716 Compaired with Consultation of the 28:th Aug & 4:th of | Determined men might land any quantity of goods in the night in one of the other valleys, and the Council none the wiser. It would take care that no great quantity of goods came in, even paying customs, and would restrain the private storehouses, now so much lessened that hardly any but Mr Powell's could be called one, and he dealt at present for so little that it was scarce worth taking notice of. The Council promised the Court that as long as it served at the island it would promote the Court's interest and discourage everything thought likely to lessen it. 48: All fines set by the Council were entered in its consultation books, and that would continue. The method of paying them was that the secretary wrote them out once a year and delivered the list to the storekeeper against 25 March, who, when he reckoned with the people, charged them debtor to the Court for the same, as they did by the rents and revenues. As to fines, the Council thought they had always been moderate. Notwithstanding that, fines were lessened when the parties submitted, as would appear by John Long's case in the consultation of 15 September 1715, and George Sanders's case in the consultation of 31 May 1716 compared with the consultations of 28 August and 4 [...] Interpretations The fines machinery ran through the same annual circuit as the rents, the secretary listing against 25 March, the old new year and the accounting year's turn, and the storekeeper charging each man debtor at the reckoning, so judicial penalties were collected as book entries in a cashless economy, money the offender never handled passing from his store credit to the Court's. The mitigation practice gave submission a price. Fines were set moderate and then lessened where the party submitted, with John Long's case of 15 September 1715 and George Sanders's of 31 May 1716, read against the consultations of 28 August and after, cited as the precedents on the record, justice tempered visibly so that the Court could verify clemency was policy, not favour, the same defence of its judicature the Council had made against the planters' complaints in 1716. The trade report finished the private storehouse history: only Mr Gabriel Powell's now answered the name, and that dealing too little to notice, the wealthiest planter's understorehouse, target of the twelvepence duty and the long indictment of 1716, reduced to insignificance. The undertaking that followed, to keep great quantities out even when duty was paid, drew the final line, the storehouse monopoly protected against lawful bulk imports as well as smuggling. Speculations Naming Powell once more as the last storehouse standing, then dismissing his trade as beneath notice, was probably the most economical revenge the record allowed. The man who had organised petitions and designs on the Court's plantations was reported neither crushed nor pardoned but dwindled, his opposition priced at scarce worth taking notice of, a verdict more dismissive than any renewed charge. | ||
61 | September followg and in Ryan Wills Case in Consul= =tation of the 21 & 28 May last 1717 not to trouble your Honrs with too many references yet if that method is not So pleasing to your Honrs We will Observe Such other Method as you Shall Appoint We Should be glad if there were no Occasion to Sett any Fines and 'twould be a much greater Satisfaction to us to Govern yor People here with= =out any Punishmt: We desireing their amendmt and not their Vexation and therefore We flatter our Selves that whoever looks over our Consultations or other Judiciall Proceedings will find more Examples of Compassion than of rigged Justice 49: As to the 56 Parrd: the Governr: do's now Signe those Notes & Papers that are brought into ye Stores and We hope there will be for the Future no Occasion to Complain of any thing of that Nature. 50: To your Honrs: 57:th Parrd relateing to Serjt: Southen We have had a Consultation about it on the 2d day of July last 1717. to which please to be referred We have also charged him Debtor to your Honrs: 15:l for Arrears of your Payment made on that that Account in London besides ten Pound ⅌ annum from the 25:th of March last to | The comparison ran with the consultations of 28 August and 4 September following, and with Ryan Wills's case in the consultations of 21 and 28 May last, 1717. So as not to trouble the Court with too many references, yet if that method was not pleasing, the Council would observe such other method as the Court appointed. The Council would be glad if there were no occasion to set any fines at all. It would be a much greater satisfaction to govern the Court's people without any punishment, desiring their amendment and not their vexation. The Council therefore flattered itself that whoever looked over its consultations or other judicial proceedings would find more examples of compassion than of rigid justice. 49: As to the 56th paragraph, the Governor now signed those notes and papers brought into the Court's stores, and the Council hoped there would in future be no occasion to complain of anything of that nature. 50: On the Court's 57th paragraph, relating to Sergeant Southern, the Council held a consultation about it on 2 July last, 1717, to which it referred the Court. Southern was also charged debtor to the Court for 15 [...] for arrears of the Court's payment made on that account in London, besides £10 0s 0d a year from 25 March last, to reimburse [...] Interpretations The judicial self-portrait closed the fines answer with the standard the Council asked to be tried by, more compassion than rigid justice on the face of its own consultations, the cases of Long, Sanders and Ryan Wills cited as the verifiable instances of penalties lessened on submission. The profession that governing without punishment would be the greater satisfaction set amendment, not vexation, as the declared end of the island's justice, the answer in principle to the planters' complaints the Court had forwarded. The Governor's signature on stores notes and papers, reported at paragraph 49, closed whatever abuse the Court's 56th paragraph had raised, most probably unsigned or loosely authenticated credits of the kind the old transfer corruption had fed on. Requiring the Governor's own hand on every paper entering the stores put the head of the government personally answerable for each instrument, the counterpart of his surrender of the transfer journal to the new accountant's office. The Southern matter resumed the oldest personnel debt on the books. Sergeant Southern's English wife had gone unpaid by any deduction through his years at the island, the excuse of her rumoured death recorded on 12 November 1714, and the Court had evidently paid arrears to her in London, for which Southern now stood charged debtor, with £10 0s 0d a year from 25 March last stopped from him to reimburse the continuing payment, the consultation of 2 July 1717 carrying the particulars. Speculations Offering to abandon its own method of citation if the Court preferred another was probably more than courtesy about references. The consultations were the Council's chosen evidence for every disputed matter, so inviting the directors to appoint the form of proof committed them to the principle that the island's record, in whatever dress, settled questions of fact, the ground on which every defence in this letter had been fought. | ||
62 | reimburse the moneys pay'd by your Honrs to his wife upon which he resolves to leave the Island as soon as he can dispose of his Effects here he is a good Searjt: and Carefull and of late very Sober and is your Eldest Serjeant and the fitt =est man We have at present to be Ensigne but We think he dont do well to deny his wife in England tho' perhaps the disowning of her is as much as any thing to please his other wife here who is a woman of Spirritt Eno' to Exercise his Patience 51: As to Mr Alexanders former behaviour, We cant Say much But of late he has behaved him =self very quietly and well and if he woud be but a little more in the Office We Should then write to your Honrs: in his Comendations, As to Frees demanding the leases it was very unjust for Mr Griffith had hired Land of your Honrd: which he left to his Children According to the Custome of this place then Free married Griffiths Widdow and on that Expected leases for Griffiths Land that he left his Child:rn to be made in his Name Alleadging to Us for a Presedent that he himselfe when Clerk of the Council had made Such leases to one Robinson for the land left | The £10 0s 0d a year was to reimburse the money paid by the Court to Southern's wife, on which he resolved to leave the island as soon as he could dispose of his effects there. He was a good sergeant, careful and of late very sober, the Court's eldest sergeant and the fittest man at present to be ensign, but the Council thought he did not do well to deny his wife in England, though perhaps the disowning of her was as much as anything to please his other wife at the island, who was a woman of spirit enough to exercise his patience. 51: As to Mr Alexander's former behaviour, the Council could not say much, but of late he behaved very quietly and well. If he would be but a little more in the office, the Council would then write to the Court in his commendation. As to Free's demanding the leases, it was very unjust, for Mr Griffith had hired land of the Court, which he left to his children according to the custom of the island. Free then married Griffith's widow, and on that expected leases for Griffith's land, which Griffith had left to his children, to be made in his own name, alleging to the Council as a precedent that he himself, when clerk of the Council, had made such leases to one Robinson for the land left in [...] Interpretations The Southern resolution shows the Court's reach into a soldier's domestic affairs across the ocean. London had paid the abandoned wife and recovered the cost by charging the sergeant debtor with a £10 0s 0d annual stoppage, so the bigamous arrangement at the island was priced rather than prosecuted, and the man, the garrison's eldest sergeant and fittest for ensign, chose to sell up and leave rather than carry both households, the deduction succeeding where the moral censure carried no force. The Free claim reopened the children's-name lease dispute under a new claimant. Daniel Griffith's land had been engrossed to his children by the custom of the island a year before the Council arrived, the petitioner of 1716 having failed to break it, and now Free, marrying the widow as Greville had, demanded the leases in his own name on the Robinson precedent he had himself created as clerk of the Council, the conflict of office and interest stated by the Council in the act of rejecting it. The inheritance custom, land descending to the children past any stepfather, stood as the orphans' protection the Council had defended since the Keeling settlement of 8 December 1714. Mr Alexander's notice continued the file on the clerk continued in office since 1715 for his good hand and understanding of the business, but often absent at his country plantation, the same fault now blocking his commendation, attendance the single condition the Council set for writing in his favour. Speculations The aside on Southern's island wife, a woman of spirit enough to exercise his patience, was probably the Council's way of marking that the household, not the man alone, drove the disowning of the English wife. The detail excused nothing but explained the pressure, and its inclusion in a formal answer suggests the directors had asked how so careful a sergeant came to deny his lawful wife, a question the Council answered with the domestic truth. | ||
63 | in Onesiphorus Stewards Will to his Children wch: is what We could not allow as a Good Presedent because all the People here Crye out Shame of it & look on it to be unjust Mr: Alexander did in Con= =sultation of the 3d Janry last 1716/17 Prefer a Petition against Free wherein he recriminated a great deal and Sett out Frees Character too truly but We are loth to tire your Honrs with repetitions of Such Stories We take the foundation of all to be this Alexander was formerly Clerk of the Council and he had Free to write under him Alexander having a large familie and many young Children (he has now Eight liveing) he was Obliged to be much at his Plantation and Free being more in the Office took all Occasions to lessen Alexanders Creditt and at last gott him turned out and himselfe made Clerk of the Council in Governr: Roberts time but when Governr: Boucher Came here Alexander being much the Soberer man for Free was almost alwayes drunk and Alexander Writing a very good hand and Free a bad one Governr: Boucher put Alexander in his Old place again and We for the Same reasons keep him in believing him to be much fitter for your Service then Free ever will be. | Free had made such leases to Robinson for the land left in Onesiphorus Steward's will to his children, which the Council could not allow as a good precedent, because all the people of the island cried shame on it and looked on it as unjust. Mr Alexander, in the consultation of 3 January last, 1717, preferred a petition against Free, in which he recriminated a great deal and set out Free's character too truly, but the Council was loath to tire the Court with repetitions of such stories. The foundation of all was taken to be this. Alexander was formerly clerk of the Council and had Free to write under him. Alexander, having a large family and many young children, eight now living, was obliged to be much at his plantation, and Free, being more in the office, took every occasion to lessen Alexander's credit, and at last got him turned out and himself made clerk of the Council in Governor Roberts's time. When Governor Bouchier came to the island, Alexander being much the soberer man, for Free was almost always drunk, and Alexander writing a very good hand and Free a bad one, Governor Bouchier put Alexander in his old place again. The Council, for the same reasons, kept him in, believing him much fitter for the Court's service than Free would ever be. Interpretations The Robinson precedent now stood exposed in full: Free, as clerk under Governor Roberts, had made leases to Robinson over land willed by Onesiphorus Steward to his children, the act all the island cried shame on, and the claim he pressed on Griffith's children's land rested on his own past wrong, a precedent the Council refused exactly because the man who cited it had manufactured it in office. The children's-name custom thereby survived its second test, the clerk's pen proving no match for the community's sense of what was just. The office history laid out the rivalry behind twenty years of clerkship. Alexander's plantation and eight living children drew him from the office, Free's constant attendance gave him the means to undermine and supplant him under Roberts, and Bouchier's restoration of Alexander turned on the two tests the place demanded, sobriety and a good hand, Free failing both, almost always drunk and writing badly. The present Council's confirmation on the same reasons made the appointment a continuity across three administrations otherwise at odds. The handling of Alexander's petition of 3 January 1717 shows the Council filtering its own record for the Court. The recriminations were noted as setting out Free's character too truly, yet the stories were withheld as tiresome repetition, the judgement transmitted without the scandal, the same economy applied to the Tovey affair earlier in the letter. Speculations The phrase that Alexander set out Free's character too truly was probably chosen to do double duty, certifying the petition's accuracy while excusing its suppression. The Council thereby told the directors the worst was true without entering it on the letter's record, protecting the office's dignity from its occupant's history while leaving no doubt which man's word to take if Free carried his demand to London. | ||
64 | 52: As to the 59th Parrad of your Honrs letter We must pray you again to be referred to our Consultacions of the 17th & the 24th days of Sept: last wherein you will find the whole Case So that We have not thought it Proper to grant that Land to any body but if We had lett it 'twould have been to Swallow to Occupy and not Slaughter to Sell, In his Petition to your Honrs: he Speaks as if he was your Eldest Serjeant but that is not true for Slaughter his Claim is thus he was made Serjt: before any of those who are now Serjts: but he layd down that Employmt: of himself & lived in the Country as a planter Severall years till he had runn out his wifes Estate then kept a punch House Southen Succeeded Slaughter by Governrs: Poiriers Order but Just before Governr: Roberts went of e Slaughter was made Serjt: again So that We take him to be Second and not Eldest Serjt: but if it were not for Southens English wife who has been so troublesom to your Honrs at London We Should reckon Southen every way to be the best quallifyed for any preferment that may happen. 53: As to William Beats Petition he did formerly Petition us vizt: the 15 Novembr: 1715. and We then Dismist it at first reading because he has So | 52: As to the 59th paragraph of the Court's letter, the Council asked it again to refer to the consultations of 17 and 24 September last, where the whole case would be found. The Council had not thought it proper to grant that land to anybody, but had it been let, it would have been to Swallow to occupy, and not to Slaughter to sell. In his petition to the Court, Slaughter spoke as if he were the Court's eldest sergeant, but that was not true. Slaughter's claim was this: he was made sergeant before any of those who were now sergeants, but he laid down that employment of himself and lived in the country as a planter several years, until he had run out his wife's estate, and then kept a punch house. Southern succeeded Slaughter by Governor Poirier's order, but just before Governor Roberts went off Slaughter was made sergeant again, so the Council took him to be second and not eldest sergeant. Were it not for Southern's English wife, who had been so troublesome to the Court at London, the Council would reckon Southern in every way the best qualified for any preferment that might fall. 53: As to William Beats's petition, he formerly petitioned the Council on 15 November 1715, and the petition was then dismissed at first reading, because he had so arrogantly [...] Interpretations The Slaughter ruling separated two kinds of land claimant: Swallow, the carpenter the building programme leaned on, who would have had the ground to occupy, and Slaughter, who sought it to sell, the Council's policy since 1715 of refusing tradesmen plantations lest land draw them from their trades here inverted to refuse a speculator land altogether. The decision to grant neither, minuted in the consultations of 17 and 24 September, kept the disputed parcel in the Court's hands against both uses. Slaughter's seniority claim was dismantled by service history. He had taken his sergeantcy first but laid it down himself, lived as a planter until his wife's estate was run out, then kept a punch house, the trade the Council had been licensing down to three or four since 1714, and his restoration just before Governor Roberts left made him second to Southern, who had served continuously since Governor Poirier's order. Precedence followed unbroken service, not first appointment. The promotion calculus around Southern completed the portrait begun at paragraph 50: every way the best qualified for preferment, the fittest for ensign, but barred by the trouble his English wife had given the Court at London, the abandoned wife's petitions there now costing him the commission his service had earned, the domestic charge converted into a career ceiling. Speculations Recording that Slaughter ruined his wife's estate before turning publican was probably the Council's answer to whatever sympathy his petition had raised at London. A man who presented himself as the eldest sergeant wronged was reframed as one who had twice left service for ventures that failed, the land he sought to sell fitting the same pattern, so the directors were given the means to read his petition as the third such speculation. | ||
65 | arrogantly assumed or Pretended to great Skill in Physick and is indeed very ignorant He was a taylor but when he could not live on that trade he had e Lycence to keep a Punch House One Dr: Porteous who was Surgion here among other Medicines gave one Particular Pill wth good Success Beale of Some Surgions or their Mates that used his House learnt the method of makeing that Pill which We think may be very good in many Cases but otherwise We do not think Mr: Beale at all fitt for a Docter nor Should not use him Unless there were no other about a year ago his Success obtained him a great Deal of Creditt here but his vanity lost it again for he bought three Sick Blacks for twenty Seven Pounds which he vaunted he could Cure and make them good Slaves but they all three dyed and he lost his fame and his money together. The Docter We now have is a very good man but weakly & not able to walk the Hills So We have Employed one John Hodgkinson Son of that Hodgkinson who formerly made So much bustle on this Iland for the Doctrs: mate he being a Strong young fellow and able to walk these Hills, he did Serve about three years to a Surgion in England and Can lett | Beats had so arrogantly assumed or pretended to great skill in physic, and was indeed very ignorant. He was a tailor, but when he could not live on that trade he had licence to keep a punch house. One Dr Porteous, who was surgeon at the island, among other medicines gave one particular pill with good success. Beats learnt the method of making that pill from some surgeons or their mates who used his house. The Council thought the pill might be very good in many cases, but otherwise did not think Mr Beats at all fit for a doctor, nor would it use him unless there were no other. About a year ago his success gained him a great deal of credit at the island, but his vanity lost it again, for he bought three sick slaves for £27 0s 0d, which he vaunted he could cure and make good slaves, but all three died, and he lost his fame and his money together. The doctor the island now had was a very good man, but weakly and not able to walk the hills, so the Council employed one John Hodgkinson, son of that Hodgkinson who formerly made so much bustle on the island, as the doctor's mate, he being a strong young fellow and able to walk those hills. He had served about three years to a surgeon in England and could let blood [...] Interpretations The Beats case showed the Council policing the boundary of medical practice with the only instruments it had, reputation and the record. A tailor turned publican who had learned one good pill from the surgeons drinking at his house was credited with the pill and nothing more, his fitness tested publicly when he staked £27 0s 0d on curing three sick slaves and lost all three, the market in slave-doctoring, the planters' five shillings a pound trade, pricing his pretensions to ruin without any prosecution needed. The medical establishment's anatomy was then laid open: the present doctor a very good man but too weak to walk the hills, so the practice that mattered, reaching the slaves and outposts across the island's terrain, fell to the mate, John Hodgkinson, chosen for three years' training under an English surgeon, the ability to let blood, and above all the legs for the hills, the same physical qualification that had justified the old mate's board wages at paragraph 30. The new mate's parentage was entered with a caution, son of that Hodgkinson who formerly made so much bustle on the island, the father's turbulence recorded against the son's appointment so the Court could not later say it had been concealed, the Council's habit of disclosing what an informer might otherwise report first. Speculations The concession that the pill might be very good in many cases, set inside a dismissal of its maker, was probably deliberate fairness with a purpose. The island could not afford to discard any remedy that answered, so the Council kept the medicine while discrediting the man, and showed the directors a judgement that weighed evidence over prejudice even against a quack it plainly despised. | ||
66 | blood very well but as he has no learning in the Latin tongue he is not likely to improve him= =self much by reading or to learn any thing, but what he getts by his own Observation. 54: As to your Honrs: 60:th Parrd about Maynards Letter on the 14. day of May last We heard that cause in Consultation to which Please to be referred We did not think that your Honors: would have Occasion to mention any Such thing in your Letter but what happens to be Entered in that Consultation We take to be Soe full an answer that We Shall not trouble yor: Honours more about it. Forthly touching your Hon:rs Fortifications Buildings and Garrison Stores. 55: In our Letter to your Honrs: by the Catherine We have been very large in our account of last years work which is Perticularly Mentioned in nine Parras: from 74. to 82. So will not make needless repetitions for tho' We have dispatcht a Great Deal of work as your Honrs: will See by them, We would avoid Boasting, Since then our Carpenter Can go but very Slowly on but has been Constantly Employed We have made about | Hodgkinson could let blood very well, but having no learning in the Latin tongue he was not likely to improve himself much by reading, or to learn anything but what he got by his own observation. 54: As to the Court's 60th paragraph, about Maynard's letter, the Council heard that cause in consultation on 14 May last, to which it referred the Court. The Council had not thought the Court would have occasion to mention any such thing in its letter, but what stood entered in that consultation was taken to be so full an answer that the Court would not be troubled further about it. Fourthly, concerning the Court's fortifications, buildings and garrison stores. 55: In the letter to the Court by the Catherine, the Council gave a very large account of the previous year's building, particularly set out in nine paragraphs, from 74 to 82, so it would not make needless repetitions, for though a great deal had been dispatched, as the Court would see by them, the Council would avoid boasting. Since then the carpenter could go on but very slowly, though constantly employed. About two [...] Interpretations The estimate of Hodgkinson fixed the ceiling of his usefulness in the terms of the profession: without Latin he could read no physic, the medical literature of the day being closed to him, so his skill would grow only by his own observation, a bleeding hand and strong legs but never a physician. The note renewed, by implication, the standing case for a trained apothecary that had run through every letter since 1714, the island's medical succession now resting on one weakly doctor and an unlettered mate. The Maynard matter, raised by the Court's 60th paragraph, concerned the carpenter sent on to Bencoolen by the Court's own order in 1716, whose letter had evidently carried some complaint home. The Council's answer, the cause heard in consultation on 14 May with the entry left to speak for itself, and its surprise that the Court should mention such a thing, treated the grievance as already judged on the record, the consultation book once more interposed between complaint and correspondence. The building report opened the letter's fourth division by reference rather than repetition, the previous year's account standing in nine paragraphs, 74 to 82, of the letter by the Catherine of 12 and 13 January 1717, the despatch lost with her duplicate's safety ensured by the season's repeated copies. The admission that progress since ran very slowly turned on a single constantly employed carpenter, the bottleneck the whole artificer campaign of this letter had been arguing. Speculations The disclaimer of boasting, set beside a reference to nine paragraphs of dispatched building, was probably calculated modesty of the same coin as the letter's earlier apologies. The Council pointed the directors to the record of a great deal done, then declined to repeat it, so the claim of diligence arrived twice, once in the citation and once in the refusal to dwell on it. | ||
67 | two thirds of the Virando We mentioned to the Barracks, have Covered the turners Shop and finnished it alsoe the Coopers, and two rooms for the Smiths Shop and a Kitchen belonging to One of the Ensigns Appartmts: We have fenced in the new Ground begun by Governr Robets and repaired the Old fences therein and made Severall Turn Stiles & Gates where needfull and as Soon as that was fully inclosed We have in Severall Parts about the Plantation House Planted four hundred Lemon trees, Six hundred Figg trees and Sixteen thousand White Cedar trees Called here Gumwood trees 56: We have dugg up one third of a place Called the Bamboo Gutt which when full it will Contain 200,000 Yams for the use of your new blacks We have Already Planted 53,000 Yamm Suckers therein but as fast as We can gett more Suckers Shall Plant more there this Bamboo Gutt was once your Honrs only Platacon and always your Chiefest but having been planted thirty years and not Produceing So well as before was thrown out about Eight years ago and has layn fallow ever Since now we hope to find it a good Piece of Ground again and have taken great Pains to Improve it by carrying good quantities of Soile and Sea Sand and layed it thereon So that we ` | About two thirds of the veranda mentioned to the barracks was done. The turner's shop was covered and finished, the cooper's also, with two rooms for the smith's shop and a kitchen belonging to one of the ensign's apartments. The new ground begun by Governor Roberts was fenced in, the old fences in it repaired, and several turnstiles and gates made where needful. As soon as that was fully enclosed, 400 lemon trees, 600 fig trees and 16,000 white cedar trees, called at the island gumwood trees, were planted in several parts about the plantation house. 56: One third of a place called the Bamboo Gut was dug up, which when full would contain 200,000 yams for the use of the Court's new slaves. Already 53,000 yam suckers were planted in it, and as fast as more suckers could be got, more would be planted there. This Bamboo Gut was once the Court's only plantation, and always its chiefest, but having been planted thirty years and not producing so well as before, it was thrown out about eight years ago and had lain fallow ever since. The Council now hoped to find it a good piece of ground again, and had taken great pains to improve it by carrying good quantities of soil and sea sand and laying them on it, so that it did not doubt [...] Interpretations The planting figures put the replanting programme promised at paragraph 38 into measurable execution: 16,000 gumwoods, the island's native white cedar and its principal fuel and timber tree, with 400 lemons and 600 figs, all set within Governor Roberts's new ground once it was fenced, the fence-first rule against the ranging goats and cattle observed exactly as the Council had stated it. The lemons renewed the citrus policy running since the leases of 1715 required ten citrus trees an acre for the refreshment of shipping. The Bamboo Gut recovery shows long-cycle land management entering the record. The Court's oldest and chief plantation, exhausted after thirty years' cropping and thrown out about eight years earlier, in the last years of the old administration, was being rebuilt by carried soil and sea sand, the sand opening the heavy clay the letter had described within inches of the surface, and replanted toward a 200,000-yam capacity, of which 53,000 suckers already stood, the new slaves' subsistence anchored on reclaimed rather than fresh-broken ground. The workshop list, turner, cooper and smith roofed, with the barracks veranda two thirds done and an ensign's kitchen, maps the establishment's craft economy under one head. Each finished shop fixed a trade the island had begged from England into permanent quarters, the cooperage alone serving the cask traffic on which arrack, rice and sugar all moved. Speculations Reckoning the Bamboo Gut at 200,000 yams for the new slaves was probably meant to balance the labour request arithmetically. The Court had been asked for 100 more slaves and shown suckers costed at £25 0s 0d the hundred thousand, so a single recovered field promising two such plantings demonstrated that the island could feed the larger establishment from ground already in hand, the demand for men matched by the means of their subsistence. | ||
68 | doubt not of its good Effect our Chief Aimes now are to improve your Plantations So as to buy no more Yams We promised in our 42. Parrd: by the Catherine that We had Yams Enough for the blacks we then had and for forty Blacks more Since then We have been Supplyed wth Seventy two new ones viz 50 Men & 22 Women and have bought no Yams nor Shall buy any but if your Honrs do Send us Some more Blacks as We hope you will, Shall buy Yams Just to Serve that Number untill the Yams now planted are Grown up and the Plantation now makeing at the Peake will Supply Yams to more than ever your Honrs Shall have Occasion to feed but these Yams will be two year a Growing and then as they grow out more may be new planted So as to be a Continuall Supply and this We take to be Such a Piece of work as if ever We vallue our Selves upon any thing Shall always Reckon it as one of the Chief and therfore hope your Honrs will think the last year well Spent 57: We have built a Small tower at the Sea Gate which Serves for a Watch House it is but Seven foot Diameter in the inside and round, the Old Gate made in the time of Governr Johnson quite Decayed and the Governr has Built in the Castle two Small | The Council did not doubt the good effect of the improvement. Its chief aims now were to improve the Court's plantations so as to buy no more yams. In the 42nd paragraph by the Catherine it promised that there were yams enough for the slaves then held and for forty slaves more. Since then 72 new ones came, 50 men and 22 women, and no yams were bought, nor would any be, except that if the Court sent more slaves, as the Council hoped it would, yams would be bought just to serve that number until the yams now planted were grown up. The plantation now making at the Peak would supply yams to more than the Court would ever have occasion to feed, but those yams would be two years a-growing, and then, as they grew out, more might be planted anew, so as to be a continual supply. The Council took this to be such a piece of achievement that, if ever it valued itself on anything, it would always reckon this as one of the chief, and therefore hoped the Court would think the last year well spent. 57: A small tower was built at the sea gate, which served for a watch house. It was but seven foot diameter on the inside, and round. The old gate, made in the time of Governor Johnson, was quite decayed, and the Governor built in the castle two small rooms [...] Interpretations The yam account closed the self-supply promise with audited numbers: the Catherine letter's 42nd paragraph had warranted provision for the then establishment and forty more, the season then delivered 72, 50 men and 22 women, and still nothing was bought, the planted grounds carrying the overshoot. The forward rule, purchase only as a bridge for any fresh draft until the new plantings bore, kept the eighteen-month record without purchases unbroken except by the Court's own additions. The Peak plantation was designed as a rotation, not a crop: two years to first bearing, then replanting as each growth was taken, a continual supply engineered to outrun any establishment the Court could ever feed there. The Council's open claim of this as its chief achievement staked its whole credit on the one reform that touched every other, provision-ground independence being the ground of the labour, price and victualling arguments throughout the letter. The watch tower at the sea gate, seven foot across and round, replaced the decayed gate of Governor Johnson's time, the administration of the 1690s, so the smallest work in the report carried the longest pedigree of neglect, the new building programme reaching back past Poirier and Roberts to repair the previous century's fabric. Speculations The careful sexing of the new slaves, 50 men and 22 women, was probably entered with the establishment's future in mind rather than mere muster accuracy. The children's standing milk priority and the valuing of Old Will's descendants had shown the Council breeding its labour force as deliberately as its cattle, so the ratio told the directors the draft's long-term yield as well as its present strength. | ||
69 | rooms or Clossetts, one for a Consultation room and the other for himself of aleven foot Square wth a Chimney in it there being no other Chimney in the ffort but the Kitchin and this last Season has been Colder than usualle. 58: To the 62d Parragrof of Examining every monthly Account it is observed. 59: As to the new flooring the Plantation House with Stone there is Provision made for it but it is not yet done for the Governr: Ordered as Soon as it was thought Proper to be done that every Black when he left work in Sandy bay on Saturday which was on this Accot: to be two hours Sooner than Ordinary that is at Eleven instead of one a Clock Each man when he came for his Yamms Should bring wth him one Paveing Stone and when We had Eno' to pave it then each black was Ordered every Saturday to bring a bagg of Lime, and now We have pretty near Eno' Shall Soon go about it in the mean time tis filled up wth Earth to Save boards which We cannot Spare, the Church Wardens are now takeing the Same Method wth the Country Church. 60: The fencing in of the Great Wood is very Necessary but we resolve to do it the Cheapest way that is to make good all your Plantations first and Secure plenty of Provisions for yor: Blacks | The Governor built in the castle two small rooms or closets, one for a consultation room and the other for himself, eleven foot square with a chimney in it, there being no other chimney in the fort but the kitchen, and this last season was colder than usual. 58: On the 62nd paragraph, of examining every monthly account, the order was observed. 59: As to the new flooring of the plantation house with stone, provision was made for it but the task was not yet done. The Governor ordered, as soon as it was thought proper to be done, that every slave, when he left off at Sandy Bay on Saturday, which on this account was two hours sooner than ordinary, that is at eleven instead of one o'clock, should bring with him one paving stone when he came for his yams. When there were enough to pave it, each slave was then ordered every Saturday to bring a bag of lime, and now there was pretty near enough, so the paving would soon begin. In the meantime the floor was filled up with earth, to save boards, which could not be spared. The churchwardens were now taking the same method with the country church. 60: The fencing in of the Great Wood was very necessary, but the Council resolved to do it the cheapest way, that is to make good all the Court's plantations first and secure plenty of provisions for the Court's slaves, without [...] Interpretations The Saturday stone shows incidental carriage turned into a supply system. Every slave leaving Sandy Bay two hours early, at eleven instead of one, carried one paving stone on the nine-mile walk he made anyway to collect his weekly yams, and when the stones sufficed the same journey carried lime, so the plantation house floor was assembled at the cost of two hours' weekly labour and no carriage at all, on an island where everything moved on slaves' backs. The churchwardens copying the method for the country church spread the device beyond the Court's own buildings. The earth fill meanwhile rationed the dearest material by substitution, boards that rotted in six years saved for duties only they could serve, the same economy the tile request had argued, and the two new closets in the castle, a consultation room and the Governor's own eleven-foot chamber with the fort's only chimney beside the kitchen, housed the government itself at the smallest possible cost in a season colder than usual, the moderate climate's sharp edge entering the building account. The Great Wood fencing, the enclosure judged a year's labour for 100 men when proposed on 26 January 1716, was now sequenced behind the provision grounds, the cheapest way being to finish the plantations and secure the slaves' subsistence first, capital works ranked by what fed the labour that would build them. Speculations Recording that the churchwardens had adopted the stone-and-lime carriage was probably meant to show the Court its methods propagating beyond compulsion. The parish officers commanded no Company slaves, so their imitation certified the device as plain good husbandry that free institutions chose for themselves, the administration's ingenuity validated by voluntary copy. | ||
70 | without buying of them at those Dear rates they were at when We Arived and therefore We Shall be fully Employed all the next year as We were the last in fencing in new ground for Plan= =tation Land and Planting Suckers therein which requires a great Deal of Labour and time the family that We have now to maintaine being about 230. Souls and with all our Industry it will take up at least another year before We Shall fully finnish that and if any other worke Interveen it will be Something longer the Compu= =tation of £408. for fences was made at our first Arrivall but that work for want of hands was So long Neglected that it is now more out of repair but we are Sett about it and it is doing as fast as Possible. 61: As to our Madagascar blacks they are in Generall good Slaves there is not above Six We can find fault wth tho' they are a little raw and unacquainted at present and Cannot work so well as those who have been longer used to the Place nor do they at present work So fast not being used to hard Labour nor to Such hilly Ground but yet they Come on very well as to the bettering the path up the Hill We find it | Provisions were to be secured without buying at those dear rates current when the Council arrived. The establishment would therefore be fully employed all the next year, as it was the last, in fencing new ground for plantation land and planting suckers in it, which required a great deal of labour and time, the family now to be maintained being about 230 souls. With all the Council's industry it would take at least another year before that was fully furnished, and if any other tasks came between, somewhat longer. The computation of £408 0s 0d for fences was made at the Council's first arrival, but that fencing, for want of hands, was so long neglected that it was now more out of repair. The Council had set about it, however, and it was going forward as fast as possible. 61: As to the Madagascar slaves, they were in general good slaves. Not above six could be found fault with, though they were a little raw and unacquainted at present, and could not labour as well as those longer used to the place, nor at present so fast, not being used to hard labour nor to such hilly ground, but they came on very well. As to the bettering of the path up the hill, the Council found it [...] Interpretations The establishment's family now stood counted at about 230 souls, the Court's slaves alone, the figure absorbing the season's 72 Madagascar arrivals into the near 200 reported by the Success letters, and that number fixed the year's whole programme, fencing and planting sucker ground until the subsistence of 230 was secured before any other capital work, the Great Wood deferred by the same rule. The £408 0s 0d fence computation, costed at the Council's arrival in 1714, had depreciated unexecuted, the want of hands leaving the fencing to decay faster than it could be made good, so the original estimate now bought less repair than it would have, the cost of the three-year labour famine entered in the books as worsened fabric, the same arithmetic the Council had applied to recruits and artificers. The Madagascar appraisal certified the Court's chosen source on performance: of 72, not above six faulty, the rest only raw, unused to hard labour and the island's hilly ground but coming on well, seasoning expected to finish what selection began. The verdict closed the ranking argued since 8 December 1714, Madagascar over Calabar, with the delivered cohort as the proof, and supported the standing request that the licensed run continue with the island choosing first. Speculations Reckoning the establishment as a family of souls to be maintained, rather than hands to be employed, was probably a chosen register for the directors. The phrase priced women, children and the sick into the subsistence calculation honestly, forestalling any reading of 230 as 230 labourers, and clothed the provisioning programme in the language of household duty the Court could not well begrudge. | ||
71 | now more usefull than We Expected tho it be but two thirds of it done, and the Planters who live on the West Side of the Country go up no other way it is of great Ease to the blacks who have burthens to carry up or down and will prove of Generall Bennifitt when finnished as We hope to do when We have done with your Plantations which the Governour will First See in Perfect Order. Fifthly touching the Civill Governmt: of the Island or the Production there= =of in Generll & what Concerns any of the Inhabitants. 62: To the 66:th Parrad We ought and do Acknowledge the great Satisfaction We find that your Hon:rs are Pleased wth the news of the good Estate of yor Island and that it has in Some measure recovered it Self into a flourishing Condition greatly beyond what we found it So that We can Afford Beef at 25s ⅌ hundlb: which Price We pray your Honrs to Continue it at in your Charter Parties because it had not yet been so Cheap if the Governr: had not Promised the Planters that he would not fall it lower than that and all other things are as Cheap as ever, tho' the last Season of all now newly over proved bad, unless it be beans We planted five Acres of your Honrs: Land with them and they | The path up the hill was now more useful than expected, though but two thirds of it was done. The planters who lived on the west side of the country went up no other way. It was a great ease to the slaves who had burdens to carry up or down, and would prove of general benefit when finished, as the Council hoped to do when it had done with the Court's plantations, which the Governor would first see in perfect order. Fifthly, concerning the civil government of the island, or the production of it in general, and what concerned any of the inhabitants. 62: On the 66th paragraph, the Council acknowledged, as it ought, the great satisfaction it found in the Court's pleasure at the news of the good state of the island, and that it had in some measure recovered itself into a flourishing condition greatly beyond what the Council found it. Beef could be afforded at 25s a hundredweight, at which price the Council asked the Court to continue it in its charter parties, because it had not yet been so cheap. Had the Governor not promised the planters that he would not let it fall lower than that, all other things were as cheap as ever, though the last season of all now newly over proved bad, unless it were beans. Five acres of the Court's land were planted with them, and they [...] Interpretations The hill path, two thirds made and already the sole route for the west-side planters, served the carriage economy the letter had described, every burden on the island moving on slaves' backs, so each rod of graded path repaid itself daily in eased loads, public infrastructure ranked, like the Great Wood, behind the plantations the Governor would first see in perfect order. The beef settlement fixed the price the Council had pursued since asking the Court on 2 August 1715 to set 25s a hundredweight in the charter parties against the 30s then current. The rate now held by the Governor's personal promise to the planters that it would fall no lower, a price floor binding the Company as the ceiling bound the sellers, so the request to write 25s into the charter parties would convert a gentleman's bargain into contract, the cheapest beef yet made permanent. The promise itself was the instrument that had broken the breeders' combination. The planters who had resolved in 1714 to withhold stock lest the new Council build a herd and fall the price were brought to market by the assurance that 25s was the bottom, the Court's rebuilt herds doing the rest, so the floor was the purchase price of the planters' cooperation, not a concession to them. Speculations Confessing that the season just over proved bad for everything but beans was probably entered to protect the price claims around it. A Court reading that all things were as cheap as ever might later hear of a poor season and doubt the whole account, so the Council banked the exception itself, with the five acres of beans as the salvage, candour spent where it cost least. | ||
72 | have produced no more then to plant that ground again Mr Powell planted Eight Acres of his ground at the Same time and now buys Seed to plant it anew all the Planters have had the Same Misfortune Mr: Powell tells the Governr: that about the begin= =ing of this Season he thought he Should have had three hundred Bushells but the Coldness of this last Season a thing Scarcly to be believed in London has killed them all So that We Shall be the more Industrious about our Yams the beans haveing Missed for We planted those beans wth Intent to feed the blacks with them and Rice together in the rainy Seasons when the Yams are not So good Yet tho' this will cause us to increase our Yams the more which is the Chief Stand by of this place yet in ffebruary next when the Summer Season begins We Shall Plant beans again and tis because these beans turned to no Accot that we did not Mention them in our 56th & 62d &c: Parras by the Catherine wherein We Acquainted your Hon:rs with our last years Em= =ployment Some of the Gutts or Narrow valleys are worn out to the Clay but We have in one of them Carryed good Soil in Baggs and given the whole ground a new Shirt of Earth but this being an In= =credible Labour requires more then all our | The beans produced no more than served to plant that ground again. Mr Powell planted eight acres of his own ground at the same time, and now bought seed to plant it anew. All the planters had the same misfortune. Mr Powell told the Governor that about the beginning of this season he thought he would have had 300 bushels, but the coldness of this last season, a thing scarcely to be believed in London, killed them all. The establishment would therefore be the more industrious about its yams, the beans having failed, for those beans were planted with intent to feed the slaves with them and rice together in the rainy seasons, when the yams were not so good. Yet this would cause the yams to be increased the more, which was the chief standby of the island. In February next, when the summer season began, beans would be planted again. Because these beans turned to no account, they were not mentioned in the 56th, 62nd and other paragraphs by the Catherine, where the Council acquainted the Court with the previous year's employment. Some of the guts, or narrow valleys, were worn out to the clay, but in one of them good soil was carried in bags and the whole ground given a new shirt of earth. This being an incredible labour, it required more than all the hands [...] Interpretations The bean failure was documented through the island's best witness against itself. Mr Gabriel Powell, the wealthiest planter and the Council's standing adversary, lost his expected 300 bushels off eight acres to the same cold that took the Court's five, so the crop's ruin stood proved by a man with no interest in excusing the administration, and the cold itself, scarcely to be believed in London, was entered as the island's moderate climate showing its sharp side, the unusual season already noted at the Governor's new chimney. The beans' purpose tied the loss straight into the ration system: planted to join rice in the wet-season diet when the dry-ground yams sickened, their failure threw the whole weight back on yams, the chief standby, and on the Bengal rice the charter party clause had been framed to secure, the February replanting set for the southern summer's start. The gut reclamation carried the Bamboo Gut method to its extreme. A narrow valley worn out to the clay was given a new shirt of earth, good soil carried in bags on slaves' backs, the incredible labour the Council priced as more than all its hands, so the worn land named since Maxwell's Valley in 1716 was being remade by hand where it could not be rested, the labour demand of paragraph 38 once more grounded in the island's geology. Speculations Explaining why the beans went unmentioned in the Catherine's paragraphs was probably aimed at the audit habit the Council itself had taught the Court. Directors who checked each letter against the last would find five acres planted and never reported, so the omission was confessed before it could be found, with the crop's worthlessness as the reason, the running account kept clean even of its silences. | ||
73 | hands, We doubt not but will answer our Ends, the Governr: following Mr: Evelyns Directions in his Book of Gardening therein and as we have time and Can Spare the Blacks We Shall do Soe in Severall other Places, and We have in the Garden begun to Improve that ground with Sea Sand which We find Succeeds very well being Mingled wth this Clayey Soil & if our ways were better would do the Same by our Yam ground too for now no body longer doubts of Improveing any Sort of Ground that is Sheltered from the Winds and Can be Supplyed wth Water, yor: Honrs Cattle is So farr Encreased as will appear by the following Account yet We Shall not have done buying Cattle till we have as large a Stock as was in Governr: Poiriers time or in the time of Governr: Roberts when if you please to look back into the former Consultations your Honrs will find there was 500. head and there= =upon they Stopt buying any more but what We mean by buying is only to Acquaint your Honrs that We Shall buy nothing Else we hope Still We have done buying yams, but Suckers we must buy that is young Yam plants to increase the plantations wth of which we want 500,000 the best are Sold for about five Shillgs and Some for three Shillings to Six pence the thous: please to permitt us to remind your Honrs about | The reclaimed gut, it was not doubted, would answer its ends, the Governor following Mr Evelyn's directions in his book of gardening. As time allowed and the slaves could be spared, the same would be done in several other places. In the garden a start was made on improving the ground with sea sand, which succeeded very well mingled with this clayey soil, and if the ways were better the same would be done by the yam ground too, for nobody any longer doubted of improving any sort of ground that was sheltered from the winds and could be supplied with water. The Court's cattle were so far increased as would appear by the following account, yet buying would not cease until the stock was as large as in Governor Poirier's time, or in Governor Roberts's, when, if the Court looked back into the former consultations, it would find there were 500 head, whereupon buying stopped. What was meant by buying was only to acquaint the Court that nothing else would be bought. The establishment had, it was hoped, still done buying yams, but suckers had to be bought, that is young yam plants to increase the plantations, of which 500,000 were wanted. The best sold for about 5s and some for 3s to 6d the thousand. The Council asked leave to remind the Court about [...] Interpretations Mr Evelyn's book of gardening was John Evelyn's published horticulture, the standard English authority of the age, so the gut reclamation and the sea-sand dressing were reported as practice under printed direction, the Governor improving the Court's ground by the book the directors themselves could consult, the experimental finding, sand opening the clayey soil, then generalised to any ground sheltered from wind and watered, the island's two limiting conditions named exactly. The cattle target was set by the archive: 500 head, the stock at which buying had stopped under Poirier and Roberts, recoverable by the Court from its own former consultations, so the rebuilding begun from 60 neat cattle in 1714 and carried to 177 by December 1716 now had a documented ceiling, purchases to continue to that mark and no further, the planters' beef market guaranteed its 25s floor meanwhile. The sucker market priced the last bought input of the yam economy. Plants ranged from 5s the thousand for the best down to 3s and even 6d, so the 500,000 wanted for the new grounds would cost at most about £125 0s 0d, the trifling figure already represented to the Court at paragraph 38 in dollars, purchase confined to propagating stock while the crop itself was never bought again. Speculations Defining what was meant by buying, nothing else would be bought, was probably inserted to keep the word from alarming the auditors. A Court told that cattle buying continued might read an open charge, so the Council fixed the term to its single object and its archival limit of 500 head, expenditure bounded by precedent the directors could verify in their own records. | ||
74 | our Method of planting Yams and then We doubt not but you will See the Occasions for our doing So a yamm is a Sort of a Water Parsnip and grows in Moist ground it is about two years before it Comes to Maturity and then it is dugg up and the Top of it Cutt off, which we call the main Sucker & put it into the ground again in two years time more that Sucker becomes a yam there are Severall Small Sprouts about those Yams which grow in the Water and those Small Sprouts are alsoe called Suckers and these being planted in Swampy ground become as Good Yams in two years time as the top part wch: is Cutt off & Called the main Sucker and that being Larger then the others is fitter to plant in dryg: ground and the Top part or Main Sucker of the Yamm which grew in dry Ground is always planted in Swampy or Moist ground or Else it Comes to nothing now every planter who have not Gutts or Runs of Water eno' to raise Suckers for the drye Ground must buy of those who have them, your Honrs: Plantations are large and therefore We must plant a great many e Yamms on dry or but little Moist ground & those Yams which grew in the dryest ground will not Produce any increase of Suckers and must be Supplyed with Suckers from the Watered ground | The Council reminded the Court of its method of planting yams, not doubting the Court would then see the reasons for buying suckers. A yam was a sort of water parsnip and grew in moist ground. It was about two years before it came to maturity, and then it was dug up and the top of it cut off, which was called the main sucker, and put into the ground again. In two years more that sucker became a yam again. There were several small sprouts about those yams that grew in the water, and those small sprouts were also called suckers. These, planted in swampy ground, became as good yams in two years' time as the top part which was cut off and called the main sucker. That part, being larger than the others, was fitter to plant in dry ground. The top part, or main sucker, of the yam that grew in dry ground was always planted in swampy or moist ground, or else it came to nothing. Every planter who had not guts or runs of water enough to raise suckers for the dry ground had to buy from those who had them. The Court's plantations were large, and therefore a great many yams had to be planted on dry or but little moist ground. Those yams that grew in the driest ground produced no increase of suckers and had to be supplied with suckers from the watered ground [...] Interpretations The yam botany lesson explained the purchase the accounts would show. The crop's propagation ran on a two-year cycle through two kinds of sucker, the cut top replanted and the small water-sprouts, but increase came only from watered ground, the swampy guts and runs, while dry ground consumed suckers without breeding them, and even its harvested tops had to return to moisture or come to nothing. The Court's large plantations, mostly dry, were therefore structural buyers of suckers from the planters who held the watered guts, the 500,000 wanted at 3s to 5s the thousand being the dry ground's standing tribute to the wet. The propagation rule also explained the reclamation priorities of the preceding paragraphs. The guts worn out to the clay and re-earthed by bagged soil were the island's sucker nurseries, so the incredible labour spent on narrow valleys bought not acreage but the breeding stock of the whole crop, water supply remaining, as the consultation of 18 December 1716 had put it, the standing limit on the island's cultivation. Speculations Teaching the directors yam husbandry from first principles was probably the Council's insurance on a recurring account entry. Sucker purchases would appear year after year from the same planter-sellers, a pattern an auditor might read as favour or padding, so the letter fixed the agronomic necessity on record once, the water parsnip's nature standing as permanent answer to any future query. | ||
75 | when We first came here We found 555,550 Yamms Planted as will appear by Consultacon of the 10:th August 1714. At this time the Number of Yams Planted are 906,000. as in Consultacon of the 3d Decbr: last and will alsoe appear by Mr Bazetts report in Consultacon of the 9th Aprill 1717. and those were So Encreased wth Suckers bought the Governr: is now takeing in Some ground about the Peak that never was planted yet which We think will hold about 300,000 when full but We may always Depend upon and be Sure of two hundd: Thousd and the Suckers wherewth That Land is to be planted must be bought but there are Some Springs in that Land which We all think will produce Suckers Eno' to plant the dry ground the Bamboo Gutt mentioned in ye 56. Para of this Letter will be planted wth 200,000 Suckers when full which We hope will be done by the end of ffebry or March next, We could plant that Land Sooner if we had Suckers wherewith to doe it but the last Season being Colder then usuall all the Plantations on the Island are backwarder which makes those who have Watered Ground not have So many Suckers to Spare as they Sometimes have a little after Janry or Febry and if raine Comes in there will be more plenty of Suckers and then the Planters will have Such quantities that | When the Council first came to the island it found 555,550 yams planted, as appeared by the consultation of 10 August 1714. At this time the number of yams planted was 906,000, as in the consultation of 3 December last, which would also appear by Mr Bazett's report in the consultation of 9 April 1717, and those were so increased with suckers bought. The Governor was now taking in some ground about the Peak that was never yet planted, which was thought to hold about 300,000 when full, but 200,000 could always be depended on and be sure of. The suckers with which that land was to be planted had to be bought, but there were some springs in that land which all thought would produce suckers enough to plant the dry ground. The Bamboo Gut mentioned in the 56th paragraph of this letter would be planted with 200,000 suckers when full, which it was hoped would be done by the end of February or March next. That land could have been planted sooner had there been suckers to do it with, but the last season being colder than usual, all the plantations on the island were backward, which made those with watered ground not have so many suckers to spare as they sometimes had a little after January or February. If rain came in, there would be more plenty of suckers, and then the planters would have such quantities that [...] Interpretations The yam census ran in audited steps: 555,550 found planted at the arrival, by the consultation of 10 August 1714, 906,000 now, by the consultation of 3 December and Mr Bazett's report of 9 April 1717, each figure anchored to a dated minute the Court could pull, so the near doubling of the island's staple stood as the administration's measurable record, the 900,000 reported in the long reply of late 1716 here carried forward and sourced. The Peak intake was costed with a margin the Court could trust, about 300,000 capacity claimed but 200,000 warranted sure, and its springs promised the watered nursery ground that would free the new plantation from the sucker market, the structural dependence just explained, while the Bamboo Gut's 200,000 completed by February or March would bring the two reclamations together to nearly half the island's present planting. The cold season's effect was traced through the propagation chain: backward plantations everywhere meant the watered grounds bred fewer spare suckers at the usual January and February flush, so the bought input the dry grounds needed was itself in short supply, the price and pace of the whole programme governed by the same unusual cold that had killed the beans and chilled the fort. Speculations Citing Mr Bazett's report by name and date for the 906,000 was probably deliberate distribution of credit and of accountability. The storekeeper's own count, entered in consultation, made the headline figure a second officer's testimony rather than the Governor's claim, the same witness habit the letter had used with Harrison and the ship commanders applied now to the island's own books. | ||
76 | they will be willinger to Sell them to us and that will doe our business well eno' for all the Difference be= =tween planting in a Season or out of it is only the time the Yams are growing for those which are planted about Septbr & Octob: are likely to be full grown in twenty months but those that are planted in ffebry or March may be 25 or 26. before full grown, in the rainy Seasons there is but little work to be done in the Grounds the rains being So Violent that most of the Blacks who are Exposed to the Wett gett Sickness by it, The Governr: Unless the rains be very great Usually goes once a week to the Plantations in the Country and Comes down the Same day for there is no lying in the Country unless just in the dry time, He always has a Chair goes with him but we think tis farr from hindering your Honrs business that we take it to be a means to keep it forwards & Some times in Shiping time Some of the Comanders & Supra Cargoes &c: do goe up with him as Governr: Harrison was pleased to doe on both Sides the Country when he was here, The Seasons for weeding is alwayes after the rains and then all hands Young and Old go to it Now we have almost blacks Enough all the best of them are kept to the Plantations worke, It will be too tedious to mention here how they | When suckers were plentiful the planters would be the more willing to sell, and that would do the business well enough, for all the difference between planting in a season or out of it was only the time the yams were growing. Those planted about September and October were likely to be full grown in twenty months, but those planted in February or March might be 25 or 26 before full grown. In the rainy seasons there was but little to be done in the grounds, the rains being so violent that most of the slaves exposed to the wet fell sick by it. The Governor, unless the rains were very great, usually went once a week to the plantations in the country and came down the same day, for there was no lying in the country except just in the daytime. He always had a chair go with him, but the Council thought it far from hindering the Court's business, taking it rather as a means to keep it forward. Sometimes in shipping time some of the commanders and supercargoes went up with him, as Governor Harrison was pleased to do on both sides of the country when he was at the island. The season for weeding was always after the rains, and then all hands, young and old, went to it. Now that there were almost slaves enough, all the best of them were kept to the plantation labour. It would be too tedious to mention here how they were [...] Interpretations The planting calendar quantified the cost of missing the season: September and October plantings matured in twenty months, February and March ones in 25 or 26, so the cold year's sucker shortage taxed the crop five to six months' growth, not its existence, the difference the Council had called only time now given in figures. The Governor's weekly plantation day, up and down the same day since there was no lying in the country overnight, with the chair always in train, answered the Court's evident query about that carriage at paragraph 39 from the other end, the chair shown as the instrument of weekly inspection, and Governor Harrison's rides over both sides of the country fitted into the same practice, commanders and supercargoes carried up in shipping time so the island's improvement was seen by every witness who would talk in London. The labour calendar closed the wet-season account: violent rains sickened the exposed slaves, so the grounds rested while the sick lists doubled, then weeding called all hands, young and old, after the rains, and with the establishment now almost sufficient the best hands were reserved to the plantations, the priority over fortifications and fencing the year's programme had already declared. Speculations The detail that there was no lying in the country except in the daytime was probably entered to scotch any image of a Governor's country seat. The plantation house had been reroofed and floored at the Court's charge, so the letter fixed that no one, Governor included, slept there, the weekly visit pure inspection, the improvements husbandry and not retreat. | ||
77 | are all Imployed and Shall therefore put that down with Some other Such like remarkes in the List of blacks that go home herewith We do take care that none of them are quite Idle and the Chief overseer is a Carefull man and letts none of them be over wraught. 63: St: Helena has usually been Noted to Produce the best Sort of Kidney beans or Callavances but the Last year the Earth did not Produce Seed Eno' to plant the Same ground again and this year is too likely to be the Same and therefore We have been the more Indus= =trious to plant Yamms which Seldomer Miss Yet because We cannot this year nor perhaps the next Supply the Ships wth Callavances We wish for ten Casks of white Pease & three or four of beans but would have no more because whatever are left unsold after the first year are Spoiled and will not boil being then usually given to the Hoggs but if We have any We hope they will Come So Cheap that We may afford to Sell them under Eight Shillings ⅌ Bushell or Else the Comandrs of Ships will never take them 64: We are prest by many of the People to Writ for Flour, and Bread a Small quantity one half of what We had before we Sold to the Ships as will Appear by their Accounts fflower if drye and | How all the slaves were employed would be set down, with some other like remarks, in the list of slaves that went home with this letter. Care was taken that none of them were quite idle, and the chief overseer was a careful man who let none of them be overworked. 63: St Helena usually was noted to produce the best sort of kidney beans, or calavances, but the past year the earth did not produce seed enough to plant the same ground again, and this year was too likely to be the same. The Council had therefore been the more industrious to plant yams, which seldom missed. Yet because the ships could not be supplied with calavances this year, nor perhaps the next, the Council wished for ten casks of white peas and three or four of beans, but would have no more, because whatever was left unsold after the first year spoiled and would not boil, being then usually given to the hogs. If any came, the Council hoped they would come so cheap that they could be afforded under 8s a bushel, or else the commanders of ships would never take them. 64: Many of the people pressed the Council to write for flour and bread, a small quantity, one half of what was had before. The ships were sold flour, as would appear by their accounts, if rye and [...] Interpretations Calavances were the kidney beans of the victualling trade, the island's noted export to the ships, and their two-year failure, seed itself falling short of replanting, closed the supply the commanders bought, so the requested ten casks of white peas and three or four of beans were import substitution for the refreshment trade, not the establishment's diet, the order capped because year-old pulses would not boil and went to the hogs, shelf life setting the indent. The price ceiling of 8s a bushel was set by the buyers' arithmetic: commanders provisioning at the island would take peas only below what they cost from home stores or the Cape, so the Council ordered against a market price, asking the Court to buy cheap or not at all, the same commercial test the letter had applied to tiles and shirts. The slave list going home, with each one's employment and the like remarks, was the annual roll of the Court's slaves with ages and employments the establishment had returned since 1714, now enlarged to answer the idleness questions of paragraph 39, with the chief overseer, the office held by William Worrall since Captain Mashbourne's death in 1715, certified as careful both ways, none idle and none overworked. Speculations The overseer's double certificate was probably worded against both of the Court's anxieties at once. Idle slaves wasted the establishment's bread, overworked ones died and cost their purchase, so the single sentence balanced economy against husbandry, the labour force managed as the capital stock the letter's whole slave accounting had treated it as. | ||
78 | Carefully put up and So kept do's not Spoil with lyeing by So Soon as bread. 65: The Setling every bodys Account at Lady day with Accounts of Families Land & Cattle &c: Shall be Continued 66: And Shall have due regard to your Honours directions in your 68:th Parragrad. 67: As to Riders Petition Mentioned in your 69:th Parragrad what We did by him was in Terrorem only but on his Submission We discharged him before your Honrs Letter came to us, Rider vallued it the less because the money was not his own but Mr: Powells who we beleive was very well Satisfyed to have it discharged. 68: John Poulter took his Passage home in the Ship Princess Emelia We took bills of him Pay= =able to your Honrs: drawn on William Dawsonne Esqre: 69: As to Walter Morris's Complaint about his black this Morris had a good Plantation left him by his father with a House on it and a Stock of Blacks & Cattle which by his want of Indus= =try and Negligence is all Deminished but the Land, the House fallen down for want of look= =ing after he loiters about from place to place | Rye, carefully put up and so kept, did not spoil with lying by so soon as bread. 65: The settling of everybody's account at Lady Day, with accounts of families, land, cattle and the rest, would be continued. 66: Due regard would be had to the Court's directions in its 68th paragraph. 67: As to Rider's petition, mentioned in the Court's 69th paragraph, what was done by him was in terrorem only, and on his submission he was discharged before the Court's letter came. Rider valued it the less because the money was not his own but Mr Powell's, who, the Council believed, was very well satisfied to have it discharged. 68: John Poulter took his passage home in the ship Princess Amelia. Bills were taken of him, payable to the Court, drawn on William Dawsonne Esq. 69: As to Walter Morris's complaint about his slave, this Morris had a good plantation left him by his father, with a house on it and a stock of slaves and cattle, which by his want of industry and negligence was all diminished. The land lay waste, the house fallen down for want of looking after, and he loitered about from place to place [...] Interpretations The Rider case showed the in terrorem fine in operation, a penalty set to frighten rather than to collect, discharged on submission before the Court's letter even arrived, the mitigation-for-submission policy of paragraph 48 applied in the instance the directors had asked about, and the sting drawn further by whose money it was, Rider standing fined in Mr Powell's coin, the principal behind the man relieved when the penalty was remitted. The Lady Day settling, every account reckoned at 25 March with the returns of families, land and cattle, was the island's annual general audit, the same date against which the secretary listed the fines and revenues at paragraph 48, so the whole population's debts, holdings and households closed to one day in the year, the books synchronised for the accounts now going home. The Poulter entry repeated, in its place in the Court's paragraph order, the remittance already reported by the Princess Amelia on 25 July 1717, his bills on William Dawsonne payable to the Court, the cross-reference closing the directors' query with business already done. The Morris complaint was answered with the man's estate history, a good plantation, house, slaves and cattle inherited from his father and all diminished by his own negligence, the house fallen and the land waste while he loitered, the wasted patrimony entered as the context for whatever grievance about his slave the Court had forwarded, the island's standing argument that complaints be read against the complainant's record. Speculations Noting Powell's satisfaction at the discharge of Rider's fine was probably a small stroke of bookkeeping malice. The wealthiest planter had stood behind the offender, so the Council recorded that its clemency had relieved Powell's purse, the adversary shown obliged to the administration he opposed, and the directors shown whose interests the petitions they received sometimes carried. | ||
79 | and left his blacks to themselves who like their Master Stroled about the Country and one of them named Nick used to be always Runing away & at those times lived by Plundering the Country, Walter Morris owed 38:l 18:s 5:d ½ to yor Honrs wch he had no regard to pay Wherefore the Governr: told him unless he would take Some better carse he woud Arrest him for your Honrs debt to Prevent which he Sold this Black to your Honrs for £25. but when the black would not leave his old bad Customes and would Run away and hide himselfe for three months together We Exchanged him wth: one of the black Ships for another fellow from whom We have better Service. 70: As to Mr: Free he is a man So deservedly Contemptible that We hope we need not vallue any thing Such a Wretch can Say he is one that is full of Groundless Complaints and yor Honrs: will never be freed from his false Impertinences if you let him have the Honr: to have his Letters read. 71: As to your 73d: Parrad: if your Honrs please to look over your Indent youl find the Cordage Charged to us at twenty Eight Shillings ⅌ hundd: besides freight which is 5 ⅌ Ct watr: at 5 ⅌ Tonn | Morris left his slaves to themselves, and they, like their master, strolled about the country. One of them, named Nick, used always to be running away, and at those times lived by plundering the country. Walter Morris owed the Court £38 18s 5¾d, which he had no regard to pay, so the Governor told him that unless he took some better course he would arrest him for the Court's debt. To prevent that, Morris sold this slave to the Court for £25 0s 0d, but when the slave would not leave his old bad customs, and would run away and hide himself for three months together, the Council exchanged him with one of the slave ships for another fellow, from whom better service was had. 70: As to Mr Free, he was a man so deservedly contemptible that the Council hoped it need not value anything such a wretch could say. He was one full of groundless complaints, and the Court would never be freed from his false impertinences if it let him have the honour of having his letters read. 71: As to the Court's 73rd paragraph, if the Court looked over its indent it would find the cordage charged at 28s a hundredweight, besides freight, which was 5 per cent and water at £5 0s 0d a ton [...] Interpretations The Morris settlement ran a debt recovery through the slave market: £38 18s 5¾d owed and disregarded, the arrest threatened, and the runaway Nick taken at £25 0s 0d toward the debt, the Court buying its own debtor's worst asset to make him pay, and the purchase then corrected through the Madagascar traffic, Nick exchanged aboard one of the slave ships for a serviceable man, the same management by exchange the Council had used with the four Guinea slaves in March 1717, a habitual runaway and plunderer shipped off the island in place of punishment that would have cost his price. The Free verdict converted the office history of paragraph 51 into advice on procedure at India House: a man of groundless complaints would never cease while his letters earned a reading, so the Council asked the directors to starve the correspondence rather than answer it, the same calculation of attention as reward that had governed the island's handling of its clamorous men since the Eagle Galley petitions. The cordage answer opened the pricing audit from the Court's side of the ledger, the indent's own figures cited back, 28s a hundredweight with freight at 5 per cent and water at £5 0s 0d a ton, the island defending whatever charge the 73rd paragraph had questioned by the Court's documents rather than its own. Speculations Selling Nick to the Court was probably Morris's only liquid asset and the Governor knew it, the arrest threat sized to produce exactly that sale. The establishment thereby collected nearly two thirds of a bad debt in a form it could trade away at sea, turning an uncollectable account and an uncontrollable man into one transaction that removed both from the island's books. | ||
80 | If your Honrs: Please to Consider that it dryes Considerably and do's not weigh So much here as you payd for in London and that We trust every body at least 12 Mo: for it you'l find but very little gott by that Cordage at 12d ⅌ lb which is the Price we retailed it out at ⅌ the Shipping themselves who took quantityes payed and here but 50 ⅌ Ct for what they had As to Lime We reckond up at our first Arrivall here when we payed 18d ⅌ day for hands and it Stood your Honrs in four shillings and ten pence half penny per bushell Just at this time and for Six months We sell it for halfe a Crown but it stands your Honrs in rather more even now when We reckon but 12d ⅌ day for the blacks Labour As to Tann =ing leather We have Endeavoured to hinder it but cannot there has been great Complaints made of Edmond Nicholsn: barking all the Cedar trees to Tann with all and he has always Pre =tended that he Tanned wth his fathers Bark but the Governr: finding all your Honrs Cedar (or Red wood) trees in those parts to be killed by barking and none of his fathers trees were barkt did forbid him Tanning yet it being a Custome for every one when they kill a beast to Tann the | The Court was asked to consider that the cordage dried out considerably and weighed less at the island than the weight paid for in London, and that every buyer was trusted for at least 12 months. Once those losses were allowed, very little was gained by selling that cordage at 12d a pound, the price at which it was retailed to the shipping itself. The ships took quantities and paid here only 50s a hundredweight for what they had. On lime, the Council made its reckoning at its first arrival, when hands were paid 18d a day, and the lime then cost the Court 4s 10½d a bushel. At the present time and for the past six months it sold at half a crown, but it still cost the Court rather more than that, even with black labour now reckoned at only 12d a day. On the tanning of leather, the Council tried to stop the practice but could not. Serious complaints were made against Edmond Nichols for stripping the bark from all the cedar trees to tan with. He always claimed falsely that he tanned with his father's bark. The Governor found all the Court's cedar (or redwood) trees in those parts killed by the stripping, while none of his father's trees had been touched, and on that evidence forbade him to tan. The custom remained that everyone who killed a beast tanned the hide. Interpretations The cordage account exposes a double loss built into selling naval stores at a fixed retail price. The rope was bought by weight in London, shrank in weight as it dried on the passage and in store, and was then sold on 12 months' credit, so the nominal margin between the invoice cost and the 12d a pound retail rate disappeared in wastage and deferred payment. The complaint sits with the indent figure of 28s a hundredweight plus 5 per cent freight and £5 0s 0d a ton for water carried in the reply then in progress, dated 6 January 1718. The lime calculation is a unit-cost defence of the establishment's pricing. Lime, burned on the island for mortar, cost 4s 10½d a bushel when free labour stood at 18d a day, and even after the Council brought the rate for hired slave labour down to 12d a day the true cost still exceeded the half-crown selling price. The figures show the Council costing its own production against wage rates rather than setting prices by custom, and quietly record the labour reform by which the 18d rate of the previous administration was cut to 12d. Bark stripping killed the trees because removing the bark in a ring cuts the living layer beneath it, so tanning bark could only be taken at the cost of the tree. The Governor's proof against Nichols was circumstantial but decisive: the Court's cedars stood barked and dying while the father's trees, the claimed source, stood untouched. The prohibition was an act of timber conservation on an island already stripped of wood, where the felling and loss of cover had been tied to soil erosion and the replanting programme. Speculations The Council perhaps pressed the cordage figures to head off a charge of profiteering on stores. By showing that 12d a pound barely covered shrinkage and a year's credit, it justified both the retail price and the lower 50s a hundredweight taken from ships' commanders, who paid promptly and bought in bulk and so earned the discount. The decision to forbid Nichols personally, rather than to ban tanning outright, suggests a deliberate balance between protecting the Court's trees and respecting an island-wide custom. Since every household tanned the hide of any beast it killed, a general prohibition would have been unenforceable and resented, so the Governor struck only at the one man whose bark supply demonstrably came from the Court's woods. | ||
81 | Hide such a great quantity of bark was wasted that it was Shamefull it should be Suffered longer but now we think there is no need of our Order it will be at an end it selfe for there are very few Cedar trees So few that the last rainy season the Governr Could not gett seeds or seedlings of that sort of Wood to plant yet because we did think it proper that Tanning Should be restrained the Governr: has proposed if your Honrs think fitt that one Tanner may be publickly Allowed and that the planters Choose that man whom they will to Tann their Leather at a Price of their own Setting alsoe and that only that man So Chosen be Permitted to be a Tanner this they do approve of but yet will not Choose another most of them desireing themselves to be that man As to the duty on Arrack We did it to restrain the too great Number of Sellers We know the people were not Satisfyed wth it at first but now we think they are Pritty Easey for none of them have payed any duty for what they bring on Shoar in bottles and we think as long as they can buy it at your Honrs Store House for Six shillings & three pence ⅌ Gall: they will not Complain As to any Private letters Capt Bazett is Sorry he gave your Honrs: any trouble with any | In tanning the hides, so great a quantity of bark was wasted that it was shameful to let the practice continue. The Council now judged its own order unnecessary, since the trade would die out by itself. Very few cedar trees remained, so few that in the last rainy season the Governor could not get seeds or seedlings of that wood to plant. Because the Council still thought it proper to restrain tanning, the Governor proposed, if the Court approved, that one tanner be publicly licensed. The planters would choose whichever man they wished to tan their leather, at a price also of their own setting, and only the man so chosen would be permitted to tan. The planters approved the scheme but would not choose anyone, since most of them wanted to be that man themselves. On the arrack duty, the Council imposed it to cut down the excessive number of sellers. The people were not satisfied with it at first, but the Council judged them now fairly content, since none of them paid any duty on what they brought ashore in bottles. As long as they could buy arrack at the Court's storehouse for 6s 3d a gallon, the Council expected no complaint. 72: Concerning any private letters, Captain Bazett expressed regret for having given the Court any trouble with any Interpretations The licensed-tanner proposal is a complete regulatory design in miniature: a single public licence to limit destruction of the bark supply, with the choice of licensee and the price both left to the planters so that the monopoly could not be resented as the Governor's favour or the Company's price-fixing. Its failure is equally instructive, since a community of small producers each hoping to capture the monopoly could not agree to confer it, leaving the restraint to operate by scarcity rather than by rule. The arrack passage shows the 12d a gallon duty, fixed by the consultation of 13 September 1715, settling into a workable compromise. The duty fell on commercial sellers and so suppressed the private storehouses, while small quantities carried ashore in bottles for household use went untaxed, a tolerated leak that bought public acceptance. The storehouse price of 6s 3d a gallon set the ceiling that made evasion not worth organising, the Company keeping the trade by being only moderately dearer than the smuggler. The failed seed-gathering ties the tanning complaint to the island's wider deforestation. The cedar or redwood was so reduced that the Governor could not even collect planting stock in the rainy season, the natural sowing time, which confirms that the bark stripping had destroyed the seed-bearing trees themselves and not merely damaged standing timber. Speculations The Council's willingness to let its own prohibition lapse perhaps reflects a preference for self-extinguishing problems over standing orders that needed enforcement. With the trees nearly gone, the trade would end without the odium of policing it, and the Council had already observed in the reply of 6 January 1718 that good orders were easier made than enforced. Captain Bazett's apology at paragraph 72 suggests the Court had rebuked the practice of councillors corresponding privately alongside the official letters. Answering it within the numbered paragraph-by-paragraph reply turned a personal matter into a recorded institutional answer, closing the point on the Company's own terms. | ||
82 | any We are all very well Satisfyed with our Governour and know him to be very Industrious in your Service and as he Endeavours to deserve your Honrs favour We hope he will not want it As to your Honrs Accots they were done and brought into Consultacon on the 23d of Decbr to which Consultation please to be referred the Governr Sayes that as Governr Severall Bills have gone home in his name which he Supposes would have gone home in the name of any other Governr: for the time being that he never was Interested one penny in nor had never nor any for him any manner of Proffit tho' he knows Some have had Pertiularly in a bill for 208L: 7s: & 8d of Capt Dingleys Comander of the Litchfeild but when Capt Stuart had Bills due and a letter of Attorney and a letter of Administration sent over to the [...] Governr: to receive it he having had a great deal of trouble wth Capt Stuart when he was here and never had any Proffit by him He thought in that case he deserved five ⅌ Cent as well as any other yet never did receive it or so much as ask for it of any other person nor would have taken it of him if he had | The Council declared itself entirely satisfied with the Governor, knowing him to be very industrious in the Court's service, and hoped that as he strove to deserve the Court's favour he would not lack it. 73: Concerning the Court's accounts, they were completed and brought into the consultation of 23 December, to which the Court was referred. The Governor stated that several bills had gone home in his name as Governor, as they would have gone home in the name of whoever held the office at the time. He was never interested in them to the value of one penny, and neither he nor anyone on his behalf ever drew any profit from them. He knew that some had taken such profit, particularly on a bill for £208 7s 8d of Captain Dingley, commander of the Litchfield. When Captain Hurst had bills falling due, and a letter of attorney and a letter of administration were sent over to the present Governor to collect the money, the Governor considered that in that case he deserved 5 per cent as well as anyone, having had a great deal of trouble with Captain Hurst during his stay and never any profit from him. Yet he never received that commission, never so much as asked anyone for it, and would not have taken it from Captain Hurst himself had he Interpretations The paragraph records the Governor clearing himself on the standing suspicion that island governors took private commission on the bills of exchange drawn through them. Bills necessarily went home over the Governor's signature because he headed the Council that drew them, so his name on the instruments proved office, not interest. The defence distinguishes the signature from the profit, and concedes that predecessors had taken such profit, citing the Litchfield bill as the known instance. The letter of attorney and letter of administration mark the island's place in settling dead or absent men's affairs. A letter of attorney authorised the Governor to collect another man's debts as his agent; a letter of administration conferred authority over the estate of a man who died intestate. Captain Hurst, who had called at the island on 1 August 1715 in the Averilla, evidently left money owing there, and the recovery had to pass through the only resident authority capable of enforcing payment. The 5 per cent the Governor renounced was the customary agency commission on such collections, a recognised fee rather than a corrupt taking, which makes his refusal of it a deliberate display of disinterest. Speculations The Governor probably built this answer around the one transaction the Court could verify, since the Litchfield bill had been disclosed in the Council's letter of 6 July 1715 as a worked example of the island's private trade. By naming the discreditable precedent while showing he declined even a lawful commission on the Hurst collection, he converted a charge touching the Governor into evidence of his own restraint, consistent with his sole-signature letter of 28 April 1717 soliciting the Court's favour for advancement. | ||
83 | behaved himself any thing like a Gentleman here if the man were not dead many Instances might be made that he would be aShamed to own of which if your Honrs desire any Particulars Mr Woolley that was his Purser now to be heard of in Exchange Alley will inform you but as Such things have no great Pleasure in the Repition or reading We will Say no more of them and Pass them over without giveing you Account how he had like to have Carryed off our Secretary As to the Governrs: driveing a great Private Trade We Assure your Honrs We know of None and the Governr Sayes he never Sold any thing to the Garrison at all unless when three of his Servants dyed their Goods & Cloaths were putt up and sold by Publick outcry and then there were Severall Small Articles of Creditt Entered but Some bought which had no Credit and those Articles are not Entered yet but otherwise than at the Publick outcryes before mentioned the Governr: has not Sold any thing As to the Antegua Sloop the Governr: Did buy Some things on your Honrs Accot which are Already mentioned they were Sold out of your Stores | The Governor would not have taken the commission from Captain Hurst even had the man behaved anything like a gentleman during his time at the island. Were he not dead, many instances of conduct he would be ashamed to own might be produced. If the Court wanted particulars, Mr Woolley, formerly his purser and now to be found in Exchange Alley, could supply them. Since such matters gave no pleasure in the telling or the reading, the Council said no more of them, and passed over without an account how he had almost carried off the island's secretary. 74: Concerning the charge that the Governor drove a great private trade, the Council assured the Court it knew of none. The Governor stated that he never sold anything at all to the garrison, except when three of his servants died and their goods and clothes were put up and sold by public outcry. Several small articles were then entered on credit, but some buyers had no credit, and those articles were not yet entered. Otherwise than at the public outcries already mentioned, the Governor sold nothing. As for the Antigua sloop, the Governor did buy some things on the Court's account, which were already mentioned, and they were sold out of the Court's storehouse Interpretations Exchange Alley places Mr Woolley precisely in the London world the directors knew. The alley, off Lombard Street by the Royal Exchange, was the resort of brokers, jobbers and dealers in ships' affairs, so a man "to be heard of" there was traceable through the coffee houses without a fixed address. The Council was handing the Court a checkable witness against a dead man while declining to put the scandal on paper itself. The Governor's defence at paragraph 74 turns on the public outcry as the cleansing mechanism for any sale touching the Governor. Goods auctioned openly before the community could not be a covert private trade, and the dead servants' effects had to be converted to money somehow, since an estate at the island could only be remitted home as credit or bills. The unentered credit articles are an honest accounting confession: sales to men without store credit could not be booked until some basis of payment existed, so the entry waited rather than the sale being concealed. The Antigua sloop purchase was already disclosed in the reply of 6 January 1718, where goods bought on the Court's account were set out in packet paper number 11 with the assurance that the sloop was not traded with. Repeating here that those goods passed through the Court's storehouse closes the loop: the only transaction with an irregular vessel was for the Company, through the Company's books, at the Company's counter. Speculations The Council's refusal to detail Captain Hurst's conduct, while naming a living informant, was probably a calculated piece of restraint. A written catalogue against a dead commander could be answered by his friends or owners at India House, whereas an oral account from his own purser committed the Council to nothing and could not be contradicted from the island. The one detail it did let slip, the near carrying-off of the secretary, was the one injury done to the Court's own establishment rather than to private parties. The timing of the servants' deaths perhaps explains why the Governor admitted this single exception so readily. Three deaths in one household match the great mortality among the garrison in the rainy season reported on 24 February 1716, and an auction of dead men's clothes in such a season would have been within recent memory of every soldier the Court might question. | ||
84 | Storehouse and your Honrs have had the Proffitt 75: As to the Path the banquetting House upon it and the nine Pin Place if you Please to Enquire of any of the Comanders who have been up it they will tell you there is no such thing tho' when all our work is over the Goverr intends to build a small Hutt for two of the Old Blacks to live in that they may keep the Path clean which is apt to be filled wth the falling Earth & Rubbish Stones hove downe by Goates & by high winds &c Nine Pinns is what the Governr never play's at So tis not So likely he Should bestow Charge on that but that We may not be troublesome to Yor Honrs by too many Preambles We take leave to Assure your Honrs there is as much fru= =gallity as may be in every thing and no Wast that We know of in any thing nor Shall be and whatever is done worthy of yor Honrs Notice shall be always Entered According to your Orders in our Consultations 76: The vallue of the Tomb has been referred by Consultation to Capt Hawell and Captaine Bazett who have not yet brought in their Margin Notes: see [...] letter [...] H 185 [...] | The storehouse made the sales and the Court had the profit. 75: Concerning the path, the banqueting house upon it and the ninepin place, the Court was invited to enquire of any of the commanders who had been up it, who would confirm that no such thing existed. When all the present labours were over, the Governor intended to build a small hut there for two of the old blacks to live in, so that they might keep the path clean, since it was apt to be filled with falling earth and with rubbish stones brought down by goats and by high winds. As for ninepins, the Governor never played at the game, so it was hardly likely he would lay out money on such a thing. To avoid troubling the Court with too many preambles, the Council took leave to assure it that there was as much frugality as possible in everything, and no waste that it knew of in anything, nor would there be. Whatever was done worthy of the Court's notice would always be entered in the consultations according to the Court's orders. 76: The value of the tomb was referred by consultation to Captain Haswell and Captain Bazett, who had not yet brought in their Interpretations The paragraph answers an accusation, evidently carried home by some informer, that the Governor had built himself a banqueting house and a ninepin ground, the recognised furniture of a gentleman's pleasure garden. A banqueting house was a small ornamental building for private entertaining, and ninepins a fashionable bowling game played on a prepared alley, so the charge amounted to spending the Company's labour on personal luxury. The Council's chosen rebuttal was verification by the ships' commanders, the one class of witness the Court could examine at India House and whose members walked the island's paths every season, turning the same channel that carried the accusation into the means of disproving it. The planned hut for two old slaves converts the path itself into evidence of economy. Slaves past heavy labour, like Old Will, were set to light standing duties rather than maintained idle, and stationing two on the path to clear the constant fall of earth and stones answered the terrain's real problem at the least possible cost. The detail that goats brought the stones down ties the nuisance to the wild stock of the waste, the same animals against which the new plantations had to be fenced. Speculations The Council's closing pledge that anything worthy of notice would appear in the consultations was probably aimed at the source of the story rather than the story itself. By insisting that the consultation book was the complete record, it implied that whatever reached the Court outside that record came from private malice and deserved no credit, the same defence it had used against the planters' complaints in the reply to the Court's letter of 14 March 1716. | ||
85 | Report but as Soon as it is done the Governour shall be made Debtor for it 77: We have been Obliged to draw Severall Bills on your Honrs by this Ship all which wth the reasons thereof are Entered in our Consultations yet because those Consultacons may not come to hand So Soon as this Letter We mention Some Small Particulars relateing thereunto 78: There goes home three bills dated the 4th Janry 1717/8 for the Sume of Three Hundred fifty seven Pounds four Shillings these Bills are in the Govrs name but belongs to Capt Hursts Widdow 79: And three bills of the Same date for One Hundred Pounds which belongs to the Governor: himselfe 80: And three Bills of the Same date for the Sume of two Hundred twenty two Pounds four Shillings & Seven pence half penny belonging to Mr George Sanders one of Our Inhabitants who goes wth his family to England to take Poss =ession of an Estate that he Say's belongs to him there 81: Three bills of the like date belonging to Capt James Winter Comander of this Ship for Goods he Sold us here as may appear by our Consultacon | As soon as the report was delivered, the Governor would be charged as debtor for the value of the tomb. 77: The Council was obliged to draw several bills on the Court by this ship. All of them, with the reasons for each, were entered in the consultations, but since those consultations might not reach the Court as soon as this letter, the Council set out some small particulars relating to them. 78: Three bills went home dated 4 January 1718 for the sum of £357 4s 0d. These bills stood in the Governor's name but belonged to Captain Hurst's widow. 79: Three bills of the same date went home for £100 0s 0d, belonging to the Governor himself. 80: Three bills of the same date went home for the sum of £222 4s 7½d, belonging to Mr George Sanders, one of the inhabitants, who travelled with his family to England to take possession of an estate that he said belonged to him there. 81: Three bills of the like date belonged to Captain James Winter, commander of this ship, for goods he sold the Council at the island, as the consultation recorded. Interpretations The advance schedule of drawings answers a timing problem in the bill system. Each bill was drawn in a set of three, the parts sent by separate ships so that the loss of one copy did not destroy the claim, and any part might be presented at India House for acceptance before the consultation books justifying it arrived. The abstract in the letter gave the Court enough particulars to honour each bill on sight without waiting for the records, protecting both the Company's credit and the holders' money. The £357 4s 0d in the Governor's name for Captain Hurst's widow is the collection under the letter of attorney and letter of administration described at paragraph 73, completed and remitted. The instrument had to carry the Governor's name because he was the agent who recovered the debts at the island, so the entry shows in practice how bills could stand in a governor's name without a penny of his interest in them, and the disclosure of the true owner in the same letter forestalled any contrary reading at home. The tomb entry shows the Council policing the Governor's private benefit from Company resources. A structure built with the Court's materials or labour was valued by two councillors, Captain Haswell and Captain Bazett, and the assessed sum charged to the Governor's personal account as a debt, converting a possible abuse into an ordinary book entry. Mr Sanders's £222 4s 7½d illustrates the only way a family could carry its wealth off the island. With coin scarce and exports nil, an emigrant sold everything for store credit and took the value home as bills on the Court, the same conversion made for the Keeling heirs on 8 December 1714 and for Mary Bright on 22 May 1716. Speculations The ordering of the letter was probably deliberate: the Governor's denial at paragraph 73 that he ever profited by bills in his name is followed within a few paragraphs by the one current bill of exactly that kind, with its true owner declared. The arrangement let the Court verify the defence against the season's own remittances, and showed the renounced 5 per cent commission given up in practice, not merely in words. Referring the tomb's value to Haswell and Bazett, the two senior councillors after the Governor, perhaps served to make the charge unchallengeable. A debt entered against the Governor on his own valuation would invite suspicion, whereas a sum fixed by the two officers next in standing bound him to a figure he did not set. | ||
86 | and for the Sume of three Hundred fifty four Pounds Eight Shillings & Seven pence halfe Penny [8]2: Three other Bills to Capt Hunter for Creditt payed into his Account by the Governr on behalf of Mr Henry Francis & Mr Carne whose Sons he Carryed wth him to Sea and took one of them Apprentice these three Bills are for the Sume of One Hundred & Seven Pounds 83: And three Bills of the Same date for Forty five Pounds twelve Shillings & Seven Pence due to Capt Wentworth George Pitts for Deals & Timber he Sold to Richd Swallow and others 84: And three Bills of the Same date due to the Heirs of William Woodzell Deceased for the Sume of twelve Pounds Six Shillings five pence three farthings We are Honrd Srs Yor Honrs Most Humble faith full & Obedient Servants Isaac Pyke Geo: Haswell Matt Bazett Antho: Tovey Margin Notes: Island St Helena Union Castle the 6th Janry 1717/8 PS There goes home in this Ship one large Box Marked A. of your Honrs Books of Accots as mentioned in Consult: of ye 24 & 31 of Decr last and have alsoe sent 3 ps: of Blew Cloth wch are mentioned in this Letter | The bills drawn to Captain Winter came to the sum of £354 8s 7½d. 82: Three other bills went to Captain Hunter for credit the Governor paid into his account on behalf of Mr Henry Francis and Mr Carne, whose sons he carried to sea with him, taking one of them as his apprentice. These three bills came to the sum of £107 0s 0d. 83: Three bills of the same date for £45 12s 7d were due to Captain Wentworth George Petts for deals and timber he sold to Richard Swallow and others. 84: Three bills of the same date were due to the heirs of William Woodzell, deceased, for the sum of £12 6s 5¾d. The letter was dated at Union Castle, island of St Helena, on 6 January 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. A postscript recorded one large box marked A going home in this ship, holding the Court's books of accounts mentioned in the consultations of 24 and 31 December last, and also three parts of the bills of exchange mentioned in this letter. Interpretations Paragraph 82 shows how an island family bought a son's start at sea without coin. An apprenticeship to a commander carried a premium, and the fathers could pay it only in store credit, so the Governor transferred the value into Captain Hunter's account at the island and the captain took the money home as bills on the Court for £107 0s 0d. The Company's books thus served as the clearing house for a private contract, and going to sea under a returning commander stood as one of the few careers open to island sons besides soldiering. Captain Hunter, late of the Catherine, was then at the island as a passenger on the King William, which arrived on 22 December 1717. The timber sale at paragraph 83 reverses the usual flow of the island's trade. Deals and sawn timber were so scarce that the carpenter Richard Swallow and other inhabitants bought them from a ship's commander, and the Court's books again intermediated, gathering the buyers' store credits into a single bill of £45 12s 7d payable to Captain Petts in London rather than many small settlements at the island. The box marked A carried the substance of the Court's long-standing complaint over the accounts: the books of Governor Bouchier's time and those since, despatched under the consultations of 24 and 31 December 1717. Sending the primary records home placed the arrears question before the Court's own accountants instead of resting on the Council's assurances. Speculations The punctual settlement of Captain Petts's timber money probably reflects a deliberate separation of disputes. The same commander had refused the gunpowder charge of £6 16s 6d as outside his charter party, and his ship's account went home unclosed, yet the Council paid his private sale in full by bills. Keeping the charter-party quarrel apart from his trade preserved the goodwill of commanders, whose spare deals and yards were the island's only timber supply between store ships. | ||
87 | List of the Packett ⅌ Ship King William Capt James Winter Comander Govr & Councils Genll Letter goes a Part dated ye 6 Janry 1717/8 &c No 1: Duplicate of Genll ⅌ the Princess Emelia 2: Inventory of Store Goods wth Such Goods as are wanted on St Helena 3: Surgeons Indent of Medicines 4: Military & Civill List of all Persons bearing Armes on St Helena 5: Copy of Govr & Councils Letter ⅌ Success to Fort St George 6: Copy of Govr & Counlls Letter ⅌ do to Ship to Bombay 7: Copy of Govr & Counlls Letter ⅌ do: — to Bengall 8: Copy of Govr & Counlls Letter ⅌ do: — to Bencoolin 9: Copy of Genll Letter from Fort St George ⅌ King Willm: 10: Copy of Govrs Letter to Comanders of Ships 11: Accot of Goods bought of the Antegue Sloop 12: List of the Hon: Compas Blacks 13: Copy of Directions to Capt Growes abt yams sent to Bencoolin — 14: John Poullers 2d Bill of Exch: on Willim Dawsonne Esqr: for 16£ 7[s] [...] dated the 24th July 1717: [...] 15: Copy of Mr: Carnes Inventory March 20: 1715/6 16: 17: 18: 19: Copy of Consult: from the 24th July Inclusive to ye 4th of Janry 1717/18 Inclusive in 4 Parcells Stitcht 20: Receipt for the Packtt ⅌ Princess Emelia 21: List of the Packtt | A list was enclosed of the packet by the ship King William, Captain James Winter commander. The Governor and Council's general letter went separately, dated 6 January 1718. 1: Duplicate of the general letter by the Princess Amelia 2: Inventory of the store goods, with such goods as were wanted at St Helena 3: The surgeon's indent of medicines 4: Military and civil list of all persons bearing arms at St Helena 5: Copy of the Governor and Council's letter by the Success to Fort St George 6: Copy of the Governor and Council's letter by the same ship to Bombay 7: Copy of the Governor and Council's letter by the same ship to Bengal 8: Copy of the Governor and Council's letter by the same ship to Bencoolen 9: Copy of the general letter from Fort St George by the King William 10: Copy of the Governor's letter to the commanders of ships 11: Account of the goods bought of the Antigua sloop 12: List of the Company's blacks 13: Copy of the directions to Captain Graves about the yams sent to Bencoolen 14: John Poulter's second bill of exchange on William Dawsonne Esq for £16 7s 11½d, dated 24 July 1717 15: Copy of Mr Carne's inventory of 20 March 1716 16 to 19: Copies of the consultations from 24 July 1717 inclusive to 4 January 1718 inclusive, in four parcels 20: Receipt for the packet by the Princess Amelia 21: List of the packet Interpretations The manifest shows the season's whole correspondence system folded into one conveyance. The duplicate of the Princess Amelia letter of 25 July 1717, the receipt for that ship's packet and the closing list of this one give the Court a verifiable chain of custody, each despatch proving the safe carriage of the last, while the four parcels of consultations from 24 July 1717 to 4 January 1718 carry the unbroken primary record behind every decision the letter reports. Items 2, 12 and 4 together amount to a stocktake of the establishment in goods, slaves and men. The store inventory paired with the list of wants was the indent promised on 25 July 1717 once the goods could be counted, the list of the Company's blacks rendered the slave establishment as accountable property, and the muster of all persons bearing arms reported the militia on which the island's defence and the restraints on engrossing planters both rested. The copy of the Governor's letter to commanders at item 10 performs the undertaking given in the general letter: every returning captain received the Court's 10th paragraph with a cautionary covering letter on dealings with foreign shipping, and the specimen sent home let the Court verify the wording of its own instruction as administered at the island. Mr Carne's inventory of 20 March 1716 at item 15 supplied the documentary base of the widow Carne's case, which stood at large in the consultations of 15, 22 and 29 October and 5 November 1717. Sending the original valuation let the Court test the family's petitions against the recorded estate rather than against the Council's summary of it. Speculations The despatch of John Poulter's second bill, the first part having gone by the Princess Amelia on 25 July 1717, was probably timed so that no two parts of the instrument ever sailed together. Splitting the £16 7s 11½d across separate ships cost nothing and preserved the claim even if one conveyance were lost, the same protection the Council applied to its own drawings. | ||
88 | To Joseph Dawgs a Soldier of our Garrison who has Served above his Contracted time three Bills for the Sume of Seventeen Pounds two Shillings & ten pence dated the 18th: March 1717/18 To Mr Richard Dixon (a young man born upon this place whose friends Sent for him Severall times to Come for England) or Order three Bills for the Sume of thirty Eight Pounds fifteen Shillings & four pence dated the 19th of March 1717/18 Union Castle — St Helena the 19th: March 1717/18 We are Honble Srs Your most obedt & faithfll Servants Isa: Pyke Geo Haswell Matth: Bazett Antho: Tovey | Three bills for the sum of £17 2s 10d, dated 18 March 1718, were drawn to Joseph Dawgs, a soldier of the garrison who had served beyond his contracted time. Three bills for the sum of £38 15s 4d, dated 19 March 1718, were drawn to Mr Richard Dixon or his order. Dixon was a young man born on the island, whose friends had sent for him several times to come to England. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 19 March 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations Each drawing carries its own justification written into the entry, since the Court examined every bill presented against it. Dawgs's claim rested on service beyond his contracted term, the standing grievance of the garrison acknowledged in the reply of 6 January 1718, where the Council asked for ten soldiers a year so that any man who wished could go home. His £17 2s 10d was the accumulated balance of wages that could leave the island in no other form than paper on the Court. The words "or order" on Dixon's bills made the instrument negotiable. A bill payable to a named man alone had to be collected by him in person, whereas one payable to him or his order could be endorsed over to anyone, letting a traveller turn his paper into cash or goods along the way. Dixon had served as the storekeeper's writer, one of the six persons of the stores establishment recorded in 1715, and the £38 15s 4d represents the savings of that clerkship. His recall to England by his friends shows the pull of home connections even on the island-born, the very class the Council hoped would settle and people the place. Speculations The bracketed note on Dixon's birth and his friends' repeated summons was probably inserted to forestall a question the Council could see coming. An island-born Company writer leaving for England thinned the small pool of capable clerks the Governor had struggled to assemble, so the entry presents the departure as a family obligation pressed from home rather than a man let go from a service that could ill spare him. | ||
89 | To Joseph Dawgs a Soldier of our Garrison who has Served above his Contracted time three Bills for the Sume of Seventeen Pounds two Shillings & ten pence dated the 18th: March 1717/18 To Mr Richard Dixon (a young man born upon this place whose friends Sent for him Severall times to Come for England) or Order three Bills for the Sume of thirty Eight Pounds fifteen Shillings & four pence dated the 19th of March 1717/18 Union Castle — St Helena the 19th: March 1717/18 We are Honble Srs Your most obedt & faithfll Servants Isa: Pyke Geo Haswell Matth: Bazett Antho: Tovey | Three bills for the sum of £17 2s 10d, dated 18 March 1718, were drawn to Joseph Dawgs, a soldier of the garrison who had served beyond his contracted time. Three bills for the sum of £38 15s 4d, dated 19 March 1718, were drawn to Mr Richard Dixon or his order. Dixon was a young man born on the island, whose friends had sent for him several times to come to England. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 19 March 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations Each drawing carries its own justification written into the entry, since the Court examined every bill presented against it. Dawgs's claim rested on service beyond his contracted term, the standing grievance of the garrison acknowledged in the reply of 6 January 1718, where the Council asked for ten soldiers a year so that any man who wished could go home. His £17 2s 10d was the accumulated balance of wages that could leave the island in no other form than paper on the Court. The words "or order" on Dixon's bills made the instrument negotiable. A bill payable to a named man alone had to be collected by him in person, whereas one payable to him or his order could be endorsed over to anyone, letting a traveller turn his paper into cash or goods along the way. Dixon had served as the storekeeper's writer, one of the six persons of the stores establishment recorded in 1715, and the £38 15s 4d represents the savings of that clerkship. His recall to England by his friends shows the pull of home connections even on the island-born, the very class the Council hoped would settle and people the place. Speculations The bracketed note on Dixon's birth and his friends' repeated summons was probably inserted to forestall a question the Council could see coming. An island-born Company writer leaving for England thinned the small pool of capable clerks the Governor had struggled to assemble, so the entry presents the departure as a family obligation pressed from home rather than a man let go from a service that could ill spare him. | ||
90 | List: of the Packt ⅌ Ship Marlborough Comandore Matthew Martin Duplicate of Governr & Counll Generall Lettr ⅌ King William dated the 6th Janry 1717/18 wth a Poscript added thereto dated ye 19th March 1717/18 Sent a Part No 1: Copy of Consultations from the 14th Janry Inclusive to the 17th March 1717/18 Includ: 2: Duplicate of Consultt: from Febry 5 1715/6 to the 8th Day of Octobr Exclus: 1717/8 Stitcht in 3 Parcells 3: Duplicate of Goods much wanted on St Helena 4: Miletary & Civill List of all ⅌sons bearing Armes 5: Duplicate of Genll wth an Additional Letter from Fort St George ⅌ Ship Marlbro: dated 26th 7br: 1717 6: Copy of Genll from Fort St George ⅌ Prince Frederick dated the 1st Febry 1716/7 7: Copy of Genll from Fort William ⅌ do: Ship dated the 28th: Decembr: 1716 8: Copy of Genll from Bencoolen ⅌ Rochester dated the 21st: Octobr: 1717 9: Copy of a Speciall Tryall abt: the division of Thomas Gargens Estate 10: Capt James Winters Receipt for ye large Packet 11: Ditto his Receipt for the Small Packett 12: List of the Packt ⅌ Ship King William 13: Ship Marlbros: Acco: in the Stores 14: Ship Prince Fredericks Accot 15: Ship Rochesters Accot: 16: List of the Packet | A list was enclosed of the packet by the ship Marlborough, Commodore Matthew Martin. The duplicate of the Governor and Council's general letter by the King William, dated 6 January 1718, with a postscript added to it dated 19 March 1718, went separately. 1: Copy of the consultations from 14 January inclusive to 17 March 1718 inclusive 2: Duplicate of the consultations from 5 February 1717 to 8 October 1717 exclusive, stitched in three parcels 3: Duplicate of the goods much wanted at St Helena 4: Military and civil list of all persons bearing arms 5: Duplicate of the general letter, with an additional letter, from Fort St George by the ship Marlborough, dated 26 September 1717 6: Copy of the general letter from Fort St George by the Prince Frederick, dated 1 February 1717 7: Copy of the general letter from Fort William by the same ship, dated 2[...] December 1716 8: Copy of the general letter from Bencoolen by the Rochester, dated 2 October 1717 9: Copy of a special trial about the division of Thomas Gargen's estate 10: Captain James Winter's receipt for the large packet 11: His receipt also for the small packet 12: List of the packet by the ship King William 13: The ship Marlborough's account in the stores 14: The ship Prince Frederick's account 15: The ship Rochester's account 16: List of the packet Interpretations The manifest shows the overlap technique at full stretch. The Marlborough carried a complete duplicate of the King William's general letter of 6 January 1718, brought up to date by the postscript of 19 March 1718, together with Captain Winter's receipts for both packets and the list of his lading at item 12, so that if the King William miscarried the Court would still hold the letter, and if she arrived the receipts proved the chain of custody. The fresh consultations at item 1 carry the record on from where the King William's parcels stopped, while the stitched duplicate at item 2 replaces at one stroke the originals dispersed across the season's earlier conveyances. Items 5 to 8 reveal St Helena acting as the postal junction of the eastern settlements. Letters from Fort St George, from Fort William in Bengal and from Bencoolen, brought up by the Marlborough, the Prince Frederick and the Rochester, were copied at the island before the originals went on, so the Court received the presidencies' correspondence in duplicate streams and the island held a copy against loss at sea. The three ships' store accounts at items 13 to 15 closed each vessel's dealings at the island in the same packet that carried her despatches. The special trial over Thomas Gargen's estate at item 9 went home as a complete transcript rather than a summary, the standing method by which the Council exposed its judicial proceedings to review. Sending the record of a contested division of property let the Court satisfy itself that inheritance, the most combustible question on a small island of planters, was being settled by open trial rather than by the Governor's discretion. Speculations The despatch of three ships' accounts together probably reflects the convoy pattern of that season. The Marlborough and the Prince Frederick had been left at Madras to be despatched within weeks of the King William's sailing of 22 August 1717, and the Rochester was awaiting despatch from Bencoolen, so the three reached the island close together and were cleared as a group, their paperwork consolidated into the last bottom to sail. | ||
91 | General Letter ⅌ Ship Hannover Captn: James Osborne Comder dated ye 10th: May 1718 Honble Srs 1: Our Last was by the Marlbro: dated the 19th of March last and tho' We have not had any Material Accident Since then Yet because the Hannover Comanded by Capt: Osborne the Essex Comanded by Capt: Charles Newton & the Sarum Frigt: Comanded by Capt: George Newton are likely to goe home together We thought it our duty to write Some what by them lest We Should Seem Negligent to Our Honble Masters and therefore trouble your Honrs: wth the following Account of Shiping 2: All that Arrived with Us Since Christmas Last are vizt: 3: On the 15th Janry Arrived the Mercury Ketch from Madagascar Capt: Josias Henry Mackett who delivered Us for your Honrs Service Seven Negro Men Slaves On the 28th: Febry Arrived the Marlbro: Capt: Matthew Martin Comandr: from China & Madrass On the 1st of March the Prince Frederick Capt Edward Martin Comder: Arrived from Madrass On the 2d: of March the Rochester Capt: | The general letter went by the ship Hannover, Captain James Osborne commander, dated 10 May 1718. 1: The Council's last letter went by the Marlborough, dated 19 March last. Nothing of consequence had happened since then. Because the Hannover under Captain Osborne, the Essex under Captain Charles Newton and the Sarum frigate under Captain George Newton were likely to go home together, the Council thought it its duty to write something by them, lest it seem negligent to its masters, and therefore gave the Court the following account of shipping. 2: All the ships that arrived at the island since last Christmas were as follows. 3: The Mercury ketch, Captain Josias Henry Mackett, arrived on 15 January 1718 from Madagascar and delivered seven men as slaves for the Court's service. The Marlborough, Captain Matthew Martin commander, arrived on 28 February 1718 from China and Madras. The Prince Frederick, Captain Edward Martin, commodore, arrived from Madras on 1 March 1718. The Rochester, Captain William [...], followed on 2 March 1718. Interpretations The opening paragraph states the rule that governed all the island's correspondence: every homeward conveyance had to carry a letter, because silence would be read at India House as negligence rather than as the absence of news. With three ships sailing in company, the Council wrote a letter whose only substance was the shipping account, the letter existing because the conveyance did. The joint sailing of an Indiaman, the Essex and a frigate also shows the homeward trade still moving in escorted groups for mutual defence. The Mercury ketch's delivery of seven slaves continues the Madagascar licence trade on the terms the Council had asked the Court to formalise on 6 January 1718, a fixed number chosen for the Court's service out of each licensed cargo before the ship carried the rest to the West Indies. The same ketch under Henry Mackett had delivered seven slaves in the season of 1717, and the recurrence of the Mackett name marks how a small family of licensed carriers had become the island's regular suppliers. The catalogue's starting point at Christmas shows the island's shipping year running with the season rather than the calendar, the southeast trade bringing the returning fleet past St Helena from midsummer in the East, so that Christmas marked the natural break between one homeward season and the next. Speculations The brevity of the letter was probably deliberate performance as much as necessity. The Court had complained of the Council's long letters, and the reply of 6 January 1718 promised to write as short and plain as possible, so a despatch confined to arrivals and dates, sent only to prove diligence, demonstrated the promised reform on the first occasion that offered. | ||
92 | William Brown Comandr: from Bencoolen which last three Ships departed hence to =gether on the 20 March 1718 On the 21st: March Arrived the Henry Capt: John Harvey Comder from Madagascar & delivered Us Six men & three women Slaves for your Service here On the 23d March a large Ship Passed by the Island Supposed to be the Portugueze On the 17th Aprill Arrived the Sarum Frigt: Capt: George Newton from Bombay in Eleven weeks who brought news that the Morris Capt: Peacock & Duke of York Captn Daws was Arrived on the Coast of Mallabar that the Latter was gone to Persia and the former to Mochoa where was the Princess Ann Capt: Luhorne and that he Expects all three to be returning home next year On the 8th: of May Arrived the Hannover Capt: James Osborne from Bengall & Madrass (but last from the Cape) who Sayes the Des= =bouverie Capt Wootton is bound to Persia and that the Cardigan, St George & Duke of Cambridge may be Expected home this year that Captn Jewitts in the Canarven was at the Cape | The Rochester came under Captain William Brown, commander, from Bencoolen. These last three ships departed from the island together on 20 March 1718. The Henry, Captain John Harvey commander, arrived from Madagascar on 21 March 1718 and delivered six men and three women as slaves for the Court's service at the island. A large ship passed by the island on 23 March 1718, supposed to be Portuguese. The Sarum frigate, Captain George Newton, arrived from Bombay on 17 April 1718 after a passage of eleven weeks. He brought news that the Morris, Captain Peacock, and the Duke of York, Captain Daws, had arrived on the Malabar coast, that the latter had gone on to Persia and the former to Mocha, where the Princess Ann, Captain Luhorne, lay, and that he expected all three to be returning home next year. The Hannover, Captain James Osborne, arrived on 8 May 1718 from Bengal and Madras, last from the Cape. He said the Desbouverie, Captain Wootton, was bound for Persia, that the Cardigan, the St George and the Duke of Cambridge might be expected home this year, and that Captain Thwaits in the Carnarvon was at the Cape Interpretations The catalogue operates as a two-stage intelligence system. The first stage records what touched at the island; the second relays what each commander knew of ships left behind in the East, so the Court received a rolling forecast of its returning tonnage one and two seasons ahead. Knowing that the Morris, the Duke of York and the Princess Ann would not return until the following year, while the Cardigan, the St George and the Duke of Cambridge might come home within the season, let the directors plan their sales, their outward lading and their dealings with the ships' owners. The diversions to Persia and Mocha explain the delayed returns. Mocha was the Arabian coffee port and Persia the Gulf trade, and Indiamen commonly took a country voyage between their outward delivery and their homeward lading, earning freight on Asian goods before collecting the Europe cargo. A commander gone to Persia was not missing but employed. The Henry's delivery of six men and three women continues the Madagascar licence system, each licensed slaver leaving a fixed draft for the Court's service before carrying the body of the cargo onward. The appearance of women in the draft marks a shift from buying labour by the head toward building a settled establishment. Speculations The inclusion of three women in the Henry's draft was perhaps the Council's own choosing rather than the carrier's convenience. With the establishment near 200 and hire ended from 25 June 1717, a stock of slave families promised renewal without fresh purchase, and the Council had long framed slaves enough as the way to lessen the Court's charges. | ||
93 | outward bound while he was there On the same day Arrived the Essex Capt: Charles Newton Comander from China & the Cape of Good Hope The Townshend Capt Kesar Arrived here this day (the date of our letter) last from the Cape of Good Hope 4: Yesterday two Ships that We Supposed to be Dutch Sailed Almost round this Island but came not to an Anchor Yet when they had Stood to the Northward of the So Wt: Point & Alarmed all the Island We Suppose the wind which is Alway's Scant at that place Occasioned their Attempting to round the Island no farther for then they Altered their Course and Stood off 5: As to the State of the Island of late tho' We have had Indifferent Seasons yet our Small beans Comonly called Callavances have not hitt these two years as We mentioned in the 62do: Para: of ours by the King William and therefore tho': in our Generall Indent and in Some other of our Letters We then desired your Honrs not to send out more then two Casks of Pease a year for Seed Yet now we pray Your Honrs: to Send Us | Captain Thwaits in the Carnarvon lay at the Cape outward bound while Captain Osborne was there. The Essex, Captain Charles Newton commander, arrived the same day from China and the Cape of Good Hope. The Townshend, Captain Kesar, arrived on the date of this letter itself, last from the Cape of Good Hope. 4: Two ships, supposed to be Dutch, sailed almost round the island the day before but never came to anchor. Once they had stood to the northward of the South West Point they alarmed the whole island. The Council supposed the wind, which is always scant at that place, ended their attempt to round the island any further, for they then altered course and stood off. 5: Concerning the state of the island of late, the seasons were indifferent, and the small beans commonly called callavances failed for the past two years, as mentioned in the 62nd paragraph of the letter by the King William. In the general indent and some other letters the Council had asked the Court to send no more than two casks of pease a year for seed, but it now prayed the Court to send Interpretations Callavances were small pulse beans, a quick-growing kidney bean grown on the island as the standing wet-season food for the slaves alongside rice, when the dry-ground yams were unfit to eat. Their failure for two successive years, set out in the letter of 6 January 1718 where the cold killed the Court's five acres down to bare seed and cost Mr Powell an expected 300 bushels off eight acres, struck directly at the cheapest part of the provisioning system and forced the Council back onto imported pulses it had lately told the Court to stop sending. The reversal over the pease shows the indent operating as a self-correcting instrument. The two-cask limit had been set when the island expected to breed its own seed, and the Council now cancelled its own standing instruction by reference to the numbered paragraph that justified the change, so the Court could trace every adjustment of supply to a recorded cause. The circuit of the two strange ships displays the alarm system at full stretch. Lookouts at the windward posts tracked the sail round the coast and raised the whole island, the militia and garrison standing to at every post, which was precisely the response the guard establishment of sixty men always on duty was designed to produce. The Council's reading of the manoeuvre, that the scant wind under the South West Point defeated the attempt rather than any change of purpose, rests on local sailing knowledge of the island's lee, where the high land starves the breeze. Speculations The careful natural explanation of the Dutch ships' behaviour was probably framed to steady the Court rather than the island. Two ships circling without anchoring looked like a reconnaissance of the landing places, the standing invasion fear behind the fortification programme, so the Council reported the alarm to prove its vigilance and then discounted the design to prevent the episode growing into a scare at India House. | ||
94 | about twelve Cask of Pease ⅌ Annu: to Sup =ply the Ships therewth: instead of Callavances but hope they'l come So Cheap that We may afford to sell them to the Ships at Seven Shillings ⅌ bushell and please with them to Send us about twelve Casks of Flour 6: The Shipping of late have been in great want of fireing We can Supply them wth Coals but have hitherto Charged them at five Shillings ⅌ bushell because they were Told at that Rate when We Arrived here the Captns make great Complt: of that Price as unreasonable and We think the Dearness thereof has hindered Some from buying even what is Necessary Wherefore We could wish that when you do Send Coals for this place you would please to have them Put so early on board of the Store Ship that they may Serve in Stead of Ballast and then Order the Captns to take no other Ballast in This need not to be done every year because We have a Pritty good Stock of Coals by Us but once in three years would do very well and then We might Afford to Sell them Coals at three Shillings ⅌ bushell which is a Price We believe would be very Acceptable | The Council asked the Court to send about 12 casks of pease a year to supply the ships in place of callavances, hoping they would come so cheap that it could afford to sell them to the ships at 7s a bushel. It also asked the Court to send about 12 casks of flour with them. 6: The shipping had lately been in great want of fuel. The Council could supply ships with coals, but had so far charged them at 5s a bushel, because that was the rate at which coals were sold when the present administration arrived. The captains complained strongly that the price was unreasonable, and the Council judged the dearness had stopped some from buying even what was necessary. The Council therefore wished that whenever the Court sent coals for the island, they should be put aboard the store ship early enough to serve instead of ballast, with the captain ordered to take no other ballast in. This did not need doing every year, since a fair stock of coals remained in hand, but once in three years would do very well. The island could then afford to sell coals at 3s a bushel, a price the Council believed would be very acceptable Interpretations The ballast scheme converts dead weight into saleable stock at no freight cost. Every ship needed ballast low in the hold to stand upright, and shingle or rubble carried for the purpose earned nothing, so coals stowed first and declared the only ballast travelled effectively free. That accounting is what lets the Council cut the price from 5s to 3s a bushel, the difference being almost wholly the freight that ballast carriage eliminated, and the three-year cycle sizes the supply to the stock already in hand. Firing means fuel for the ships' cook-rooms, the steady consumption of a long passage. The island itself could spare no wood, its deforestation being the standing complaint of the letters, so coal from England was the only fuel it could retail, and the trade existed purely to serve the shipping the island was kept to refresh. The inherited price shows how rates persisted at the island by precedent. The 5s a bushel was simply the figure found in force at the Council's arrival on 8 July 1714, kept until the commanders' complaints forced a review, and the Council's response, cutting price by re-engineering supply rather than absorbing a loss, matches its handling of arrack, lime and cordage, where every rate was defended or altered on a costing. The pease arrangement turns a crop failure into a supply contract. With callavances failed two years running, imported pease would feed the calling ships at 7s a bushel, a margin over the under 8s buying price asked on 6 January 1718 that covered wastage rather than profit, and the flour completed the sea-provisions line. Speculations The careful proviso that coals need come only once in three years was probably meant to protect the tile request of 6 January 1718, where the Council asked that the store ship be ballasted with tiles instead of coals to roof the slave houses against fire. Spacing the coal years left the intervening store ships free to carry tiles, so the two ballast schemes could run together without the Court reading them as contradiction. | ||
95 | and Occasion no Discontent 7: But for Ballasting the next Store Ship We could Wish to have a quantity of Tiles, plain Tiles, Pan Tiles or Ridge Tiles or Some of each Sort as your Honrs Shall think fitt 8: We have So fully represented our want of Thread and fishing tackling that We will not Trouble your Honrs wth: repetitions of that Nature but must desire yor: Honrs: in case the Store Ship have room to put on board a quantity of Wooden Turnery Ware of the Sorts Mentioned in our last Indent that went home by the King William To which please to add Some Wooden Chairs Such as are Usually Sold in London for twelve pence a Piece by retaile Such Chairs now yeilding here tho' Old & Partly broken five and Six Shillings each Chair 9: We have drawn three Bills of Exchange on your Honrs payable to Captn: James Osborne or his Order for the Sume of Eigh= =teen pounds five Shillings and Nine Pence being the Ballance of his Account with Us and bears date the 10th: of May 1718 | Coals at that price would, the Council believed, be very acceptable to the shipping and occasion no discontent. 7: For ballasting the next store ship, the Council wished to have a quantity of tiles, whether plain tiles, pantiles or ridge tiles, or some of each sort as the Court thought fit. 8: The Council had so fully represented its want of thread and fishing tackle that it would not trouble the Court with repetitions of that nature. It did ask, in case the store ship had room, for a quantity of wooden turnery ware of the sorts mentioned in the last indent that went home by the King William. To this the Court was asked to add some wooden chairs of the kind usually sold in London at 12d apiece retail, since such chairs, though old and partly broken, now fetched 5s and 6s each at the island. 9: Three bills of exchange were drawn on the Court payable to Captain James Osborne or his order for the sum of £18 5s 9d, being the balance of his account with the island, dated 10 May 1718. Interpretations The three named sorts of tile make up a complete roofing system: plain tiles are the small flat tiles laid overlapping on the slopes, pantiles the larger S-curved sort that cover faster with fewer courses, and ridge tiles the half-round caps sealing the apex. Specifying all three shows the Council ordering for whole roofs rather than patching, in pursuit of the scheme of 6 January 1718 to tile the slave houses against fire, no tile maker being obtainable to produce them locally. Turnery ware is lathe-turned woodenware, the bowls, trenchers, platters and similar vessels of everyday eating and dairy use, cheap workshop goods in London but unmakeable on an island without seasoned timber or turners. The chair quotation argues the case in market figures: a 12d London chair resold at 5s or 6s even old and broken, a margin of five or six times cost, which both proved the scarcity of household furniture and promised the Court a profitable sale on whatever it shipped. Speculations The phrase "in case the store ship have room" probably grades the indent by stowage priority. Thread and fishing tackle stood as standing necessities already indented, while turnery and chairs were flagged as fill-cargo to occupy spare tonnage, so the Court could load the ship to capacity without ever displacing essentials, and the quoted resale prices baited the lading of the optional goods with an assured return. | ||
96 | which desire your Acceptance of Accord= =ingly Union Castle St Helena the 10th: of: May 1718 We are Honble Srs: Yor Honrs: most humble & Faithfull Servants Isa: Pyke Geo: Haswell (Signed) Matt: Bazett Anth: Tovey Memdm Sent wth the aforesd: Letter, The Postscript ⅌ Marlbro: Added to that ⅌ King Willm | The Court's acceptance of these bills was asked accordingly. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 10 May 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. A memorandum recorded that the postscript by the Marlborough, added to the general letter by the King William, was sent with this letter. Interpretations The memorandum shows the postscript of 19 March 1718, with its bills to Joseph Dawgs and Richard Dixon, now travelling by a third conveyance. The original went with the Marlborough on 20 March 1718 attached to the duplicate of the general letter of 6 January 1718, and this further copy by the Hannover ensured that whichever ship reached London first, the Court could accept every outstanding bill on first presentation without waiting for the parts still at sea. | ||
97 | General Letter ⅌ ye Townshend Capt: Charles Kesar dated the 24th of: May 1718 &c Honble: Srs 1: We have been obliged to draw the present Bills of Exchange on your Honrs: for goods bought out of Capt Charles Kesar Vizt Nine hundrd: forty one Galls: of Batavia Arrack for four hundrd: Cattees of Bohea Tea & Seven hundrd: Course Coffee Cups 2: We wrote to Capt: Charles Newton Accord= =ing to your Honrs: Orders as will Appear by the Letters & Answers that go home herewith and Shewed him your Honrs: Orders but could Procure no Tea We have also wrote to Capt Charles Kesar and Shewed him your Orders but both Capt: Newton & him Answered Us that they had no Orders from your Honrs in any of their Instructions to deliver Tea and Could not do it So that We were at last Obliged to buy of Capt: Kesar Four Pecolls for yor: Honrs use and that together wth the Cups and Arrack has Occasioned Us to draw a Bill | The general letter went by the Townshend, Captain Charles Kesar, dated 27 May 1718. 1: The Council was obliged to draw the present bills of exchange on the Court for goods bought out of Captain Charles Kesar's ship, namely 941 gallons of Batavia arrack, 400 catties of Bohea tea and 700 coarse coffee cups. 2: The Council wrote to Captain Charles Newton according to the Court's orders, as would appear by the letters and answers that went home with this despatch, and showed him those orders, but could procure no tea. It also wrote to Captain Charles Kesar and showed him the orders. Both Captain Newton and Captain Kesar answered that nothing in their instructions directed them to deliver tea, and that they could not do it. The Council was at last obliged to buy 4 peculs from Captain Kesar for the Court's use. Interpretations The goods in paragraph 1 are the standard secondary cargo of the China ships. Bohea was the cheaper staple black tea of the trade, named from the Wuyi hills where it grew; a catty weighed about a pound and a third, and a pecul was 100 catties, roughly 133 pounds, so the 4 peculs bought equal the 400 catties billed. The coarse coffee cups were small handleless china drinking bowls, carried by the chest as space-filling private trade, and 700 of them at the island mark how far tea and coffee drinking had spread there since the Governor put tea into the garrison diet about Christmas 1715. The double refusal shows the strict literalism that governed a commander at sea. Sight of the Court's order to the island was not authority to him; only a clause in his own instructions or charter party could oblige him to part with cargo, the same principle on which Captain Petts had refused the gunpowder charge in the letter of 6 January 1718. The Council's countermeasure was evidential: the letters and the captains' answers went home in the packet, proving the order was executed at the island and locating the failure in the drafting of the captains' instructions at home. The 4 peculs bought from Captain Kesar supplied the garrison tea ration the Court had sanctioned, the permission for two peculs of both sorts being acknowledged on 6 January 1718, with the soldiers' allowance weighed out at each relief under the scheme proposed on 24 February 1716. Buying at the island price by bill of exchange was dearer than chest tea put up at Canton, which is why the Council had asked the Court to order its supercargoes to pack two or four chests yearly. Speculations The purchase of 4 peculs, double the sanctioned two, was probably a deliberate stocking against the failure just demonstrated. With no delivery clause yet in any commander's instructions, the next season's supply was equally uncertain, so the Council bought deep while a willing seller lay in the road rather than risk the ration lapsing for want of paper authority. | ||
98 | on your Honrs: for three hundrd: Eighty Eight Pounds twelve Shillings & Eleven Pence 3: We have persuant to your Orders taken out of Ship Hestar one bagg of Pepper weight about .. Cwt: for the use of this place which will be Sufficient for .. Months 4: We have also bought of Capt: Gordon Legers of Arrack Containd: 771: Gallons and of Capt Charles Small .. Legers Containd: .. Gallons 5: We pray your Honrs that you woud please to lett it be inserted in the Super Cargoes In= =structions that are bound for China that they Cause to be put up for the use of this Place about two Pecoll of Each Sort of Tea in Cattee Potts in Each Chest of the Midling Sort of Tea wch will be Usefull to Us and very Acceptable to our people who likes that Sort of Package best for to have a whole Chest of Tea in Such manner as is the usuall London Package will not be So proper for Us to Sell out of | The tea, together with the cups and the arrack, occasioned a bill on the Court for £388 12s 11d. 3: Pursuant to the Court's orders, the Council took out of the ship Hester one bag of pepper, weighing about [...] hundredweight, for the use of the island, which would be sufficient for [...] months. 4: The Council also bought of Captain Gordon [...] leaguers of arrack containing 771 gallons, and of Captain Charles Small [...] leaguers containing [...] gallons. 5: The Council prayed the Court to have it inserted in the instructions of the supercargoes bound for China that they put up, for the use of the island, about 2 peculs of each sort of tea in catty pots in each chest, of the middling sort of tea. This would be useful to the island and very acceptable to the people, who liked that sort of package best. A whole chest of tea packed in the usual London manner would not be so suitable for the island to sell from Interpretations Paragraph 5 applies the lesson of the captains' refusals directly. Captain Newton and Captain Kesar had declined to deliver tea because nothing in their instructions authorised it, so the Council now asked for the supply to be written into the supercargoes' instructions themselves, converting a standing request into the only form of authority a ship's officer would recognise. The packaging specification serves the island's retail market: catty pots were small sealed pots of about a pound and a third each, packed inside the chest, which sold whole to soldiers and planters without breaking bulk, weighing out or exposing the leaf to damp, whereas a London-packed chest held loose tea suited to wholesale buyers the island did not have. The middling sort priced the goods to that market, and the whole request restates in binding form what the Court had sanctioned in the exchange acknowledged on 6 January 1718. The blank quantities in paragraphs 3 and 4 were never filled in, the spaces evidently left for the weights and gauged contents to be entered when the storekeeper's returns came in. A leaguer was the great cask of the Batavia arrack trade, holding roughly 150 gallons, so the gauge of each parcel fixed both the stock record and the sum to be billed. The bag of pepper taken from the Hester under the Court's standing order shows a small fixed levy on passing China cargoes for the island's table, pepper being the preservative spice of salted provisions, drawn by authority rather than purchase and measured in months of consumption like any other ration. Speculations The instruction-clause request was probably drafted in the same sitting as the account of the refusals, since it adopts the captains' own defence as the remedy. By asking the Court to put the words into the instructions, the Council ensured that the next commander who pleaded the strict letter of his orders would find the tea delivery inside it, closing the gap at its source rather than relying again on persuasion in the road. | ||
99 | your Honrs Storehouse and tho' it be better Tea yet our People will not like it So well by much as to have it in Small Cannesters or Potts of about one Cattee a piece 6: And the last year We having been reduced to Such great Streights for want of Thread and Silk that half our Planters have not Cloaths fitt to wear We pray your Honrs to Excuse our puting you in mind to Order also for the use of this Place about twenty Cattees of Sowing & Stitching Silk of Several Colours, from China 7: Our Last Season here has not been Extraordinary good not having had So much rain as We could wish for yet We bless God that every thing here is in good State and hope our next Season will prove better it being usuall in these Parts to have one year in three to be dryer then the rest 8: For the reasons Mentioned in our Con= =sultation of this day's date (which shall come home by the next Ship) We have had Occasion | Tea in that form would not sell so well out of the Court's storehouse. Though it might be better tea, the people would not like it nearly so well as having it in small canisters or pots of about one catty apiece. 6: The island was reduced last year to such great straits for want of thread and silk that half the planters had no clothes fit to wear. The Council prayed the Court's pardon for the reminder, and asked it to order also, for the use of the island, about 20 catties of sewing and stitching silk of several colours from China. 7: The last season was not extraordinarily good, there having been less rain than could be wished. The Council thanked God that everything at the island remained in good state, and hoped the next season would prove better, it being usual in those parts to have one year in three drier than the rest. 8: The reasons were set out in the consultation of this day's date, which would go home by the next ship. Interpretations The closing of the tea argument shows package outweighing quality in the island market. Buyers preferred a sealed one-catty pot over better loose tea because the sealed unit guaranteed weight and condition to a customer who could not judge leaf, the same logic that made the Council demand sealed muster bottles against adulterated arrack from its first season. The storehouse could retail a pot over the counter unopened, whereas a broached London chest invited damp, pilfering and dispute at the scale. The silk request belongs to the clothing famine recorded through 1717, when no thread remained on the island and slave clothes were mended with fine thread doubled or with unravelled thread stockings. Sewing and stitching silk was the strong thread of garment repair rather than a luxury, the several colours matching the islanders' mixed outer clothing, and the 20 catties, about 27 pounds, renew in Chinese measure the yearly allowance of China sewing silk the Council had already set at about 20 pounds. Routing the order through the China supercargoes used the same instruction channel just proposed for the tea. The one-in-three rule of dry years codifies the island's weather for the directors. By stating the cycle as ordinary, the Council taught the Court to read a poor season as climate rather than mismanagement, and the assurance that everything stood in good state despite the drought quietly credited the yam reserves and water improvements that absorbed it. Speculations The apology for "putting you in mind" was probably calculated against the Court's known impatience with repetition. The Council had promised on 6 January 1718 to write short and plain, so it licensed this one reminder with new evidence, half the planters unfit to be seen for want of clothes, turning a repeated indent line into a fresh emergency that justified breaking its own rule. | ||
100 | to draw the following Bills of Exchange on Your Honrs: of which We begg yor Acceptance 9: To Isaac Pyke Esqr or Order three Bills for the Sume of One Hundrd twenty five Pounds Sterlg: dated the 27th May 1718 10: To Mr Joshua Thomlinson or Order three Bills of the Same date for the Sume of One Hundrd: Pound Sterlg: PS: Also to Mr Charles Burly — three Bills dated as above for five Pounds fifteen Shillt: & ten pence Union Castle St Helena the 27th May 1718 We are Honble Srs Yor Honrs Most: Humble & Faithfll Servants Isa: Pyke Geo: Haswell Matth: Bazett Antho: Tovey | The Council had occasion to draw the following bills of exchange on the Court, of which it begged acceptance. 9: Three bills went to Isaac Pyke Esq or his order for the sum of £125 0s 0d sterling, dated 27 May 1718. 10: Three bills of the same date went to Mr Joshua Thomlinson or his order for the sum of £100 0s 0d sterling. A postscript added three bills, dated as above, to Mr Charles Burty for £5 15s 10d. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 27 May 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations This despatch reverses the method of 6 January 1718, when the particulars of every drawing travelled with the bills precisely because the consultations might lag behind. Here the letter carries only payees, sums and dates, with the reasons reserved to the consultation of 27 May 1718 following by the next ship. Acceptance and audit were thus separated: the Court could honour the bills on the credit of the Council's four signatures, while the record justifying each drawing came on behind, so the holders' money was not delayed by the paperwork. The £125 0s 0d to the Governor's own order shows how the head of the establishment moved his pay home. Pyke could not lawfully draw on his employers by his own hand, so the bill was the act of the whole Council, the signatures of Haswell, Bazett and Tovey standing as the check on a payment to their chief, and it continues the pattern of the £100 0s 0d remitted for him on 4 January 1718. The "or order" form made each instrument negotiable in London at the payee's discretion. Speculations The postscript bill for £5 15s 10d was probably a settlement concluded between the signing of the letter and the Townshend's sailing, squeezed in rather than held over to the next conveyance. Even so small a sum took the full form of three parts begging acceptance, the fixed machinery of remittance applying to trifles and fortunes alike, and the addition shows the letter kept open to the last hour, as it had been on 10 May 1718 when the Townshend's own arrival was entered on the date of the letter itself. The deferral of the reasons to the next ship probably reflects the copying bottleneck rather than any design. The consultation of that day's date could not be transcribed in time for a ship cleared within the fortnight, and the accountant's want of hands for copying was a standing excuse the Court already knew from the letter of 28 April 1717. | ||
101 | to draw the following Bills of Exchange on Your Honrs: of which We begg yor Acceptance 9: To Isaac Pyke Esqr or Order three Bills for the Sume of One Hundrd twenty five Pounds Sterlg: dated the 27th May 1718 10: To Mr Joshua Thomlinson or Order three Bills of the Same date for the Sume of One Hundrd: Pound Sterlg: PS: Also to Mr Charles Burly — three Bills dated as above for five Pounds fifteen Shillt: & ten pence Union Castle St Helena the 27th May 1718 We are Honble Srs Yor Honrs Most: Humble & Faithfll Servants Isa: Pyke Geo: Haswell Matth: Bazett Antho: Tovey | The Council had occasion to draw the following bills of exchange on the Court, of which it begged acceptance. 9: Three bills went to Isaac Pyke Esq or his order for the sum of £125 0s 0d sterling, dated 27 May 1718. 10: Three bills of the same date went to Mr Joshua Thomlinson or his order for the sum of £100 0s 0d sterling. A postscript added three bills, dated as above, to Mr Charles Burty for £5 15s 10d. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 27 May 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, George Haswell, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations This despatch reverses the method of 6 January 1718, when the particulars of every drawing travelled with the bills precisely because the consultations might lag behind. Here the letter carries only payees, sums and dates, with the reasons reserved to the consultation of 27 May 1718 following by the next ship. Acceptance and audit were thus separated: the Court could honour the bills on the credit of the Council's four signatures, while the record justifying each drawing came on behind, so the holders' money was not delayed by the paperwork. The £125 0s 0d to the Governor's own order shows how the head of the establishment moved his pay home. Pyke could not lawfully draw on his employers by his own hand, so the bill was the act of the whole Council, the signatures of Haswell, Bazett and Tovey standing as the check on a payment to their chief, and it continues the pattern of the £100 0s 0d remitted for him on 4 January 1718. The "or order" form made each instrument negotiable in London at the payee's discretion. Speculations The postscript bill for £5 15s 10d was probably a settlement concluded between the signing of the letter and the Townshend's sailing, squeezed in rather than held over to the next conveyance. Even so small a sum took the full form of three parts begging acceptance, the fixed machinery of remittance applying to trifles and fortunes alike, and the addition shows the letter kept open to the last hour, as it had been on 10 May 1718 when the Townshend's own arrival was entered on the date of the letter itself. The deferral of the reasons to the next ship probably reflects the copying bottleneck rather than any design. The consultation of that day's date could not be transcribed in time for a ship cleared within the fortnight, and the accountant's want of hands for copying was a standing excuse the Court already knew from the letter of 28 April 1717. | ||
102 | General Letter per Ship Cardigan Capt: Henry Glegg Comdr: July ye 10th: 1718 Honble Srs 1: This Ship the Cardigan Comanded by Capt: Glegg being the last that is likly to touch here before the Winter Season We ask leave by her to give you Some General but very Short Account of your Island St Helena for the year now Past and shall therefore According to yor Honrs: Orders & Instructions begin with 2: First An Account of Such Ships as have toucht here or past by in Sight of this place Since the Arrivall of Capt: Pitt in the Stanhope and Capt: Misener in the Princess Emilia who We hear have both happily gott home 3: Decembr: the 22d 1717 Arrived the King William Capt: James Winter Comandr: & Sailed hence the 6th Janry following for England Janry the 15th: 1718 Arrived the Mercury Ketch Josias Henry Mackett Comdr: from Madagascar and Sailed for Barbado's the 27th of ye Same month Febry: the 28th Arrived the Marlbro' Captain Mathew Martin Comdr: from Madrass and | The general letter went by the ship Cardigan, Captain Henry Glegg commander, dated 10 July 1718. 1: This ship the Cardigan, commanded by Captain Glegg, being the last likely to touch at the island before the winter season, the Council asked leave to give by her some general but very short account of the island of St Helena for the year now past, and therefore began, according to the Court's orders and instructions, with 2: First, an account of such ships as touched at the island or passed by in sight of it since the arrival of Captain Petts in the Stanhope and Captain Misener in the Princess Amelia, who, the Council heard, both happily got home. 3: The King William, Captain James Winter commander, arrived on 22 December 1717 and sailed for England on 6 January following. The Mercury ketch, Josias Henry Mackett commander, arrived from Madagascar on 15 January 1718 and sailed for Barbados on the 27th of the same month. The Marlborough, Captain Matthew Martin commander, arrived on 28 February from Madras and Interpretations The opening fixes the shape of the despatch as the Court itself had prescribed it: an annual digest opening with shipping, the heads taken in the Court's ordered sequence, and the whole kept deliberately short in obedience to the complaint of long letters answered on 6 January 1718. The reporting year runs by the shipping season rather than the calendar, from the departures of the Stanhope on 29 June 1717 and the Princess Amelia on 25 July 1717 to the last conveyance before the southern winter closed the road. The phrase recording that both ships happily got home closes the intelligence loop. The island reported homeward ships as they passed, and outward ships brought back word of their safe arrival in England, so every vessel's fate was confirmed at both ends of the passage, the news of a loss, as with the Catherine in the Straits of Sunda, travelling by the same channel. The Mercury ketch's twelve-day call completes the Madagascar circuit in miniature: slaves landed for the Court's service on 15 January 1718, refreshment taken, and the remaining cargo carried on to Barbados, the West India market that made the licensed voyages profitable enough to bear the island's selection of its draft. Speculations The very short annual account by the season's last ship was probably designed as a consolidated insurance copy. The substance of the year had already gone by the Hannover on 10 May 1718 and the Townshend on 27 May 1718, so a self-contained digest in the final bottom guaranteed that even if every earlier conveyance miscarried, the Court would still receive the whole year's outline in one letter. | ||
103 | Sailed for England wth the two next following Ships on the 20th of March March the 1st: Arrived the Prince Frederick Capt: Edwd: Martin Comdr: from Madrass & Sailed the 20th March as above March the 2d: Arrived the Rochester Captn William Browne Comdr: from Bencoolen & Sailed wth the two last Mentioned Ships the 20th: March as aforesd: March the 22d: Arrived the Henry Capt: Jno: Harvey Comdr: from Madagascar and Sailed for Barbado's the 27th of ye Same month March the 23d: a Single Ship Past by the Island to Leward Aprill the 17th Arrived the Sarum Frigot Capt: Geo: Newton Comdr: from Bombay and Sailed wth the two next following Ships for Engld: on the 11th of May May the 1st: Arrived the Essex Capt: Charles New= =ton Comdr: from China And The Same day Arrived the Hannover Captn: James Osborne Comdr: from Bengall & Madrass who Sailed for England wth the two last Named Ships on the 11th of May as aforesaid | The Marlborough sailed for England with the two next following ships on 20 March. The Prince Frederick, Captain Edward Martin commander, arrived from Madras on 1 March and sailed on 20 March as above. The Rochester, Captain William Browne commander, arrived from Bencoolen on 2 March and sailed with the two last mentioned ships on 20 March. The Henry, Captain John Harvey commander, arrived from Madagascar on 22 March and sailed for Barbados on the 27th of the same month. A single ship passed by the island to leeward on 23 March. The Sarum frigate, Captain George Newton commander, arrived from Bombay on 17 April and sailed with the two next following ships for England on 11 May. The Essex, Captain Charles Newton commander, arrived from China on 8 May. The Hannover, Captain James Osborne commander, arrived the same day from Bengal and Madras, and sailed for England with the two last named ships on 11 May. Interpretations The catalogue lays bare the convoy economics of the homeward trade. Arrivals came in singly across ten weeks, but sailings went in threes, on 20 March and again on 11 May, the earlier comers lying in the road for up to three weeks while companions gathered. A wait of that length consumed provisions and season, and only an island able to refresh ships cheaply made it tolerable, so the entries show St Helena functioning as the appointed rendezvous where the scattered fleet reformed for the dangerous Atlantic leg. The single sail logged on 23 March, though never identified, shows the register's second function. The road lay on the island's sheltered north-west side, and a ship passing to leeward had either declined to call or could not fetch the anchorage, but she was recorded all the same, because a complete log of every sail sighted let the Court match dates against owners' reports when a vessel went missing, and gave warning of strangers who avoided the island's guns. Speculations The Sarum's lay of more than three weeks was probably a deliberate appointment rather than delay. Captain Newton, commanding the smallest and best-armed of the three, waited precisely until the China and Bengal ships came in, and the letter of 10 May 1718 had already named the three as likely to go home together, so the frigate's stay reads as the escort holding for her charges. | ||
104 | May the 10th: Arrived the Townshend Captn: Charles Kesar Comdr: from China who Sailed hence for England wth: the Hester & Thistleworth the 27th of May On the Said 10th May a double Alarm was made for two Ships to the Leward of the Island Supposed to be Dutch Ships May the 19th Arrived the Thistleworth Capt Charles Small Comdr: from Benjarr & Sailed as above — May the 20th: Arrived the Hester Capt: John Gordon Comdr: from Bencoolen and Sailed wth: the Thistleworth and Townshend June the 25th: Arrived the Cardigan Capt: Henry Glegg from Bengall and Sailed hence this day the date of Our Letter July the 7th: An Alarm was made for a Single Ship about 8. leagues distance, She Stood to ye Windward abt: two Hours & then bore away Secondly touching yor: Servants Civill and Military 4: We are very Sorry to give you So ill an Account for in this place We have not had a good Season this last year and too little rain & whether that or whatever Else Almighty God has | The Townshend, Captain Charles Kesar commander, arrived from China on 10 May, and sailed for England with the Hester and the Thistleworth on 27 May. A double alarm was raised on the same 10 May for two ships to leeward of the island, supposed to be Dutch ships. The Thistleworth, Captain Charles Small commander, arrived from Banjar on 19 May and sailed as above. The Hester, Captain John Gordon commander, arrived from Bencoolen on 20 May and sailed with the Thistleworth and the Townshend. The Cardigan, Captain Henry Glegg, arrived from Bengal on 25 June and sailed on this day, the date of the letter. An alarm was raised on 7 July for a single ship at about eight leagues' distance. She stood to windward for about two hours and then bore away. Secondly, the letter turned to the Court's servants, civil and military. 4: The Council was very sorry to give the Court so ill an account under this head. The island had not had a good season this last year, with too little rain. Interpretations The alarms are entered in the shipping register as events of the same class as arrivals, which shows the lookout system producing a single continuous log of everything that moved within sight. The signals were graded, a double alarm denoting two sails, and the entries record behaviour as well as position: the 7 July stranger standing to windward could fetch the island and so held the garrison at its posts for two hours, where a leeward passer, like the single ship of 23 March, could not work up to the road and was merely noted. Each alarm set the runners and the three reliefs in motion, the machinery the guard establishment of 6 January 1718 existed to provide. Banjar was Banjarmassin on the south coast of Borneo, a pepper port of the country trade, and its appearance beside Bencoolen marks the season's pepper ships coming home together. The Hester from Bencoolen was the ship out of which the Council had taken its bag of pepper under the Court's standing order, reported on 27 May 1718, and her commander Captain Gordon the seller of the 771 gallons of arrack billed in the same letter. Speculations The careful logging of two alarms in a digest meant to be very short was probably deliberate advocacy. Each alarm proved the watch system earning its cost in a season when strange sails twice approached the island, and so quietly supported the standing requests for men and platforms that the Council had tied to exactly this danger in the letter of 6 January 1718. | ||
105 | been pleased to Ordain be the cause We cannot tell but We Sadly feel the Effects of His Displea= =sure by His taking away So many of Us Since Christmas last there has dyed here the Severall Persons undernamed (Vizt) 5: Jane Mudge. Fran: Steward. Sarah Bredley. Robt Marsh. Jno Baker. Edwd Hollwell S. Doveton. Jno Meritt. Hen: Smith Jno Robinson. Tho Burnham. Wm Bates Tho Cason Jun: Marth: Swallow. Jno Latour. Willm: Cason. ... Kelley. Tho: Ashby Jno Thomson. Tho Harrison. Rebec: Smith Tho: Francis. — Johnson. — Orme Jno Gurling. Jno Adlams. Capt Geo: Haswell (30) Geo: Kitchen. Jams Greentree. Josha Hodghinson. beside one who hanged himself 6: Besides whom We have Severall others now sick and the Blacks have not fared much better then the White People divers of them have also Dyed Some of whom belong to your Honrs whose names are Entred in our Consultations, There were two men left sick here out of the Hester who are recovered and did intend to have Stayed here but the Present sickness that Rages among Us has as We fear So farr discouraged them that they have taken | Whether the drought or whatever else Almighty God had been pleased to ordain was the cause, the Council could not tell, but it sadly felt the effects of His displeasure in the taking away of so many people since last Christmas. The several persons named below died at the island. 5: Thirty persons in all died, besides one man who hanged himself. 6: Several others lay sick besides these. The blacks fared not much better than the white people, and divers of them also died, some belonging to the Court, whose names were entered in the consultations. Two men left sick at the island out of the Hester recovered and intended to stay, but the present sickness raging among the people had, the Council feared, greatly discouraged them. Interpretations The list records a general epidemic rather than a garrison fever. Women stand among the dead, and the roll reaches into every rank of the small society, taking John Robinson, the planter whose lease in his own name had figured in the dispute reported on 6 January 1718, Thomas Ashby of the Bencoolen draft retained at the island on 9 July 1714, and Captain George Haswell himself, second of the Council, whose signature stands on the letter of 27 May 1718, fixing his death within the six weeks before this despatch. Thirty named dead in barely seven months, on an island whose chaplain's register had once shown 130 deaths to 100 christenings, struck at the population the Council had laboured to grow. The treatment of the dead divides by status. White inhabitants are reported to the Court by name in the letter itself, while the slaves who died, including the Court's own, are referred to the consultation books, where they appear as entries against the establishment's property. The one suicide is counted apart from the thirty and left nameless, set outside the ordinary roll of Christian deaths. The two convalescents of the Hester show the island's usual function as the hospital of the fleet, where ships left their sick to recover ashore, and such men often stayed to enlist, as the sailor John Verchell had done in 1715. The epidemic reversed that current, frightening away the very recruits the place most needed. Speculations The withholding of the hanged man's name was probably deliberate mercy as much as form. Self-killing was a felony that carried forfeiture and shameful burial, so naming him in a letter for India House would have fixed the stigma on a family still living at the island, and the Council chose to record the fact for completeness while denying it a place in the list. The position of Captain Haswell's name near the foot of the roll suggests the list runs in rough order of death, which would place his loss in the last days before the Cardigan sailed. The sorrowful preamble to so ill an account perhaps prepared the Court for finding a member of its own government among the dead before any formal notice of the vacancy could follow. | ||
106 | their Passage and go home in the Cardigan this makes us to be in greatr want of hands than before One of these men are named Winn and was Boatswain of the Hester and if We could a prevailed wth: him to Stay he woud have been very Usefull to us here as well to keep our Boats in repair as act in the Nature of a Boatswaine here and keep our working People in Some better Order and he would also be as often wanted here to assist the Ships who Some times after bad weather want Such help but he has Promised the Governr: to return here in case his wife be willing to come out wth him, Wherefore We desire your Honrs: in case he Should offer his Service at home to you that you woud please to Entertain him 7: We have now but one Writer who besides the bad =ness of his Sight is Lame. Capt: Haswell the Accompt: is dead Mr Fairfax is gone off Edward Hollwell the other Writer leaped into the Sea in a Drunken fitt and Drowned himself, the Circum =stances thereof will appear in our Consultation dated May the 13th 1718 And the Accot of yor Books in the Accompts: Office will appear Indifferent Plain if your Honrs: please to look over our Severall Consultations of the 17th of March last | The two men took their passage and went home in the Cardigan, which left the island in greater want of hands than before. One of them, named Winn, had been boatswain of the Hester. Had he been prevailed with to stay, he would have been very useful at the island, to keep the boats in repair, to act in the nature of a boatswain there, and to keep the labouring people in better order. He would also have been wanted as often to assist the ships, which sometimes need such help after bad weather. He promised the Governor to return in case his wife were willing to come out with him. The Council therefore desired that if he should offer his service to the Court at home, the Court would please to engage him. 7: The island now had but one writer, who besides the badness of his sight was lame. Captain Haswell the accountant was dead. Mr Fairfax was gone off the island. Edward Hollwell, the other writer, leaped into the sea in a drunken fit and drowned himself, the circumstances of which would appear in the consultation dated 13 May 1718. The state of the Court's books in the accountant's office would appear reasonably clear if the Court pleased to look over the several consultations of 17 March last Interpretations Paragraph 7 itemises the collapse of the island's clerical establishment in four lines. Captain Haswell, whose death stands in the roll of thirty, had held the accountant's office created when the books were gathered into the new castle room and the seventeen volumes sent home under the consultations of 24 and 31 December 1717; Fairfax, who had married Captain Mashbourne's widow in July 1717, had carried her converted fortune of £204 13s 8d to England; and Hollwell's drowning took the second writer. The whole machinery of record, so lately reformed to answer the Court's complaint of arrears, now rested on one lame, near-blind man, and the Council's reference to the consultations of 17 March 1718 directed the Court to the proof that the books themselves remained in order though the men were gone. The case for Winn shows what a boatswain was worth ashore. At sea he governed the boats, rigging and crew discipline, and at the island those same skills covered the landing-place boats on which all lading depended, the marshalling of the labouring people, and the help that storm-damaged ships begged after bad weather, the very service the Council had urged as the island's commercial value. The request that the Court engage him if he applied at home turned the directors into the island's recruiting agents for a named, tested man, while the condition about his wife repeats the Council's settled doctrine that only a man's family fixes him to the place. The entry of Hollwell's death in the consultation of 13 May 1718 shows the Council sitting as coroner. A violent death, even self-inflicted, required its circumstances minuted and transmitted, and the recorded cause, drink, adds another entry to the file the Council had been building since it passed over the Tovey affair with a warning on the ill consequences of hard drinking. Speculations The assurance that the books stood reasonably clear was probably placed hard against the death roll by design. The Court's oldest grievance was the eight unbalanced years found in 1714, and the obvious inference from a dead accountant and no writers was that the accounts would relapse, so the Council met the thought before it formed by citing the consultations where the Court could see the books plain. The commendation of Winn after his departure perhaps served the Council either way. If he presented himself in Leadenhall Street the Court could engage a man the Governor had already proved, and if he never came, the letter still recorded that the island lacked, and could justify paying for, a boatswain of its own. | ||
107 | whereat Capt: Matthew Martin and Mr Fenwick were present Compairing that Consultation to =gether wth the three Severall Consultations that were held after Capt: Haswells Death Your Honrs will find a true Report of what relates to your Accompts Office here and We hope yor Honrs will think that our Resolutions thereon were not Imprudent, We resolved to use our Utmost efforts yet must desire your Honrs to lett Us have two or three young men who write good hands for our Assistance which when you have Seen our Consultations We hope you will be So farr Assured of our real want of help that for the future We Shall not be Oblidged to trouble you with Such Impor= =tunities 8: And as for workmen because We hope the Store Ship which is now Expected will on her Arrivall fully Supply Us We will not Say more on that head. than in case they be not Sent that you woud please to look over our Consultation dated the 15th day of October 1717. Relating to Benja: Cleverlee be= =cause We think that will help to Shew how much We are Imposed on for want of Such hands 9: The present Ship as will Appear by the Letters that are Copyed in our Consultations | The Court would find at the consultation of 17 March, at which Captain Matthew Martin and Mr Fenwick were present, and by comparing it with the three several consultations held after Captain Haswell's death, a true report of everything relating to the accountant's office at the island. The Council hoped the Court would judge its resolutions there not imprudent. It had resolved to use its utmost efforts, yet desired the Court to let it have two or three young men who wrote good hands for its assistance. Once the Court had seen the consultations, the Council hoped it would be so far assured of the island's real want of help that there would be no need in future to trouble the Court with such repeated requests. 8: As for workmen, the Council hoped the store ship now expected would fully supply the island on her arrival, and so said no more on that head, except that if they were not sent, the Court should please to look over the consultation dated 15 October 1717 relating to Benjamin Cleverlee, which would help show how much the island was imposed on for want of such hands. Interpretations The presence of Captain Matthew Martin and Mr Fenwick at the consultation of 17 March 1718 gave the state of the books independent witnesses. Martin commanded the Marlborough, then in the road, and both men would be in London within months and examinable at India House, so the Council had its accounts inspected before the kind of referee the Court trusted, the same device it had used in offering Mr Scattergood as witness to the want of slaves on 26 January 1716. The three consultations after Haswell's death then formed the handover record of the office, showing the Court exactly what was resolved when the accountant died with no trained successor. The request is precisely specified: not clerks of standing but two or three young men who wrote good hands, copyists for the duplicates, parcels of consultations and triplicate bills that consumed the office's labour. The Council coupled the request with a bargain, that once the evidence was read it would never importune again, honouring its covenant of 6 January 1718 against repetitious letters by converting repetition into a single documented case. Paragraph 8 works by the same economy. The Council declined to argue the want of workmen at all, resting instead on a conditional citation: if the store ship brought the men, the matter ended; if not, one named consultation would prove the extortion that scarcity permitted. The Court was thus invited to convict the shortage from the island's own records rather than from complaint. Speculations Benjamin Cleverlee was probably the apprentice whose case made the consultation of 15 October 1717 worth citing, the sitting in which Mr Swallow's two apprentices won a rise to 3s 6d and one man left the service when refused sixpence more. A half-trained hand dictating terms over sixpence a day was the perfect exhibit of what the want of tradesmen cost, which is why the Council kept the reference ready rather than retelling the story. | ||
108 | of the 30th of June have not brought Us the Goods from Bengall therein Mentioned but has brought a few Such to Sell Some Small matter the Captn: has Disposed of among the People but We have not bought any for your Honrs: Account because of a former Order that We made to buy nothing Unless Arrack & Rice out of any Ship whatever that did not bring Us the one per Cent We have bought 297. Gallons of Arrack of him at four Shillings ⅌ Galln: and about Seventy Hundrd: weight of Rice and Paddey, but he has Sold here all his Slops which were Prodigiously wanted here for Blacks Cloathing It is Scarcly to be Creditted how much We have Suffered here for want of Coarse Thread The Capt: has alsoe Sold five Black Slaves here that he brought with him from Bengll these are the most Materiall matters but with these and Severall Such like thos: Small Articles He has Obtained Credit in your Honrs: Stores for the Sume of Four Hundrd: Pounds Six Shillings for which We have drawn three Bills of Exchange Payable to him by your Honrs dated the 10th of July 1718. We have alsoe According to your Orders by the Thistleworth vid: Par: the 35th Written to the Capt: for Some | The present ship, as appeared by the letters copied in the consultations of 30 June, did not bring the goods from Bengal mentioned in them. She brought a few such goods to sell, and some small matter the captain disposed of among the people, but the Council bought none of it for the Court's account, because of its former order to buy nothing except arrack and rice out of any ship whatever that did not bring the island the one per cent. The Council bought 297 gallons of arrack of him at 4s a gallon and about 70 hundredweight of rice and paddy. He sold at the island all his slops, which were prodigiously wanted there for the blacks' clothing. It was scarcely to be credited how much the island had suffered for want of coarse thread. The captain also sold five black slaves at the island that he brought with him from Bengal. These were the most material matters, and with these and several suchlike small articles he obtained credit in the Court's stores for the sum of £400 6s 0d, for which three bills of exchange were drawn payable to him by the Court, dated 10 July 1718. According to the Court's orders by the Thistleworth, namely the 35th paragraph, the Council also wrote to the captain for some Interpretations The former order operates as an automatic trade sanction. The Court's standing requirement that every ship bring the island one per cent in stores had no force at sea, so the Council gave it teeth ashore: a commander who arrived without the one per cent found the Court's purse closed to everything he carried except arrack and rice, the two articles the island could not refuse. Captain Glegg, arriving without the consigned Bengal goods, was met by exactly that rule, and the letter records its enforcement so the Court could see the order applied even when the island went without things it badly wanted. Slops were the ready-made coarse garments of the seamen's clothing trade, shirts, frocks and trousers carried in bulk for sale to crews, and at St Helena they answered the slave-clothing famine the Council had measured at some 1,200 shirts a year. The captain's private sale of his whole stock among the people shows the market the Court's stores had failed to supply, and the cry over coarse thread renews in stronger words the want that had slave clothes mended with unravelled thread stockings and that lay behind the request of 27 May 1718 for 20 catties of China silk. The five Bengal slaves arrived through the one channel the Council had not asked. Bengal had been pressed since 29 June 1715 to send eight or ten slaves by every ship as the cheapest source, and by 6 January 1718 all India had yielded only two, both from Bombay; now a commander's private venture delivered in one call more than the official correspondence had produced in three years, the supply moving where the profit lay. Speculations The Council's pointed refusal to buy the slops for the Court's account, though the island was suffering for exactly such goods, was probably a deliberate display of the sanction's credibility. A rule bent at the first hard case would teach every commander that bringing the one per cent was optional, whereas a rule kept at visible cost made the next ship's compliance worth more than this ship's cargo. The purchase of paddy alongside clean rice was perhaps a storekeeping choice. Rice in the husk resists weevil and damp far better than milled grain, so a parcel of paddy stretched the island's reserve through the rainy months when the ration of ten pounds a head a week fell due. | ||
109 | Coarse Cotton Yarn for Candles and Double Dungaree for lineings to the Blacks Cloaths and he has Delivered us One Small Bale of Cotton Yarn of four Maunds and One Hundrd: Pieces of Double Dungaree And tho' We have enquired of all the Ships Since our Arrivall here for Such things yet this is the first that We could gett out of any Ship the Captns: Alledging if they had them they could not get at any 10: We pray your Honrs woud please to renew your Orders to your Settlemts abroad to Send us Such goods as may be fitt to make into the Blacks Cloathing and forty Shillings Per Annu: bought at the Worst hand woud be eno' for one Black for a year If your Honrs please to remind the Gentlemen at Bengall to Send to Us in the Same manner as formerly tho' We cannot Complaine of them because they have all along Shewed great kindness to our Island by Sending Us Such goods as they knew We wanted but We presume they do not yet know that our family is So much enlarged and that our Occasions are therefore more urgent now than formerly, a few of their Coarsest Sort of Chiloes made into Shirts and of Blew Derseters of the Ordinery Sort made up Alsoe | The goods written for were coarse cotton yarn for candles and double dungaree for linings to the blacks' clothes. The captain delivered one small bale of cotton yarn of 4 maunds and 100 pieces of double dungaree. Though the Council had enquired of every ship since its arrival for such things, this was the first parcel it could get out of any ship, the captains alleging that even if they had such goods aboard they could not get at them. 10: The Council prayed the Court to renew its orders to its settlements abroad to send such goods as were fit to make into the blacks' clothing, since 40s a year, bought even at the worst hand, would be enough to clothe one black for a year. The Court was asked to remind the gentlemen at Bengal to send to the island in the same manner as formerly. The Council could not complain of them, because they had all along shown great kindness to the island by sending such goods as they knew were wanted, but it presumed they did not yet know that the island's family was so much enlarged, and that its occasions were therefore more urgent now than formerly. A few of their coarsest sort of chiloes made into shirts would serve. Interpretations The goods named are the small staples of a slave establishment. Cotton yarn served as candlewick, the island making its own tallow candles from its slaughtered cattle but having no material for wicks; a maund was the Indian commercial weight of roughly 75 pounds, so the bale held some 300 pounds of yarn. Double dungaree was a stout coarse Indian cotton of doubled weight, here wanted as lining to make the blacks' clothes last, and chiloes were the cheap cotton piece-goods the Council had asked of Bengal for shirts since 29 June 1715. The figure of 40s a head a year, even buying at the worst hand, priced the whole clothing of a black for the Court's audit. The captains' excuse, that goods aboard could not be got at, locates the failure in stowage rather than will. An Indiaman's hold was laden solid for London, and small parcels for St Helena were unreachable unless ordered laden last at the Indian port, which is why the Council asked for renewed orders to the settlements abroad: the remedy lay in the lading instructions, exactly as it had with the supercargoes' tea clause asked on 27 May 1718. That this was the first such parcel obtained from any ship in four years measures the gap the order had to close. The handling of Bengal is studied diplomacy. The factory's past kindness is acknowledged, no complaint is made, and the shortfall is blamed on innocent ignorance, the gentlemen there not yet knowing that the island's family, the whole establishment of servants and slaves, had grown to several times its former size since their scale of supply was set. The correction asked is informational, not censorious, preserving the goodwill on which the lateral supply network ran. Speculations The record that Captain Glegg's ship gave the first such parcel in four years was probably balanced against his treatment under the one per cent rule with some care. The same letter that closed the Court's purse to his cargo credits him by name with a service no other commander had performed, which showed the commanders that the sanction was the rule's doing and not the man's disgrace, and so cost the island none of the goodwill its supply depended on. The pricing of the clothing at 40s a head bought at the worst hand probably set a deliberate ceiling for the indent. At an establishment of some 200 blacks the whole charge came under £400 0s 0d a year even on the dearest terms, a sum the Court could weigh at a glance against the cost of slaves going half-clothed. | ||
110 | into Shirts would be Extreamly Servicable & Usefull to Us. Sugar at present We do not need Yet the Batavia Arrack will be Alwayes welcome to Us and Rice is So Cheap there that a large quantity would be but of very little cost, the Present Ship has Sixty Tonns of goods on board more than She is lett for and We hope your Honrs will not be Displeased wth: Us if We Say that We think in Case it had been Stipulated beforehand but he would freely have brought us Six Tonns of Rice for the Sake of having Sixty Tonns of goods put on board more than was agreed for by his Charter =party but as your Honrs are the best Judges of that We hope you'l Excuse our forwardness in Starting these Notions and Consider it rather as what We are Prompted to by our Necessities 11: Just upon the Hesters going away We Spared Capt: Gordon three pieces of Timber and forgott to Charge it in his Acco:t Wherefore have now sent the Accot: by this Ship and the 2d Mate of the Hesters Receipt for the Timber with the price thereof 12: The Duke of Cambridge and St George may both be Expected to be Winter | Blue derseters of the ordinary sort, made up also into shirts, would be extremely serviceable and useful to the island. Sugar was not needed at present, but the Batavia arrack would always be welcome, and rice was so cheap there that a large quantity would come at very little cost. The present ship had 60 tons of goods on board more than she was chartered for, and the Council hoped the Court would not be displeased if it said it thought that, had it been stipulated beforehand, the captain would freely have brought 6 tons of rice for the sake of having 60 tons of goods put on board above what his charter party agreed. As the Court was the best judge of that, the Council hoped its forwardness in starting these notions would be excused, and considered rather as what its necessities prompted. 11: Just upon the Hester's going away, the Council spared Captain Gordon three pieces of timber and forgot to charge it in his account. The account was therefore now sent by this ship, with the receipt of the Hester's second mate for the timber and the price of it. 12: The Duke of Cambridge and the St George might both be expected to be winter ships Interpretations Paragraph 10's closing turns the rice clause proposed on 6 January 1718 into a worked case. Every Indiaman was chartered for a stated tonnage, yet commanders habitually laded above it for their own and the owners' profit, and the Cardigan's 60 tons of excess was exactly the tolerated surplus the Council had asked the Court to tax in provisions, up to 3 tons of rice per hundred tons at half freight. Here the Council prices the privilege from the commander's side, judging that Captain Glegg would gladly have carried 6 tons of cheap Bengal rice as the fee for 60 tons of private lading, so the island could be fed from a margin that presently enriched only the ship. The elaborate deference around the proposal measures whose profits it touched. Excess tonnage was the recognised perquisite of commanders and owners, powerful interests at India House, so the Council disclaimed any presumption, named the Court the best judge, and pleaded necessity, planting the notion while leaving the decision and the odium of it entirely with the directors. The timber correction at paragraph 11 shows how a bookkeeping slip was cured by evidence rather than apology. The charge missed at the Hester's sailing on 27 May 1718 went home as a debit supported by a receipt signed by her own second mate, the officer who took the timber aboard, so Captain Gordon could be charged in London on proof he could not dispute. That the island sold timber at all, three pieces spared as a favour at departure, only underlines how jealously so scarce a commodity was accounted for. Speculations The graded shopping note to Bengal, sugar declined, arrack always welcome, rice nearly free, was probably meant to tune the factory's standing practice rather than answer any present want. Bengal had long sent what it guessed the island needed, and a ranking of commodities by urgency let the gentlemen there fill spare tonnage with the right goods without waiting for specific orders, completing the correction begun in the request about the enlarged family. | ||
111 | Ships here Union Castle St Helena ye 10th July 1718 We are Honble Srs: Your Honrs Most Humble & faithfll Servts: Isa: Pyke Matt: Bazett Antho: Tovey List: of the Packt: Sent ⅌ Ship Cardigan Capt: Henry Glegg Comdr: — July ye 10th: 1718 No 1: Govr & Counll Genll dated the 10th: July 1718 2: Copy of Govr & Counlls Genll ⅌ Townshend dated ye 27th of May 1718 3: Copy of Consultacons from ye 17th May 1718 to the 8th July following Inclusive 4: Copy of Register for the year 1717 5: Ship Hesters Acct: for 3 ps: Timber forgot to be Charg'd when She was here last 6: Tho: Blake the 2d: Mates rect: for ditto 7: Rect: for the Large Packt: ⅌ Townshend 8: Rect: for the Small Packt: ⅌ do: Ship 9: Ship Cardigans Accots: 10: Capt: Gleggs Accot: in the Stores 11: List: of the Packt: — | The Duke of Cambridge and the St George might both be expected to be winter ships at the island. The letter was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 10 July 1718 and signed by Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. A list followed of the packet sent by the ship Cardigan, Captain Henry Glegg commander, 10 July 1718. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter, dated 10 July 1718 2: Copy of the Governor and Council's general letter by the Townshend, dated 27 May 1718 3: Copy of the consultations from 17 May 1718 to 8 July following inclusive 4: Copy of the register for the year 1717 5: The ship Hester's account for 3 pieces of timber forgotten to be charged when she was last at the island 6: Thomas Blake the second mate's receipt for the same 7: Receipt for the large packet by the Townshend 8: Receipt for the small packet by the same ship 9: The ship Cardigan's account 10: Captain Glegg's account in the stores 11: List of the packet Interpretations The signature block carries the news of the epidemic in its own form. Captain Haswell's hand, present on every general letter through 27 May 1718, is gone, and the government of the island now rests on three men, the Governor and two councillors, with no power at the island to fill the vacancy. Until the Court appointed a successor, every act of the Council would bear this reduced subscription, so the directors could read the cost of the sickness in the letter's foot before they reached the paragraph reporting it. The register for the year 1717 at item 4 is the chaplain's annual return of christenings, marriages and burials, the Court's independent check on the island's population claims since the finding of 130 deaths to every 100 christenings. The thirty deaths of the present letter fell after that register closed and would stand in the next year's return, so the enclosure continues the routine series by which the Court could audit the demographic story year against year. Items 5 and 6 send the debit and its proof as a pair, the Hester's account for the three pieces of timber travelling with Thomas Blake's receipt, the second mate's signed acknowledgement that the timber came aboard. The receipts at items 7 and 8 for the Townshend's packets, with the consultations resuming at 17 May 1718 where the earlier conveyances left off, keep the chain of custody unbroken across the season's ships. | ||
112 | General Letter ⅌ Ship Duke of [...] Honble: Srs 1: Your General Letter by the Princess Emelia dated the 21st March 1717 We received from Capt: Misenor And the Stores Mentioned in the Invoice & bill of Ladeing Ex= =cept Some very small matters wch are indorsed on the Bill of Ladeing, which Letter and all Your Honrs: Instructions therein We Shall Endeavour to do our Utmost So to Comply wth: and Performe as may be to your Honrs Satis= =factions, And in Answer to your Said Letter We ask leave to Say that We think yor: Honrs have been greatly Misinformed by Some body but We dont know who As to Capt: Haswell he dyed on the 22d of June last and if any of these Complts: were made by him he has it now to Answer for 2: As to Mr Fairfax as he is gone home he no doubt been with your Honrs: because he had Bills with him for his wifes fortune | The general letter went by the ship Duke of Cambridge. 1: The Court's general letter by the Princess Amelia, dated 21 March 1718, was received from Captain Misener, with the stores mentioned in the invoice and bill of lading, except some very small matters which were endorsed on the bill of lading. The Council would do its utmost to comply with that letter and all the Court's instructions in it, and to perform them to the Court's satisfaction. In answer to the letter, the Council asked leave to say that it thought the Court had been greatly misinformed by somebody, though it did not know by whom. As to Captain Haswell, he died on 22 June last, and if any of these complaints were his, he now had them to answer for. 2: As to Mr Fairfax, since he had gone home he had no doubt waited on the Court, because he carried bills with him for his wife's fortune. Interpretations The reply identifies the Court's letter of 21 March 1718 as an accusing one, built on reports from the island that the Council could neither trace nor cross-examine. Its answer works by elimination of the possible sources: Captain Haswell, dead on 22 June 1718, was beyond questioning, and the formula that he now had his complaints to answer for moved the matter to a tribunal from which no evidence returns, closing whatever charge bore his authority without the indecency of accusing a dead colleague outright. The point about Mr Fairfax rests on the mechanics of remittance. Bills on the Court could only be turned into money by presentation at India House, so a man who left the island carrying paper, as Fairfax did with the £204 13s 8d drawn for his wife's fortune on 24 July 1717, necessarily appeared before the directors in person. The Council was telling the Court that its own pay-window had already produced one likely informant for examination, no summons required. The endorsed shortages on the bill of lading show the standing short-delivery procedure running without friction: trifling deficiencies were noted on the back of the instrument itself, charging the matter to the record rather than to a dispute, the moderation the Council had promised in applying the Court's order on short-delivered goods. Speculations The pairing of the two names was probably the Council's whole answer to the unknown informer. Unable to accuse without proof, it supplied the Court with motive and opportunity instead: the accountant who knew every book and could no longer be questioned, and the writer who had married money out of the island and now stood within the directors' reach. The Court was left to draw the inference the Council declined to write. | ||
113 | Cambridge Capt: Danl: Small Comdr: and We hope he has given your Honrs Some Account of your affairs here and We think from him if he Speaks the truth Your Honrs: may be better informed We Shall not Say more in Answer to your first Parrd: then to desire your Perusal of our Consultations Particularly in Consultacon of the 23d Decr: 1717. On the Governours demanding the Books to be Sent home Capt: Haswell there Answered they were done to the year 1715 all but two or three loose Sheets; And next day on the 24th Decr: they were brought in and being asked what is become of the rest Sayed he had gone a great way in them the truth of which will appear by our Consultacon of the 4th July 1718 & 8th July 1718 Compared wth: Consultacon of The 25th June 1717. And the latter end of Consultation of the 27th Augst: 1717. wherein is all the threats that Capt: Haswell has had till Janry the 4th 1717/8 & the 17th: March 1717/8 3: As to the 2d Parra: in your Honrs Letter We will not trouble you farther then to Assure you that According to your Former directions We do now Observe that very Method and Shall Con= =tinue to do so 4: That in Consultation if any thing is | The Duke of Cambridge was commanded by Captain Daniel Small. The Council hoped Mr Fairfax had given the Court some account of the island's affairs, and thought that from him, if he spoke the truth, the Court might be better informed. The Council would say no more in answer to the Court's first paragraph than to ask a perusal of its consultations, particularly the consultation of 23 December 1717. On the Governor's demanding the books to be sent home, Captain Haswell there answered that they were done to the year 1715, all but two or three loose sheets. The next day, 24 December, the books were brought in, and being asked what had become of the rest, he said he had gone a great way in them. The truth of this would appear by the consultations of 4 July 1718 and 8 July 1718, compared with the consultation of 25 June 1717 and the latter end of the consultation of 27 August 1717, in which stood all the warnings Captain Haswell had received up to 4 January 1718 and 17 March 1718. 3: As to the second paragraph in the Court's letter, the Council would trouble the Court no further than to assure it that, according to its former directions, the Council now observed that very method and would continue to do so. Interpretations The passage is a posthumous audit of the dead accountant, built entirely from dated minutes. Haswell's claim of 23 December 1717 that the books stood complete to 1715, the delivery of 24 December, the verifying consultations of 4 and 8 July 1718 set against that of 25 June 1717, and the file of formal warnings running to 17 March 1718 together let the Court convict the arrears on the record without one word of accusation from the living. This is the undertaking of 6 January 1718, that delays in the accounts would thenceforth be accounted for in consultation, paying its dividend: the Council had minuted every admonition while Haswell lived, and the minutes now answered the Court's complaint for it. The conditional commendation of Fairfax, that the Court might be better informed from him if he spoke the truth, completes the treatment of the two suspected informants. The Council neither vouched for him nor impeached him, but placed his credit on his own veracity before the body that would examine him, keeping its hands clean whichever way his testimony fell. Speculations The presence of Captain Matthew Martin and Mr Fenwick at the consultation of 17 March 1718, reported in the letter of 10 July 1718, was probably arranged with exactly this controversy in view. That sitting closed the file of warnings to Haswell, and two independent gentlemen, soon to be in London and examinable at India House, had witnessed the Council pressing its accountant months before the Court's accusing letter arrived, so the defence was furnished with living witnesses as well as minutes. | ||
114 | Debated Each of the Council who think fitt Speak their Sentiments in case of a Dissent by any body if the Opinions on both Sides are equall then the Governr: Orders what he thinks is Propperest to be done but if the Opinions be unequall the Major= =ity has ever Determined it as may Appear by Severall Instances if you look back into the follow= =ing Consultations, and we think there is no Ex= =ample to the Contrary Unless it be that the Govr: would not Consent to have Mr Tovey Indicted for Felony when he had only wounded a Man who presently recovered and tho' many things do happen in Consultations which the Govr dos well Understand and which the rest of the Council did not So well understand which caused them to Differ in Opinion from him Yet even in Some of those Cases he has Yeilded to the Majority as in the follow= =ing Consultations may Appear. On the 27th March 1716: about paying Interest for debts & lowering the Price for the hire of Blacks On the 11th May 1716. about the Ostend Ship, the 16th May 1718 about paying Custome for Liquors that came on Shoar in Casks and many other Such like things as may be Seen Interspersed among our Consultations | In consultation, whenever anything was debated, each councillor who thought fit spoke his sentiments. In case of a dissent by anybody, if the opinions on both sides were equal, the Governor ordered what he thought properest to be done, but if the opinions were unequal, the majority had always determined it, as several instances would show if the Court looked back into the consultations. The Council thought there was no example to the contrary, unless it were that the Governor would not consent to have Mr Tovey indicted for felony when he had only wounded a man, who presently recovered. Many things arose in consultation which the Governor understood well and the rest of the Council did not understand so well, which caused them to differ in opinion from him, yet even in some of those cases he yielded to the majority, as the following consultations would show: on 27 March 1716, about paying interest for debts and lowering the price for the hire of blacks; on 11 May 1716, about the Ostend ships; and on 6 May 1718, about paying customs for liquors that came ashore in casks; with many other suchlike matters to be seen interspersed among the consultations. Interpretations The paragraph sets out the island's constitution in answer to a charge of one-man rule. Decision lay with the majority of the Council, the Governor holding only a casting voice when opinions stood equal, and the proof offered is the Council's standing method of dated self-citation: three consultations in which the Governor was outvoted and submitted, each chosen so the Court could verify the rule from its own records. The instances all touch powers an accuser would call abused, the charging of interest, the rate for hired slave labour, the treatment of foreign shipping and the reach of the liquor customs, so the list shows the majority curbing the Governor at exactly the points of suspicion. The Tovey exception is disclosed as the one veto on record, and its legal ground is precise. An indictment for felony over the wounding of Francis Wrangham would have put the secretary's life and estate in jeopardy for an injury the victim survived, so the Governor withheld consent and the matter went instead to the Court of Judicature of 18 May 1716, which gave Wrangham £25 0s 0d in damages and fined Tovey £40 0s 0d to the fortifications. The veto thus appears not as protection of a favourite but as keeping the charge proportionate to the harm, civil and disciplinary remedies in place of a capital count. Speculations The unprompted confession of the Tovey veto was probably pre-emption. Whoever had misinformed the Court sat in those consultations and could report that the Governor once blocked an indictment of his own secretary; told raw, the story was damning, so the Council supplied its own version first, with the recovered victim and the substituted punishments attached, leaving the informer's account nothing to add but malice. The closing invitation to find suchlike matters interspersed among the consultations probably did double duty. It asserted that the three examples were not curated rarities, and it committed the Court to the only evidence the Council recognised, the minuted record, the same ground on which the case of Captain Haswell's books had just been fought. | ||
115 | 5: That the Council have alway's the beni= =fitt of the General Table and never were restrain= =ed Unless two of them Mentioned in Consultacon of the 4th Janry 1717/8 and the 19th of Augst: 1718 wch Please to Compare wth the 7th of Octr: 1718. And in the case of Smoaking Tobacco wch the Governr: finds great Incomodity to himself in & therefore dos expect the Council not to Smoak at Table when he is Present nor no man to come there when he is drunk 6: As to the Expence of the Table it is lessened and reduced to very near half that it was at our first Arrivall here, And yet a full Plenty as any of the Capts: or Super Cargoes or other of the Principall Passengers will testifye, Formerly the Serjeants and the Marshall and Smith used to Dine wth the Governr: but by being Complained on by many of the Comanders Govr: Poirier did Alter it and We have not brought those People in again, And this Governr is of a Opinion that no body ought to Sitt at Table with him that is not Cleanly Drest or that has an Infectious distemper on him or that is drunk and never did forbid any bodies Coming to the Table who had a right to come | 5: The Council always had the benefit of the General Table and were never kept from it, except two of them, mentioned in the consultations of 4 January 1718 and 19 August 1718, which the Court was asked to compare with that of 7 October 1718. In the matter of smoking tobacco, which the Governor found a great inconvenience to himself, he expected the Council not to smoke at table when he was present, and no man to come there when he was drunk. 6: As to the expense of the table, it was lessened and reduced to very near half what it was at the Council's first arrival, and yet kept a full plenty, as any of the captains or supercargoes or other principal passengers would testify. Formerly the sergeants, the marshal and the smith used to dine with the Governor, but on complaints by many of the commanders Governor Poirier altered it, and the present Council had not brought those people in again. This Governor was of opinion that nobody ought to sit at table with him who was not cleanly dressed, or who had an infectious distemper on him, or who was drunk, and he never forbade anyone coming to the table who had a right to come. Interpretations The General Table here appears as an instrument of government as much as a meal. A seat at it was part of a councillor's entitlement of office, so exclusion was a recorded sanction, and the two restraints are cited by consultation dates, 4 January and 19 August 1718 against 7 October 1718, in the Council's standing manner of letting the Court read the offence and its sequel in the minutes rather than in the letter. The conduct rules define the table's police: dress, sobriety and freedom from infection, the last carrying obvious weight in the year the sickness took thirty of the white inhabitants. Paragraph 6 measures the table by the two tests the Court cared about, cost and credit. The charge stood at near half its level at the Council's arrival on 8 July 1714, continuing the retrenchment reported on 6 January 1718, while the plenty was attested by the captains, supercargoes and principal passengers, the very guests who sat at it each season and could be examined at India House. The exclusion of the sergeants, the marshal and the smith fixes the table's social frontier: visiting commanders had objected under Governor Poirier to dining beside under-officers and tradesmen, and the line then drawn was kept, the table serving the dignity of the shipping interest the island existed to entertain. Speculations The general rules against smoking and drunkenness at table probably carry the particulars of the two restrained councillors without naming them. Stating the policy in the abstract, with the consultation dates alongside, let the Council report that it disciplined its own members while leaving the identities and the misconduct to the minutes, where the Court could read them without the letter putting a colleague's disgrace on the open page. | ||
116 | but for one of the three above Mentioned reasons Unless Capt: Haswell once and Mr Tovey as is Mentioned in the Consultation Already recited in the first Parra: hereof 7: The Storekeepers are Usually brought in Monthly by them as may be Seen because they are Entered in Consultation and how the Goods goe out, Yet by them it cannot So well be Seen what Credit comes in but the Store= =keeper is now Ordered to have those Accots: ready According to the time your Honrs: have been pleased to Limitt 8: A List of those who Eate at the Hon: Compas: Table and all that Dyett at their Charge In Govr Poiriers: time 64. Persons In Govr Roberts time 51 In Govr Bouchers time 77 In Govr Pykes time the year 1715 40 As may more Particularly Appear in a Consultation of the 13 Decr: 1715 And the Present Eaters are vizt: Govr & Councill 33 Govrs: Sister & usually one Woman 2 | The Governor never barred anyone who had a right to come, but for one of the three reasons above mentioned, save Captain Haswell once, and Mr Tovey, as mentioned in the consultation already recited in the first paragraph of this letter. 7: The storekeeper's accounts were usually brought in monthly, as might be seen, because they were entered in consultation, and they showed how the goods went out. By them it could not so well be seen what credit came in, but the storekeeper was now ordered to have those accounts ready according to the time the Court had been pleased to limit. 8: A list followed of those who ate at the Company's table, and all that dieted at the Company's charge. In Governor Poirier's time 64 persons In Governor Roberts's time 51 persons In Governor Bouchier's time 77 persons In Governor Pyke's time, the year 1715 40 persons The particulars appeared more fully in a consultation of 13 December 1715. The present eaters were as follows. The Governor and Council 3 The Governor's sister and usually one woman 2 Interpretations The four-reign comparison turns the table roll into an audit of governors. Bouchier's 77 eaters stand as the high-water mark of charge, against Roberts's 51, Poirier's 64 and Pyke's 40 in 1715, with the present establishment opening at three councillors and two women, so the halving claimed in the previous paragraph is here documented in heads, verifiable in the consultation of 13 December 1715. Setting the predecessors' numbers first quietly relocates any charge of lavish feeding onto the administration that earned it. The naming of Captain Haswell and Mr Tovey closes the anonymous restraints of the previous paragraph. The two men kept from the head table were the accountant and the secretary themselves, the exclusions falling under the stated rules and recorded in the minutes, and the sanction was calibrated with care: Tovey's seat at table was suspended while his office and his signature continued, discipline short of removal for a man the Court had already seen fined £40 0s 0d after the judgment of 18 May 1716, with the letter of 6 January 1718 drawing the moral on hard drinking. Paragraph 7 concedes a real defect in the stores accounting and reports its cure. The monthly accounts, entered in consultation, tracked issues but not receipts, so the outflow of goods was visible while the inflow of credit was not, and the storekeeper now stood ordered to produce both within the time the Court had fixed, aligning the island's audit cycle to London's calendar. Speculations The choice of 1715 for Pyke's comparison figure was probably deliberate. That year's 40 was already a reduction on every predecessor, yet far above the present handful, so the pair of numbers let the Council show both that retrenchment began at its arrival and that it had continued since, the improvement owned twice over while Bouchier's 77 absorbed the odium of plenty. | ||
117 | The Chaplain & very often his wife 2 Lieutt: and Ensigne 2 The Docter 1 Mr Thomlinson & Mr Goodewin 2 Usually one or two Planters or their wives or Some of the Councils wives, Some times more Some time fewer but may be Accounted in a Medium Alway's as 2 In Shiping time the Comanders and Chief Super Cargoes Come Almost Con= =stantly, the other Super Cargoes often and the Passengers of any Note, the Chief Mate 2 or 3. times, the Dr: & Purser often So that in a Medium in Shiping time We may Account the Gentlemn: who come 4 18 Under Writers & House hold Servts 6 On Sundayes & Publick day's the Marshll: Clerk & Schoolmaster tho' Just at this time We have no Schoolmaster 3 Musick 2 Black Servants Employed at the Fort 16 27 In Shiping time the Coxswain Always but if it be a Storeship then all the Boats | The list of the present eaters continued. The chaplain and very often his wife 2 The lieutenant and the ensign 2 The doctor 1 Mr Thomlinson and Mr Goodwin 2 Planters or their wives, or some of the councillors' wives, one or two at a time; the number rose and fell, but was reckoned at a steady average of 2 In shipping time the commanders and chief supercargoes came almost constantly, the other supercargoes often, with any passengers of note; the chief mate came two or three times, and the doctor and purser often; the gentlemen so coming were reckoned at an average of 4 In all 18 Under-writers and household servants 6 On Sundays and public days, the marshal, the clerk and the schoolmaster, though just at this time the island had no schoolmaster 3 Musicians 2 Black servants employed at the fort 16 In all 27 Interpretations The roll resolves the Court's question into two honest totals: eighteen at the table proper, from the Governor down to the averaged gentlemen of the shipping season, and twenty-seven more dieted at the Company's charge, the junior writers, household servants, Sunday officers, musicians and the sixteen fort blacks who served the establishment. The Council's device of the medium converts fluctuating attendance into fixed constants the Court can multiply into a yearly cost, answering a suspicious enquiry in the form of a budget. The shipping-time entry shows the table as the island's diplomatic engine. Commanders and chief supercargoes dined almost daily while their ships lay in the road, with passengers of note beside them, so the plenty defended in the sixth paragraph was the hospitality that kept the fleet calling, and the witnesses offered there to testify to it are the same four gentlemen counted here at the average. The graded frequencies, chief mate two or three times, doctor and purser often, map the table's seating to the hierarchy of a ship. The two musicians kept at diet continue an institution older than the present government, the Governor's table dining to music, the same establishment from which Bouchier carried off James Young the fiddler on 28 June 1714 with his debt of £27 8s 9½d unpaid. The vacant schoolmaster's place, candidly noted within its Sunday allowance, records the lapse of the island's schooling at the very season the epidemic thinned the rising generation. Speculations The volunteered admission that no schoolmaster served just then was probably a planted want. The seat and its diet stood already provided in the roll, so the Court could send out a schoolmaster at no new charge to the table, and the Council secured the request without spending another paragraph of a letter pledged to brevity. | ||
118 | crew besides Some allowance for the Soldrs: that are on board & bound to India So that these may be Accounted in a Medium Always as 2 The Monhoss & Gunners Mate on duty 2 And 5 Overseers of the Plantations & Garden 6 The Gunr: & one Doctr: at Board Wages wth Some Workmen [...] 53 On all Publick Occasions as Publick reviews General Musters holding Orphans Courts or Sessions Usually 30. Sometimes 35. of the Inhabitts: Dine with the Govr: Note that Mr Tovey has not eate wth: us for about two months past and will Scarce do So in two months more To the beginning of the 3d: Parrad: We have Some reason to think that the Govr: doing as is there directed, or Saying he would doe Soe has been the Occasion of the Complts: Menti= =oned in your Honrs first Parrad: and for a further Answer to this please to be refered to our Consultations of the 4th Janry 1717/8 and those others Mentioned in the first Parra: hereof As to your 4th & 5th Parra: We hope it is | In shipping time the coxswain always dieted at the charge, and if the ship were a store ship the whole boat's crew did so, besides some allowance for the soldiers on board bound for India; these were reckoned at a steady average of 2 The matrosses and the gunner's mate on duty 2 Five overseers of the plantations, and the gardener 6 The gunner and one doctor at board wages, with some workmen 3 On all public occasions, such as public reviews, general musters, or the holding of orphans' courts or sessions, usually 30 and sometimes 35 of the inhabitants dined with the Governor. The Council noted that Mr Tovey had not eaten with it for about two months past, and would scarcely do so for two months more. As to the beginning of the Court's third paragraph, the Council had some reason to think that the Governor's doing as there directed, or saying he would do so, had been the occasion of the complaints mentioned in the Court's first paragraph. For a further answer it referred the Court to the consultations of 4 January 1718 and the others mentioned in the first paragraph of this letter. Interpretations The answer to the third paragraph closes the circle on the informer. The Court had directed a method; the Governor enforced it, or announced that he would; and the men aggrieved by that enforcement supplied the complaints the Court's first paragraph relayed back to the island. The consultation of 4 January 1718, the sitting at which Captain Haswell was restrained from the table, is offered as the proof, so the Court is shown that its intelligence originated in discipline administered under its own order, and the minutes it is referred to are the same file already deployed over the accountant's books. The note on Mr Tovey converts his disgrace into a measured sentence. About two months served and scarcely less than two to run describes a fixed term of roughly four months from the restraint of 19 August 1718, reviewable at the consultation of 7 October 1718 the Court was earlier asked to compare, while his signature continued on every letter. Honour at the Governor's table and the duties of office were thus separable penalties, and the Council reported the suspension with its end-date built in. The figure of 30 to 35 inhabitants on public days shows the table as the island's civic instrument. Reviews and general musters assembled the militia, and orphans' courts and sessions drew jurors, guardians and witnesses from the plantations, all unpaid duties, so the Governor's dinner was the recognised return for public service, scaling up tenfold on the days the state of the island required attendance. The smaller standing entries divide diet in kind from board wages, the gunner and doctor taking money in lieu at the rates the Court already knew. Speculations The forward projection of Mr Tovey's exclusion was probably meant to keep the matter wholly local. By telling the Court when the term would expire of itself, the Council forestalled both any petition from Tovey's friends in London and any direction from the Court, the discipline beginning, running and ending entirely within the island's own minutes. | ||
119 | 'tis Complyed with to your Honrs likeing and the Same to the 5th 6th & 7th Paragraphs 11: As to the 8th: Parra: In our Consultation of the 13th Decr: 1715 there is an Account of those who did Eate of your Honrs Bread in the time, of Governr Poirier, Governr Roberts, Govr Boucher and the Present Governour and in this our Letter follow's an Accot: of those who diett there now We have heitherto when We had a Steward and when Mr Byfeild Officiated as Such given a monthly Account of the Sume Totall for Expence of the Genll: Table for each month, but in those Reports there was no Accot: of the Charge or Expence of Beer or Wine nor Wood, nor Pickles Cheese and Sundry other Small Articles but it Shall henceforward be Men= =tioned in all the Particulars, As to Strong Liquors our Expences are now Limitted as will Appear if your Honrs please to Compare our Consultation[...] of the 28 August 1716 & 18th June 1717 & 8 Octr 171[...] together for the Expence of Arrack it is reduced t[...] three Gallons ⅌ day And the Expence of Beer an[...] Wine which is both uncertaine and Unequall f[...] out of Shiping time two Bottles of Beer and one of Wine per day is as much as is Some times used, Yet in Shiping time it is not less than | The Council hoped the matter was complied with to the Court's liking, and the same for the 5th, 6th and 7th paragraphs. 11: As to the 8th paragraph, the consultation of 13 December 1715 contained an account of those maintained at the Court's table in the times of Governor Poirier, Governor Roberts, Governor Bouchier and the present Governor, and in this letter followed the account of those who dieted there now. Hitherto, when there was a steward, and when Mr Byfield officiated as such, a monthly account was given of the sum total of the General Table's expense for each month, but those reports carried no account of the charge of beer or wine, nor of wood, nor of pickles, cheese and sundry other small articles. It would henceforward be mentioned in all its particulars. As to strong liquors, the expenses were now limited, as would appear if the Court compared the consultations of 28 August 1716, 18 June 1717 and 8 October 1717 together. The expense of arrack was reduced to 3 gallons a day. The expense of beer and wine was both uncertain and unequal: out of shipping time, two bottles of beer and one of wine a day was as much as was sometimes used, yet in shipping time it was not less than Interpretations The paragraph volunteers a defect in the Council's own reporting before the Court could discover it. The monthly table totals, compiled when Mr Byfield officiated as steward, the same councillor whose duties had included the General Table accounts, captured the kitchen charge but silently omitted beer, wine, fuel, pickles, cheese and the small articles, so the reported expense had always understated the true one. The promised itemisation converts every previously hidden head into a standing ledger line, an upgrade in candour announced as routine improvement. The liquor limits are proved by the Council's usual chain of dated minutes, three consultations from 28 August 1716 to 8 October 1717 marking the screw tightening by stages. Arrack for the whole establishment now stood at 3 gallons a day, against a table and household of some 45 souls, and the wine allowance had fallen below even the three bottles a day out of shipping time reported on 6 January 1718, to a single bottle with two of beer, the seasonal split acknowledging that hospitality to the fleet, not the household, drove the drink bill. The reference back to 13 December 1715 shows the Court's question answered from stock. The comparative roll of eaters under four governors had been minuted three years before the enquiry came, so the Council could meet a suspicious paragraph with an existing record rather than a fresh compilation, the archive itself testifying that the table had been under measurement all along. Speculations The odd specificity of the omitted articles, beer, wine, wood, pickles and cheese, probably traces the informer's own list. Complaints of luxury at the Governor's table would name exactly such comforts, and by adopting each as a new ledger head the Council turned every alleged concealment into a permanent line of account, the accusation answered not with denial but with bookkeeping. | ||
120 | Eight or ten and Sometimes a great Deal more and at the Sessions and Such like Publick day's the Same and to Settle that We have at the Governrs own Proposall fixed it now to four bottles ⅌ day the whol year about and he is at the Charge of all above that him= =self, which charge is not a small one So that We now shall have no other Accots about that Europe Liquor than to Reckon According to the Governrs own Proposall four bottles per day & the Price is two Shillings each bottle tho' he bought no Wine So cheap, all in the last Ship was three Shillings ⅌ bottle and the Beer Eighteen pence So that two Shillings is not a full medium of the Price payed And as to the Governrs obligeing things to be Enterd by his Authority to his own Creditt We know nothing of it for he has nothing Entered to him without Allowance of the Council nor nothing Privately nor Assumes in this Case no other Priveledge than any other man may have 12: As to the 9th Parra: We have Answered that fully in our whole Letter by the King William to which Letter be pleased to lett Us refer you | In shipping time the use was not less than eight or ten bottles, and sometimes a great deal more, and the same at the sessions and suchlike public days. To settle the matter, at the Governor's own proposal it was now fixed at 4 bottles a day the whole year round, with the Governor bearing himself the charge of everything above that, which charge was not a small one. The Council would therefore keep no other account of that Europe liquor than to reckon, according to the Governor's own proposal, 4 bottles a day at a price of 2s each bottle, though he bought no wine so cheap: all that came in the last ship cost 3s a bottle, and the beer 18d, so that 2s was not a full medium of the price paid. As to the Governor obliging things to be entered by his authority to his own credit, the Council knew nothing of it, for nothing was entered to him without the allowance of the Council, nothing privately, and in this matter he assumed no privilege beyond what any other man might have. 12: As to the 9th paragraph, the Council had answered it fully in its whole letter by the King William, to which letter it asked leave to refer the Court. Interpretations The wine settlement converts an unbounded hospitality cost into a capped charge with the Governor as the bearer of all the risk. The Company's books would carry a flat 4 bottles a day the year round, while the true consumption ran to eight, ten or a great deal more whenever ships lay in the road or the public days filled the hall, every bottle above the cap falling on Pyke's private purse. The notional 2s a bottle then under-prices even the capped portion, the Council itself certifying that the last ship's wine cost 3s and the beer 18d, so the Company paid below market for less than the table drank, and the audit collapsed to a single multiplication. The rebuttal of the self-credit charge states the island's bookkeeping constitution in one sentence: no entry stood to the Governor's credit without the Council's allowance, none privately, and his account enjoyed no privilege over any inhabitant's. The rule matches the practice already shown the Court, where even the Governor's tomb was valued by two councillors and charged to him as a debt, so the denial rests on a method the directors could verify rather than on protestation. Paragraph 12 treats the correspondence as one continuous record. The Court's 9th paragraph stood answered in the letter of 6 January 1718 by the King William, and the Council cites that despatch instead of repeating it, the cross-reference honouring the demand for brevity while binding the Court to read its answers where they were first given. Speculations The Governor's own proposal of the four-bottle cap was probably an investment in his suit for advancement. Since the sole-signature letter of 28 April 1717 laying his service before the Court, a visible private subsidy of the Company's hospitality, its scale fixed by the Council at a confessedly inadequate rate, built precisely the record of disinterest his case required, and the Council's unprompted remark that 2s was no true medium certifies to the directors that the gift was real and not a bookkeeping flourish. | ||
121 | 13: And Since your Honrs have our Book of the Laws of St Helena sent by Govr: Harrison and which tho' done in the best manner We then could Yet We must own that there are many Repetitions of Orders therein but We thought 'twas better to Write too much than too little and to Send home the whole Orders from the begining wth the reasons thereof as Mentioned in the Severall Letters because Some of them We thought would otherwise Seem to Contradict the others if the reasons of each had not been Mentioned with them which makes each case the plainer, & by a review of those reasons & Orders thereon your Honrs might the Easier if you So thought fitt Send Us one Entire Sett of Such Rules as you Judge Properest for us now, Wherefore Shall not trouble your Honrs further on that head but Proceed to the Account (or rather an abstract:) of your Ships that have touched here the last Year First: concerning your Honrs Shipping now in India or that have touched here homeward bound 14: We thank your Honrs for the Accot: of Ships Arrived Safe in England or Sent out to | 13: Since the Court now had the island's Book of the Laws of St Helena, sent by Governor Harrison, the Council owned that, though done in the best manner it then could, the book held many repetitions of orders. It had thought it better to write too much than too little, and to send home the whole body of orders from the beginning, with the reasons for each as mentioned in the several letters, because some orders would otherwise seem to contradict others if their reasons were not set beside them, which made every case the plainer. By a review of those reasons and orders the Court might the more easily, if it thought fit, send the island one entire set of such rules as it judged properest for it now. The Council would trouble the Court no further on that head, but proceeded to the account, or rather an abstract, of the Court's ships that touched at the island in the last year. First, concerning the Court's shipping then in India, or that had touched at the island homeward bound. 14: The Council thanked the Court for the account of ships arrived safe in England or sent out to India. Interpretations Paragraph 13 records a constitutional exchange in miniature. The island had compiled its whole legislation into the Book of the Laws of St Helena, carried home by Governor Harrison, who left the island on 29 April 1717 with the volume unsealed so he could study it on his passage, and the Council now invited the Court to digest that raw material into one entire set of rules. Local government supplied the text and the legislative history; the metropolis was asked to return a consolidated code bearing its authority, the orders thereafter standing on the Court's enactment rather than the island's accretion. The drafting method defended is reasons attached to rules. Orders were sent complete from the beginning, repetitions and all, each with the justification given in the original letters, because a rule stripped of its occasion could read as contradicting its neighbour, while the reason made each case plain. The apology for writing too much carves a deliberate exception out of the brevity the Council had promised for its letters: correspondence might be short, but legislation had to be whole. Paragraph 14 shows the safety register running in both directions. The island's catalogues told the Court what passed the road and what each commander reported of ships left in the East; the Court's reciprocal account of arrivals in England and outward sailings gave the island the authoritative close of every voyage, so that the hearsay of a happy arrival, as with the Stanhope and the Princess Amelia, was confirmed from the one place that knew. Speculations The invitation to send back an entire set of rules was probably as much self-protection as convenience. Once the Court enacted a consolidated code from the island's own materials, every standing order, the duties, restraints and table rules an informer might call arbitrary, would carry metropolitan sanction, and the format of reasons bound to orders made it difficult for the directors to strike any rule without first confronting the recorded ground for it. The choice of Governor Harrison as carrier probably aimed at more than safe conveyance. He had walked both sides of the island in April 1717 and read the laws across a six-week passage, so the book arrived at India House with a sympathetic and senior expounder available to the directors, the text and its best witness landing together. | ||
122 | India mentioned in your 12th 13th 14th & 15th Parras: and take leave to trouble your Honrs with a Repetition of Such Ships as We Saw here the last year 15: The Mercury Ketch Josias Henry Mackett from Madagascr: Sailed hence the 27th Janry 1717/8 The Marlbro' Capt: Matthw: Martin from China and Maddrass the 20th March in Compy: with The Prince Frederick Capt: Edwd: Martin from Mads: & The Rochestr: Capt: Wm: Browne from Bencolin On the 23d March a Ship Passed by the Island The Henry Capt: Jno: Harvey from Madagascr: for Barbadoes the 27th March On the 9th May two Ships Passed by Supposed to be Dutch The Sarum Capt: Geo: Newton from Bombay The Hanover Capt: Jams: Osborne from Bengall &ca: & The Essex Capt: Chas: Newton from China, Sailed in Compy: the 11th of May 1718 The Townshend Capt: Cha: Kesar fro: China The Thistleworth Capt: Cha: Small fro: Benjarr & The Hester Capt: Jno: Gordon from Bencoolen &ca: Sailed in Compa: on the 27th May On the 7th July a Ship Passed by ye Island The Cardigan Capt: Henry Glegg from | The ships were those mentioned in the Court's 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th paragraphs, and the Council took leave to trouble the Court with a repetition of such ships as were seen at the island in the last year. 15: The Marlborough, Captain Matthew Martin, from China and Madras, sailed on 20 March in company with The Prince Frederick, Captain Edward Martin, from Madras, and The Rochester, Captain William Browne, from Bencoolen On 23 March a ship passed by the island The Henry, Captain John Harvey, from Madagascar, for Barbados, on 27 March On 9 May two ships passed by, supposed to be Dutch The Sarum, Captain George Newton, from Bombay, The Hanover, Captain James Osborne, from Bengal and elsewhere, and The Essex, Captain Charles Newton, from China, sailed in company on 11 May 1718 The Townshend, Captain Charles Kesar, from China, The Thistleworth, Captain Charles Small, from Banjar, and The Hester, Captain John Gordon, from Bencoolen and elsewhere, sailed in company on 27 May On 7 July a ship passed by the island The Cardigan, Captain Henry Glegg, from Bengal Interpretations The owned repetition is the point of the paragraph. The Court's 12th to 15th paragraphs had sent out the England side of the register, the ships safely arrived or despatched, and the island now returns its mirror list of the same season, so the two records could be collated at India House and any vessel missing from either side identified at once. Duplication between the ends of the passage was the system's safeguard, not its waste. The abstract also shows the same facts kept at two resolutions. The alarms that filled half a page of the letter of 10 July 1718, with the double signal and the stranger standing to windward, here shrink to a bare line that a ship passed, because this list exists for collation and filing while the narrative belongs to the despatch that reported the danger. The grouping by sailing companies preserves the one structural fact the owners and insurers needed, that the season's ships went home in convoys of three. | ||
123 | Bengall on the 11th July — The Princess Emelia Capt: Jno Misenor from Great Brittain Sailed hence for Bencoolin on the 1st Septr: The Dke: of Cambridge Capt: Danl: Small from Maddrass &c: And The St George Capt: Chad: Wardon from Bengal Sailes togethr: on the 3d of Novr: 1718 We have recd: & Shall Observe the Letter from the Secrett Committe Mentioned in yor Honrs: 16th Parrad: 16: As to the 17th this being our Yearly letter and more Generall than the others are We have recited as aforesaid the Accots of Ships but in as Short a Method as We could 17: In answer to your Honrs 18th: Parras: be pleased to be referred to our Consultation of the 2d Septr 1718. wherein it will Appear how and why this last Ship was twelve days Unladeing and there was Some things of Small Vallue Short delivered and a great Deficiency in the Measure of Coals which he has Answered to in that Consultation Yet We could not gett Capt: Misenor to pay Us for what was want= =ing but he has given his reasons in his Letter | The Cardigan, from Bengal, sailed on 11 July. The Princess Amelia, Captain John Misener, from Great Britain, sailed hence for Bencoolen on 1 September. The Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small, from Madras and elsewhere, and The St George, Captain Charles Wardon, from Bengal, sailed together on 3 November 1718. The Council had received, and would observe, the letter from the Secret Committee mentioned in the Court's 16th paragraph. 16: As to the 17th paragraph, this being the yearly letter and more general than the others, the Council had recited the accounts of ships as above, but in as short a method as it could. 17: In answer to the Court's 18th paragraph, the Court was asked to consult the consultation of 2 September 1718, in which would appear how and why this last ship took twelve days unlading, and that some things of small value were short delivered, with a great deficiency in the measure of the coals. The captain answered to all this in that consultation, yet the Council could not get Captain Misener to pay for what was wanting, though he gave his reasons in his letter. Interpretations The abstract closes on the day the letter sailed: the Duke of Cambridge, the conveyance itself, and the St George departed together on 3 November 1718, so the despatch carries its own date in its last entry and the season's final convoy is the pair that bore it home. The Princess Amelia, the ship that had brought the Court's accusing letter of 21 March 1718, appears completing her outward leg to Bencoolen on 1 September, her island business settled, or left unsettled, in the consultation of the following day. Paragraph 17 shows the short-delivery procedure reaching the limit of island power. The twelve days' unlading continues the old quarrel over the impossible ten-day term, protested against Captain Mawson on 29 June 1715 and Captain Hunter on 26 June 1716 and addressed in the charter-party reforms asked on 6 January 1718, while the shortages, capped by a great deficiency in the coal measure, repeat the pattern of the Catherine's 20 chaldrons against 31½ invoiced. The Council could document, examine and demand, but it could not compel a commander to pay, so the file, the minute of 2 September 1718 and Misener's own letter of reasons, went home for the Court to enforce the debt where it held the freight. The acknowledgement of the Secret Committee's letter shows the confidential channel promised on 6 January 1718 now in operation, instructions on the most sensitive head, the treatment of foreign shipping, travelling outside the general correspondence and answered with nothing more than receipt and obedience. Speculations The consultation of 2 September 1718, sitting the day after the Princess Amelia sailed, was probably the deliberate perfection of the record once persuasion had failed. With Captain Misener gone unpaying, a minute fixing the deficiency, joined to his own written reasons, armed the Court to stop the value out of his freight at home, and the island avoided a protest war in the road with a commander it would need again, its moderation preserved and its claim intact. | ||
124 | 18: We will not trouble your Honrs with an Answer to your 20th Parrad: but Shall Alwayes Endeavour So to Act as to Meet with your Approbation — 19: As to your 21st Parrad: if any case of that Nature Should again happen We Shall be Sure to observe your Honrs Directions and Say the Same to the 22 & 23 Parrs: Secondly concerning Goods or Stores Received here from England or India — 20: As to the 24th Parra: of your Honrs: last Letter or the Severall Parras: relateing to this head in the Successes Letter from the 18th to the 34th Parras: therein because We hope the Answer already made in our letter by the King William will prove Satisfactory We Shall not Enlarge now thereon but as near as Possi= =ble observe all your Honrs Directions & therefore Proceed to the 25th: Parra: of this and yet Shall only Say that the Successes Wine prov'd very good and but little Leakage We Sold it out here at four Shill= =ings ⅌ Galln: but We hope your Honrs will not take it a Miss if We Say We | 18: The Council would not trouble the Court with an answer to its 20th paragraph, but would always endeavour so to act as to meet the Court's approbation. 19: As to the 21st paragraph, if any case of that nature should happen again, the Council would be sure to observe the Court's directions, and it said the same to the 22nd and 23rd paragraphs. Secondly, the letter turned to goods or stores received at the island from England or India. 20: As to the 24th paragraph of the Court's last letter, or the several paragraphs relating to this head in the Success's letter, from the 18th to the 34th paragraphs there, the Council hoped the answer already made in its letter by the King William would prove satisfactory, and so would not enlarge on it now, but would as near as possible observe all the Court's directions. It therefore proceeded to the 25th paragraph, and would only say that the Success's wine proved very good and with but little leakage, and was sold out at the island at 4s a gallon. Interpretations Paragraph 20 knits three documents into one file. The Court's present letter of 21 March 1718, its great letter of 22 February 1716 received by the store ship Success on 11 June 1717, and the Council's reply of 6 January 1718 by the King William are cross-referenced paragraph to paragraph, so seventeen paragraphs of London's questions stand discharged by a single citation. The method quietly reconciles the Court's own overlapping demands, the new letter having re-asked what the old one asked, and answers both at the price of neither. Paragraphs 18 and 19 show the other end of the answering scale. The paragraph-by-paragraph duty required every head of the Court's letter to be touched, but weight followed dispute: where nothing was contested, a sentence of future obedience closed the account, the consultations and evidence being reserved for the heads under attack. The bare compliances are the brevity covenant of 6 January 1718 performed in miniature. The wine report continues the island's cost-anchored pricing. The 4s a gallon at which the Success's wine sold matches the benchmark recorded on 6 January 1718, that wine costing 2s in London stood the island in 4s landed, so the retail returned the prime cost and freight without profit, and the note of little leakage credits the casks against the standing history of short and damaged liquor deliveries. Speculations The double citation of the Court's two letters probably carries a gentle reproof inside its economy. The directors who complained of the island's repetitions had themselves re-asked in March 1718 what their letter of 22 February 1716 had already asked and the King William reply already answered, and the Council's consolidation, framed as obedience to the rule of brevity, let the Court discover its own duplication in the cross-reference without a word of complaint being written. | ||
125 | had rather have had Some other red Europe Wine Such as French or Port &c We received no vine plants by that Ship because the time when the Success was there was not a Proper Season to put up Vines as the Merchant Wrote Us word Unless he had received Directions Some time before to have gott them ready, We have planted out abundance of our vine Cuttings here as they do at the Cape but We have been Told that the Cuttings of Growth do never prove So well as those brought from Forreign pts: 21: As to the 26th Parra: We will take the best Care We can in making the next Indent which Shall be done by the Store= =keeper and Approved by Us all in Words at length and We have put down in the Indent Sent by the King William an Accot: of all remains which Shall be Con= =tinued as Often as We can 22: We are very glad to hear that your Honrs have had thoughts of Sending out an old Ship to be broke up here which will be of very great use if you please to Send in her at the Same time Some good | The Council had rather have had some other red Europe wine, such as French or port. No vine plants came by that ship, because the time when the Success was there was not a proper season to put up vines, as the merchant wrote word, unless he had received directions some time beforehand to have got them ready. The Council had planted out an abundance of its own vine cuttings at the island, as they do at the Cape, but had been told that cuttings of local growth never prove so well as those brought from foreign parts. 21: As to the 26th paragraph, the Council would take the best care it could in making the next indent, which would be done by the storekeeper and approved by the whole Council in words at length. The indent sent by the King William included an account of all remains, which would be continued as often as possible. 22: The Council was very glad to hear that the Court had thoughts of sending out an old ship to be broken up at the island, which would be of very great use, if the Court pleased to send in her at the same time some good workmen. Interpretations Paragraph 21 turns the indent into a controlled instrument. Quantities written in words at length resist the altered or misread figure, the same protection bills of exchange carried, and approval by the whole Council in that form left no single hand in command of the order book. The account of all remains pairs every demand with the stock still on hand, the practice begun with the inventory and wants sent as item 2 of the King William packet, so the Court could audit each request against what the island already held. The vine passage closes a want that had stood for years. Only five plants of the Cardonnel's consignment had grown and none came by the Success, as reported on 6 January 1718, and the cause now appears as a procurement lead-time: vines could only be lifted in season, and the supplying merchant needed directions well beforehand to have them ready. The island's own response, planting out cuttings in the Cape manner, ran against the received wisdom that home-raised cuttings degenerate beside imported stock, so the request for foreign plants stood even as the local vineyard spread. The preference for French wine or port over Madeira likewise repeats the table economy of 6 January 1718, where a small yearly supply of port or Lisbon was asked as cheaper than buying of ships. The old ship at paragraph 22 answers, in whole-vessel form, the request first made on 12 November 1714 for old ship timber of oak from the English breaker's yards. A hulk broken up at the island would yield seasoned oak, knees, plank, ironwork and cordage that no store ship could match for value of stowage, and the Council's instant condition states the limit plainly: without good workmen sent in her, the timber was so much firewood, the island having no shipwrights to convert it. Speculations The rule of words at length was probably adopted with the wreck of the accountant's office in view. With Haswell dead and the writers reduced to one lame, near-blind man, accuracy could no longer rest on skilled figure-keeping, so the Council built the safeguard into procedure instead, full-board approval of spelled-out quantities making the indent proof against both error and alteration by any single hand. The welcome given to the old ship shows the Council converting every offer from London into a vehicle for its standing want of artificers. The same letter that cited Benjamin Cleverlee's case as proof of extortion for want of hands now attaches good workmen to the Court's own proposal, so the gift could not be accepted without the men the island had begged for since 1714 coming with it. | ||
126 | workmen to make use of the Stuff and work it up to the best Advantage 23: We are now Endeavouring in the most Effectuall manner We can to Answer the 27th Parra: of your Honrs Letter and to Circulate all the Small moneys and Cash which is to pass and Some Soldiers & Labour= =ing People to be payd therewith from Michaelmass now past, And We assure your Honrs We know of no Private reasons nor have any but what We mention in our Generall Letters of any transaction relateing hereto. And We hope that all Disputes and Controversies among Us are at an end 24: As to the 28th We have Acquainted the People that whoever desires any Bills for England if they bring us Bank Notes for them they Shall have them of any Sume yet We have Intimated to them that We think it not So proper to make out Bills for every Small Sume under twenty Pounds Un= =less on Some Urgent & Extraordinary Cases And as to Hireing blacks Mentioned in your 29th Parrad: it is an Article that is now much reduced being brought to 12d ⅌ day | The workmen would make use of the materials and turn them to the best advantage. 23: The Council was now endeavouring in the most effectual manner it could to answer the 27th paragraph of the Court's letter, and to circulate all the small moneys and cash that were to pass, with some of the soldiers and labouring people to be paid with them from Michaelmas now past. It assured the Court that it knew of no private reasons, nor had any beyond what it mentioned in its general letters, in any transaction relating to this. It hoped that all disputes and controversies among its members were at an end. 24: As to the 28th paragraph, the Council had acquainted the people that whoever desired bills for England should have them, of any sum, on bringing in bank notes for them. It had intimated at the same time that it thought it not so proper to make out bills for every small sum under £20 0s 0d, unless in some urgent and extraordinary case. As to the hiring of blacks mentioned in the Court's 29th paragraph, that article was now much reduced, being brought to 12d a day Interpretations Paragraph 23 reports the paper currency finally launched on the design of 6 January 1718. The small moneys and bank notes entered circulation through the payroll, the garrison and labouring people taking their wages in them from Michaelmas 1718, so the first holders of the new money were the many hands of the establishment rather than a few dealers, and the quarter day gave the scheme a clean accounting start. The disclaimer of private reasons answers the standing insinuation that the island's money schemes served insiders, every transaction being owned in the general letters, and the hope that all disputes among the Council were ended draws a line under the season of Haswell and Tovey. Paragraph 24 sets out the convertibility that made the paper hold its value. Redemption into bills on London stood unlimited in amount, the absolute guarantee first promised on 6 January 1718 at a £50 0s 0d threshold and now cheapened to a customary floor of £20 0s 0d, with urgent cases excepted. The floor rationed the real cost of redemption, each bill meaning three engrossed parts, Council signatures and a packet entry, while the any-sum promise preserved the credit that made holders willing to keep the notes at all. The 12d a day for hired blacks completes the labour-rate reform. The Council had found 18d the standing rate at its arrival, let the Governor's own nineteen slaves at 12d when no other owner would follow, as reported on 6 January 1718, and now records the article generally brought down, the Court's hire bill cut by a third at the stroke the planters had never forgiven Governor Roberts for attempting. Speculations The pairing of an unlimited redemption promise with a discouraged floor was probably deliberate confidence engineering. Paper that could always be turned into London money at any sum needed rarely to be turned in at all, so the guarantee sustained the circulation while the £20 0s 0d custom filtered the trickle of small redemptions, and the urgent-case exception kept the rule from ever bearing on a hardship the Court might hear of. | ||
127 | by the Governr: who bought Some very good Blacks on Purpose to lett them to your Honrs at that Price as he Promised in Consultati= =on of the 27 of March toward the latter end of the Said Consultation 25: We pass now to your Honrs 31 Parrd: We will not tire your Honrs with any vain Repetitions of either our Actions or Intentions any more than to assure you We Shall do to all your People here as We desire to be done by & tho' in the Main We hope most men here are well Satisfyed of our good Intentions Yet We are not So vain as to think We Shall please every body 26: As to the 33d We Shall Alway's be desireous to buy Rice but of Sugar We are very well Stockt & Shall need none a good while as We have Written in our Letters to India Copies whereof Shall goe home wth our Consultations 27: We hope We have taken care to Prevent any Pilferings out of the Store House for the future for no body is Suffered to lye there now and We have a Centinell Stands there every night 28: We have received the Cloathing for our Soldiers Mentioned in the 34th Parrd: but there | The hire was brought to 12d a day by the Governor, who bought some very good blacks on purpose to let them to the Court at that price, as he promised in the consultation of 27 March 1716, toward the latter end of that consultation. 25: The Council passed to the Court's 31st paragraph. It would not tire the Court with any vain repetitions of either its actions or its intentions, more than to assure the Court that it would do to all the Court's people at the island as it desired to be done by. Though in the main the Council hoped most men there were well satisfied of its good intentions, it was not so vain as to think it should please everybody. 26: As to the 33rd paragraph, the Council would always be desirous to buy rice, but of sugar it was very well stocked and should need none for a good while, as it had written in its letters to India, copies of which would go home with the consultations. 27: The Council hoped it had taken care to prevent any pilferings out of the storehouse for the future, for nobody was suffered to lie there now, and a sentinel stood there every night. 28: The clothing for the soldiers mentioned in the 34th paragraph was received. Interpretations The close of paragraph 24 shows the labour rate brought down by market entry rather than decree. The Governor could not order the planters to lower their price, so he bought good slaves on purpose to let them to the Court at 12d a day, undercutting the 18d cartel with his own stock, and the promise to do so stands minuted toward the latter end of the consultation of 27 March 1716, the same sitting the Council had already cited as an instance of the majority's voice on this very question. Performance could thus be checked against promise to the page. Paragraph 27 reports the storehouse secured by redesigning access rather than multiplying punishments. Whoever had formerly lodged among the goods held the building through every night, and pilfering needed no breaking in; now the storehouse stood empty after hours with a sentinel posted, custody separated from habitation, the reform closing the after-hours door through which the old transfer and pilfering abuses had run. Paragraph 25 answers an exhortation with a creed and a caveat. The golden rule is adopted as the Council's standard toward all the Court's people, while the refusal to hope for universal approval quietly re-prices every future complaint: in a community whose malcontents had just been traced into the Court's own postbag, dissatisfaction is declared the normal residue of fair government, not its indictment. Speculations The pointer to the latter end of the consultation was probably a finding-aid supplied in confidence. The promise lay buried deep in a long minute, and a Council less sure of its performance would have left the Court to hunt for it; directing the directors to the exact place invited the collation of word against deed. The disclaimer of pleasing everybody was probably also insurance against letters already at sea. With one informer dead and another gone home, the Council could expect fresh complaints by the next conveyance, and this sentence ensured that whatever arrived would land pre-framed as the grumbling it had foretold. | ||
128 | is not quite eno' being but Just one hundred Coats and therefore the Gunners People and Some of those at the remotest out Parts must goe without, We pray your Honrs to Send us more next year and Some Caps because the Granadeer Exercise is performed here which cannot be fully Practiced wthout Caps the Blacks Cloaths are very Necessary and good and We pray Such a quantity may be Sent every year And tho' those Sent this year be more then what is Imediatly Necessary Yet because We expect more Blacks & because We are not certain of receiving more next year We Shall Sell none of those Thirdly as to your Honrs Servants Civill or Military & the Accots: of St Helena in Genrl: And concerning yor Slaves, Cattle, Land & Revenues 29: As to the 35th Parras: as it Chiefly relates to the Governmt: who it seems has been Accused for great Negligence and runing upon Projects, Neglecting the Fortifications &c: And therefore We think tis Proper to informe your Honrs right of any thing of this Nature and therefore We must Say | The clothing was not quite enough, being just one hundred coats, and therefore the gunner's people and some of those at the remotest outparts must go without. The Council prayed the Court to send more next year, and some caps, because the grenadier exercise was performed at the island and could not be fully practised without caps. The blacks' clothes were very necessary and good, and the Council prayed that such a quantity might be sent every year. Though those sent this year were more than was immediately necessary, yet because more blacks were expected, and because the Council was not certain of receiving more next year, it would sell none of them. Thirdly, the letter turned to the Court's servants, civil or military, the accounts of St Helena in general, and the Court's slaves, cattle, land and revenues. 29: As to the 35th paragraph, since it chiefly related to the Governor, who it seemed had been accused of great negligence, of running upon projects, and of neglecting the fortifications, the Council thought it proper to set the Court right about anything of this nature. Interpretations The clothing count turns a complaint into an indent. One hundred coats against an establishment that had asked for about 140 suits a year on 29 June 1717 left a deficit the Court could compute from its own muster rolls, and the Council shows the shortfall allocated by station: the fighting line clothed first, the gunner's auxiliaries and the men at the remotest outposts going without. The renewed prayer for caps repeats the 40 grenadier caps of the same indent, the point being practical, since the grenadier exercise, with its slung arms and overhead throwing, could not be performed in a brimmed hat, so the drill itself stood hostage to headgear. The decision to sell none of the surplus blacks' clothing is a declared act of hoarding with its reasons attached. More slaves were expected, the Bengal purchases having just enlarged the family, and next year's supply was uncertain, so the Council kept a saleable stock and said so, pre-empting any report that spare goods lay concealed in the storehouse or had been turned to private profit. Paragraph 29 opens the letter's third division by stating the indictment in full: great negligence, running upon projects, and neglect of the fortifications. A projector in the language of the day was a schemer of novelties, so the charge was that the Governor wasted the Court's stock on innovations while the defences rotted, and the Council's method is to enter the accusation fairly in its own despatch before answering it, the defence thereby fixing the terms on which the Court would weigh whatever the informer had written. Speculations The three heads of the charge probably map the Governor's reform programme item by item. The kilns, the tanning scheme, the paper money and the rebuilt water supply were exactly what an adherent of the old perquisite economy would call projects, and the fortifications were the standing measure by which any Governor could be accused, so the quarrel underneath was probably over the island's direction rather than its diligence, the modernising agenda itself returned to London dressed as negligence. | ||
129 | the Governr: has used a great Deal of Industry Scarce ever omitts a day going among all the workmen & Blacks alway's marking out and giveing Directions for carrying on the work which could not Else goe forward for We have no body now but him Capable to give those Necessarys Directions or who Understands building in Gener: but him, We Should have Enlarged on this Article but that the Governr: being to Signe the letter himself he had rather his works Should praise him and Chooses to referr himself to the Charecter of those who have been lately here but Especially to Such of them as are of most Experience and knew this place formerly 30: To the 36th We Shall be very Short in our Answer because Capt: Haswell is Dead, as to what he did it is gone with him for there is none of his Writing here nor none gone home that We know of Unless those Excuses he disperst among his friends the truth whereof will best Appear by our first Parra: of this letter and the Severall Consul= =tations therein referred to | The Governor had used a great deal of industry, and scarce ever omitted a day going among all the workmen and blacks, always marking out and giving directions for carrying on the work, which could not otherwise go forward, for the island now had nobody but him capable of giving those necessary directions, nor any who understood building in general but him. The Council should have enlarged on this article, but the Governor, being to sign the letter himself, had rather his works should praise him, and chose to refer himself to the character given by those who had lately been at the island, especially such of them as were of most experience and knew the place formerly. 30: To the 36th paragraph, the Council would be very short in its answer, because Captain Haswell was dead. As to what he did, it was gone with him, for there was none of his writing at the island, nor any gone home that the Council knew of, unless those excuses he dispersed among his friends, the truth of which would best appear by the first paragraph of this letter and the several consultations there referred to. Interpretations The answer to the negligence charge is the Governor's diary, not a denial. Daily attendance among the workmen and blacks, marking out the lines and levels and giving the directions without which nothing moved, rests on the stated fact that no other man on the island understood building at all, so the works advanced exactly as fast as one head could direct them. The defence thus discloses the same fragility the clerical collapse had shown in the accounts: each domain of the establishment now hung on a single competent man, and the charge of neglect is answered by proving the Governor was the whole engineering department in his own person. The truncation of the praise is a protocol of evidence. A letter the Governor must sign could not decently commend him, so the Council cut the article short and assigned the testimony to disinterested mouths, the gentlemen lately at the island and above all those of most experience who had known the place formerly, the repeat callers who could compare the works against what stood there before. The Court is again directed to witnesses it could summon, the letter supplying the question and leaving the answer to men outside it. Paragraph 30 answers a demand about the accountant with an inventory of nothing. What Haswell did had gone with him; no writing of his remained at the island and none had gone home officially, the only corpus being the excuses he dispersed among his friends, the private channel the Council had suspected from the first. Those partisan papers are then set against the dated chain of the letter's first paragraph, so any Haswell document reaching the Court arrives pre-matched to the minutes that would test it. Speculations The bare statement that an accountant left no writing was probably meant to be felt as the scandal itself. His office existed on paper; a dead bookkeeper whose entire literary remains were self-justifying letters to friends had either done nothing or removed what he did, and the Council, unable to prove which, let the void make the accusation it could not. | ||
130 | 31: As to the 37th the List of those who Eate at the General Table is Entered herein as you have been pleased to Direct & Shall also be Entered in Some of our Consultations hereafter. Mr Mashborne has been Dead above three years and at this time all Possible Care is taken to lessen the Expences there the List of all the Garrison as Directed went home last year by the King William and by the Marlbro' and Shall go again by the first Ship after the 25th of March, the List of Blacks goes also home Yearly and Shall be continued as Directed, the last went by the King William, the Papers as near as can be Shall be folded alike & Endorsed as Directed but Paper is now grown Scarce the last Ship having brought Us none So that We Shall want Paper but will Endorse those We Send as you have been pleased to Direct 32: To the 41 Parras: We Shall not omitt Send= =ing the Ships Accounts tho' they never are made up till the last day nor Cannot be the Captains alway's being in want of Some thing just at their going not thought of | 31: As to the 37th paragraph, the list of those who ate at the General Table was entered herein, as the Court had been pleased to direct, and would also be entered in some of the consultations hereafter. Mr Mashborne had been dead above three years, and at this time all possible care was taken to lessen the expenses there. The list of all the garrison, as directed, went home last year by the King William and by the Marlborough, and would go again by the first ship after 25 March. The list of blacks also went home yearly and would be continued as directed, the last having gone by the King William. The papers, as near as could be, would be folded alike and endorsed as directed, but paper was now grown scarce, the last ship having brought none, so that the Council would want paper, though it would endorse what it sent as the Court directed. 32: To the 41st paragraph, the Council would not omit sending the ships' accounts, though they never were made up till the last day, nor could be, the captains always being in want of something just at their going that was not thought of before. Interpretations The correction about Mr Mashborne measures the staleness of the Court's intelligence: the letter of 21 March 1718 evidently pressed a complaint involving a man who had been in his grave above three years. Nothing discredited the informer's material more economically than showing the directors litigating against a corpse, and the Council lets the fact stand alone, adding only that the expenses in question were under all possible care. The paragraph also fixes the island's reporting calendar. The garrison list went home annually by the first ship after 25 March, Lady Day, the close of the Company's account year, and the last had travelled in duplicate by the King William and the Marlborough, the insurance of two conveyances applied to returns as well as letters. The blacks' list ran on the same yearly cycle, and the direction to fold papers alike and endorse them uniformly shows India House imposing its registry at the source, every despatch arriving pre-docketed for filing. Against this stands the paper famine: the last ship brought none, so the very stationery of compliance was an imported store, and the Council promised the form while putting the want of the means on record. Paragraph 32 defends a perpetual lateness as structural. A ship's account could only close when her dealings closed, and commanders discovered wants at the gangway, so the reckoning was made up on the last day because no earlier day contained the whole transaction. The explanation converts an apparent slackness the 41st paragraph had evidently touched into the ordinary mechanics of the road. Speculations The disclosure that paper itself had run out was probably also an advance apology. The next despatches would go home on rough or reused sheets, folded and endorsed as ordered but mean in appearance, and the Council ensured the defect would read as the consequence of the Court's own supply failure rather than island carelessness. | ||
131 | before and making transferrs to Severall till the very last but We Shall Endeavour what We can to cause them to adjust their Accounts Sooner 33: The List of Families Land & Cattle went home last year in the Consultations & Shall be Continued to be Sent at the Usuall times that is after the 25th of March 34: To the 43d We did lay the whole blame of that Inventory on Joseph Thomlinson be= =cause he wrote it but because all our reasons about that might be too long to Insert here therefore We will only Say in Short that man has a great deal of Writing on his hands and has but one Eye We think he is diligent now & do's what he can and is Soberer than he has been 35: We now take care that no Transferrs be made but in Consultation nor none there allowed that ought to be rejected 36: As to the 45th the Governr: returns his most humble thanks to your Honrs for Imparting to him those Scandalous Aspersions that are raised of him Which We believe to be Utterly false and groundless And he makes it his | The captains were also making transfers to several persons till the very last, but the Council would endeavour what it could to cause them to adjust their accounts sooner. 33: The list of families, land and cattle went home last year in the consultations, and would continue to be sent at the usual times, that is, after 25 March. 34: To the 43rd paragraph, the Council did lay the whole blame of that inventory on Joseph Thomlinson, because he wrote it. Because all its reasons on that head might be too long to insert here, it would only say in short that the man had a great deal of writing on his hands and had but one eye. The Council thought he was diligent now, did what he could, and was soberer than he had been. 35: Care was now taken that no transfers were made but in consultation, nor any allowed there that ought to be rejected. 36: As to the 45th paragraph, the Governor returned his most humble thanks to the Court for imparting to him those scandalous aspersions that were raised of him, which the Council believed to be utterly false and groundless. Interpretations Paragraph 34 puts a face on the clerical famine. Joseph Thomlinson, the one writer left after the deaths and departures of 1718, carried a great deal of the island's writing with a single eye, and the defective inventory of the 43rd paragraph is traced to him honestly, he wrote it, then mitigated by capacity rather than excused. The volunteered history, soberer than he has been, is candour of the kind that certifies the rest: a Council willing to record its clerk's past drinking could be believed when it called him diligent now, and the request of 10 July 1718 for two or three young men of good hands here acquires its justification in flesh. Paragraph 35 closes the transfers abuse with a double lock. The reassignment of debts in the Company's books, the channel through which the bribery complaints of 22 February 1716 had run, could now occur only in full consultation, and even there the Council bound itself to reject what deserved rejection, procedure and merit review together replacing the private dealing of the old storekeepers' office. Paragraph 36 records the procedural fairness of the quarrel: the Court had imparted the informer's charges to the man accused, and the Governor's thanks acknowledges the right of confrontation while the whole Council subscribes the verdict, utterly false and groundless. The aspersions thus enter the island's own record already answered, with the Governor's formal response begun. The annual list of families, land and cattle at paragraph 33 completes the trio of returns, with the garrison and the blacks, that surveyed the whole island economy each year after 25 March. Speculations The reticence about the inventory's full history was probably protective. The reasons too long to insert would likely have led above the copyist to the accountant's office where the inventory should have been checked, and the Council, having already buried Captain Haswell under one documented failure, declined to open a second grave in the same letter, letting the one-eyed writer's overload carry an explanation that implicated nobody living. | ||
132 | request to your Honrs that when any Bills come to be tendered to your Honrs: you woud please to Oblige the Party to make Oath how those Bills were Procured whether any thing Directly or Indirectly were given for them and why and hopes that by this or Some Such way youl discover So much of the truth as to find he has been abused & Scandalized 37: To the 46 Mr Alexander is now Secretary and his Son Writes under him We have Obliged him to be Constantly that is from Monday to Saturday at the Fort he do's do all the business in that office and because he doth behave himself very well We pray your Honrs favour in his behalf that he being very fitt for that office may be Continu= =ed 38: To the 47th We must needs Say We do realy want three Writers in the Accomptants and Secretarys Offices, Our last Accompt: did not do his business as he ought, Mr Tovey who is Accompt: now is sick and We are in very great want of help the Store house is open only on Thursdays and frydays in every week on Tuesday is held our Consultation | The Governor made it his request to the Court that when any bills came to be tendered to it, the Court would please to oblige the party to make oath how those bills were procured, whether anything directly or indirectly was given for them, and why. He hoped that by this or some such way the Court would discover so much of the truth as to find he had been abused and scandalised. 37: To the 46th paragraph, Mr Alexander was now secretary, and his son wrote under him. The Council had obliged him to be constantly at the fort, that is from Monday to Saturday, and he did all the business in that office. Because he behaved himself very well, the Council prayed the Court's favour on his behalf, that being very fit for that office he might be continued. 38: To the 47th paragraph, the Council must needs say it really wanted three writers in the accountant's and secretary's offices. The last accountant did not do his business as he ought, Mr Tovey, who was accountant now, was sick, and the Council was in very great want of help. The storehouse was open only on Thursdays and Fridays in every week, and on Tuesday was held the consultation. Interpretations The oath proposal turns the Court's pay-window into the Governor's tribunal. The aspersions evidently alleged that bills were sold, that something passed directly or indirectly for the Governor's paper, so his remedy was a universal deposition: every party tendering a bill at India House to swear how it was procured. A clean man loses nothing by the rule, the perjury risk falls wholly on accusers and their friends, and the Court's own routine process becomes the engine that clears him, the same logic as his renunciation of the 5 per cent his predecessors took on bills, reported on 6 January 1718. Paragraph 38 lays the administrative wreckage of 1718 in one inventory. The succession ran Haswell, who did not do his business, into Tovey, promoted from secretary to accountant and now sick, with Mr Alexander and his son moved into the secretary's office behind him, and the whole machine compressed into a three-day week: consultation on Tuesdays, the storehouse open only Thursdays and Fridays, the few serviceable hands rotated between record and issue. The demand for three writers converts the request of 10 July 1718 into a precise establishment figure the Court could simply grant. Paragraph 37 shows local appointment awaiting metropolitan tenure. Alexander held the secretaryship by the Council's act, provisional until London confirmed it, so the prayer for his continuance comes certified with the evidence the Court would want, six-day attendance obliged and performed, the whole business of the office done, conduct very good, patronage flowing upward with its references attached. Speculations The oath at tender was probably aimed at named paper as much as at principle. The bills of Fairfax's wife's fortune and whatever Haswell's friends held would all pass that window, so the very channel that had carried the libels home would put their bearers on oath about what was given and why, the informers' circle examined by the mechanism of its own remittances. The storehouse's two open days probably served the new security regime as well as the shortage of hands. Fewer hours of issue meant fewer occasions of access to goods now guarded by an empty building and a nightly sentinel, thrift of labour and prevention of pilfering met by the same timetable. | ||
133 | and then all our Transferrs are made which Usually takes up that day, On Wednsday the Storekeeper makes up his weekly Accot: and Collections for his monthly Accots on Thursday and fryday are the Serving out day's Saturday is Employed in Setting the Store House to rights & Clearing it out So that the Store keeper has not much time on his hands 39: The Persons meant in the 64 Parrd: of the Catherines Letter are Capt: Mashborne and Mr Tovey and it was to their Accots the money mentioned in the Rochesters letter to be advanced to them were Charged And Mr Tovey is Charged Debtr: for the ten Pounds mentioned to be payd to Mrs Myriam Tucker his Mother on Accot: of his Sallery 40: We have heard the Case of Serjeant Southen and tis mentioned at large in our Consultation of the 19th Augst: 1718. He refused to allow the money So We discharged him from your Honrs: Service but he would not goe off the Island tho' he had Petitioned for it So We Permitted him to Continue wth Us dureing the time of his good behaviour | The transfers were then all made, which usually took up that day. On Wednesday the storekeeper made up his weekly account, and his collections for his monthly accounts; Thursday and Friday were the serving-out days; and Saturday was employed in setting the storehouse to rights and clearing it out, so that the storekeeper had not much time on his hands. 39: The persons meant in the 64th paragraph of the Catherine's letter were Captain Mashborne and Mr Tovey, and it was to their accounts that the money mentioned in the Rochester's letter to be advanced to them was charged. Mr Tovey stood charged debtor for the £10 0s 0d mentioned to be paid to Mrs Myriam Tucker, his mother, on account of his salary. 40: The Council had heard the case of Serjeant Southen, and it was mentioned at large in the consultation of 19 August 1718. He refused to allow the money, so the Council discharged him from the Court's service, but he would not go off the island, though he had petitioned for it, so the Council permitted him to continue during the time of his good behaviour. Interpretations The storekeeper's week completes the answer to any charge of idleness in that office. Tuesday belonged to the consultation and the day's transfers, Wednesday to the weekly account and the monthly collections, Thursday and Friday to serving out, Saturday to setting the storehouse to rights, and the conclusion is drawn for the Court in the Council's own words. The two open days that might have read as slackness emerge instead as the issue window a one-man office could sustain while keeping its books current, the timetable itself the defence. Paragraph 39 clears queries two letters old by pointing at ledger entries. The unnamed persons of the Catherine's 64th paragraph resolve into Captain Mashborne, three years dead, and Mr Tovey, their advances charged where the Rochester's letter directed, and the £10 0s 0d paid to Mrs Myriam Tucker stands as a debit against Tovey's salary, the books carrying even a payment to a servant's mother by name. The entry shows the remittance channel running through the Company's accounts for family support, as it did for the apprenticeship premiums of the Francis and Carne boys, every private obligation visible as a charge. Serjeant Southen's case at paragraph 40 displays the island's discipline and its immigration control in sequence. Refusal to allow the money against his pay cost him the Court's service; discharge did not of itself remove him, and when the man who had petitioned to leave then declined to go, the Council converted the impasse into a revocable licence, residence during good behaviour, the full proceedings standing at large in the consultation of 19 August 1718 for the Court's review. Speculations Permitting Southen to stay was probably the safer disposal of a grievance. Shipping a discharged and disputing sergeant home would have delivered one more aggrieved voice to India House in the very season the Council was answering anonymous charges, while a licence terminable on misbehaviour kept both the man and his complaint under local jurisdiction, his conduct bonded by the threat of removal. | ||
134 | [4]1: Thomas Thompson Soldier has leave to goe home in any Ship and will take his Passage on board the next Ship [4]2: As to your Honrs: 53d & 54th Parras: for the Future when We draw any more Bills as Capt: Macketts was We Shall mention them in our own Letters that Bill was for Blacks he Sold to the planters but as to putting an end to drawing any more Bills tho' We Should be very glad if Such a thing could be Yet We do not See but that for Severall Years to come tho' the Utmost Industry & frugality be used by Us yet We think it not Possible at Present to reduce the Charges of this Island to less than Five thousand Pounds a year as is mentioned in the 9th Parra: of the Letter Signed only by the Governr: which went home in the King George and whatever Sumes are the Difference between the Vallue of Goods Sent out here and that Sume of 5000£ besides the Old Debt that will every year be to be Drawn in Bills for if your Honrs look over the Accots of Lands, Cattle, &c: youl find it not much above four hundrd: Pounds ⅌ annu: Come= =ing in for this whole Island and if yor | 41: Thomas Thompson, soldier, had leave to go home in any ship, and would take his passage on board the next ship. 42: As to the Court's 53rd and 54th paragraphs, for the future, when the Council drew any more bills such as Captain Mackett's was, it would mention them in its own letters. That bill was for blacks he sold to the planters. As to putting an end to drawing any more bills, though the Council would be very glad if such a thing could be, yet it did not see but that for several years to come, though the utmost industry and frugality were used, it was not possible at present to reduce the charges of the island to less than £5,000 0s 0d a year, as was mentioned in the 9th paragraph of the letter signed only by the Governor which went home in the King George. Whatever sums made the difference between the value of the goods sent out to the island and that sum of £5,000 0s 0d, besides the old debt, would every year have to be drawn in bills. If the Court looked over the accounts of lands, cattle and the rest, it would find not much above £400 0s 0d per annum coming in for the whole island. Interpretations Paragraph 42 states the island's fiscal constitution as an identity the Court cannot wish away. Charges stood at a floor of £5,000 0s 0d a year, the estimate already given in the 9th paragraph of the Governor's letter of 28 April 1717 by the King George, while the whole internal revenue of lands and cattle brought in scarcely £400 0s 0d, so the gap, less whatever the Court covered in goods sent out, had to be drawn in bills every year, with the old debt riding on top. The demand to end bill-drawing is thus answered with arithmetic rather than promises: bills were not extravagance but the residual term in the equation, and by stating that the difference will every year be drawn, the Council in effect pre-authorised the whole future series, converting each year's paper from a fresh suspicion into a standing consequence the Court had been shown. Captain Mackett's bill, the evident occasion of the Court's two paragraphs, resolves into the slave sale of January 1718: the Mercury ketch from Madagascar sold blacks to the planters, their payments passed through the Company's cash, and a bill to Mackett carried the value home, the Company serving as clearinghouse for a private transaction. The fault conceded was notification, not substance, and the cure adopted is that every such bill would thereafter be announced in the Council's own letters before the paper reached India House. Thomas Thompson's leave at paragraph 41 shows the orderly counterpart of Serjeant Southen's case: a soldier discharged by consent, his exit administered to the next conveyance, the establishment's roll adjusted by licence in the one case and by passage in the other. Speculations The citation of the sole-signed letter as the fiscal baseline was probably a deliberate rehabilitation. That despatch of 28 April 1717, carrying only the Governor's name, was open to reading as irregular ambition; by adopting its 9th paragraph as the Council's joint authority for the £5,000 0s 0d floor, the present letter retrospectively converted the Governor's private estimate into the island's official arithmetic, the controversial document now owned by every signature that had been absent from it. | ||
135 | Honrs please to look over your Books Sent home last year by the King William you'l find that Charge So great that We are in hopes you'l be very well pleased to have it Reduced to £5000 or there abouts 43: To the 55th We have Appointed a new Room for the Secretarys office larger and more Commo= =dious than the former but the Accomptant has not yet So good a Conveniency and till the Books & Papers in the Secretarys Office are Yearly lookt over and Examined and a List of them Entered in the Consultation book 44: As to the 56 We found our Proceedings in Consultacon were frequently revealed Which Should have been kept Private We do not know who Divuldged them Capt: Haswell and Mr Tovey Accused each other So We ordered the Same Rule to be made then as had been made before in the time of Governr Roberts in Order to Prevent things of that Nature and We pray your Honrs to Compare our Consul= =tation on the 15th Janry 1716. with that on the 12th Octr 1708 made in Governr: Roberts: time and you'l find them to be the Same words and on the Same Occasion We never did charge | If the Court pleased to look over its books sent home last year by the King William, it would find that charge so great that the Council was in hopes the Court would be very well pleased to have it reduced to £5,000 0s 0d or thereabouts. 43: To the 55th paragraph, a new room had been appointed for the secretary's office, larger and more commodious than the former, but the accountant had not yet so good a conveniency. The books and papers in the secretary's office were still yearly looked over and examined, and a list of them entered in the consultation book. 44: As to the 56th paragraph, the Council had found that its proceedings in consultation were frequently revealed, which should have been kept private. It did not know who divulged them: Captain Haswell and Mr Tovey accused each other. The Council therefore ordered the same rule to be made then as had been made before in the time of Governor Roberts, in order to prevent things of that nature, and it prayed the Court to compare the consultation of 15 January 1717 with that of 12 October 1708 made in Governor Roberts's time, where it would find them the same words and on the same occasion. Interpretations Paragraph 44 finds the spring of the whole controversy inside the consultation room itself. The Council's private proceedings had been leaking, and the two suspects, the accountant and the secretary, accused each other, mutual denunciation leaving both compromised and neither convictable. Unable to prosecute, the Council legislated instead, and its choice of instrument was precedent: the secrecy rule of 15 January 1717 re-enacted word for word from Governor Roberts's order of 12 October 1708, made on the same occasion. No one could paint the rule as the present Governor's gag on his colleagues when the text was a former Governor's remedy for a former leak, and the Court was invited to lay the two minutes side by side and verify the identity itself. The dates also show the Council ahead of its accusers: the rule was revived more than a year before the Court's letter of 21 March 1718 relayed the fruits of the divulging, so the island had diagnosed and legislated against its informer problem long before London learned of it. The completion of paragraph 42 turns the £5,000 0s 0d from a floor into a prize. The seventeen account books sent home by the King William let the Court measure the historic charge for itself, and against that record the figure the Council could not yet go below stands as a reduction the directors should be very well pleased to reach. Paragraph 43 extends the same audit spirit to the archive: the secretary's records rehoused in a larger room, the accountant's still wanting one, and the whole body of books and papers examined yearly with a catalogue entered in the consultation book, the records themselves placed under annual stocktaking like any other store. Speculations The verbatim revival of Roberts's rule was probably also a message about institutional memory. By producing a thirty-year archive that could supply the exact words and occasion of 1708, the Council demonstrated to the Court that the island's records ran deep and ordered enough to answer any question of precedent, the same archive it had just promised to catalogue yearly, and the informers were reminded that whatever they divulged, the minutes would outlast them. | ||
136 | the Parson about it yet We could wish he had not been Guilty of it Since he has Mentioned it himself, And We do Assure your Honrs the Parson is well Used and whatever he Writes to the Contrary is not truth when any thing in your Honrs General Letters has related to him the Governr: has Shewed it him and that he refrains Comeing to the General Table to Prevent Insults is wholy Groundless We confess our Selves greatly at a loss to have had a difference wth: a man whose Talent is Writing and can give So many equivocall Turns in what he Say's to our disadvantage while to Us he Pretends to good friendship, We love and Desire quietness and are Sorry to find he has not persued the Same good method, and tho' We never intended to Say one word more about him Since he has been So busie in his letters and We know your Honrs Expect an Answer from Us We crave leave to Assure you that his Staying at Home is Usually in Shiping time He keeps an Entertaining or boarding House and when he has Guest he Seldome or never comes to the Govrs: Table Unless when his Guest come there too So | The Council never did charge the parson about it, yet it could wish he had not been guilty of it, since he had mentioned it himself. The Council assured the Court that the parson was well used, and whatever he wrote to the contrary was not truth. When anything in the Court's general letters related to him, the Governor showed it to him, and the claim that he refrained from coming to the General Table to prevent insults was wholly groundless. The Council confessed itself greatly at a loss to have had a difference with a man whose talent was writing, and who could give so many equivocal turns in what he said to its disadvantage, while to the Council he pretended good friendship. The Council loved and desired quietness, and was sorry to find he had not pursued the same good method. Though it never intended to say one word more about him, since he had been so busy in his letters, and the Court expected an answer, the Council craved leave to assure the Court that his staying at home was usually in shipping time. He kept an entertaining or boarding house, and when he had guests he seldom or never came to the Governor's table, unless his guests came there too. Interpretations The passage completes the census of informers with the man who held the pen. The chaplain was never formally charged with the divulging, the cloth handled by refutation rather than prosecution, but his own letters convicted him, since he had mentioned matter that only the leaked consultations could have supplied. With Haswell and Tovey accusing each other over the source and the parson identified at the point of composition, the supply chain of the aspersions stands reconstructed: councillors leaked the minutes, and a practised writer turned them into the equivocal, deniable insinuations the Council here analyses as a literary method, teaching the Court how such letters were built. The boarding house demolishes the parson's case of persecution by timetable. His reported absences from the General Table fell in shipping time because that was his season of trade, an entertaining house full of paying lodgers from the ships, and he appeared at the Governor's table only as escort when his own guests dined there. The grievance of avoided insults thus resolves into the economics of an innkeeping clergyman, while the Council's procedural fairness is put on record even toward its accuser: everything in the Court's letters that touched him had been shown to him by the Governor himself. The reluctant-rebuttal frame, one word more extracted only because the Court expected an answer, claims the high ground of quietness for the Council and assigns the busy correspondence to the parson, the difference between the parties presented as a difference of method, minutes against letters, record against rhetoric. Speculations The boarding house was probably also the distribution network. The parson's lodgers were the commanders, supercargoes and passengers of note who carried every season's mail, a captive audience of homeward gentlemen to whom his version of the island could be served nightly with their supper, and the Council's remark that he had been so busy in his letters probably measures exactly that traffic. Identifying the trade told the Court where the next instalments would board their ships. | ||
137 | the Parson about it yet We could wish he had not been Guilty of it Since he has Mentioned it himself, And We do Assure your Honrs the Parson is well Used and whatever he Writes to the Contrary is not truth when any thing in your Honrs General Letters has related to him the Governr: has Shewed it him and that he refrains Comeing to the General Table to Prevent Insults is wholy Groundless We confess our Selves greatly at a loss to have had a difference wth: a man whose Talent is Writing and can give So many equivocall Turns in what he Say's to our disadvantage while to Us he Pretends to good friendship, We love and Desire quietness and are Sorry to find he has not persued the Same good method, and tho' We never intended to Say one word more about him Since he has been So busie in his letters and We know your Honrs Expect an Answer from Us We crave leave to Assure you that his Staying at Home is Usually in Shiping time He keeps an Entertaining or boarding House and when he has Guest he Seldome or never comes to the Govrs: Table Unless when his Guest come there too So | The Council never did charge the parson about it, yet it could wish he had not been guilty of it, since he had mentioned it himself. The Council assured the Court that the parson was well used, and whatever he wrote to the contrary was not truth. When anything in the Court's general letters related to him, the Governor showed it to him, and the claim that he refrained from coming to the General Table to prevent insults was wholly groundless. The Council confessed itself greatly at a loss to have had a difference with a man whose talent was writing, and who could give so many equivocal turns in what he said to its disadvantage, while to the Council he pretended good friendship. The Council loved and desired quietness, and was sorry to find he had not pursued the same good method. Though it never intended to say one word more about him, since he had been so busy in his letters, and the Court expected an answer, the Council craved leave to assure the Court that his staying at home was usually in shipping time. He kept an entertaining or boarding house, and when he had guests he seldom or never came to the Governor's table, unless his guests came there too. Interpretations The passage completes the census of informers with the man who held the pen. The chaplain was never formally charged with the divulging, the cloth handled by refutation rather than prosecution, but his own letters convicted him, since he had mentioned matter that only the leaked consultations could have supplied. With Haswell and Tovey accusing each other over the source and the parson identified at the point of composition, the supply chain of the aspersions stands reconstructed: councillors leaked the minutes, and a practised writer turned them into the equivocal, deniable insinuations the Council here analyses as a literary method, teaching the Court how such letters were built. The boarding house demolishes the parson's case of persecution by timetable. His reported absences from the General Table fell in shipping time because that was his season of trade, an entertaining house full of paying lodgers from the ships, and he appeared at the Governor's table only as escort when his own guests dined there. The grievance of avoided insults thus resolves into the economics of an innkeeping clergyman, while the Council's procedural fairness is put on record even toward its accuser: everything in the Court's letters that touched him had been shown to him by the Governor himself. The reluctant-rebuttal frame, one word more extracted only because the Court expected an answer, claims the high ground of quietness for the Council and assigns the busy correspondence to the parson, the difference between the parties presented as a difference of method, minutes against letters, record against rhetoric. Speculations The boarding house was probably also the distribution network. The parson's lodgers were the commanders, supercargoes and passengers of note who carried every season's mail, a captive audience of homeward gentlemen to whom his version of the island could be served nightly with their supper, and the Council's remark that he had been so busy in his letters probably measures exactly that traffic. Identifying the trade told the Court where the next instalments would board their ships. | ||
138 | neither is he in that case to be So farr Credited because he told Us in a flouting way & a kind of Punn together that 'twas a Bite upon Us when he Sent the other Blacks, the Govr: asked him what he meant by that He Say'd that they were Bite Blacks & came out of the Bite of Guinea, the Blacks We had of him were Certainly worse than those We had out of Capt: Mackett from the very Same place and there may be a Sort of a Proof tho': We know nothing of their matters Yet We can Venture to Affirm that Mackett Sold his Blacks in the West Indies for a greater Price than White Sold for which is Some kind of a Proof at least & a likelyhood that Macketts were better, Whether 'twas by Whites lying So long at the Cape & Starving them with Cold and Scanty Provisions and Capt: Macketts coming Directly here as himselfe Sayed to prevent his Blacks being Pinched with the Cold Weather and his feeding them well here which he Certainly did do, We Cannot tell their reasons but only know that Whites Blacks were the Worst We have recd: Yet and We have Some of them that We | Neither was Captain White in that case to be so far credited, because he told the Council, in a flouting way and with a kind of pun together, that it was a bite upon them when he sent the other blacks. The Governor asked him what he meant by that, and he said that they were bite blacks, and came out of the Bight of Guinea. The blacks the island had of him were certainly worse than those it had out of Captain Mackett, from the very same place, and there might be a sort of proof of it. Though the Council knew nothing of their dealings, it could venture to affirm that Mackett sold his blacks in the West Indies for a greater price than White sold his for, which was some kind of proof at least, and a likelihood, that Mackett's were better. Whether it came of White's lying so long at the Cape and starving his blacks with cold and scanty provisions, while Captain Mackett came directly to the island, as he himself said, to prevent his blacks being pinched with the cold weather, and fed them well at the island, which he certainly did do, the Council could not tell their reasons. It only knew that White's blacks were the worst it had yet received. Interpretations The captain's credit is destroyed out of his own mouth. A bite, in the slang of the day, was a cheat or swindle, so White's pun, that the consignment was a bite because the blacks came from the Bight of Guinea, amounted to a jesting confession that he had knowingly sent bad goods, and the Council enters the joke into the official record precisely to show why nothing he said deserved belief. The flouting manner is reported with the words because the manner was the evidence. The comparison of the two cargoes is argued like a merchant's brief. Both came from the same coast, so origin could not explain the difference, and the Council reaches for market proof: Mackett's blacks fetched higher prices in the West Indies than White's, revealed value standing in for inspection of dealings it admitted it knew nothing about. The likeliest causes are then laid out as passage management, White lying long at the Cape with his blacks starved on cold and scanty provisions, Mackett running directly to the island, by his own account to spare his people the Cape cold, and feeding them well in the road, which the Council certifies as an eyewitness. Delivered condition is treated as the product of routing and victualling, with the island positioned as the waypoint a careful slaving captain chose. The passage also keeps its sources sorted: Mackett's motive is given as his own statement, his feeding as the Council's observation, the West Indies prices as venture and likelihood rather than knowledge, the same epistemic bookkeeping the letter has applied throughout to testimony, minutes and hearsay. Speculations Minuting the pun was probably aimed at White's future as much as his past. A joking admission of sharp practice, once fixed in a general letter, followed him into the Court's records, so any later consignment, claim or command he sought would meet his own words filed against him, the island's only sanction over a private trader being exactly this power to spoil his credit at home. | ||
139 | shall be glad to change wth him againe and if he did Bite Us as he calls it before We will take care he Shant do it twice 46: The 58th Parra: We forbear Answering till those Ships have been here 47: To the 59th the List of your Honrs Blacks shall be made out as your Honrs Direct As to the largeness of the Supply the Method yor: Honrs: have fallen into will most Certainly be a full Supply of all our Needs in Such Cases tho' as yet We are Still in need of more and because We have been very large on this head and are loth to trouble you with too vain or long repetitions be pleased to look over our 67 Parras: of our letter by the St George, All that We will add now is that We have recd: about Eighty Slaves of whom 26 were Women, whom tho' Necessary Eno' to be among the men yet are not fitt for Labour because of Sicknesses & Distempers they have besides the Naturall illness that Usually attend on Child bearing Women this Climate being different from that of other Nativities Subjects them to many others Diseases So that of Old Blacks one in Ten | The Council had some of them that it should be glad to change with him again, and if he did bite it, as he called it, before, it would take care he should not do it twice. 46: As to the 58th paragraph, the Council forbore answering till those ships had been at the island. 47: To the 59th paragraph, the list of the Court's blacks would be made out as the Court directed. As to the largeness of the supply, the method the Court had fallen into would most certainly be a full supply of all the island's needs in such cases, though as yet it was still in need of more. Because the Council had been very large on this head, and was loth to trouble the Court with too vain or long repetitions, the Court was asked to look over the 67th paragraph of the Council's letter by the St George. All it would add now was that about eighty slaves had been received, of whom 26 were women, who, though necessary enough to be among the men, were not fit for labour, because of sicknesses and distempers they had, besides the natural illness that usually attended childbearing women. This climate, being different from that of their nativities, subjected them to many other diseases. Interpretations The close of the White affair converts the pun into a covenant. The worst of his blacks were tendered back for exchange, the commercial remedy for defective goods, and his own word is turned against him in the warning: if he did bite the island before, in his phrase, care would be taken he should not do it twice, the jest now standing in the record as the measure of the watch that would be kept on him. Paragraph 47 reveals a sister despatch. The Council's letter by the St George, sixty-seven paragraphs and more, sailed in the same convoy of 3 November 1718 as this reply, the correspondence divided by subject between the two hulls, with the standing programme on the supply of blacks carried at large in the one and cross-referenced from the other, brevity honoured by an address rather than a repetition. The demography of the new supply is reported with an accountant's discount attached. About eighty slaves had come in under the Court's new method, which the Council certifies as adequate in kind though not yet in number, and 26 were women, kept necessary among the men for order and family but struck from the labour reckoning: their own distempers, the natural burdens of childbearing, and the diseases that followed transplantation into a climate unlike that of their birthplaces together unfitted them for the works. The passage is an early acclimatisation theory in administrative dress, displacement itself named as a cause of sickness. Speculations The candour about the women's unfitness probably protects the island's productivity figures in advance. A Court that divided works performed by slaves held would find the quotient low, so the Council entered the discount first, 26 of eighty off the labour roll for cause, ensuring that the arithmetic of the next audit would be done with the island's denominator and not London's. | ||
140 | Usually dies every year and of these new Blacks 2. in 15 Untill they are Seasoned to the place and this Acco: of their Mortality which We have Indifferently truly Stated from our Short Experience Your Honrs will We presume Conclude that when We are fully Supplyed there must be Some Allow= =ances made for a small Number now and then to Succeed those who die and fill up the Number And least Your Honrs Should think So great a Mortality as 10. or 15 ⅌ Cent would not happen if a due & Proper Care were taken of your Slaves to Shew We do as for our Selves We can Assure you that even of the Governrs: own blacks Such a Proportion as We here Mention dies each year of his, We find your Honrs have had Some Accot of the Blacks being ill used and almost Starved We desire that your Honrs may be rightly informed of every thing and must Say they have not hitt the Point for their is nothing bad but their bad Lodging and that would have been Remedied before this if We had, had Carpenters among Us tho' We have not been Idle in that Case neither for We have built a | Of old blacks, 1 in 10 usually died every year, and of these new blacks 2 in 15, until they were seasoned to the place. From this account of their mortality, which the Council had impartially and truly stated from its short experience, the Court would presumably conclude that, when the island was fully supplied, some allowance must be made for a small number now and then to succeed those who died and fill up the number. And lest the Court should think so great a mortality as 10 or 15 per cent would not happen if due and proper care were taken of its slaves, the Council could assure the Court, to show it did for the Court's blacks as for its own people's, that even of the Governor's own blacks such a proportion died each year. The Council found the Court had received some account of the blacks being ill used and almost starved. It desired that the Court might be rightly informed of everything, and must say the reports had not hit the point, for there was nothing bad but their bad lodging, and that would have been remedied before this if there had been carpenters at the island, though the Council had not been idle in that case either. Interpretations The mortality figures form a two-tier actuarial table: seasoned blacks died at about 1 in 10 a year, the newly arrived at 2 in 15 until acclimatised, seasoning being the contemporary term for surviving the first years in a new climate. The purpose of the table is a replacement policy, the Council leading the Court to its own conclusion that a full establishment required a standing allowance of periodic small supplies to fill the wastage, slave labour presented as a depreciating stock with a computable maintenance rate, and the epistemic tag, impartially stated from short experience, marking the figures as honest estimate rather than claimed precision. The Governor's own blacks serve as the control group. Privately owned slaves enjoyed the care self-interest guarantees, yet died at the same proportion, so the rate was proved environmental rather than managerial, and the inference from mortality to neglect, which the aspersions invited, collapses against the comparison. It is the letter's most economical piece of evidence, a natural experiment offered in one sentence. The answer to the ill-usage charge proceeds by triage. Starvation is denied outright, the island's feeding having just been certified in the case of Mackett's cargo, and the single true grain in the report is conceded: the lodging was bad. The cause is then chained to the carpenter famine the Court already knew, the want that ran from Benjamin Cleverlee's extortionate hire to the prayer for workmen with the old ship, so the one admitted defect stands charged to London's failure to send hands, with the island's own exertions in building about to be entered against it. Speculations The candour of the 10 or 15 per cent probably serves the standing request for more. With the rates stated, the Court could compute the annual replacement quota itself, eight or a dozen heads on the present stock, so the plea that the island was still in need converts from appetite into arithmetic, a maintenance charge as regular as victualling. The concession of the bad lodging was probably also the platform for what follows. Admitting the defect first turned the coming account of construction from defence into performance, the report of what had been built arriving as the cure of a fault already owned. | ||
141 | Large House for your Blacks at the High Peak Plantation which was finished but this Present Week and shall as fast as We can build more tho' without Workmen We can yet goe on but Slowly there has been two of your Honrs: blacks We are loth to Say whose Ship they came out of that being Strong Mutinous fellows had by Some means gott Some Weapons and tryed to gett Some more Blacks to Joyn with them and betook themselves to a kind of a Fastness which was at the foot of a Spiriall Rock called Lott: and on the Top of a high Mountaine Almost inaccessable and there in a large Cave they took up their Residence and withstood every body they could See who came toward them from a great distance and by Rowling down Stones kept every body off So that they were beseidged for three or four day's, the Soldiers Sent after them desired leave to fire at them, the Govr: Sayed in case they could not be other wayes taken in one day more they should be fired at, the next day one William Worrall a brisk Young man with two or three more did Gett up behind them and above them | The Council had built a large house for the Court's blacks at the High Peak plantation, which was finished but this present week, and it would build more as fast as it could, though without workmen it could go on but slowly. There had been two of the Court's blacks, and the Council was loth to say whose ship they came out of, who, being strong mutinous fellows, had by some means got some weapons, and tried to get some more blacks to join with them. They betook themselves to a kind of fastness at the foot of a spire-like rock called Lot, on the top of a high mountain almost inaccessible, and there in a large cave they took up their residence. They withstood everybody, could see whoever came toward them from a great distance, and by rolling down stones kept everybody off, so that they were besieged for three or four days. The soldiers sent after them desired leave to fire at them, and the Governor said that in case they could not be otherwise taken in one day more, they should be fired at. The next day William Worrall, a brisk young man, with two or three more, got up behind them and above them. Interpretations The two runaways are described as the seed of a rising, not mere absconders: armed by some means, recruiting among the other blacks, and fortified where nature did the engineering. The cave under Lot commanded its approaches by sight at great distance, and rolling stones made the single ascent impassable, so two men held off the garrison for three or four days, the island's interior shown capable of sheltering resistance the moment discipline broke. The Governor's order is the legal core of the episode. The soldiers asked leave to fire; he withheld it and set a term instead, one day more of attempting capture before lethal force, and the sequence went into the minutes as graduated escalation on the record. The restraint preserved the Court's property and the Council's defence in the same act: whatever ended the siege, the letter could show that killing had been the last resort by standing order, dated before the event. The house at High Peak, finished in the very week of writing, performs the cure of the one fault just conceded. Bad lodging was admitted, and the remedy arrives in the next breath with a completion date, while the pace clause, more as fast as may be but slowly without workmen, charges every future delay to the carpenters London had not sent. Speculations The ship the Council was loth to name was almost certainly Captain White's. The same letter had just recorded his consignment as the worst ever received, sold with a jest about cheating, and a reader at India House holding both passages would join them unaided; the studied reticence let the Council fix the origin of the mutineers on him without making an accusation it could not prove from two men who would not say. The one-day ultimatum probably priced mercy in the island's own arithmetic. Each slave stood as purchase money plus a replacement rate the letter had just set at 10 or 15 per cent a year in a market still short of supply, so shooting was deferred not only from humanity but because the Court's capital was at the top of the rock, and Worrall's climb was the cheaper resolution. | ||
142 | and then they hove down rocks in their turn and beat down the Chief of them who were Lamed with the falling of the Stones & taken but one of them So much bruised that he dyed at which all the People in Sandy Bay had great Satisfaction for they Suffered much by them and in Such a Case if that Mutiny could not otherwise have been quelled We Should have thought it the Publick Interest to have killed two or three more the other fellow We kept a good while in Irons and now We think he proves a good Slave 48: As to that part of this Parrd: relating to Saml: Jessey Capt: Bazett did enquire about the high Charge in that Bill and found there had been a great many Blacks hired for weeding the Ground and had been longer about it than William Worrall was informed of and Captain Bazett do's believe the Bill was Honest Especially because that man Saml: Jessey could gett nothing by it if twas otherwise and as We could not prove any falsehood therein We payed it but as to Employing Samuel Jessey We think the man to be Honest Yet in case he were not men are Soe | The attackers then hove down rocks in their turn, and beat down the chief of the two, and the runaways, lamed with the falling of the stones, were taken, one of them so much bruised that he died. At this all the people in Sandy Bay had great satisfaction, for they had suffered much by them. In such a case, if that mutiny could not otherwise have been quelled, the Council should have thought it the public interest to have killed two or three more. The other fellow was kept a good while in irons, and the Council now thought he proved a good slave. 48: As to the part of this paragraph relating to Samuel Jessey, Captain Bazett did enquire about the high charge in that bill, and found there had been a great many blacks hired for weeding the ground, and that they had been longer about it than William Worrall was informed of. Captain Bazett believed the bill was honest, especially because the man Samuel Jessey could get nothing by it if it were otherwise, and as the Council could not prove any falsehood in it, it paid it. As to employing Samuel Jessey, the Council thought the man to be honest. Interpretations The siege ended by turning the fortress's own weapon downhill. Worrall's party, once above the cave, hove rocks as the defenders had, and the position that was impregnable from below fell in a morning, the runaways lamed and taken without a shot, so the Governor's order against firing held to the end. The one death came of the assault's stones rather than execution, and the Council enters beside it both the relief of Sandy Bay, whose plantations had fed the runaways by plunder, and its own doctrine: had the mutiny been quellable no other way, killing two or three more would have been the public interest. The coda completes the account of the Court's capital, one man lost, the other ironed, reformed and now serving well, severity shown ending in recovery rather than waste. Paragraph 48 is an audit worked in front of the Court. The queried bill is traced by Captain Bazett to its facts, more blacks hired for the weeding and longer employed than the Court's informant knew, then tested against motive, Jessey standing to gain nothing by inflation, and finally disposed of by the burden rule: falsehood unproved, the bill is paid. The same William Worrall who took the rock appears here as the under-informed source of the charge, the island's commercial due process correcting its military hero in the next paragraph. Speculations The pairing of Worrall's two appearances was probably deliberate instruction. A brisk young man could be brave on the mountain and wrong about a weeding bill, and the juxtaposition taught the Court the letter's running lesson, that honest informants mislead and only enquiry settles accounts, without a word against the man himself. The counterfactual about killing two or three more probably sought tacit ratification of a rule for next time. By declaring what it would have thought the public interest in extremity, the Council invited the Court's silence to stand as consent, so that any future rising could be put down with lethal force already covered by an unobjected doctrine on the record. | ||
143 | Scarce that We have no body Else to Employ and must by force make use of him We have in the foregoing Parrd: Mentioned the Usuall Mortality of the Blacks to be about 10 ⅌ Ct and the Usuall Mortality of Whites among Us is at least one in 30. which is above 3 ⅌ Ct and the present year tis a great Deal more, So that in four years time Considering We have had a Supply but of Eight men who are alsoe among the Dead We believe Your Honrs will think We are hardly Eno': put to it 49: As to the 60 Parrd: We Sent home the List of the Revenues by the Townshend in may last and shall do it again after the 25th of March next that being the time of year the Inhabitants Usually bring in their Accots And We shall alsoe take care of the Duties that Arise by Customs 50: As to the 61 Parrd: about Joseph Bates We have been Obliged to fine him again five Pounds as is Mentioned in our Consultation of the 9th Septr: 1718 Fourthly touching yor Honrs Fortifications Buildings and | Men were so scarce that the Council had nobody else to employ, and must perforce make use of him. In the foregoing paragraph the usual mortality of the blacks was mentioned to be about 10 per cent, and the usual mortality of whites at the island was at least 1 in 30, which was above 3 per cent, and the present year it was a great deal more. So that in four years' time, considering the island had had a supply of but 8 men, who were also among the dead, the Council believed the Court would think it hard enough put to it. 49: As to the 60th paragraph, the Council sent home the list of the revenues by the Townshend in May last, and would do it again after 25 March next, that being the time of year the inhabitants usually brought in their accounts. It would also take care of the duties that arose by customs. 50: As to the 61st paragraph, about Joseph Bates, the Council had been obliged to fine him again £5 0s 0d, as was mentioned in its consultation of 9 September 1718. Fourthly, the letter turned to the Court's fortifications, buildings and garrison. Interpretations The mortality comparison completes the island's actuarial case. Blacks died at about 10 per cent a year, whites at better than 3, the present year far exceeding both, and against that wastage the whole reinforcement of four years had been 8 men, every one of them now in the ground. The net recruitment of the establishment was therefore zero, and the conclusion is left for the Court to draw from its own arithmetic, the request for men converted, like the request for slaves before it, into a computable maintenance charge rather than an appetite. The scarcity doctrine also closes the Jessey question. A man of unproved honesty was retained because no other existed, the same necessity that kept a one-eyed clerk at the books and a restrained councillor in office, and the Council states the rule baldly: where mortality emptied every bench, employment could not wait on certainty of character. Paragraph 49 fixes the revenue calendar to the landlord's year. The inhabitants brought in their accounts at Lady Day, so the list of revenues went home annually after 25 March, joining the garrison, the blacks and the families lists in the suite of returns keyed to the same date, with the customs duties pledged into the same keeping. The repeated £5 0s 0d fine on Joseph Bates at paragraph 50 shows recidivism met by tariff and minute, the offence priced and the proceeding filed where the Court could read it. Speculations The placing of the white mortality figures directly after the forced employment of Jessey was probably the construction of one master excuse. Every compromise of staffing the letter had owned, the sick accountant, the half-blind writer, the doubtful contractor, the dead recruits, now stood referable to a single cause stated in percentages, so that whatever defect of administration the next informer alleged, the Court would already hold the arithmetic that explained it. | ||
144 | Garrison Stores 51: To the 62d Article We must own that We read with Some concern that yor Honrs have not been able to Send Us the Workmen We desired Especially the Carpenters & which We are in great need of as will Appear if yor: Honrs please to look over our Consultation of the 15th Novbr: 1717. And they are now further Necessary because Richard Swallow therein Mentioned is Since dead which puts Us to great trouble and is a vast faiteague to the Govr: who is now Obliged to be more among them than before and to mark out all their work, those People We have being Swallows Servants who have not Served out their time nor are not Masters of their Trades and therefore Cannot make that dispatch which a very Ordinary London Workman would do and yet they have larger pay but that We may not dwell too long on a matter We have Mentioned in former letters We pray your Honrs to have Some regard to the 41 Parra: of our Letter that We Sent by the King William wch: was dated Janry the 6th 1717/8 And tis | The fourth division of the letter concerned the Court's fortifications, buildings and garrison stores. 51: To the 62nd article, the Council must own it read with some concern that the Court had not been able to send the workmen desired, especially the carpenters, of whom the island stood in great need, as would appear if the Court pleased to look over the consultation of 15 November 1717. They were now further necessary because Richard Swallow, mentioned in that consultation, had since died, which put the Council to great trouble and was a vast fatigue to the Governor, who was now obliged to be more among the workmen than before and to mark out all their work. The people the island had were Swallow's servants, who had not served out their time, nor were masters of their trades, and therefore could not make that dispatch which every ordinary London workman would do, and yet they had larger pay. But not to dwell too long on a matter mentioned in former letters, the Council prayed the Court to have some regard to the 41st paragraph of the letter sent by the King William, dated 6 January 1718. Interpretations The death of Richard Swallow decapitated the island's building trades. The master carpenter gone, the whole craft establishment resolved into his indentured servants, apprentices who had not served out their time, masters of nothing, and the productivity gap is measured against the standing benchmark of the ordinary London workman, whose dispatch they could not approach though their pay exceeded his. The Governor's absorption into daily foremanship, marking out all their work, now appears as the mechanical consequence: with the one master dead, the one other man on the island who understood building had to direct every cut himself, which is the fact the negligence rebuttal had already deployed. The pay-productivity inversion states the pathology of the island labour market in one clause. Scarcity priced labour by absence rather than skill, so unfinished boys earned above London rates, the same market that had let Benjamin Cleverlee demand half a crown a day, and the Council brands the wage bill before the Court could read it as plenty: the figures were scarcity rents, not extravagance. The documentation closes the loop on persistence. The need was minuted on 15 November 1717, argued in the 41st paragraph of the letter of 6 January 1718, and now renewed over a fresh grave, so the Court's inability to send carpenters stands recorded across three dated instruments while the consequences, the slaves' bad lodging, the slow works, the Governor's fatigue, accumulate as the island's counter-charge to the accusation of neglect. The epidemic's reach into this very household was already on the record, the death roll of 10 July 1718 having carried Martha Swallow among the thirty. Speculations The volunteered remark that the apprentices had larger pay was probably aimed at the wage lines in the accounts going home. A director running down the carpenters' column would find London money paid for less than London work, and without the explanation might read the figures as loose management; with it, every excessive shilling testified instead to the want of the men the Court itself had failed to send. | ||
145 | tis these causes that makes your building work come So dear which nothing but mak= =ing workmen Plentyer can So reduce as to Moderate the Charge 52: As to the Storehouse We have repaired it So that twill Serve very well a little Longer and We were loth to begin that till the Barracks were done because We would not have too many things in hand at once wth: our few Workmen And We hope you will Approve of our building the Barracks first if your Honrs: please to Consider the Danger to the whole Island by the Mutinous People in Govr: Bouchers time as your Honrs will find in the Consultations of those times on the 8th & 9th July 1713. And the Severall Conspiracies that have been Detected here in this Govrs: time where the Soldiers have Caballed together to Seize a Ship they thought they could Master An Acco: of one of these Contrivances is Men= =tioned in the 73 Parrd: of our Letter by the Queen of Peace and these things made it Seem Necessary for Us to have the Garrison more under the Governrs: Eye who can thereby the better detect any thing of that nature | It was these causes that made the Court's building work come so dear, and nothing but making workmen more plentiful could so reduce it as to moderate the charge. 52: As to the storehouse, the Council had repaired it so that it would serve very well a little longer, and it was loth to begin on it till the barracks were done, because it would not have too many things in hand at once with its few workmen. It hoped the Court would approve of the barracks being built first, if the Court pleased to consider the danger to the whole island from the mutinous people in Governor Bouchier's time, as the Court would find in the consultations of those times, on 8 and 9 July 1713, and the several conspiracies that had been detected in this Governor's time, where the soldiers caballed together to seize a ship they thought they could master, an account of one of these contrivances being mentioned in the 73rd paragraph of the Council's letter by the Queen of Peace. These things made it seem necessary to have the garrison more under the Governor's eye, who could thereby the better detect anything of that nature. Interpretations The barracks are justified as counter-mutiny architecture. A garrison lodged loosely about the valley could cabal unobserved, and the record produced runs from the mutiny of Bouchier's time, minuted on 8 and 9 July 1713, to plots hatched under the present government in which soldiers conspired to seize a ship they thought they could master, the standing nightmare of the age, a garrison turned pirate crew. Concentration under the Governor's eye is offered as the cure, detection before maturity, so the building programme's first priority is presented as the security of the whole island rather than the soldiers' comfort. The sequencing states the discipline scarcity imposed on capital works. With Swallow dead and only unfinished apprentices on the tools, projects ran serially, the storehouse patched so it would serve a little longer while every hand went to the barracks, the Council declining to have too many things in hand at once and saying so, the repaired building itself the enabler of the deferral. The completion of paragraph 51 had already drawn the cost moral: dear work came of scarce workmen, and only plenty could moderate the charge. The justification's evidentiary apparatus, two dated consultations and a numbered paragraph of the Queen of Peace letter, applies the Council's established method even to masonry, the choice of which wall to raise first argued from the archive like every other contested point in the despatch. Speculations Putting the barracks before the fortifications probably answers the neglect charge by re-ranking the threat. The informer had measured diligence in stonework facing the sea; the Council's order of works replies that a disloyal garrison made any wall worthless, the conspiracies on its own record being the nearer danger, so the priority the accusation called negligence is presented as the soundest piece of defence the island had undertaken. | ||
146 | before it gets too farr to a head besides the Soldiers had no where to lye but in the planters Kitchens and back parts of their Houses wch: in [...] thatched Cottage can be but very Indifferent living and was perhaps one cause that made them So Apt to be Uneasy and We have cause to think they will be Easier now but We know that at Present tis not only healthier and Neater but they alsoe like it better tho' at first they did not like it & many of them Sayed they had rather lye any where than to be overlookt by the ffort and Such other Such Notions as Some body had put into their heads We allow to every two Men at Present that live in the Barracks two Cotts one Table two Chairs one Porredge Pott, one payl but intend in a short time to put one man more to each room and then one man being alway's on Guard there will be two to a Chamber As to the Officers Rooms We hope your Honrs will think them alsoe Necessary to be among them or Else they might be as lyable to be Corrupted as before — 53: What is Sayed about Capt: Haswells | The Governor could thereby detect anything of that nature before it got too far ahead. Besides, the soldiers had nowhere to lie but in the planters' kitchens and the back parts of their houses, which in any cane-thatched cottage could be but very indifferent living, and that was perhaps one cause that made them so apt to be uneasy. The Council had cause to think they would be easier now, and knew that at present the barracks were not only healthier and neater, but the men also liked them better, though at first they did not, and many of them said they had rather lie anywhere than be overlooked by the fort, and other such notions as somebody had put into their heads. To every 2 men living in the barracks the Council at present allowed 2 cots, 1 table, 2 chairs, 1 porridge pot and 1 pail, but it intended in a short time to put one man more to each room, and then, one man being always on guard, there would be two to a chamber. As to the officers' rooms, the Council hoped the Court would think them also necessary to be among the men, or else they might be as liable to be corrupted as before. Interpretations The passage exposes what the garrison's lodging had been: soldiers scattered through the planters' kitchens and back rooms, indifferent living in cane-thatched cottages, a burden on the inhabitants and a freedom from oversight in which the cabals had bred. The barracks cure all three at once, health, comfort and surveillance, and the Council documents the men's conversion honestly, recording first their resistance, that they had rather lie anywhere than be overlooked by the fort, and then their experienced preference for the healthier and neater quarters, consent arriving after the building rather than before it. The domestic standard is given as an auditable kit: 2 cots, 1 table, 2 chairs, 1 porridge pot and 1 pail to every 2 men, with the densification already planned, three men assigned to a room of whom one stood guard at any hour, so the chambers were sized to the watch-bill rather than the muster roll. Every item now stood as a stores line where the old billets had left nothing to account for. The request for officers' rooms among the men carries the letter's most quietly damaging admission: that officers lodged apart had been liable to corruption before, which is to say that the ship-seizure conspiracies had reached, or risked reaching, above the ranks. Embedding the officers in the barracks completes the surveillance architecture in both directions, the men under the Governor's eye and the officers under the men's. Speculations The somebody who put notions into the soldiers' heads was probably the same interest the letter had been tracing all along. Teaching the ranks to resent being overlooked by the fort served exactly the faction whose dealings the fort's oversight would expose, and the Council's refusal to name the tutor repeats its method with the unnamed slave ship, the accusation left for the Court to complete from the surrounding pages. | ||
147 | mean Lodging is very true he Certainly lay in a very Sorry hole there is no Cottage So Near London mean Eno' to be Compared to it & to take any blame from our Selves on that Acco:t We crave leave to enform Yor Honrs: how or why it came to be So, At our first Arrivall here the deputy Governr: who had all= =way's lived in a House in the valley his Lodging was Appointed for Capt: Haswell but he thought that Lodging not good Enough So We hired the Widdow Coulsons House for him that Cost twenty pounds ⅌ Annu: but in the lower part thereof We Stowed Goods not then having Ware house room eno' this was then the best in the Valley, after one year he disliked this Apparmt: and desired to have Yor: Honrs Garden House in the Valley, and that house and Garden was once lett by Govr: Poirier for 30£ a year We fitted it up for him and it Cost 40£ to do So, He kept one of the best Rooms as a Store room and lett out all the rest and to Save Charges Lodged wth: the Smith who is his Brother in Law, in that before Mentioned very Nasty place, the Govr: has Often reproved him for living in Such | What was said about Captain Haswell's mean lodging was very true: he certainly lay in a very sorry hole, and there was no cottage near London mean enough to be compared to it. But to take any blame from itself on that account, the Council craved leave to inform the Court how and why it came to be so. At the Council's first arrival, the deputy governor, who had always lived in a house in the valley, had his lodging appointed for Captain Haswell, but Haswell thought that lodging not good enough. The Council therefore hired the Widow Coulson's house for him, at a cost of £20 0s 0d per annum, stowing goods in the lower part of it, not then having warehouse room enough, and this was then the best house in the valley. After one year he disliked this apartment, and desired to have the Court's Garden House in the valley, the house and garden that Governor Poirier had once let for £30 0s 0d a year. The Council fitted it up for him, which cost £40 0s 0d to do. He kept one of the best rooms as a storeroom, let out all the rest, and to save charges lodged with the smith, who was his brother-in-law, in that very nasty place before mentioned. The Governor had often reproved him for living in that manner. Interpretations The answer perfects the letter's confess-and-invert method on its strongest exhibit. The fact of the sorry hole is granted in terms more vivid than the accusation's own, and then the provenance is reversed through a priced chronology: the deputy governor's house refused, the best house in the valley hired at £20 0s 0d a year and refused after a twelvemonth, the Garden House, worth £30 0s 0d a year in Poirier's time, fitted up at a further £40 0s 0d cost. Three escalating provisions stand on the ledger before the hole appears, so the squalor that reached London as the Company's neglect returns as the accountant's election. The election itself is shown as arbitrage. Haswell converted his official lodging into income, one good room kept for his stores and all the rest sublet, while his person boarded cheap with his brother-in-law the smith, the same smith whose rank had been excluded from the Governor's table since Poirier's day. The accountant thus drew rent from his perquisite while exhibiting poverty in a kinsman's nasty house, and the Governor's frequent reproofs, entered here as standing fact, date the Council's objection to the spectacle well before the spectacle became evidence against it. The aside that the Company's goods filled the Widow Coulson's lower floor for want of warehouse room corroborates, in passing, the storehouse pressures the building programme had pleaded, the despatch's smallest details continuing to interlock with its largest. Speculations The sorry hole was probably manufactured as an exhibit. A complaint of mean lodging needed a mean lodging to show, and Haswell's visible residence in his brother-in-law's hovel, against three refused or monetised provisions, supplied his letters with their proof at a profit to himself. The Council's chronology of reproofs suggests it understood the performance while the performer lived, and had laid up, in the Governor's recorded rebukes, exactly the dated rebuttal it now produces. | ||
148 | Beggarly maner but he would not Change his Company nor House till about a Year and half after Some of his Lodgers on Christ= =mas day making a bigger fire than Ordinary the thatch (for all our Houses are thatcht except the Store House the Parsons House & Mrs Carnes) took fire and was Immediatly burnt down to the Ground and Severall of his Goods in it, When that House was burnt he asked the Govern: to have another who then Told him twas well if he did not pay for the last and Some short time before his death he did by much Perswasions Hire another House tho' not much better than the former and this Nasty Lodging where he lived was about 220 Yards or ¼ of a Mile from the Fort: And as to the reason why he had not an Apparmt in the fort We take leave to remind yor Honrs: that the Inside of the whole fort is but 100. foot Square out of which Some Part is taken Up by the Governrs House and Publick Hall and by two large Ware Houses and a place where the Carpenters work; the rest is a small Yard there was indeed at the first a place called the Deputy Governrs: Appartment | Captain Haswell would not change his company nor his house till, about a year and a half after, some of the lodgers on Christmas day made a bigger fire than ordinary, and the thatch took fire, for all the island's houses were thatched except the storehouse, the parson's house and Mrs Carne's. The house was immediately burnt down to the ground, and several of his goods in it. When that house was burnt he asked the Governor to have another, who then told him it was well if he did not pay for the last. Some short time before his death he did, by much persuasion, hire another house, though not much better than the former, and this nasty lodging where he lived was about 220 yards, or an eighth of a mile, from the fort. As to the reason why he had no apartment in the fort, the Council took leave to remind the Court that the inside of the whole fort was but 100 foot square, out of which some part was taken up by the Governor's house and the public hall, by two large warehouses, and by a place where the carpenters did their work, the rest being a small yard. There was indeed at the first a place called the deputy governor's apartment. Interpretations The lodging saga ends with the fire doing what reproof could not. Haswell kept his beggarly quarters until a Christmas blaze in the thatch burnt the house to the ground with several of his goods, and even then the record shows the pattern unbroken: he applied for another house, received the Governor's exasperated answer that he was fortunate not to be charged for the last, and was persuaded into a final hired lodging only a short time before his death in June 1718. The measurement closes the case against any tale of banishment, for the sorry hole stood 220 yards from the fort gate, an exile of an eighth of a mile. The parenthesis on thatch is a census of the island's combustible fabric. Three buildings only stood outside it, the storehouse, the parson's house and Mrs Carne's, so fire was the standing urban hazard of the valley, a festive hearth enough to level a dwelling in an evening, and the priority the building programme gave to permanent materials, the stone barracks first among them, finds its justification in this single Christmas. The fort's floor plan answers the question of an apartment within it by geometry. One hundred feet square contained the Governor's house, the public hall, two large warehouses, the carpenters' shop and a small yard, so James Fort was a crammed administrative box rather than a residence, and no servant of the Court could have been lodged there without turning out the stores or the government. The deputy governor's apartment of the early days, just introduced, evidently carries the explanation further. Speculations The naming of the parson's house among the three unthatched buildings was probably not innocent inventory. The two authors of the island's grievances stood revealed at opposite extremes of its housing, the chaplain trading from one of the only fireproof premises in the valley while the accountant performed poverty in chosen thatch, and the Council, by listing the exceptions, let the Court notice which of its complainants lived best. | ||
149 | and an Appartm: for the 3d in Council these rooms were but ten foot Wide So that None of them liked them And Capt Haswell with Some others have Pretended to Say they were built So small because No body Should like them but that We dont know We can only Say the Castle is So very Small there is not room to Enlarge them So We have Usually kept goods in them and called them the drye Stores But the Governr: would be very glad to have a little more Company and Wishes there was room for all the Council to be there 54: As to the 63 Parrad: We hope our rea= =sons Mentioned in the last Parr: why We did not begin a Storehouse will in a great measure Excuse our Governr from the Imputation of Runing upon Projects And as to the Castle Path as We now call it wch: formerly went by the Name of the Ladder Hill path We have Mentioned the Usefullness thereof in the 68 Parrad: of our letter by the King William Yet Since your Honrs have been pleased to take farther Notice of that Work We pray Your Patience to hear how | The fort had also held an apartment for the third in Council, but these rooms were but ten foot wide, so that none of them liked them. Captain Haswell, with some others, had pretended to say they were built so small on purpose that nobody should like them, but that the Council did not know; it could only say the castle was so very small there was no room to enlarge them. The rooms had therefore usually been kept full of goods, and were called the dry stores. But the Governor would be very glad to have a little more company, and wished there were room for all the Council to be there. 54: As to the 63rd paragraph, the Council hoped its reasons mentioned in the last paragraph, why it did not begin a storehouse, would in a great measure excuse the Governor from the imputation of running upon projects. As to the Castle Path, as it was now called, which formerly went by the name of the Ladder Hill path, the Council had mentioned its usefulness in the 68th paragraph of its letter by the King William. Interpretations The small rooms complete the fort-lodging answer with the accusation at its most baroque. Haswell and some others alleged design in the architecture itself, apartments built ten feet wide precisely so that no councillor would consent to live in them, exclusion engineered in stone. The Council answers with the envelope already given the Court, a castle one hundred feet square inside, in which nothing could be enlarged without turning out the government or the stores, and with the rooms' honest afterlife as the dry stores. The Governor's recorded wish then inverts the charge entirely: far from contriving solitude, he would be glad of more company and wanted room for the whole Council within the walls, the supposed excluder pleading for cohabitation. Paragraph 54 turns the sequencing defence to a second use. The storehouse deliberately deferred, one work at a time with few hands, is offered as the very disproof of projecting, since a projector's vice is to begin everything and finish nothing, while this administration's record was serial completion. The Castle Path, the renamed Ladder Hill path, then enters as the next criticised work, and the Council's first move is its habitual one, the citation of a standing defence, the path's usefulness already argued in the 68th paragraph of the letter of 6 January 1718, before any fresh narrative is offered. The renaming itself, Ladder Hill path become Castle Path, records the island's toponymy moving with its works, the route now named for the fort it served rather than the hill it climbed. Speculations The Governor's wish for a little more company was probably as true as it was tactical. With Haswell dead, Tovey restrained from his table and the public rooms shared with warehouses, the head of the government kept state in a crowded fort alone but for his sister's household, and the sentence that demolished the exclusion charge also let a real solitude show through, the one personal note the Council permitted itself serving the argument exactly because it was unfeigned. | ||
150 | it came to be begun We found at our coming here frequent Sickness & Mortality among the Soldiers which was then Imputed by every body to their bad Lodging & Partly in Compassion to those People whom your Honrs had Sent out for the Defence of the place as well as for the other reason Mentioned in our Account of the Barracks in this Letter for our own Sakes and to Prevent any Mutinies and Disturbances the Governr Proposed to build the Barracks when first We had worked a month in Clearing the Ground and makeing foundation Several Stones fell from the Hill and Some of the People at the Work were wounded & bruised by them upon which the Governr: caused all the People to leave the work & Clear the Hill of all loose Stones that were likely to fall by the Goats going above in doing this and finding that the Old Ladder Hill Path might be improved and made good with Some labour and finding alsoe that the Blacks and People from the Plantation House used an Improper Traffick among the Punch Houses and other Cottages farr up | The Council prayed the Court's patience to hear how it came to be begun. At its coming to the island it found frequent sickness and mortality among the soldiers, which was then imputed by everybody to their bad lodging, and partly in compassion to those people whom the Court had sent out for the defence of the place, as well as for the other reason mentioned in the account of the barracks in this letter, for the Council's own sake and to prevent any mutinies and disturbances, the Governor proposed to build the barracks. When the people had first worked a month in clearing the ground and making the foundation, several stones fell from the hill, and some of the people at the work were wounded and bruised by them, upon which the Governor caused all the people to leave the work, and to clear the hill of all the loose stones that were likely to be sent falling by the goats going above. Interpretations The origin story is itself the answer to the charge of projecting. The path was never conceived as a scheme: the chain ran from the soldiers' mortality, which everybody laid to their lodging, through the barracks proposed in compassion and self-preservation, to a rockfall a month into the foundations, to the safety clearance of the hillside ordered in consequence. Each step was forced by the one before, duty of care rather than ambition supplying the motion, and a work the informer presented as the Governor's hobby emerges from the narrative as the by-product of stopping stones from falling on the Court's labourers. The accident report embedded in the account shows the management of the works in practice. Men wounded and bruised at the foundation brought an immediate general stoppage, the whole strength turned from building to making the slope safe, and the cause is identified with the island's precision in small things: the goats ranging above set the loose stones going. The animals that had stripped the island's woods for a generation here appear as a geological hazard, grazing translated into falling rock. The doubled motive for the barracks, compassion to the soldiers and the Council's own safety against mutiny, repeats the letter's habit of owning mixed reasons. The candour costs nothing and buys credit, since a Council that admits self-interest where it exists is the harder to disbelieve where it claims better. Speculations The stoppage probably entered the despatch because the casualties could have travelled without it. Men hurt at the Governor's works was exactly the raw material the aspersions fed on, and by recording the halt, the clearance and the cause in its own narrative, the Council ensured that if the rockfall reached London by another pen, it would arrive already framed as the day the Governor put the men's safety before his building. | ||
151 | the valley We concluded to cause all to Come down the Path in Sight of the Castle And it was Viewed & Approved of by all the Council who with Some difficulty went up the Hill that way & found Making a good Path Practicable in many places by building Walls Cross the Gulleys and Chasmes of the hollowest Parts of the Mountaine Whereupon the Govr: Concluded it to be for the Good of the place to make a Path there which Since tis done We have found the Usefullness & Conveniency of it but this path is not above two thirds Done & if your Honrs do not Approve thereof We Shall not Compleat it and the reason We left off where We did is because the Governr: was in hast to build the Barracks and he went forward with the Path no further than what was over the Barracks that no Stones might fall from the Hill to destroy the Works below and then We went about the Barracks again which is a large Work of 250. foot in Front and as fast as they are finnished they are Inhabited by the Soldiers tho' We went about this work because the Govr: found it would be very Usefull Yet We | The blacks and people from the Plantation House had used an improper traffic among the punch houses and other cottages far up the valley, and the Council concluded to cause all of them to come down the path in sight of the Castle. The way was viewed and approved by all the Council, who with some difficulty went up the hill by it, and found the making of a good path practicable in many places, by building walls across the gullies and chasms of parts of the mountain. Whereupon the Governor concluded it to be for the good of the place to make a path there, and since it was done the Council had found the usefulness and convenience of it. But this path was not above two-thirds done, and if the Court did not approve of it, the Council would not complete it. The reason it left off where it did was that the Governor was in haste to build the barracks, and he went forward with the path no further than what lay over the barracks, that no stones might fall from the hill to destroy the works below. The Council then went about the barracks again, which was a large work of 250 foot in front, and as fast as they were finished they were inhabited by the soldiers. Interpretations The resolved sentence supplies the path's third purpose. Beyond the safety canopy over the barracks and the convenience of the route, it was a police instrument: the improper traffic between the Plantation House blacks and the punch houses far up the valley was to be forced down a single way that passed in sight of the Castle, movement channelled through the government's field of view, and with it the licensed liquor trade brought past the point where the island's duties could be watched. Topography was made to do the constable's office. The submission clause is the letter's master stroke against the projects charge. A work two-thirds built, its usefulness proved in daily service, is laid at the Court's feet for cancellation, the Council binding itself not to finish without approval, and the stopping point already observed obeys the same discipline: the path ran exactly as far as protected the barracks from falling stone and not a yard further, scope governed by need rather than appetite. No projector ever offered to abandon his scheme at the directors' word. The barracks acquire their scale and their delivery method in one sentence. A front of 250 feet, against a castle whose whole interior measured 100 feet square, made the new building the largest structure the island possessed, and the rolling occupation, soldiers moving in as fast as each part finished, meant the work yielded lodging continuously rather than at completion, the garrison housed by instalments. The Council's collective climb of the old route, with some difficulty, records the due diligence behind the approval: every signatory had inspected the ground on his own feet. Speculations The offer to leave the path unfinished was probably made in perfect safety. The section already built could not be unbuilt, its protection of the barracks could not be dispensed with, and its convenience was in daily proof, so the Court could only ratify what existed; the Council purchased the appearance of absolute submission at the price of nothing, and the imputation of running upon projects was answered by a gesture no projector could afford. | ||
152 | have found among Some loose Papers in the Secretaries Office an Antient Order from your Honrs Predecessors to the then Governmt: to Endeavour at the making a good path and therein it was Sayed their Honrs had been enformed a Path with Industry might be made of twenty foot Wide, their Honrs were rightly informed tho' Such works must be a great Expence and when the Govr Saw that Order first for making a Path 20 foot Wide he hoped he Should not be blamed for Attempting one of eight foot Wide and We flatter our Selves that now tis So near finnished Your Honrs will one time or other Order it to be done As to weakening the Fort We believe any body who Understands Fortifi= =cations that have Seen it will informe yor Honrs: to the Contrary and if an Enemy must come down the Hill Upon Us We should rather Choose to have them Come all the way in Sight of the Castle where every Soul on the Hill must be in our Power for that Path is a Perfect | Though the work was undertaken because the Governor found it would be very useful, yet the Council had since found, among some loose papers in the secretary's office, an ancient order from the Court's predecessors to the then Governor, to endeavour at the making of a good path, and in it their Honours said they had been informed that with industry a path might be made of 20 foot wide. Their Honours were rightly informed, though such works must be a great expense, and when the Governor first saw that order for making a path 20 foot wide, he hoped he should not be blamed for attempting one of 8 foot wide. The Council flattered itself that, now it was so near finished, the Court would one time or other order it to be done. As to weakening the fort, the Council believed anybody who understood fortifications and had seen it would inform the Court to the contrary, and if an enemy must come down the hill upon the island, the Council should rather choose to have them come all the way in sight of the Castle, where every soul on the hill must be in the island's power, for that path was a perfect traverse. Interpretations The ancient order is the archive's trump. The Court's own predecessors had commanded a good path and recorded intelligence that 20 feet of width was practicable, so the present 8-foot attempt stands as modest obedience to a standing instruction rather than innovation, and the Governor's hope not to be blamed for attempting less than half what was ordered turns the accusation inside out in a single clause. The provenance, loose papers in the secretary's office, authenticates the find, no fabricated warrant would be given so untidy a home, while quietly explaining why the order slept: the disorder of the old records that the new yearly examination of papers was instituted to cure. The answer on weakening the fort converts the path from a vulnerability into a weapon. The charge supposed a made road inviting an enemy downhill; the reply, offered first to the judgement of any fortification-literate visitor who had seen the ground, is that the route channels every descent in continuous view and command of the Castle, no dead ground, every soul on the hill in the garrison's power. The closing term is technical: a traverse in the engineer's vocabulary is a work that covers and commands a line of approach, so the path is claimed not merely as harmless to the defences but as an addition to them, the enemy's road built as the defender's gallery. The candour about sequence, usefulness first, warrant found after, keeps the justifications honest while they stack: utility, the safety of the barracks, the policing of the valley traffic, and now the predecessors' command, four independent grounds for one 8-foot path. Speculations The closing confidence that the Court would one time or other order completion was probably the request wearing the dress of prophecy. With the work near finished, its functions proved and the predecessors' order on the table, refusal would require the directors to countermand their own forebears against their own interest, so the Council could decline to ask and merely predict, leaving the Court to discover that approval was the only answer it could send. | ||
153 | traverse Consisting of three Zds and all the lower parts within Muskett Shott of the Grand ffort: if your Honrs: please to look on any good draft of the Citty of Callise in ffrance Youl find the Road that goes from Bulloign and Marquess to Callaise to be made with a Circumvallation or as We Usually Express it in Sea Terms with a Traverse about the Cittadell So that no Approach can be made toward the towne by Land but over that Path and Causeway which Encompasses half the Cittadell And We hope your Honrs will be Enclined to think that We have least Occasion to fear those who Approach Us in our Strongest parts where they lye Exposed to all our Ammunition and are Directly under Command of our Guns And therefore tis in case of a Warr We Should be in less danger of an enemy at James Valley where tis Fortifyed than in another Place where they might Land with Less Opposition Your Honrs will We hope Pardone this long Preamble about the Path You order Us to Send a full Answer and tho': We think We have done So yet our Intent | The traverse consisted of three Zs, and all the lower parts lay within musket shot of the Grand Fort. If the Court pleased to look on any good draft of the city of Calais in France, it would find the road that went from Boulogne and Marquise to Calais to be made with a circumvallation, or, as it was usually expressed in sea terms, with a traverse about the citadel, so that no approach could be made toward the town by land but over that path and causeway, which encompassed half the citadel. The Council hoped the Court would be inclined to think the island had least occasion to fear those who approached it in its strongest parts, where they lay exposed to all its ammunition and were directly under command of its guns. In case of a war, therefore, there should be less danger from an enemy at James Valley, where it was fortified, than in another place where they might land with less opposition. The Council hoped the Court would pardon this long preamble about the path; the Court had ordered a full answer, and the Council thought it had given one. Interpretations The engineering claim is made checkable from a London print shop. Any good draft of Calais, the premier fortress of the French Channel coast, showed its only land approach carried over a causeway commanded by the citadel for half its circuit, and the island's path is presented as the same device in miniature: three zigzag legs, each turn flanked from above, with every lower reach inside musket shot of the Grand Fort. The directors did not need to trust the Council's word or any traveller's memory, only to lay the letter beside a map, the proof chosen for an audience whose authority was in its counting-house and whose atlases were on its shelves. The strategic doctrine completes the inversion of the weakening charge. The path channels an enemy exactly as it channels the valley's traffic, and the Council states the concentration principle plainly: better an assault delivered against the fortified strength of James Valley, under the guns and the ammunition, than a landing elsewhere with less opposition. Written months after the alarms of 9 May and 7 July had twice manned those works against strangers, the argument carries the weight of a doctrine lately rehearsed rather than a theory at leisure. The aside that circumvallation is rendered in sea terms as a traverse shows the letter translating between professions, the engineer's vocabulary recast for a Court of merchants and shipowners, while the apology for the long preamble lays its prolixity at the Court's own door: a full answer was ordered, and a full answer, for once exceeding the covenant of brevity, was what obedience required. Speculations The choice of Calais was probably calculated for verifiability above all. The Governor's travels could have supplied grander parallels, but a comparison resting on his personal authority would have invited the very suspicion the letter was answering; a fortress whose plan every director could buy for a shilling made the island's case self-proving, and the Council's habit of outsourcing its credibility, to commanders, to consultations, to maps, here reached print itself. | ||
154 | in using all these words is only to Shew as well as We could the ffort is not weak= =ned by the Path but We pretend not to say that the further Fortifying of the place is needless or that the two half Bastions So often Mentioned and designed by the Governrs Poirier, Goodwin, Roberts, Boucher & Pyke are less Necessary We do Still think them very Proper yet because they will be very Chargeable too is as We think the Chief reason they have layne So long Unattempted In cases of lesser Natures where the Expence will not be very large We have Alway's Acted According to our own Judgements without Delaying the time that must be Spent in waiting yor Honrs Immidiate Orders but in those Chargeable and heavy works youl Sometimes Approve of our forbearance untill We have full Di= =rections from those who bear the Purse We Shall not conclude our Answer to your Honrs 63d Parrad without praying your Excuse that Notwithstanding our before Mentioned reasons for the finnishing the Fortifications dureing the last | The Council's intent in using all these words was only to shew, as well as it could, that the fort was not weakened by the path. But it pretended not to say that the further fortifying of the place was needless, or that the two half-bastions so often mentioned, and designed by the Governors Poirier, Goodwin, Roberts, Bouchier and Pyke, were less necessary. The Council did still think them very proper, yet because they would be very chargeable too, that was, as it thought, the chief reason they had lain so long unattempted. In cases of lesser natures, where the expense would not be very large, the Council had always acted according to its own judgement, without losing the time that must be spent in waiting for the Court's immediate orders, but in those chargeable and heavy works the Court would sometimes approve its forbearance until it had full directions from those who bore the purse. Interpretations The paragraph closes the projects controversy with a constitution of spending. Initiative is divided at the purse-line: works of lesser nature proceed on local judgement, because the cost of waiting a year for orders exceeds the cost of error, while chargeable and heavy works wait on full directions from those who bear the purse, authority following liability. Every work the letter has defended falls into place under the rule, the 8-foot path attempted where 20 had been ordered, its completion offered for cancellation, the barracks pressed as urgent and cheap in lives saved, the great stoneworks forborne, so the imputation of running upon projects dissolves into a doctrine the Court could only endorse, since it reserved the expensive decisions to the Court itself. The two half-bastions then carry the fortification charge to its grave. The works alleged neglected were a design owned by five successive governments, Poirier, Goodwin, Roberts, Bouchier and the present Governor among the designers, and their forty years' suspension had one cause in every reign, the charge of building them. Neglect that is universal and financial is not negligence in any administration, least of all in the one whose head helped draw the plans and here declares them still very proper. The opening sentence is the letter's rare moment of rhetorical self-description: all these words, the Calais map, the three Zs, the musket ranges, served the single proposition that the fort was not weakened, the Council pausing to tell the Court what the argument had been for before moving on. The succession roll incidentally preserves a name, Governor Goodwin, standing between Poirier and Roberts in the island's line of command. Speculations The naming of Pyke among the bastions' designers was probably the answer's quiet checkmate. The informer had measured the Governor's diligence by unbuilt stonework; the record produced shows the accused as co-author of the very design, stalled in his reign as in four others by the money only London could vote, so the charge of neglecting the fortifications returns to the Court as an invoice: the works waited not on the Governor's zeal but on those who bore the purse choosing to open it. | ||
155 | whole year We have done nothing at all to them Yet We hope when your Honrs have been Acquainted with all the causes of this Seeming Neglect that then you will not any Longer blame Us for our indilligence or Remissness but believe that We have rightly Aim= =ed to be Ranked among your Honrs other Industrious and faithfull Servants be pleased to See the latter end of our 61 Parrad in the King Williams Letter where We have Acquainted your Honrs that We would first (or Principally) See to put all your Plantations in good Order We wanted Blacks for Labouring at Your ffortifications your Honrs have Sent Us Some and are Provideing more wch must be fed and well fedd too to be able to goe thro' all that Labour So that the Governour has employed all the Blacks alate in the En= =largeing the Plantations which are now Great Deal more than double what they were and he hopes before he leaves them to have above three times the Number & Quantity that he found here there being now Upwards of One Million two hundred & thirty Six thousand Yamms Actually growing in yor: | During the last whole year the Council had done nothing at all to the fortifications. Yet it hoped that when the Court had been acquainted with all the causes of this seeming neglect, it would no longer blame the Council for indiligence or remissness, but believe that it had rightly aimed to be ranked among the Court's other industrious and faithful servants. The Court was asked to see the latter end of the 61st paragraph in the King William's letter, where the Council had acquainted the Court that it would first, or principally, see to put all the Court's plantations in good order. Blacks were wanted for labouring at the fortifications; the Court had sent some and was providing more, and these must be fed, and well fed too, to be able to go through all that labour. The Governor had therefore employed all the blacks alive in the enlarging of the plantations, which were now a great deal more than double what they were, and he hoped before he left them to have above three times the number and quantity that he found at the island, there being now upwards of 1,236,000 yams actually growing in the Court's plantations. Interpretations The confession is total and the defence is logistical. Not a stone had gone onto the fortifications in a year, and the Council says so in the bluntest terms available before producing the strategy already on file: the letter of 6 January 1718 had declared, at the latter end of its 61st paragraph, that the plantations would come first or principally. The reasoning is then run as a supply chain, walls need labour, labour needs feeding, and heavy labour needs feeding well, so every black alive on the island went to the ground that would feed the wall-builders, the seeming neglect of the defences becoming their foundation course. Pre-notified strategy converts the year of nothing from remissness into execution. The yam census is the programme's proof and its most striking artefact. Upwards of 1,236,000 yams actually growing, the staple provision of the island's slaves counted to the thousand, with the plantations more than doubled and a tripling promised, turns agriculture into audited stock, the tubers enumerated like coin in a chest. The phrase that the labourers must be well fed too binds the figure to the letter's earlier ground, the mortality rates that feeding was the lever against and the starvation charge already answered at the waterside with Mackett's cargo. Speculations The exactitude of the yam figure was probably aimed at the audit reflex itself. A round million would have read as rhetoric; 1,236,000 implies counting, and counting implies books, so the number exports credibility to every other account the island rendered, the directors invited to reason that a government which enumerates its yams does not invent its sterling. The clause before he leaves them probably lets the Governor's suit for advancement show its edge. A tripling pledged against his own departure assumes the departure, and the plantation programme reads as the prospectus of a servant building the record on which Bombay or Bengal might be asked for, the legacy metric chosen, measured and promised by the man it would promote. | ||
156 | Plantations which if your Honrs please to be referd to our Letter by the Susannah in the 48 Parrad after our first Arrivall it is already more than We then Promised or Pretended to endeavour for yet We shall not leave off till We have fully trebled the Numbers of Yams We found on our Arrivall here and then yor Honrs may send Us what blacks you please & We can carry on those heavy works Soe Necessary for the full Security of the place with much less Charge when yor: Honrs Honrs Blacks shall not Stand you in any more at farthest than ten Crowns Each ⅌ annu for their Cloathing and Bedding but if We buy their Victualls of the planters 'twill Cost us Dear for nothing is ever Sold Cheap here that the Compy: as the People Usually Stile your Honrs wants. It is not long Since when they thought We Should want Yams for your Honrs blacks that a Proposall was made among them to Sell none under Six Shillings ⅌ hundrd: weight and yet when they found We | If the Court pleased to be referred to the Council's letter by the Susannah, in the 48th paragraph, written after its first arrival, the crop was already more than was then promised or pretended to be endeavoured for. Yet the Council would not leave off till it had fully trebled the number of yams found on its arrival at the island, and then the Court might send what blacks it pleased, and those heavy works so necessary for the full security of the place could be carried on with much less charge, when the Court's blacks should stand it in no more, at farthest, than ten crowns each per annum for their clothing and bedding. But if their victuals were bought of the planters, it would cost dear, for nothing was ever sold cheap at the island that the Company, as the people usually styled the Court, wanted. It was not long since, when the planters thought the Council should want yams for the Court's blacks, that a proposal was made among them to sell none under 6s per hundredweight. Interpretations The plantation programme resolves into a unit-cost model. With the yams trebled, the Company would feed its own labour from its own ground, and each slave's whole residual charge falls to clothing and bedding at ten crowns, £2 10s 0d, a year at farthest, so the Court is invited to send what blacks it pleased, the supply of labour for the heavy works no longer constrained by the price of feeding it. The year of nothing on the fortifications thus ends in a budget: the walls deferred for the yams will be built the cheaper for them. The alternative is then priced by the planters' own conduct. The Council documents a combination, a proposal made among them to sell no yams under 6s a hundredweight the moment Company demand was anticipated, and states the general law it instanced, that nothing was ever sold cheap at the island that the Company wanted. The greatest buyer on the island was the captive of its smallest sellers whenever it entered their market, and the plantations are the exit, the same remedy by competition the Governor had used when he broke the 18d labour rate with his own slaves at 12d. The aside that the people usually styled the Court the Company preserves the island's working vocabulary for its sovereign landlord. The Susannah citation runs the Council's habitual audit of itself: a pledge made in the 48th paragraph of its first-arrival letter, four years old, is produced, measured, and reported exceeded, with the treble now vowed as the next benchmark, performance always set against the filed promise. Speculations The ten-crown figure was probably set beside the new hire rate for the Court's own arithmetic. At 12d a day, some fifty days of hired labour equalled a year's whole upkeep of an owned slave once food came from Company ground, so the directors could compute for themselves that sending blacks answered better than sending money, the letter again arming the reader with numbers and leaving the conclusion to seem the Court's own. | ||
157 | would do without them they Proffered them for two shillings ⅌ hundrd: So that it Seems to Us Absolutly Necessary for your Honrs own Blacks to be Supplyed by your own Plantations, and to make a large Plantati= =on among these Rocky Mountains requires Excessive Labour and Constant Industry and every thing of this Nature takes up at least three years time to bring it to Perfection for when the Plantations are made by Digging and Clearing away all the Stones &c: and the Yams planted therein they will be about two years growing before they are fitt to be Dugg and Used We have Alsoe Improved your other Lands by Causeing them to be divided by Stone Fences wch keeps your Cattle from Rangeing over the whole Pastures and Spoiling the feed of the rest but this work We have Hired Severll: of the Planters to doe by the Rodd According to our Advertizemt We made Among the People and Mentioned in our Consultation of the 21st May 1717 which We published because We would with all Possible Dis= =patch Carry on our Plantations without | When the planters found the Council would do without them, they proffered the yams at 2s per hundredweight. It therefore seemed to the Council absolutely necessary for the Court's own blacks to be supplied by the Court's own plantations. To make a large plantation among those rocky mountains required excessive labour and constant industry, and everything of this nature took up at least 3 years' time to bring to perfection, for when the plantations were made, by digging and clearing away all the stones, and the yams planted in them, the yams would be about 2 years growing before they were fit to be dug and used. The Council had also improved the Court's other lands by causing them to be divided by stone fences, which kept the cattle from ranging over the whole pastures and spoiling the feed of the rest. This work the Council had hired several of the planters to do by the rod, according to an advertisement it made among the people, mentioned in the consultation of 21 May 1717, which it published because it would with all possible dispatch carry on the plantations without interruption. Interpretations The price sequence is the letter's cleanest lesson in economics. The planters combined at 6s a hundredweight while they believed the Company must buy; the moment self-supply looked credible they proffered at 2s, the cartel's floor collapsing by two-thirds on the bare demonstration of exit. The Council generalises the experiment into policy in the next breath, the Court's blacks to be fed from the Court's ground as an absolute necessity, vertical integration justified not by doctrine but by a measured price. The production timeline arms the Court with patience. Plantation ground among the rocks took a year of digging and clearing, and the yams two more in the earth before they could be dug, so the programme's three-year gestation is stated as agronomy, the lag between effort and harvest fixed by nature, and the year withdrawn from the fortifications falls into place as the necessary start of that clock. The stone fences extend the improvement to the pastures, enclosure ending the cattle's free range that spoiled the feed of the whole for the grazing of a part. The delivery method is as notable as the walls: the work let to several of the planters by the rod, piece-rates offered through a published advertisement entered in the consultation of 21 May 1717, open tender protecting both the Company's money from favouritism and the plantation gangs from interruption, while the same planters who had combined against the Company's purse now built its fences for wages from it. Speculations The 2s now standing in the record was probably meant to govern every future bargain. The planters' own proffer, made and minuted, fixed the true competitive price of yams on the island, so any later invoice above it would argue against its makers from their own mouths, and the Council had converted a moment of capitulation into a permanent benchmark filed where the Court could always find it. | ||
158 | Interruption or breaking off and this leads Us to mention Alsoe the Number of yor Honrs Blacks if you please to overlook our List of the Blacks Sent home by the Susannah youl find We had no more than two Blacks out of all Your Number that Workt at your ffortifications, We mentioned in that List many were Unfitt for Service Divers of whom have Since dyed, Your Honrs have Sent Us 79. Slaves by the Severall Black Ships whereof one third being Women & three Children there were but 50 Slaves fitt to do any hard Labour as ours all is and Some of them are Dead So that our Number of working hands is not more than thirty larger then before and Yet with these and Some that We hire now for twelve pence ⅌ day We have Per= =formed abundance of Plantation Work but do not pretend as yet to goe upon the ffortifications Untill the Plantation work is Compleated and then We can take off one third of those hands and Sett them on the ffortifications which with the others that We Still expect will be Sufficient to Performe the rest of our heavy works | The advertisement was published so the plantations might be carried on without interruption or breaking off. This led the Council to mention also the number of the Court's blacks. If the Court pleased to look over the list of the blacks sent home by the Susannah, it would find the island had no more than 2 blacks, out of all the Court's number, that worked at the fortifications. That list mentioned many unfit for service, divers of whom had since died. The Court had sent 79 slaves by the several black ships, whereof one-third being women, and 3 children, there were but 50 slaves fit to do any hard labour, as the island's all was, and some of them were dead, so that the number of labouring hands was not more than 30 larger than before. Yet with these, and some hired now at 12d a day, the Council had performed an abundance of plantation work, but it did not pretend as yet to go upon the fortifications until the plantation work was completed. Then one-third of those hands could be taken off and set on the fortifications, which, with the others still expected, would be sufficient to perform the rest of the heavy works. Interpretations The founding inventory annihilates the premise of the neglect charge. The list sent home by the Susannah at the Council's first arrival showed exactly 2 of the Court's blacks employed at the fortifications, the whole wall-building establishment the new government inherited, with many of the rest unfit and since dead, so the bastions of five governors' designs had been waiting not on zeal but on the existence of anybody to build them. The reinforcement is then discounted from gross to net with the letter's usual arithmetic: 79 slaves landed, a third of them women and 3 children, 50 fit for the hard labour the island's work all was, deaths subtracted, a true gain of about 30 labouring hands. The mobilisation plan stages those hands against a trigger. The plantations held the whole force, with hired men at the reformed 12d a day beside them, and the Council declined to pretend to parallel progress; on completion of the plantation work one-third would shift to the fortifications, joined by the consignments still expected, and that combination is declared sufficient for the rest of the heavy works. The Fourthly division thus closes as a single chain, food secured, labour mustered, walls scheduled, each link dated and counted. The hired men at 12d show the labour reform paying the Company back. The rate the Governor broke by entering the market now priced the supplementary hands on the Court's own projects, the planters' old 18d saved on every day's wage the works consumed. Speculations The two-blacks figure was probably chosen as the epigram of the whole defence. Whoever briefed the Court on idle fortifications never mentioned that the force available to raise them numbered two men, and the omission convicts the briefing: an informer who counted the unbuilt stones but not the absent hands was describing a grievance, not a government. The clause about the others still expected probably also files the future where the Council wanted it. Sufficiency was promised on the strength of continued shipments, so if the walls lagged hereafter, the cause stood pre-assigned to the supply the Court controlled, the island's performance mortgaged, in writing, to London's punctuality. | ||
159 | And since this is the Real matter of Fact We hope your Hon:rs will not think them to be Excuses only but that We are Industrious to Answer as near as Possible Your Hon:rs Expec= =tations, Yet Altho: We have not Worked at the Fortifications We have had some building work for at the High Peak We have taken in a Large Piece of ground for a Plantation and doubt not but it will prove to be as good as any yo:r Hon:rs already have We have built a House thereon to hold one White man as Overseer & fourteen Blacks w:ch is of great need in that Place, this has been all along held to be So Necessary and So much for your Interest that Govern:r Poirier could never be prevailed on to lett it to any of the Planters because he often Sayed and thought that when ever your Hon:rs should think it Proper to Supply the Island w:th Slaves that he would make a Plantati =on there Sufficient to feed them, All this work is now Actually not only begun but well ad= =vanced, the House is built, good Part of the Land is Enclosed and begun to be planted, there are in it 127000 Yamms and more ground broke up, by a great Storm that happened | The Council closed its answer by insisting that these reports were the plain truth, not a string of excuses, and that its replies represented an honest effort to satisfy the Court as fully as the circumstances allowed. The Council conceded that nothing had been done that year to the fortifications. Building had instead gone forward at the High Peak, where a large tract was taken in for a new plantation. The Council expressed confidence that the ground would prove as productive as any holding the Court already possessed. A dwelling was raised on the site to house a single white overseer along with fourteen slaves. The Council stressed that such a station had long been needed in that quarter. Its importance had always been understood, and it bore so closely on the Court's interest that Governor Poirier had consistently refused to lease the ground to any planter. He had repeatedly explained that he intended to keep a plantation there large enough to feed the slaves whenever the Court decided to supply the island. By the time of the report this scheme had moved well beyond its first stages. The house stood complete, much of the land lay enclosed, and planting had begun. The plantation already carried 27,000 yams, with further ground turned over, before a violent storm interrupted the progress. Interpretations The High Peak project advanced the yam self-supply strategy that the Council had pursued from the start of its tenure, the plantation total having climbed past 1,236,000 yams growing by 3 November 1718. The Council directed effort onto previously unbroken land rather than the exhausted plantation grounds elsewhere on the island. The pairing of one overseer with fourteen slaves defined the labour establishment the Court financed for a single plantation. A lone supervisor controlled a fixed gang, matching the staged deployment of the period under which the abler hands of the new supply went to the plantations ahead of the fortifications. Governor Poirier's refusal to grant the High Peak ground to planters identified it as reserved Company land held back for a future slave supply. The plantation's stated function was to feed the slaves the Court was expected to send, never to enrich a private leaseholder. Speculations The selection of the High Peak addressed the difficulty of provisioning a growing slave population without purchasing yams from the island's planters. The Council chose to open reserved ground rather than rely on the planters, whose price-fixing had demanded not under 6s a hundredweight before falling to an offer of 2s once their leverage broke. The decision to raise only a single dwelling for one overseer and fourteen slaves reflects a deliberately restrained outlay at a remote new station. The Council provided just enough accommodation to begin cultivation, deferring heavier expense until the plantation demonstrated its worth. | ||
160 | happened in the Month of Aprill Last, the House where your Hon:rs Blacks live in a Plantation called Luffkins was blown down which We have also rebuilt & Repaired the House at the Hutts, We will not trouble your Hon:rs with an acc:t of a Stone House about 50 foot long called the Turkey House that was blown down and killed Some of our Turkeys that Roosted there & bruised many of them So that they dyed, all that We will add to this is that twas Some hinderance to Us but We have built it up again These are Necessary tho: mean and low Business that must in Some measure be regarded and has took up Some of our time tho: our Chief time and most of our labour is spent in Improveing that is to enlarge yo:r Hon:rs Plantations, As to the Plantation & House not being suffered to fall down as Mentioned at the end of Your Hon:rs 63 Par: We do assure your Hon:rs that it is no Small Perplexity to Us how to Preserve it the present time that is from Sept:r to Janry which is the fairest Season of the Year but who to gett to make a new roof and to Tile it Margin Notes: when | The storm had struck in April. The Council reported that the house lived in by the Court's slaves on a plantation called Lufkins was levelled, and that it had since been rebuilt. The Council also restored the dwelling at the Huts. A stone building roughly 50 foot long, known as the Turkey House, was thrown down in the same gale, killing several of the turkeys roosting there and injuring many more so badly that they died afterwards. The Council added only that the loss caused some delay, but the structure was raised again. The Council described tasks of this kind as necessary work, however humble, that had to be attended to and had consumed part of its time. It stressed that the greater share of its labour went to improving the Court's plantations, meaning their enlargement, rather than to such minor repairs. The Council turned next to the matter raised in the Court's 63rd paragraph, concerning the plantation house that had been allowed to fall into ruin. The Council assured the Court that keeping the building standing presented real difficulty at present. The hardest period ran from September to January, the most favourable stretch of the year, yet the question of who might be found to fit a new roof and to tile it remained unanswered. Interpretations The plantation house in the Court's 63rd paragraph carried a charge of neglect that formed part of the wider accusation answered by the Duke of Cambridge on 3 November 1718, the Court having alleged through somebody unknown that the Council ran upon projects while letting the establishment decay. The Council's plea of difficulty in roofing and tiling tied the building's condition to the island's chronic want of skilled hands rather than to any indifference on its part. The repeated need to rebuild after storm damage exposed the structural weakness of thatched and loosely built island construction. The same vulnerability lay behind the standing request that the Court ship tiles as ballast in place of coals, the whole town standing thatched and a Christmas fire having burnt Captain Haswell's lodging to the ground. Speculations The Council's careful separation of minor repair work from the main labour on the plantations answered the specific reproach that it had pursued projects at the expense of its proper duties. By framing storm repairs as unavoidable distractions from plantation improvement, the Council defended its priorities against the Court's charge while conceding the time such work had cost. The difficulty of finding anyone to roof and tile the plantation house turned on the collapse of the island's building establishment during the epidemic of 1718, in which the four years' supply of eight men all died and the trades fell to unfinished apprentices. The Council pointed to the favourable September-to-January season precisely to show that weather was not the obstacle, only the absence of a competent tiler. | ||
161 | when that Roof is on We do not know, We have no Bricklayers or Tylers here and now no Carpenters fitt for that work and if We cant do it our selves (which We cannot do as it should be done) the Inconveniency will still be greater We pray your Hon:rs to Consider that when We came over but Eight men came with Us who are all Dead besides divers others for there has been a great Mortality here lately and We have not had any recruite Since We have Written w:th great Earnestness to be Supplyed with afew Workmen We have tryed to shew what Urgent Need We were in for want of them We have assured Your Hon:rs that according to the best of our Judgm:t & Experience it would lessen the Charge of building here to send Such men out and that for want of Such Usefull hands Your Affaires went So slowly on And now We have Blacks to do the labouring part We could make a better Riddance We are very Sorry We shall not have the Credit of finnishing Some of those Usefull works that We have Recommended to be So Necessary And We assure your Hon:rs that none of our Endeavours are wanting to the Utmost of our Power Margin Notes: and | The Council confessed it had no idea who would put the roof on once the house was ready for it. The island had no bricklayers or tilers, and now no carpenters equal to the task. The Council admitted it could not do the job properly itself, and warned that the difficulty would only grow. The Council asked the Court to remember that when the present administration arrived, eight men had come out with it, and all of them were now dead, along with several others, the island having suffered heavy mortality of late. No replacements had reached the island in all that time. The Council had written before, urgently, begging to be supplied with a few skilled men, and had tried to make plain how badly they were wanted. The Council repeated its firm view that sending such men out would, in its considered judgement and from experience, cut the cost of building on the island. For want of these useful hands the Court's affairs had gone forward slowly. Now that slaves were available for the heavy labour, the Council believed it could make far better use of skilled workers. It expressed real regret that it would lose the credit of completing some of the valuable projects it had recommended as so necessary. The Council assured the Court that no effort on its part had been spared, to the very limit of its power. Interpretations The death of all eight men who came out with the present administration anchored the Council's plea for skilled labour in the epidemic of 1718, a drought-year sickness that carried off thirty of the white people and reduced the building and clerical establishments to a one-eyed writer and unfinished apprentices. The argument for sending fresh artificers rested on this collapse rather than on any general ambition to expand the works. The Council's claim that skilled men would lower the cost of building set out an economic case for direct recruitment from England. The reasoning matched the standing proposal to bring out artificers at four shillings and sixpence a day with their own diet, reckoned cheaper over time than the losses caused by their absence. The pairing of available slaves for heavy labour with a shortage of skilled supervisors identified the precise bottleneck in the Court's building programme. Raw labour was no longer the constraint, only the trained hands needed to direct it, a distinction that shaped the staged labour scheme of the season. Speculations The Council's regret at losing the credit for its recommended works answered the charge of neglecting the fortifications by recasting the failure as one of supply, not will. By stressing that slaves now stood ready and only skilled men were missing, the Council shifted responsibility for the stalled projects onto the Court's failure to send replacements. The decision to press the labour-cost argument rather than simply request more men reflects a calculated appeal to the Court's economic priorities. The Council framed skilled recruitment as a saving rather than an expense, knowing the Court weighed every charge against the island's narrow internal revenue of about £400 0s 0d a year. | ||
162 | And therefore We hope you will not any longer think a miss of Us if the buildings & Intended Fortifications of this place are not So speedily finnished as your Hon:rs Expect To the 64 Par:a We must Say yo:r Hon:rs have been Misinformed by those who Alleadged the Goat Pound Cost two hundr:d florins and one of Forty Pounds would do We have Al =ready taken up too much of your time in informing you how dear all Sorts of building work is here We are assured that if those who gave that Notice were Obliged to do Such a Piece of Work for 200 they would loose one hundr:d by it, there is a Square pound Enclosed with a Wall ten foot high from the bottom So large as to Containe 800 or 900 Goats and your Hon:rs have above 600 now to pound in it there is Adjoyning to it a Large Slaughter House with Conveniencies for killing the Cattle for the Ships and the whole is Enclosed with another wall from Rocks and all that part of the Valley Cleared and made Levell So that We have had 50 men at a time and wrought hard too, to break away the Rocks which We Recko no | The Council closed the point by asking the Court no longer to hold it against the administration that the buildings and the planned fortifications had not been finished as quickly as the Court wished. 55: Turning to the Court's 64th paragraph, the Council answered that the Court had been misled by those who claimed the Goat Pound had cost £200 0s 0d when one built for £40 0s 0d would have served. The Council judged it had already spent too much of the Court's time explaining how expensive every kind of building was on the island. It was satisfied that anyone obliged to carry out such a piece of work for £200 0s 0d would lose £100 0s 0d on the bargain. The enclosure was a square ground walled to a height of ten foot from the bottom, large enough to hold 800 or 900 goats, and the Court already had above 600 to put in it. A large slaughterhouse adjoined it, fitted out for killing the cattle supplied to the ships. The whole was further enclosed by a second wall built from rock, with that part of the valley cleared and levelled. The Council reported that 50 men at a time had laboured hard at the task, breaking away the rocks. Interpretations The dispute over the Goat Pound's cost belonged to the broader charge of extravagance and projects that the Council answered by the Duke of Cambridge on 3 November 1718, the Court having relied on an unnamed informer whose figures the Council set out to discredit. The defence turned on the island's exceptional building costs, a theme the Council had pressed repeatedly through the same reply. The Goat Pound itself served the cattle and provisioning system that supplied passing ships, the adjoining slaughterhouse linking the enclosure directly to the victualling of homeward shipping. The double wall and the levelling of the valley marked it as a substantial public work rather than the trifling structure the informer had implied. The Council's claim that a contractor would lose £100 0s 0d on a £200 0s 0d price set out the gap between London estimates and island realities. The figure functioned as evidence that distant valuations could not be trusted against the true cost of labour and materials on the spot. Speculations The detailed accounting of the wall's height, the goat capacity and the second rock enclosure answered the informer's specific charge with specific physical fact. The Council chose to describe the completed work in measurable terms precisely because a bare denial would not have countered a precise allegation of waste. The deployment of 50 men at a time to break away the rocks reflects a calculated use of the new slave supply on a single concentrated task. The Council pointed to this heavy effort to show that the cost lay in the rock-breaking and clearance, not in any extravagance of design. | ||
163 | other way to bestow but by Pileing them up in long even Rows which make the outward Wall, the Use of this all the Capt:s that kill Beef here can Acquaint you w:th for driveing them down to kill them in the valley has done a great deal of hurt and the Cattle are Often made wild by being brought into the town and have often broke loose & ran up the hills to Dangrous places where they have Some times been Obliged to shoot them and So they have been Misserably bruised by falling down and when they are So healed in killing their Flesh will not take Salt well nor will not keep at Sea And when the Goats have been Pounded in the town by the other Govern:rs they never could gett a Stock nor never had above 300 before because many of their kidds Used to be Lost & Stolen and the Old Goats too Some times and then the Goats Useing always to make to the hills the nearest way in their Runing Used to throw down Stones by which at Severall times three men have been killed and many hurt but as to making a Goat Pound for forty Pounds | The Council explained that the broken rock had nowhere else to go, so it was piled up in even rows to form the outer wall. Any captain who had killed beef on the island could confirm the value of the arrangement. Driving the cattle down to be slaughtered in the valley had caused a great deal of trouble. The beasts were often made wild by being brought into the town, and they frequently broke loose and ran up the hills into dangerous places, where the men were sometimes forced to shoot them. Cattle that fell were badly bruised, and once they were injured in that way their flesh would not take salt properly, nor keep at sea. The Council added that when the earlier governors had penned the goats in the town, they could never build up a stock, never holding above 300 at a time. Many of the kids were lost or stolen, and some of the old goats as well. The goats always made for the hills by the shortest route, and as they ran they threw down stones. At various times three men had been killed by this, and many more hurt. As to building a goat pound for £40 0s 0d [...]. Interpretations The siting of the slaughterhouse and goat pound away from the town answered a practical defect in the victualling of homeward shipping, bruised meat being unfit to salt or keep at sea. The Council tied the whole expense to the quality of the beef supplied to ships, the same provisioning system the adjoining slaughterhouse was built to serve. The earlier governors' failure to hold above 300 goats in the town set the present stock of above 600 against a record of loss and theft. The contrast measured the new enclosure's value in terms the Court could weigh against the disputed cost. The deaths of three men struck by stones loosened by the running goats supplied a concrete justification for moving the herds out of the town. The hazard linked the new pound directly to the safety of the people, not merely to the convenience of management. Speculations The Council's appeal to any captain who had killed beef on the island answered the cost charge with testimony the Court could independently verify. By pointing to witnesses outside the administration, the Council met the unnamed informer's figures with evidence the Court could check for itself. The decision to build the outer wall from the broken rock turned an unavoidable by-product of the clearance into a structural saving. The Council described the piling of the rock in rows to show that the heavy labour served two purposes at once, answering the suggestion that the expense had bought a single trifling enclosure. | ||
164 | We can assure you that any where where abouts twould Cost a great deal more to Clear the Grounds tho: nothing were built thereon, The Govern:r thanks yo:r Hon:rs for the favourable Opinion you have of those Smaller matters Mentioned in yo:r 64 Par:a and We can and do assure you that he is Always Active & Industhious in all your Affaires and Spends his whole time about them And We are Assured your Hon:rs know it takes up as much time to Overlook fifty or Sixty men as it would do to overlook a hundr:d and that tis three times the trouble to Instruct people not Used to any Particular Work whatt it is to Direct or Order those who are Perfect in their Business and that is our present Case Fifthly touching the Civil Govern: =ment of the Island or y:e Productions thereof in Gener:r & what Concerns many of the Inhabitants Your Hon:rs are pleased to shew great kindness to Us in your 66 Par:a wherein you Express your Satisfaction to hear the Island is So well recovered from the great drouth | The Council assured the Court that clearing the ground anywhere in that area would have cost a great deal more, even if nothing at all had been built on it. The Governor thanked the Court for the favourable opinion it had expressed of the smaller matters mentioned in its 64th paragraph. The Council confirmed that the Governor was always active and diligent in all the Court's affairs and gave his whole time to them. It pointed out that overseeing fifty or sixty men took as much time as overseeing a hundred. Instructing people unused to a particular task gave three times the trouble of directing those already skilled in their business, and that was exactly the administration's present situation. The Council turned next to the fifth head, the civil government of the island, its produce in general and the matters touching the inhabitants. 56: The Court had shown great kindness in its 66th paragraph, where it expressed its satisfaction at hearing the island had recovered so well from the great drought. Interpretations The complaint that unskilled people gave three times the trouble of trained hands restated the labour constraint that ran through the whole reply, the want of skilled men having forced the staged deployment the Council defended on 3 November 1718. The remark tied the cost of every work to the quality of the available labour rather than to any fault of management. The fifth head, the civil government of the island, opened the final division of the Court's letter, the reply having proceeded under the Court's own heads from shipping through fortifications to civil government. The transition marked the point at which the Council moved from defending its works to answering for the inhabitants and the island's produce. Speculations The Council's observation that fifty or sixty men cost as much oversight as a hundred answered the charge of slow progress by locating the burden in supervision rather than numbers. By stressing the time absorbed in directing unskilled labour, the Council explained why the available force could not be pushed faster, turning a defect of the workforce into a defence of the Governor's diligence. | ||
165 | We were in hopes We Should have Enjoyed a long Season of Plenty after all that dearth but it has pleased God to shew Us that nothing is more Unconstant than what We call happyness & good fortune if your Hon:rs please to look over our Consultation of the 17 June 1718 You'l find an Account of things that were feared would prove of Most Un= =happy Consequence to Us hard Gales & Unusuall winds Such as formerly were fore= =runners of the Destruction of our fruit Trees and has begun a Mortality among Us In our 5 Par:d of our last by the Cardigan We Sent an Account of thirty Dead besides Blacks Since then We have lost Divers others which has tended to make our People Melancholy and Apprehensive & So that Notwithstanding all our Decrease We have had but One Wedding these fourteen Months As to our planting of Wood We Shall not Neglect a thing of that Consequence and have had Such Success therein as will Encourage Us to proceed in that work if yo:r Hon:rs please to Overlook our Consultation of the 26 Aug:t 1718 You'l find that We | The Council had hoped to enjoy a long spell of plenty after all the recent dearth. Events had instead shown that nothing is more uncertain than what people call happiness and good fortune. The Council directed the Court to its consultation of 17 June 1718, which set out matters feared to be of the most unhappy consequence. Hard gales and unusual winds had returned, the same that had earlier preceded the destruction of the island's fruit trees, and a mortality had begun among the people. In its fifth paragraph by the Cardigan, the Council had reported thirty deaths, besides slaves. Since then several more had died, which had left the people melancholy and fearful. Despite all this loss, only one wedding had taken place in fourteen months. 57: As to the planting of wood, the Council promised to neglect nothing of such importance. It had met with enough success to encourage it to carry the work forward. The Council referred the Court to its consultation of 26 August 1718. Interpretations The mortality reported here belonged to the epidemic of 1718, a drought-year sickness that carried off thirty of the white people named in the roll of 10 July 1718, with further deaths following. The Council tied the loss to the same hard gales and unusual winds that had earlier destroyed the island's fruit trees, presenting the sickness as one episode in a recurring environmental pattern. The single wedding in fourteen months measured the demographic damage in a form the Court could grasp at once. Set against the deaths, the figure showed a population failing to renew itself, the want of replacements lying behind the Council's repeated plea for a rotation scheme and fresh supply. The wood-planting programme answered the Court's standing concern with the island's deforestation, the replanting law of Governor Roberts having long been judged the most necessary law at the island but left unenforced for want of hands. The Council's promise of success marked a revival of a policy stalled in earlier years. Speculations The Council's appeal to its own dated consultations of 17 June and 26 August 1718 answered the Court by pointing to a contemporaneous record rather than to retrospective assertion. By grounding both the mortality and the wood-planting in minutes already entered, the Council met the charge of misinformation with evidence fixed at the time the events occurred. The decision to set the single wedding directly against the season's deaths reflects a calculated appeal to the Court's interest in a self-sustaining settlement. The Council chose a stark demographic contrast to justify its case for a steady supply of men, knowing the island could not replace its losses from within. | ||
166 | Enlarged the Garden at the Plantation House by planting 4835 trees therein besides 6000 Cabbages which are not there Men= =tioned and most of these have thriven and do Grow We have Also planted Severall Thousands of Gumwood Trees and Shall by our Example which is the best Precept (because the People here believe the good Consequences of nothing till they See it) Encourage them all We can to plant their Lands with Wood likewise for We are now in a maner assured that the Cutting down of the Wood is the Destruction of the Land And We believe the Gentlemen in the Present Ships if Enquired of can give Your Hon:rs Account that Notwithstanding all the Bliteing Winds before mentioned We have as good fruit now in the Garden below as formerly and in two years more there will be as many, We have gathered Severall Lemons here from Trees planted but three years Since that are 12 13 & 14 Inches each Lemon ab:t and Question not but that your Hon:rs Fort Yards will be as Remarkeable | The Council reported that it had enlarged the garden at the plantation house by planting 4,835 trees there, besides 6,000 cabbages not previously mentioned. Most of these had thriven and were growing. The Council had also planted several thousand gumwood trees. It promised to encourage everyone it could to plant their own land with wood by its own example, which it judged the best lesson, since the island's people believed in the good results of nothing until they saw them. The Council was now in a manner satisfied that cutting down the wood was what destroyed the land. 58: The Council believed the gentlemen aboard the present ships could confirm, if the Court asked them, that despite all the blighting winds already mentioned the garden now bore as good fruit as before. In two more years there would be as much again. The Council had gathered several lemons from trees planted only three years earlier, each measuring 12, 13 or 14 inches around. It had no doubt that the Court's orchards would in time prove as remarkable. Interpretations The link the Council drew between felling timber and the ruin of the land set out an early environmental diagnosis that tied deforestation to soil loss and blighted fruit. The same reasoning had shaped the replanting law of Governor Roberts, judged the most necessary law at the island and pressed again here through the planting of gumwood and the example held out to the planters. The gumwood was an endemic island timber, the chief native tree of St Helena, whose large-scale planting marked a deliberate attempt to restore a cover stripped by years of cutting. Its use distinguished the programme from the imported seeds and plants the Council sought for dry ground, drawing instead on a species already suited to the place. The Council's offer of the gentlemen aboard the present ships as witnesses rested on the practice of using passing Company servants as independent observers, much as Mr Scattergood had been shown the slave establishment and offered to the Court as a witness to the want of more slaves. Outside testimony lent the Council's claims a weight its own report could not carry alone. Speculations The Council's reliance on its own example to persuade the planters answered a specific obstacle, the islanders' refusal to believe in any benefit before they saw it. By planting visibly and successfully itself, the Council chose demonstration over instruction, having found that the replanting law alone moved no one while hands were short. The precise measurement of the lemons, each 12, 13 or 14 inches around, turned the garden's recovery into verifiable fact set against the season's blighting winds. The Council reached for an exact figure to show that the fruit trees were not merely surviving but flourishing, countering its own account of environmental damage with concrete proof of revival. | ||
167 | here for fine fruit as ever but this has not been done without Such vast Labour as is Scarce to be Credited by one who is a Stranger to it and therefore it Shall not be repeated As to the 67 Par:a about fencing in of the Lands We have begun with your Hon:rs Lands Some We do our selves but the Most part We hire and please to Pardon Us in this w:ch We think to be as much or more for yo:r Hon:rs Interest as to do it all our selves for the following Reasons We have Acquainted your Hon:rs in a foregoing Part of this Letter that you have now growing in your Severall Plantations 1230000 Yamms w:ch We could not plant and leave the Land Unfenced for then they would have Come to nothing and therfore We hired all those Planters who were willing to do Such work while We planted the Yams within those fences and if We had Sett to making good the fences first the plantations would not yet been begun and they must be So planted as to be twenty months at least in the Ground before they can be Usefull to Us and as Soon as all your Hon:rs Land is fenced in We Shall look about to See that the | The Council assured the Court that the island would in time bear fruit as fine as anywhere, but stressed that this had been achieved only through enormous labour, scarcely to be believed by anyone unfamiliar with the place. 59: Turning to the Court's 67th paragraph, on fencing in the lands, the Council reported that it had begun the work on the Court's grounds. Some of it the administration did itself, but most was hired out, and the Council asked the Court's pardon for this. It judged the arrangement as much in the Court's interest as doing it all in-house, for the following reasons. The Council had already mentioned that 1,230,000 yams were growing on the various plantations. These could not be planted while the land lay unfenced, since the crop would otherwise come to nothing. The Council had therefore hired every planter willing to take on fencing while its own people planted the yams within the enclosures. Had it set about completing the fences first, the plantations would not yet have been begun. The yams had to stand at least twenty months in the ground before they were fit for use. As soon as all the Court's land was fenced in, the Council would look to see [...]. Interpretations The decision to hire planters for fencing while the Council's own people planted the yams set out a deliberate division of labour answering the Court's 67th paragraph. By contracting out the enclosure, the Council kept its trained hands on the crop itself, treating the twenty-month maturing period as the constraint that fixed the order of work. The figure of 1,230,000 yams growing measured the scale of the planting that the fencing was meant to protect, the crop standing worthless until enclosed against the island's loose stock. The Council linked the expense of hired fencing directly to the value of the yams it secured, justifying the outlay by the harvest at risk. The twenty-month maturing period for yams governed the whole sequencing of plantation labour, a yam planted in September reaching maturity only twenty months later. The Council pointed to this fixed natural delay to explain why planting could not wait on the fences, the lost time being unrecoverable once a season passed. Speculations The Council's choice to hire planters rather than complete the fencing with its own force answered the risk that delay would forfeit a whole planting season. By spending on contract labour for the enclosures, the Council protected the more valuable work of getting the yams into the ground within their narrow planting window. The Council's request for the Court's pardon over the hired fencing reflects an awareness that contracting out work might be read as extravagance by a board already charging it with projects. The Council pre-empted the criticism by setting out the economic logic, framing the hire as a saving of the crop rather than an unnecessary charge. | ||
168 | People do the Same for themselves As to your Hon:rs 68 Par:a of encouraging all Industhious People We hope your Hon:rs will look on the foregoing to be Some Sort of a Proof that We have done So and that We have been along time in the Same mind & Used the Same endeavours please to See our Advertizem:t Publishd on the 21 May 1717 about Under= =takeing to do fencing Work And as to our Imparshall Distribution of Justice among Your People here Your Hon:rs who Understand those things Perfectly well are the best Judges and tis to your Judgm:t therefore that We Referr our selves and have in all our Consul =tations and Publick Courts Entered Exact Accounts of our Proceedings We cannot Always Expect that both Parties Should be fully Contented with our Determinations Yet as We have Always Aimed at Doing right So We have very often Satisfied both Sides and Yet our People are Usually a little too much inclined to be Contentious and for a further Proof of our good Endeavours here =in be pleased to lett Us referr Your Hon:rs to our Consultations of the 25 July 1718 | The Council expected the island's people to begin fencing their own land in the same way. 60: Turning to the Court's 68th paragraph, on encouraging all industrious people, the Council hoped the Court would take what had gone before as some proof that it had done exactly that. It had held to the same purpose throughout and used the same efforts. The Council directed the Court to its advertisement published on 21 May 1717, concerning the undertaking of fencing work. As to the impartial administration of justice among the Court's people, the Council acknowledged that the Court, understanding such matters perfectly, was the best judge. It was to the Court's judgement, therefore, that the Council submitted itself. It had entered exact records of its proceedings in all its consultations and public courts. The Council conceded that it could not always expect both parties to a dispute to be fully content with its decisions. Yet since it had always aimed at doing right, it had very often satisfied both sides. The island's people, however, were generally a little too inclined to quarrel. As further proof of its good efforts, the Council referred the Court to its consultations of 25 July 1718. Interpretations The Council's insistence that it had entered exact records in all its consultations and public courts answered the charge of misinformation by pointing to a complete documentary trail. The same defence ran through the whole reply of 3 November 1718, the Council resting its case throughout on dated minutes against an unnamed informer. A full written record served as the institutional safeguard against accusations the Council could not otherwise rebut. The administration of justice among the inhabitants formed part of the civil government head under which this section of the reply proceeded. The Council's submission to the Court as the ultimate judge marked the limit of its own judicial authority, the island bench answerable to London for the fairness of its decisions. The advertisement of 21 May 1717 functioned as a public instrument by which the Council opened fencing work to the planters on published terms. Such a notice fixed the offer in a form the Court could inspect, turning a labour arrangement into evidence of the encouragement the Court had called for. Speculations The Council's concession that the islanders were too inclined to quarrel pre-empted the complaints of dissatisfied parties reaching the Court behind its back. By characterising the people as litigious, the Council framed any grievance laid against its justice as the predictable resentment of a losing party rather than evidence of partial dealing. The repeated reference to specific dated consultations reflects a deliberate strategy of meeting a faceless accusation with a fixed and checkable record. The Council could not confront an informer it could not name, so it directed the Court instead to minutes entered at the time, inviting verification it knew the charges could not survive. | ||
169 | Compared w:th that of the 5 Aug:t next following wherein a troublesome Dispute between Will:m Beale & Thom:s Swallow was tho: not without abundance of Arguements and much trouble Decided As to Doc:r Thomlinson the Governour knows too well the trouble that Attends dis= =puting with any that have the Priviledge of Wearing a Parsons Gowne and therefore he always endeavours to avoid it for if any of them think they meet w:th the least Slight or disappointm:t they Cry out Presently for the help of their Tribe and their Sacred Func= =tion as they call it or their Church must be in Danger from every thing w:ch Crosses their Covetous or Ambitious Humours, and for that reason the Govern:r Sayes he never cares to have too much to do w:th the Parsons some of them are good Men while in a Pulpitt who are but Indifferent out of it But as to any Dispute or difference w:th our Parson now None of Us all do know of any and We thought We had been all good friends a bove a year and a half ago We are Sure We ought to be Counted So by him Especially | The Council compared its consultation with that of 5 August following, in which a troublesome dispute between William Beale and Thomas Swallow was settled, though only after a great many arguments and much difficulty. 61: As to Doctor Tomlinson, the Governor knew too well the trouble that came of disputing with anyone entitled to wear a parson's gown, and so he always tried to avoid it. If any such men thought they met with the least slight or disappointment, they cried out at once for the help of their order and their sacred function, as they called it. By their account the church stood in danger from anything that crossed their covetous or ambitious tempers. For that reason the Governor said he never cared to have much to do with the parsons. Some of them were good men in the pulpit who were only indifferent out of it. As to any dispute with the present parson, none of the Council knew of any. The Council had thought everyone had been on good terms for above a year and a half, and was sure it ought to be counted a friend by him, especially [...]. Interpretations The reference to Doctor Tomlinson touches the informer controversy that ran through the reply of 3 November 1718, the suspected channel of misinformation having resolved into the parson, never charged yet guilty by his own mention, whose boarding house filled with the homeward gentlemen each season. The Governor's professed reluctance to quarrel with clergy reads as a calculated answer to a man the Council privately held responsible for the charges against it. The privilege of the parson's gown describes the clerical immunity by which a minister could invoke his office and his order against any opponent. The Council set out this protection to explain why disputes with clergy were so dangerous, the appeal to a sacred function placing the parson beyond the ordinary reach of the island's authority. The dispute between William Beale and Thomas Swallow exemplified the contentious character the Council had just attributed to the inhabitants. Its settlement, reached only after much argument, served as a worked instance of the impartial justice the Council claimed to administer under the civil government head. Speculations The Governor's claim never to care for much dealing with the parsons answered the suspicion that he was at odds with the present minister. By framing his distance from clergy as a general caution rather than a particular quarrel, the Governor pre-empted any report that a personal feud lay behind the charges reaching the Court. The Council's insistence that all had been friends for above a year and a half reflects an attempt to date its supposed harmony with the parson precisely. By fixing a period of good relations, the Council countered the implication that it had provoked the informer, presenting itself as the injured party in a breach it had not sought. | ||
170 | for all that he desired of Us is done & his Accounts are made up by his own Brother And We hope he is not Angry with Us now because We could not agree to Some of his Proposalls two years agoe but if he be angry still We are but in Unhappy Cir= =cumstances because We doubt when your Hon:rs come to know all We have done to Oblige him We fear you'l think it a little too much However because We would not leave any room for a Complaint either against the Govern:r or our selves on his Account We do at his request and in his own words desire your Hon:rs Consideration of the Eleven following lines it being a Copy of one of the Chaplains Letters to Coo:r Pyke Wherein he Sayes "Worsh:l S:r I am informed "that other Ministers have had a House Allowed "them & desire you would please to Write to the "Hon:l Comp:y to buy the house I live in for a Par =sonage house or that they would allow y:e whole "Rent for the time I have lived in it or Shall live "in it w:ch if their Hon:rs please to grant will I "hope prevent any Unhappiness in that respect | The Council added that everything the parson had asked of it was done, and that his accounts were made up by his own brother. It hoped he was not angry now over its refusal of some of his proposals two years earlier. Even if he remained angry, the Council found itself in an awkward position, fearing that once the Court learned everything it had done to oblige him, the Court might think it a little too much. 62: The Council was determined to leave no room for any complaint against the Governor or itself on the parson's account. At the parson's own request, and in his own words, it therefore asked the Court to consider the eleven lines that followed, being a copy of one of the chaplain's letters to Governor Pyke. In that letter the chaplain stated that he was informed other ministers had been allowed a house. He asked the Council to write to the Court to buy the house he lived in as a parsonage house, or else to pay him the whole rent for the time he had lived in it, or should live in it. Whatever the Court chose to grant, he hoped, would prevent any unpleasantness on that score. Interpretations The chaplain's letter to Governor Pyke belongs to the informer controversy of the reply of 3 November 1718, the parson standing as the suspected pen behind the charges, never formally accused yet exposed by his own words. By entering a copy of his demand into the record, the Council turned the chaplain's own letter into evidence of the grievances it suspected lay behind the misinformation sent home. The chaplain's claim that other ministers had been allowed a house set out the precedent on which he based his demand for a parsonage. The request for either purchase of the house or payment of rent framed a financial obligation the Council was being pressed to recommend to the Court, a charge it plainly resisted. The fact that the parson's accounts were made up by his own brother identifies Joseph Tomlinson, the writer in the stores and brother to the chaplain, whose handling of those accounts gave the clergyman a direct interest in the administration's bookkeeping. The family connection bore on the Council's careful management of a man it could not afford to provoke. Speculations The Council's decision to enter the chaplain's demand in his own words answered a precise danger, that the parson would otherwise represent its refusal to the Court as harsh dealing. By reproducing the letter exactly, the Council let the chaplain's own request testify to the reasonableness of what had been granted, forestalling any later distortion. The Council's fear that the Court might think it had done too much to oblige the parson reflects a calculated positioning between two risks. It needed to show the Court it had not stinted the clergyman, while signalling that his continuing demands were unreasonable, protecting itself whether the charges came from the parson or from the Court's own suspicion of indulgence. | ||
171 | "to my self or Successors for five pound p:r ann:m I "think is too little rent for a house fitt for a "Minister to live in Jam:to Respects S:r Your "Most Humble Servant Joshua Thomlinson And if buying the house would do w:ch is Certainly a very good one & Convenient for the Parson being next the Church We should be Glad to have him So quieted As to the Govern:rs Stock of Cattle it is all mentioned in our Consultation of the 14 Oct:r wherein We do not doubt but you'l be Entirely Satisfyed, As to a Black Gardener of the Govern:rs there is one Vallued at Eighty Pounds but Yet the Govern:r never had but Eighteen pence p:r day for him tho: he Cost & is worth the Price of three other Blacks and without that man We cannot doe for there is no other Gardener and he is a very good one We wish We had three or four Such there are two that he is teaching of who in time may be as good as he We are very glad that what We Say here =in as an Answer to your Hon:rs 68 Par:a is Addressed to those who So well know the Peoples Tempers here and who have Soe | The chaplain closed his letter by stating that £5 0s 0d a year struck him as too little rent for a house fit for a minister to live in, and signed himself, with his respects, the Court's most humble servant, Joshua Tomlinson. 63: The Council added that if buying the house would answer the purpose, it was certainly a very good one and conveniently placed for the parson, standing next to the church. It would be glad to have him satisfied on the point. 64: As to the Governor's stock of cattle, the Council referred the Court to its consultation of 14 October, where the matter was fully set out, and had no doubt the Court would be entirely satisfied. As to the Governor's black gardener, there was one valued at £80 0s 0d, yet the Governor had never charged more than eighteen pence a day for him, though he cost and was worth the price of three other slaves. The administration could not do without the man, there being no other gardener, and he was a very good one. The Council wished it had three or four like him. Two others were being taught by him who might in time prove as good. 65: The Council was very glad that what it said here in answer to the Court's 68th paragraph was addressed to those who knew the people's tempers so well, and who had so often [...]. Interpretations The black gardener valued at £80 0s 0d set a single skilled slave at the price of three ordinary ones, the Governor charging only eighteen pence a day for him against that worth. The Council pointed to the gap between the man's value and the modest daily charge to show that the Court drew the benefit of a costly slave at a fraction of its real worth. The training of two others under the skilled gardener answered the island's chronic shortage of skilled hands by raising replacements from within. The arrangement matched the apprenticeship of the boy John Beal to the carpenter and the teaching of Old Will's carpentry to Jack Greivre, the Council propagating scarce skills it could not import. The chaplain's signature as Joshua Tomlinson fixes the author of the parsonage demand, the brother of Joseph Tomlinson the writer in the stores. The named letter, entered in full, completed the documentary evidence by which the Council answered for its dealings with the clergyman it suspected of the charges against it. Speculations The Council's care to value the gardener and then note the low daily charge answered any suspicion that the Governor profited from the Court's slaves. By setting the man's worth against the small sum charged, the Council presented the Governor as serving the Court's interest rather than his own, a pointed reply within a letter defending him against an informer. The decision to record the chaplain's exact words on the rent reflects the same strategy applied throughout the parsonage matter. The Council let Joshua Tomlinson state his own dissatisfaction with £5 0s 0d a year, ensuring that the Court judged the demand from the clergyman's own pen rather than from the administration's account of it. | ||
172 | often found them to be quarrelsome litigious and Discontented and that they are Most of them Never long Satisfyed w:th any Govern:r Unless they can ride him (nor then Neither) yet We resolve to give them no Occasion to be Discontented and have lett Some of them know that if they have a mind to goe home upon any Private Account they shall not be hindred in case they first pay their debts but Notwith =standing Some of their Complaints to yo:r Hon:rs at home We assure you they Pretend to be Satisfyed here and if We knew any that on Just grounds were not So We would do all in our Powers to make them Easey As to your Hon:rs 69 Par:a We Shall always own M:r Powell to be an Indushious man We do not desire to reproach any body but would rather Commend and therefore We have Mentioned in a word how farr he is praise Worthy We think he is very Easey at Present and Should be Glad to have him keep So and We are So farr from the Exerting our Power to an abuse that We Should think our selves much happyer if there never were Occasion to use it As to M:r | The Court had so often found the island's people quarrelsome, litigious and discontented, and most of them never long satisfied with any governor unless they could rule him, and not even then. Despite this, the Council was resolved to give them no cause for complaint. It had let some of them know that if they wished to go home on any private business, they would not be hindered, provided they first paid their debts. The Council acknowledged that some of these people had complained to the Court at home, while pretending to be satisfied on the island. It assured the Court that if it knew of any who had real grounds for grievance, it would do everything in its power to put matters right. 66: As to the Court's 69th paragraph, the Council would always acknowledge Mr Powell to be an industrious man. It had no wish to reproach anyone, preferring to commend, and had therefore stated in a word how far he deserved praise. The Council thought him very quiet at present and would be glad to have him remain so. It was so far from straining its authority into any abuse that it would count itself much happier if there were never any occasion to use it. As to Mr Powell [...]. Interpretations The condition that departing inhabitants first pay their debts before going home set out a standing control on movement off the island, the same requirement that had governed earlier cases of soldiers and servants seeking passage. Debt settlement functioned as the lever by which the administration held people to their obligations, releasing them only once the Court's books were cleared. Mr Powell was Gabriel Powell, the wealthiest planter on the island, reputed worth 5,000 and holding about 300 acres with 28 slaves, whose understorehouse arrack trade and designs on the Court's plantations the Council had exposed at length in its reply to the Court's letter of 14 March 1716. The Council's guarded praise of him here reads against that earlier record, a careful acknowledgement of a man it had long treated as an adversary. The admission that people pretended satisfaction on the island while complaining to the Court at home identified the precise mechanism behind the informer controversy of the reply of 3 November 1718. Concealed grievance carried to London formed the channel the Council most feared, the charges against it having come through somebody unknown who professed contentment to its face. Speculations The Council's measured commendation of Powell answered a specific risk, that any harsh word against so wealthy and connected a planter would itself be carried to the Court as evidence of oppression. By praising him as industrious while noting only that he was quiet at present, the Council guarded against giving Powell fresh material for complaint. The Council's profession that it would be happier never to use its authority at all reflects a calculated humility before a board weighing charges of high-handed government. By presenting restraint as its preference, the Council met the accusation of abuse not with denial but with a claimed reluctance to exercise power, shaping its defence to a Court alert to overbearing rule. | ||
173 | Powells Slaves he has Severall more now tho: not Charged in the Yearly Account because at the request of Some of them We did not take the Acc:t till after they have been a year on the Island as will Appear by our Consultation dated March the 19 1717 As to buying of M:r Powell Sometimes when our Stock is as large as his be pleased to Consider that our family is much larger and if your Hon:rs were Exactly Acquainted with his Near way of living We are well Assured you would not desir to have any of your Servants live Soe We shall Always endeavour all We can to Prevent the lessening of the Number of families here and shall do all that Possibly We can to make the Militia Usefull and in all these things will ever endeavour to do by your People as We would be done by And as our Chief Business here is to preserve the Publick Peace of the place to Order matters So that yo:r Shiping may Always find Refreshm:t and be incouraged not to Miss the Island We shall make that our Chief Study & Endeavour to Order Matters So that We may be no | The Council noted that Mr Powell owned several more slaves than appeared in the yearly account. At the request of some of them, the administration had not entered them until they had been a year on the island, as its consultation dated 19 March would show. On the matter of buying from Mr Powell when the Council's own stock was as large as his, it asked the Court to remember that its establishment was much larger. The Council was satisfied that if the Court knew exactly how meanly Powell lived, it would not wish any of its servants to live in that way. 67: The Council promised always to do everything it could to prevent any fall in the number of families on the island. It would do all it possibly could to keep the militia effective, and in all such matters would treat the Court's people as it would wish to be treated itself. Its chief task on the island was to preserve the public peace, so that the Court's shipping might always find refreshment and be encouraged not to miss the island. The Council would make this its principal study and effort, ordering matters so that it should bring no discredit [...]. Interpretations The withholding of Powell's slaves from the yearly account until they had spent a year on the island reflects the standing practice of seasoning new arrivals before counting them, fresh slaves commonly dying in their first two years. The delayed entry matched the Council's wider concern with mortality among unseasoned people, the count deferred until survival was reasonably assured. The Council's stated duty to preserve the public peace so that shipping might find refreshment set out St Helena's core institutional purpose as a victualling station on the homeward route. The whole defence of its government turned on this function, the island's value to the Court lying in its service to passing ships rather than in any produce of its own. The pledge to keep the militia effective and to prevent any fall in the number of families linked the island's defence directly to its settled population. The Council had earlier proposed restraining land purchase by under-armed planters to preserve the militia, the same anxiety to maintain a body of armed settlers underlying this promise. Speculations The Council's appeal to Powell's mean way of living answered the Court's apparent interest in buying from him by suggesting his wealth came from a meanness no Company servant should imitate. By contrasting his hoarding with the larger establishment the Council had to maintain, it framed its own higher costs as proper rather than wasteful. The Council's framing of public peace as the precondition for shipping's refreshment reflects a calculated alignment of its government with the Court's commercial interest. By tying internal order to the island's usefulness to homeward vessels, the Council presented its handling of the quarrelsome inhabitants not as a local difficulty but as a matter bearing directly on the Court's trade. | ||
174 | Discreditt to those who have the Hon:rs Us with this Employment As to your Hon:rs 71 Par:a Sometime after John Long had had that Land his wife disliking Some of those Articles he came and Surrendred his lease and threw up the Land Yet Since then Some others have desired Us to grant them those very Terms that Jn:o Long So refused as may be Seen by our Consultation of the 10 Dec:r 1717 We are glad to find our Endeavours to prevent the Prophanation of the Lords day are Acceptable to your Hon:rs and hope that as Soon as Some of these Murmuring People have left off their Unreasonable Com= =plaints that the Rest of our Endeavours may meet with the Same favourable Approbation We acquaint your Hon:rs that one W:m Huff a Fidler was Privately Carried off the Island in the Cardigan the Circumstances whereof are Mentioned in our Consultation of the 17 July 1718 We have been Obliged on Sundry Occasi= =ons to draw the following Bills of Exchange on your Hon:rs and beg your | The Council closed the point by promising to bring no discredit on those who had entrusted it with this office. 68: Turning to the Court's 71st paragraph, the Council reported that some time after John Long had taken that land, his wife disliking some of the terms, he came and surrendered his lease and gave up the ground. Since then others had asked the Council to grant them the very terms John Long had refused, as its consultation of 10 December 1717 would show. 69: The Council was glad to find its efforts to prevent the profanation of the Lord's day acceptable to the Court. It hoped that once some of these grumbling people had given up their unreasonable complaints, the rest of its efforts might meet with the same favourable approval. 70: The Council informed the Court that one William Huff, a fiddler, had been secretly carried off the island in the Cardigan, the circumstances being set out in its consultation of 1 July 1718. 71: The Council reported that it had been obliged on various occasions to draw the following bills of exchange on the Court, and asked the Court's acceptance of them. Interpretations John Long's surrender of his lease over his wife's objection to the terms exposed the standing conditions attached to the Court's land grants, conditions stiff enough to be refused. That others later sought the very terms Long had rejected showed the demand for land outrunning resistance to its burdens, the Council citing its consultation of 10 December 1717 as the record. The profanation of the Lord's day touches the Council's earlier charge against Gabriel Powell, who was said to drive his slaves to hard labour on Sunday and the rest of the week alike. The Court's concern with Sabbath observance bore directly on the regulation of slave labour, the moral question and the labour question bound together. The secret removal of William Huff the fiddler in the Cardigan repeats a recurring pattern of people spirited off the island, recalling the earlier loss of James Young the fiddler carried off by Bouchier with a debt at the stores. Unauthorised departures defeated the debt control the Council relied on, each escape a breach in the system that held people to their obligations. Speculations The Council's report of Huff's secret departure answered its own accountability for people leaving the island without clearing their debts. By recording the circumstances in a dated consultation and naming the ship, the Council documented that the removal was clandestine, shifting responsibility from itself to those who carried him off. The decision to record that others now sought Long's rejected terms served to defend the Court's land conditions against the implication that they were unreasonable. By showing the same terms in demand once Long had gone, the Council presented his wife's objection as particular obstinacy rather than evidence of a grant no one would accept. | ||
175 | Acceptance To Gov:r Pyke (or Order) three Bills of Exchange for the Sume of One hundred Pounds Sterl: To ditto (or Order) three Bills more for the Sume of 53 6 both dated the 31 Oct:r 1718 but this last is only Nominal To Capt: Matth: Bazett (or Order) three Bills for the Sume of 40 dated y:e 3 Nov:r 1718 To Capt: Charles Warden (or Ord:r) three Bills for the Sume of 40 18 9 dated Nov:r 3 1718 To Gov:r Pyke (or Order) three Bills more for the Sume of 98 5 dated 3 Nov:r 1718 this is likewise Nominally Union Castle S:t Helena the 3:d Nov:r 1718 Of Ship D:k of Cambridge We are Hon:rd S:rs Yo:r Hon:rs Most humble & faithf:l Servants Jn:o Pyke Matth Bazett Anth:o Tovey List | The Council set out the bills of exchange drawn on the Court and asked for their acceptance. 72: To Governor Pyke, or order, three bills of exchange for the sum of £100 0s 0d. To the same, or order, three more bills for the sum of £53 6s 0d, both dated 31 October 1718, this last being only nominal. To Captain Matthew Bazett, or order, three bills for the sum of £40 0s 0d, dated 3 November 1718. To Captain Charles Warden, or order, three bills for the sum of £40 18s 9d, dated 3 November 1718. To Governor Pyke, or order, three more bills for the sum of £38 5s 0d, dated 3 November 1718, this likewise being nominal. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 3 November 1718, by the Duke of Cambridge, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey. Interpretations The bill of exchange was the standard instrument by which the island remitted sums to London without shipping coin, the Council drawing on the Court in sets of three so that duplicate copies could travel by separate vessels against loss at sea. The triplicate form was a routine safeguard of long-distance Company finance rather than three separate debts. The marking of two of the sums as nominal distinguished bills drawn for accounting purposes from those representing real value transferred, the £53 6s 0d and the £38 5s 0d standing as book entries rather than money actually owed. The distinction mattered to a Court reconciling the island's accounts against the small stock of coin in hand. The signatures of only Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett and Antipas Tovey reflect the depleted Council of late 1718, the establishment reduced by the epidemic that killed thirty of the white people and left Captain Haswell the accountant dead on 22 June 1718. The short list of signatories measured the collapse of the governing body that had drawn the reply to a close. Speculations The Council's care to label the two nominal bills answered its accountability for every draft drawn on the Court, distinguishing real charges from formal entries before the Court could question them. By flagging the nominal sums itself, the Council pre-empted any suspicion that it had drawn money it did not owe, consistent with the documentary defence running through the whole reply. The drawing of bills to Pyke alongside the serving councillors suggests the settlement of the former Governor's outstanding account as he passed out of office. The pairing of real and nominal sums in his favour points to a reckoning of what was genuinely due against what was merely carried in the books, the Council closing his affairs as it closed its answer to the Court. | ||
176 | List of the Pack:t of D:k of Cambridge Capt: Dan: Small Comd:r Nov:r 3 1718 N:o Gov:r & Coun: Gen: dated y:e 3 Nov:r 1718 Sent a part Copy of Gov:r & Coun: Gen: dated y:e 10 July 1718 of Ship Cardigan Duplicate of Consultations from y:e 18 March 1717 Inclusive to y:e 15 of July 1718 Exclusive Copy of Consultation from y:e 15 July 1718 Inclu to y:e 4 of Nov: follow Exclusive An Acco: of Rents & Revenues for y:e Year 1717 on S:t Helena Copy of Gen: from Fort S:t George 10 Dupl:t of that p:r Hanover brought p:r D:k of Cambridge Copy of Gen: p:r o: Bengal dated 6 Janry 1717 p:r D:k of Cambridge The Petition of M:r Du: Alexander The 2 Mate of Ship Hesters Receipt for 13 Pieces of Timber Ship D:k of Cambridge Acco:t Ship S:t Georges Acco:t Rec:t for the Pack:t of Cardigan Indent of Goods Wanted on S:t Helena | The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small commander, on 3 November 1718. The Governor and Council general letter, dated 3 November 1718, sent ahead separately. 1: A copy of the Governor and Council general letter, dated 10 July 1718, by the Cardigan. 2: A duplicate of the consultations from 18 March 1714 inclusive to 15 July 1718 exclusive. 3: A copy of the consultations from 15 July 1718 inclusive to 4 November following exclusive. 4: An account of rents and revenues for the year 1717 on St Helena. 5: A copy of the general letter from Fort St George, the duplicate of that by the Hannover, brought by the Duke of Cambridge. 6: A copy of the general letter to Bengal, dated 6 January 1717, by the Duke of Cambridge. 7: The petition of Mr Thomas Alexander. 8: The second mate of the Hester's receipt for 13 pieces of timber. 9: The Duke of Cambridge's account. 10: The St George's account. 11: A receipt for the packet by the Cardigan. 12: An indent of goods needed on St Helena. Interpretations The packet manifest functioned as a checklist by which the Court could verify that every enclosure named had arrived, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. Such a list protected both sender and Court, fixing exactly what was despatched so that any loss in transit could be identified. The despatch of the general letter ahead of the packet, sent separately, reflects the practice of duplicating correspondence across conveyances to guard against the loss of a single ship. The duplicate consultations spanning 18 March 1714 to November 1718 ensured the Court held a complete record even if an earlier conveyance had failed. The petition of Mr Thomas Alexander, enclosed as item 7, identifies the writer in the secretary's office against whom Frederick had earlier petitioned, his own petition now travelling home for the Court's judgement. The inclusion of personal petitions in the packet shows the Court serving as the final arbiter of disputes the island could not settle. Speculations The Council's enclosure of the full duplicate consultations answered the informer controversy by placing the entire dated record before the Court, the same documentary defence that ran through the reply of 3 November 1718. By sending the complete minutes alongside the general letter, the Council invited the Court to test the charges of misinformation against the proceedings as actually entered. The inclusion of the indent of goods and the accounts of two ships in a single packet reflects the consolidation of the season's business into one homeward despatch. The Council gathered correspondence, consultations, petitions, receipts and supply requests together so that the Duke of Cambridge carried a complete account of the island's affairs in one conveyance. | ||
177 | General Letter p:r Ship Princess Ann Capt: Nichol Luhorne Comd:r Janry 3 1718/19 Hon:rd S:rs By this Ship the Princess Ann Capt: Luhorne Comand:r We shall not trouble yo:r Hon:rs any farther than to Acquaint you with the Acc:t of Shiping which We have had of him because he dos no more than barely touch here and will Sail Tomorrow He Sailed from Mocha the 9 of June last and from Madd:r on the 14 Aug:t following he arrived here Yesterday the 29 Inst: having Sailed round the Island and came in from the Leeward which has not been done these 20 years before He reports that the Morice Capt: Peacock is gone for Persia from Bombay Since she came from Mocha because of the troubles which are at Gomberoon but Says that Capt: Dewes in the D:k of York may be Expected Home this Season And from Madd:r he tells us that the Success Capt: Graves Comand:r may be Expected every day and the Cardonnel Capt: Mawson | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Princess Ann, Captain Nicholas Luhorne commander, dated 1 January 1719. 1: The Council reported that by the Princess Ann, Captain Luhorne commander, it would not trouble the Court further than to give an account of the shipping seen from her, since she did no more than barely touch at the island and would sail the next day. 2: The ship had sailed from Mocha on 9 June last and from Madras on 14 August following. She arrived on 29 December, having sailed round the island and come in from the leeward, which had not been done these twenty years before. 3: Her commander reported that the Morice, Captain Peacock commander, had gone from Bombay to Persia since coming from Mocha, on account of the troubles at Gombroon. He said that Captain Dawes in the Duke of York might be expected home this season. 4: From Madras he reported that the Success, Captain Graves commander, might be expected any day, and the Cardonnel, Captain Mawson [...]. Interpretations The Princess Ann's approach from the leeward, unattempted for twenty years, recorded an unusual navigation worth noting because vessels normally made St Helena from windward. The Council entered the fact as shipping intelligence, the rarity of the manoeuvre marking it as a deviation from the established sailing pattern. The troubles at Gombroon that diverted the Morice to Persia reflect the instability of the Gulf port that served as the East India Company's principal outlet for Persian trade. Such disturbances at a key entrepot redirected shipping and bore on the Court's commerce, the Council passing on the report as material to the Court's wider interests. The Cardonnel under Captain Mawson recalls the vessel and master against whom the Council had earlier protested for refusing to unload within ten days, the same dispute it had pressed over the deviation fine. The reappearance of the name in the shipping report linked the current intelligence to a contested account still bearing on the Council's dealings. Speculations The Council's decision to confine the letter to shipping intelligence reflects the brief opportunity a barely touching vessel allowed. With the Princess Ann sailing the next day, the Council gathered only what could be reported at once, using a passing ship to forward news of homeward and outward vessels the Court would want to track. The relay of expected arrivals, the Duke of York, the Success and the Cardonnel, served to give the Court advance notice of ships approaching home or the island. By forwarding a commander's account of vessels still at sea, the Council extended the Court's knowledge of its scattered shipping ahead of the ships' own arrival. | ||
178 | General Letter p:r Ship Princess Ann Capt: Nichol Luhorne Comd:r Janry 3 1718/19 Hon:rd S:rs By this Ship the Princess Ann Capt: Luhorne Comand:r We shall not trouble yo:r Hon:rs any farther than to Acquaint you with the Acc:t of Shiping which We have had of him because he dos no more than barely touch here and will Sail Tomorrow He Sailed from Mocha the 9 of June last and from Madd:r on the 14 Aug:t following he arrived here Yesterday the 29 Inst: having Sailed round the Island and came in from the Leeward which has not been done these 20 years before He reports that the Morice Capt: Peacock is gone for Persia from Bombay Since she came from Mocha because of the troubles which are at Gomberoon but Says that Capt: Dewes in the D:k of York may be Expected Home this Season And from Madd:r he tells us that the Success Capt: Graves Comand:r may be Expected every day and the Cardonnel Capt: Mawson | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Princess Ann, Captain Nicholas Luhorne commander, dated 1 January 1719. 1: The Council reported that by the Princess Ann, Captain Luhorne commander, it would not trouble the Court further than to give an account of the shipping seen from her, since she did no more than barely touch at the island and would sail the next day. 2: The ship had sailed from Mocha on 9 June last and from Madras on 14 August following. She arrived on 29 December, having sailed round the island and come in from the leeward, which had not been done these twenty years before. 3: Her commander reported that the Morice, Captain Peacock commander, had gone from Bombay to Persia since coming from Mocha, on account of the troubles at Gombroon. He said that Captain Dawes in the Duke of York might be expected home this season. 4: From Madras he reported that the Success, Captain Graves commander, might be expected any day, and the Cardonnel, Captain Mawson [...]. Interpretations The Princess Ann's approach from the leeward, unattempted for twenty years, recorded an unusual navigation worth noting because vessels normally made St Helena from windward. The Council entered the fact as shipping intelligence, the rarity of the manoeuvre marking it as a deviation from the established sailing pattern. The troubles at Gombroon that diverted the Morice to Persia reflect the instability of the Gulf port that served as the East India Company's principal outlet for Persian trade. Such disturbances at a key entrepot redirected shipping and bore on the Court's commerce, the Council passing on the report as material to the Court's wider interests. The Cardonnel under Captain Mawson recalls the vessel and master against whom the Council had earlier protested for refusing to unload within ten days, the same dispute it had pressed over the deviation fine. The reappearance of the name in the shipping report linked the current intelligence to a contested account still bearing on the Council's dealings. Speculations The Council's decision to confine the letter to shipping intelligence reflects the brief opportunity a barely touching vessel allowed. With the Princess Ann sailing the next day, the Council gathered only what could be reported at once, using a passing ship to forward news of homeward and outward vessels the Court would want to track. The relay of expected arrivals, the Duke of York, the Success and the Cardonnel, served to give the Court advance notice of ships approaching home or the island. By forwarding a commander's account of vessels still at sea, the Council extended the Court's knowledge of its scattered shipping ahead of the ships' own arrival. | ||
179 | and one Ship with the Emperors Comission who pretends to be the Emperors own Im= =mediate Ship Here is Enclosed a Copy of our last Con =sultation to Shew your Hon:rs the readiness of your Books to come home We being in want of more Liquors Upon the Island have bought one Legar Contain:g 174 Gall: of Cape Brandy of Capt: Luhorne at four Shill: p:r Gall: which w:th other Creditts due to him in your Hon:rs Books of Acco:ts here amounts to the Sume of Sixty one pounds fourteen Shillings & five pence for which have drawn three Bills of Exchange on your Hon:rs Dated the 31 of Dec:r 1718 and beg yo:r Acceptance Thomas Thompson Sold:r mentioned in our last of the D:k of Cambridge takes his Passage on board this Ship Princess Ann Union Castle S:t Helena Dec:r 31 1718 We are Hon:rd S:rs Yo:r Hon:rs most hum:ble & faithf:l Servants Jno: Pyke Matt: Bazett Anth:o Tovey Jn:o Alexander Jn:o Goodwin | The Council added that one ship carried the Emperor's commission, her master claiming her to be the Emperor's own immediate ship. 8: The Council enclosed a copy of its last consultation to show the Court its readiness to have its books sent home. 9: Being in want of more liquor on the island, the Council had bought one leaguer containing 174 gallons of Cape brandy from Captain Luhorne at four shillings the gallon. With other credits due to him in the Court's books of account on the island, this came to the sum of £61 14s 5d, for which the Council had drawn three bills of exchange on the Court, dated 31 December 1718, and asked for their acceptance. 10: Thomas Thompson, the soldier mentioned in the Council's last letter by the Duke of Cambridge, had taken his passage aboard the Princess Ann. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 31 December 1718, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett, Antipas Tovey, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The purchase of 174 gallons of Cape brandy from a passing commander shows the island restocking its liquor supply opportunistically from the ships that touched there. The Council bought from Captain Luhorne against want on the island, the arrack and brandy trade with visiting vessels forming a regular means of replenishing stores the Court did not directly supply. The settlement of the brandy by bill of exchange, combined with other credits due to the captain in the Court's books, reflects the running account kept between the island and individual commanders. Rather than pay in coin, the Council folded the purchase into a single reckoning and drew bills for the balance, the triplicate form guarding the remittance against loss at sea. The two extra signatories, John Alexander and John Goodwin, appear alongside the depleted Council of late 1718, the addition of the secretary Alexander and another hand reflecting the few capable men left after the epidemic that killed thirty of the white people. The signatures measured a governing body drawing on whatever qualified servants remained. Speculations The Council's note of its readiness to send its books home answered the informer controversy by demonstrating openness to the very scrutiny the charges implied it feared. By enclosing the relevant consultation, the Council signalled that it welcomed examination of the accounts at the heart of the Court's complaints, consistent with the documentary defence it had pressed throughout. The recording of the soldier Thomas Thompson's departure aboard the Princess Ann served the Council's accountability for movement off the island. By naming the man and the ship, and tying him to its earlier letter, the Council kept a clear record of who left and by what conveyance, the same care it had shown over debtors and unauthorised departures. | ||
180 | List of the Pack:t p:r Princess Ann Capt: Nichl: Luhorne Comd:r Dec:r 31 1718/ N:o Gov:r & Coun: Gener: Sent dated Dec:r 31 1718 Copy of a Consultation of the 30 Dec:r 1718 Ship Princess Ann & Capt: Luhornes Acc:o in the Hon Comp:s Store Books Copy of Capt: Luhornes Lett:r to y:e Gov:r re =lateing to his pay a Barr: of Powder List of the Packett | The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Princess Ann, Captain Nicholas Luhorne commander, on 31 December 1718. 1: The Governor and Council general letter, dated 31 December 1718. 2: A copy of a consultation of 30 December 1718. 3: The Princess Ann, Captain Luhorne's account in the Court's store books. 4: A copy of Captain Luhorne's letter to the Governor relating to his pay, with a barrel of rosewater. 5: A list of the packet. Interpretations The packet manifest served as a checklist by which the Court could confirm that every enclosure named had reached it, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. The list fixed exactly what the Princess Ann carried, so that any item lost in transit could be identified against it. Captain Luhorne's letter relating to his pay, enclosed as item 4, reflects the running account between the island and individual commanders, the matter of his remuneration referred home for the Court's settlement. The Council passed the question to London rather than resolve it locally, the Court remaining the authority over a master's claims. The barrel of rosewater entered in the same item was a distillation of rose petals, valued as a flavouring and a perfume and carried in the Indies trade as a commodity of some worth. Its inclusion among the despatched goods marked it as a small item of value sent home alongside the correspondence. Speculations The Council's enclosure of the consultation of 30 December 1718 alongside the general letter continued the documentary practice it had maintained throughout, placing the supporting minute before the Court with the letter it explained. By sending the consultation with the letter, the Council let its formal proceedings corroborate the account it gave. The pairing of Luhorne's pay letter with the barrel of rosewater in a single manifest entry suggests the two travelled together as the commander's own business with the Court. The Council recorded both under one number to keep the captain's separate dealings distinct from the island's, a clear accounting of what belonged to whom. | ||
181 | Gen:l Lett:r per Ship Cardonnel Capt: Will:m Mawson Comand:r March the 7 1718/9 Hon:ble S:rs Our Last to your Hon:rs was by the Princess Ann Capt: Nichol: Luhorne Comand:r dated the 31 of Dec:r 1718 Since when hath Arrived here the following Ships viz:t On Fryday the 27 Febry last Arrived y:e Prince Eugeen Capt: Goodaul who Succeeded Capt: Shelon from Madagascar On Sunday the 1 Inst: Arrived the Robert & Rebecka Capt: Matth: Kent fro: Madagascar And the Cardonnel Capt: Will:m Mawson from Mocha by whom We have no more news of Shiping than is Mentioned in our aforesaid Letter by the Princess Ann By these two Madagascar Ships We have rec: for your Hon:rs use the following Blacks viz:t Out of the Prince Eugeen 9 Men & 4 Wom:n Out of the Rob:t & Rebecka 8 Men & 4 Women In all 25 good Slaves Nothing more of any Moment hath hap= =pened here worth your Hon:rs knowledge | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Cardonnel, Captain William Mawson commander, dated 7 March 1719. 1: The Council reported that its last letter to the Court had gone by the Princess Ann, Captain Nicholas Luhorne commander, dated 31 December 1718. Since then the following ships had arrived at the island. 2: On Friday 27 February last the Prince Eugene, Captain Goodall commander, arrived from Madagascar, he having succeeded Captain Shelton. 3: On Sunday 1 March the Robert and Rebecca, Captain Matthew Kent commander, arrived from Madagascar, and the Cardonnel, Captain William Mawson commander, from Mocha. The Council had no more shipping news from her than was set out in its earlier letter by the Princess Ann. By these two Madagascar ships the Council had received for the Court the following slaves. Out of the Prince Eugene, 9 men and 4 women. Out of the Robert and Rebecca, 8 men and 4 women. In all, 25 good slaves. 4: Nothing further of any importance had happened on the island worth the Court's knowledge. Interpretations The arrival of 25 slaves from two Madagascar ships answered the Council's standing and repeated plea for slaves to supply the island's labour, the want of which it had pressed in letter after letter. The receipt of able slaves marked the partial meeting of a demand central to the whole plantation and fortification programme, the Council noting the men and women received against each vessel. The two paragraphs numbered 3, one reporting the ships and one tallying the slaves, follow the clerk's own division of the entry rather than a single running sequence. The repeated number reflects how the consultation was set down, the second covering the human cargo received from the vessels named in the first. The recording of slaves by sex and ship, 9 men and 4 women from one vessel and 8 men and 4 women from the other, fixed the exact composition of the supply for the Court's account. The breakdown allowed the Court to reconcile the slaves received against the one per cent entitlement the Council had repeatedly claimed from returning ships. Speculations The Council's precise tally of slaves by vessel and sex served its accountability for the human supply on which the island depended. By entering the numbers received from each ship, the Council documented that the slaves had reached it, distinguishing what was delivered from what remained owing under its standing claim. The brevity of the letter, confined to arrivals and the slaves received, reflects a despatch sent close upon the previous one with little fresh to report. With its substantial business already carried home by the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Ann, the Council used the Cardonnel to record only the new arrivals and the slaves they brought. | ||
182 | knowledge only that We have now a very Sickly Seeson and that our Chief Surgeon Joseph Du May dyed this day of the Bloody flux which when it appeared Mortall our Second Surgeon came and gave Us Six months Notice that he intended to goe off this Island as will farther Appear in Consultation of the 26 Febry 1718/9 And We having none but him whose Skill being not So good as the deceaseds We shall be in Extream want of a nother and Especially if We cant gett one out of this Summers Shiping We have by this Ship Sent your Hon:rs Books of Accounts for the year 1716 & those for 1717 are forwarding and the Accomp:t Sayes he hopes they will be ready to Send home by the Latter end of this Summers Shiping We have been Obliged on Sundry Occasi= =ons to draw the following Bills of Exchange on your Hon:r & Begg yo:r Acceptance there =of viz:t | The Council added only that the island was now in a very sickly season, and that its chief surgeon, Joseph Du May, had died that day of the bloody flux. When the illness appeared likely to prove fatal, the second surgeon had given six months' notice of his intention to leave the island, as the Council's consultation of 26 February 1719 would show. With no surgeon left but him, and his skill not so good as that of the deceased, the Council would be in extreme want of another, especially if it could not obtain one out of this summer's shipping. 5: The Council had sent the Court its books of accounts for the year 1716 by this ship. Those for 1717 were being prepared, and the accountant hoped they would be ready to send home by the end of this summer's shipping. 6: The Council reported that it had been obliged on various occasions to draw the following bills of exchange on the Court, and asked the Court's acceptance of them. Interpretations The death of Joseph Du May from the bloody flux removed the island's chief surgeon at the height of a sickly season, the same Du May who had come as surgeon's mate of the Cardigan and was taken into the island's service in 1716, judged well qualified but not expected to live long. His loss renewed the medical crisis that had dogged the island, the Council facing the want of any skilled surgeon it had long feared. The bloody flux was dysentery, a severe and often fatal intestinal disease marked by bloody discharge, common in crowded and poorly supplied settlements and a frequent killer in the period. Its appearance in a sickly season points to the island's continuing vulnerability to epidemic illness, the same pattern that had carried off thirty of the white people in 1718. The second surgeon's six months' notice, given the moment the chief surgeon's illness turned fatal, exposed how thinly the island's medical provision hung. With his departure pending and his skill judged inferior, the Council confronted the prospect of no competent surgeon at all, a recurrence of the want it had pressed the Court to remedy in earlier years. Speculations The accountant's hope to have the 1717 books ready by summer answered the informer controversy by showing the accounts being steadily brought up to date and sent home. The despatch of the 1716 books, with the 1717 set following, demonstrated the very transparency the charges had questioned, the Council forwarding its records as fast as they could be completed. The Council's stress on the inferior skill of the remaining surgeon served to press the urgency of a fresh appointment from the summer's shipping. By contrasting the man's ability with the deceased Du May's, the Council framed the need not merely as a vacancy to fill but as a fall in the standard of care the island could not afford to accept. | ||
183 | To Capt: William Mawson (or his Order) three Bills of Exchange for the Sume of 121 13 1 Sterl: dated the 7 March 1718/9 To M:r Christ:r Hinton Chief Mate of the Cardonnel (or his order) three Bills of Exch:d for y:e Sume of 131 10 Sterl: dated the 4 of March 1718/9 To Lucas Mason (or his Order) who with his wife takes passage for Engl:d on the Cardonnel three Bills of Exch:d for the Sume of 406 11 & 9 Sterl: dated the 7 March 1718/9 And To Rowland Serjeant (or his ord:r) who likewise takes passage w:th his wife in the Same Ship, three Bills of Exch: for y:e Sume of 4 17 & 1 Sterl: dated y:e 7 March 1718/9 Union Castle S:t Helena March the 7 1718/9 We are Hon:rd S:rs Yo:r Hon:rs Most Humble & faithfull Serv:ts Jno: Pyke Math: Bazett Anth:o Tovey Jn:o Alexander Jn:o Goodwin | 7: To Captain William Mawson, or his order, three bills of exchange for the sum of £121 13s 1d, dated 7 March 1719. To Mr Christopher Hinton, chief mate of the Cardonnel, or his order, three bills of exchange for the sum of £131 10s 0d, dated 4 March 1719. To Lucas Mason, or his order, who with his wife took passage for England on the Cardonnel, three bills of exchange for the sum of £406 11s 4d, dated 7 March 1719. To Rowland Sergeant, or his order, who likewise took passage with his wife in the same ship, three bills of exchange for the sum of £4 17s 1d, dated 7 March 1719. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 7 March 1719, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett, Antipas Tovey, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The bills drawn in favour of Lucas Mason and Rowland Sergeant, both taking passage home with their wives, settled their island accounts before departure by transferring the balances to London. The bill of exchange let a departing servant carry his credit home on paper rather than in coin, the triplicate sets guarding each remittance against the loss of a ship. The large sum of £406 11s 4d to Lucas Mason stands well above the other drafts, marking him as a servant or trader leaving the island with substantial accumulated credit in the Court's books. The size of the bill points to a man of some standing settling years of account as he sailed for England. The signatures of Isaac Pyke, Matthew Bazett, Antipas Tovey, John Alexander and John Goodwin record the same reduced Council that had drawn the letter by the Princess Ann, the secretary Alexander and John Goodwin filling out a body thinned by the epidemic and the death of the chief surgeon. The recurring short list measured the few capable hands the island retained. Speculations The clustering of bills to departing passengers reflects the practice of clearing accounts at the moment of departure, when a servant's credit had to be converted into a form he could carry home. The Council drew the bills as Mason and Sergeant left so that their reckonings closed cleanly, leaving nothing outstanding on the island's books behind them. The drawing of bills for both a husband and the passages of wives suggests the settlement of family departures as single units of account. By recording each man's bill against his passage and his wife's, the Council documented the complete withdrawal of these households from the island, consistent with its careful tracking of who left and by what conveyance. | ||
184 | List of the Pack:t p:r Ship Cardonnell Capt: Will:m Mawson Comd:r March the 7 1718/9 Copy of Gov:r & Coun: Gen:l dated 3 Nov:r 1718 by the D:k of Cambridge w:th Postscript added thereto p:r Cardonnell dated 7 March 1718/9 Sent a part from the Larger Pack:t N:o Copy of Consultations from Nov:r 6 1718 to the 3 of March Inclusive follow:g Duplicate of Gen:l from Fort S:t George p:r Ship D:k of Cambridge &:c to S:t Helena Duplicate of Rents & Revenues for the year 1717 on S:t Helena | The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Cardonnel, Captain William Mawson commander, on 7 March 1719. A copy of the Governor and Council general letter, dated 3 November 1718, by the Duke of Cambridge, with the postscript added to it by the Cardonnel, dated 7 March 1719, sent apart from the larger packet. 1: A copy of the consultations from 6 November 1718 to 3 March inclusive. 2: A duplicate of the general letter from Fort St George by the Duke of Cambridge, addressed to St Helena. 3: A duplicate of the rents and revenues for the year 1717 on St Helena. Interpretations The packet manifest served as a checklist by which the Court could verify that every enclosure named had arrived, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. The list fixed exactly what the Cardonnel carried, so that any item lost at sea could be identified against it. The despatch of the 3 November 1718 general letter again, now with a postscript and sent apart from the main packet, continued the practice of duplicating correspondence across separate conveyances to guard against the loss of a single ship. The repeated letter ensured the Court received the substantive reply even if the Duke of Cambridge had failed to reach home. The duplicate of the rents and revenues for 1717 repeats a return already sent by the Duke of Cambridge, the Council forwarding a second copy by a later vessel as a safeguard. Sending financial returns twice by different ships protected the Court's record of the island's income against the hazards of the voyage. Speculations The Council's repeated despatch of the consultations and the financial returns answered the informer controversy by ensuring the Court held the complete dated record whatever happened to any one conveyance. By sending duplicates of the minutes and the revenue account, the Council guarded the documentary defence it had built against the charges, leaving no gap a lost ship could open. The addition of a postscript to the 3 November letter suggests fresh matter arising after the main reply was sealed, carried home by the next available ship. The Council appended the new material to the existing letter rather than open a separate despatch, keeping the season's correspondence consolidated under the conveyances that carried it. | ||
185 | Gener:l Lett:r p:r Ship Carnarvan Capt: Jos: Thwaites Comand:r Aprill 19 1719 Hon:ble S:rs The foregoing is a Duplicate of what We wrote your Hon:rs by the Cardon:l dated the 7 March 1718/9 Since then the Sickly Season We Mentioned last year in our Letter by the Cardigan has continued and We have lost forty two more of our Inhabitants among whom Capt: Bazett your Hon:rs Storekeeper is one in whose place We have Admitted M:r John Goodwin who has been Assistant to him and Capt: Pack for about Eight years last Past he being very fitt for it & no other Person here at all fitt, as We hope will Appear to your Hon:rs by our Consultations of the 7 Apr: 1719 All your Servants are at Present busied in making out an Inventory of your Goods in the Stores which We hope will be done Some time this Month but cannot be ready to go home by these Ships it being only nine days Since Capt: Bazetts death which is the reason of our not Sending our Consulta= =tions & other Papers by them We | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Carnarvon, Captain Joseph Thwaites commander, dated 19 April 1719. 1: The Council noted that the foregoing was a duplicate of what it had written to the Court by the Cardonnel, dated 7 March 1719. Since then the sickly season mentioned the previous year in its letter by the Cardigan had continued, and 42 more of the island's inhabitants had died. Among them was Captain Bazett, the Court's storekeeper. In his place the Council had admitted Mr John Goodwin, who had been assistant to him and to Captain Pack for about eight years, being well fitted for the post and there being no other suitable person on the island, as the Council's consultation of 7 April 1719 would show. All the Court's servants were at present busy making out an inventory of the goods in the stores, which the Council hoped would be finished sometime this month. It could not be ready to send home by these ships, since only nine days had passed since Captain Bazett's death, which was the reason the consultations and other papers were not being sent by them. Interpretations The death of Captain Matthew Bazett removed a long-serving councillor and the Court's storekeeper, the same Bazett who had reported the yam count, examined Samuel Jessey's weeding bill, and signed the season's letters through to 3 November 1718. His loss struck at the heart of the depleted administration, the man who had drawn the recent bills of exchange now himself carried off by the continuing sickness. The promotion of John Goodwin on the strength of eight years as assistant to Bazett and Captain Pack reflects the island's practice of raising experienced subordinates when no other qualified man could be found. The appointment followed the pattern forced by mortality, the Council filling a key office from the few seasoned hands the epidemic had spared. The bloody flux and sickly season that had run since the previous year now stood as a sustained mortality crisis, 42 deaths following the 30 reported in 1718. The scale of loss confirmed the island's chronic inability to hold its population, the same failure underlying the Council's repeated pleas for a steady supply of men. Speculations The Council's explanation that the inventory and consultations could not be sent because Bazett had died only nine days earlier answered in advance any charge that it was withholding its records. By tying the delay directly to the storekeeper's death and the unfinished inventory, the Council protected itself against the suspicion of concealment that had shadowed the informer controversy. The immediate appointment of Goodwin, justified by the absence of any other fit person, reflects the Council's need to keep the stores under a competent hand without waiting for the Court's pleasure. The pressure of mortality forced local appointments the Court would normally sanction, the Council acting at once to prevent the stores falling to an untrained keeper. | ||
186 | We are in great want of a good Surgeon here, the man We have (viz: Chelmondly Civill) Understanding little or nothing of his busi= =ness We have endeavoured all We can to gett a good man out of Some of these Ships but have not prevailed Wherefore hope your Hon:rs will please to Supply us with one by the first Opportunity By this Shiping We have been Obliged to draw Severall Large Bills of Exchange on your Hon:rs the doing whereof We could not avoid for the following Reasons viz:t Three Bills for One Thousand Pounds due to M:r Tho: Ceason as is Mentioned in our Consultation of the 14 Aprill Instant Three Bills of fifty Pounds for Capt: Tolson for Goods left here last Voyage w:th M:r Powell the Creditt whereof is Transferred in yo:r Books of Acco:ts Three Bills to M:r Will:m Holmes Cheif Mate of the Hartford for fifty Pounds on Acc:o of an Apprentice he has taken off of this Island Three Bills to M:r Charles Massey Second Mate of the Carnarvan for fifty Pounds | 2: The Council was in great want of a good surgeon, the man it had, Chelmonely Civilly, understanding little or nothing of his business. It had tried everything it could to obtain a good man out of some of the ships, but had not succeeded. It therefore hoped the Court would supply it with one at the first opportunity. 3: By this shipping the Council had been obliged to draw several large bills of exchange on the Court, which it could not avoid for the following reasons. 4: Three bills for £1,000 0s 0d, due to Mr Thomas Ceason, as mentioned in the Council's consultation of 14 April instant. Three bills of £50 0s 0d, for Captain Tolson, for goods left on the island last voyage with Mr Powell, the credit being transferred in the Court's books of account. Three bills to Mr William Holmes, chief mate of the Hartford, of £50 0s 0d, on account of an apprentice he had taken off the island. Three bills to Mr Charles Massey, second mate of the Carnarvon, of £50 0s 0d. Interpretations The named surgeon Chelmonely Civilly was the inferior second surgeon left after the death of Joseph Du May, his admitted incompetence confirming the medical crisis the Council had pressed since Du May's death of the bloody flux. The renewed plea for a good surgeon from the shipping marked the want as still unmet, the island dependent on a man who knew nothing of his work. The bill of £1,000 0s 0d to Thomas Ceason stands far above any other draft of the season, a sum large enough to mark a major financial transaction settled by transfer to London. Its scale points to a substantial debt or purchase referred to the consultation of 14 April 1719 for its justification, the Council careful to anchor so large a draft in a dated minute. The bill to William Holmes on account of an apprentice taken off the island touches the recurring loss of bound labour to passing ships, the same drain that had carried off the carpenter's and fiddler's services in earlier years. The apprentice's removal, settled by bill, recorded another skilled or bound person leaving the island the Council struggled to retain. Speculations The Council's statement that the large bills could not be avoided answered in advance the Court's likely alarm at so heavy a season of drafts. By prefacing the list with its reasons and tying the greatest sum to a dated consultation, the Council guarded against the charge of drawing freely on the Court, consistent with the documentary care running through its correspondence. The transfer of Captain Tolson's credit through Mr Powell's goods left on the island reflects the running accounts by which obligations passed between commanders, planters and the Court without movement of coin. The Council settled the tangle by a single bill, converting goods and credits standing in its books into a clean remittance home. | ||
187 | Pounds being on Acc:o of an Apprentice he has taken off of this Island Three Bills to Capt: William Fitzhugh for the Sume of Eight hundr: twenty Seven Pounds Nine Shillings & four pence being for Eighteen Legars of Arrack We bought of him at four Shillings per Gallon, & other Creditts due to him here Three Bills to Capt: Jn:o Pyke for ten Legars of Arrack bought of him at the Same Price w:th other Creditts amounting to £217 15 Three Bills to M:r Nathaniel Barber for fifty Pounds Cred: due to him in your Hon:rs Books of Acc:o here Three Bills to M:r Jn:o Torriers Supra Cargoe of the Hartford for Creditt Transferred to him in your Hon:rs Books of Acc:o by the Govern:r for the Sume of Sixty Pounds We have not rec: any Tea of these two Ships because they could not Come at it and alsoe for want of your Hon:rs Particular Orders to them and the Severall reasons given by them is Entered down in our Consultation and about four Chests of Tea being the Ordi= =nary and Usuall Expence of this place We pray your Hon:rs to Order yo:r Capt: | The Council added that the £50 0s 0d to Mr Charles Massey was on account of an apprentice he had taken off the island. Three bills to Captain William Fitzhugh for the sum of £827 9s 4d, being for eighteen leaguers of arrack bought from him at four shillings the gallon, together with other credits due to him on the island. Three bills to Captain Isaac Pyke for ten leaguers of arrack bought from him at the same price, with other credits, amounting to £217 0s 5d. Three bills to Mr Nathaniel Barber for £50 0s 0d, credit due to him in the Court's books of account on the island. Three bills to Mr John Somers, supercargo of the Hartford for the sum of £50 0s 0d, credit transferred to him in the Court's books of account by the Governor. 5: The Council had not received any tea from these two ships, since the commanders could not come at it and also for want of the Court's particular orders to them. The several reasons they gave were entered in the Council's consultation. About four chests of tea being the ordinary and usual expense of the island, the Council asked the Court to order its captains [...]. Interpretations The two large arrack purchases, eighteen leaguers from Captain Fitzhugh and ten from Captain Pyke at four shillings the gallon, show the island restocking its principal traded liquor from passing commanders on a substantial scale. The arrack trade with visiting ships remained the Council's chief means of supplying a commodity central to the island's revenue, the duty on arrack having long been a pillar of its finances. The captains' refusal to deliver tea for want of the Court's particular orders repeats the difficulty encountered with Captain Kesar and Captain Newton, who had likewise declined to deliver tea without an instruction clause in 1718. The recurring obstacle exposed a gap in the Court's standing directions, commanders unwilling to part with valuable China goods without explicit authority. Arrack was a distilled spirit of the East, made from palm sap, rice or sugar, imported in large wooden casks called leaguers and sold to ships and inhabitants as the island's staple strong drink. Its bulk trade through St Helena, taxed by the twelvepence duty, made it both a necessity of the garrison and a significant source of the island's internal revenue. Speculations The Council's request that the Court order its captains to deliver tea answered a precise and repeated frustration, the loss of a small but customary supply for want of a clause in the masters' instructions. By documenting the commanders' reasons and naming the modest quantity needed, the Council pressed for a standing order that would close the gap in future seasons. The settlement of several commanders' arrack and credits by transferred book entries reflects the Council's reliance on running accounts rather than coin to manage its dealings with passing ships. By folding purchases and existing credits into single bills, the Council kept the island's narrow stock of money intact while meeting obligations that would otherwise have drained it. | ||
188 | and Supra Cargoes of the China Ships to bring Such a quantity for Us And We desire to have it Packed up in Single Cattee or double Cattee Potts which is much more Acceptable to our People than any other Sort of Package & less trouble to Us in Serving of it out & the Tea w:ll keep much better that way than the other (tho: We know this Sort of Package which We desire is not So fitt for the Lon= =don markett) One Picoll in a year is allowed to the Soldiers of the Garrison & the remainder of that Chest will be Used at the Fort And three Large Chest or more may every year be Proffitably disposed of among the Planters who would more gladly be Supplyed by yo:r Hon:rs Store House than by any Private hands In our Consultation of the 17 March 1718/9 We have entered down a Copy of a Petition or Remonstrance brought Us by the people wherein they Complaine of the great Loss the Island Sustains by all your Hon:rs Homeward bound Ships touching at the Cape and the Substance of that Petition being true in Fact We pray your Hon:rs Considr= =ation thereon and that you'l please to make | The Council asked the supercargoes of the China ships to bring such a quantity of tea for the island. It wished to have it packed in single or double catty pots, which were far more acceptable to the island's people than any other kind of package and less trouble to it in serving out. The tea kept much better that way than any other, though the Council knew this form of package was not so well suited to the London market. One pot a year was allowed to the soldiers of the garrison, and the remainder of that chest would be used at the fort. Three large chests or more could every year be profitably sold among the planters, who would more gladly be supplied from the Court's storehouse than by any private hands. 6: In its consultation of 17 March 1719 the Council had entered a copy of a petition or remonstrance brought to it by the island's people. In it they complained of the great loss the island suffered from all the Court's homeward-bound ships touching at the Cape. The substance of the petition being true in fact, the Council asked the Court to consider it, and to be pleased to [...]. Interpretations The petition against homeward ships touching at the Cape sets out the islanders' grievance that vessels watering and refreshing at the Cape of Good Hope passed St Helena by, depriving the island of the trade and provisioning revenue those ships would otherwise bring. The complaint struck at the foundation of the island's economy as a victualling station, the Court's own shipping practice undercutting the settlement's chief source of value. The catty pot was a small Chinese container, the catty a unit of weight of roughly a pound and a third, in which tea was packed for retail rather than bulk shipment. The Council's preference for this form over chests reflects the island's role as a local distributor selling tea to garrison and planters, a use distinct from the wholesale market the Court served in London. The Council's note that planters would rather buy from the Court's storehouse than from private hands recalls its long campaign against the private arrack and goods trade, the same concern behind the twelvepence duty laid on the understorehouses of Powell and the parson. Channelling sales through the Court's store both raised revenue and curbed the leakage into private profit the Council had fought to control. Speculations The Council's endorsement of the petition as true in fact aligned the administration with the inhabitants against the Court's own shipping practice, a rare convergence of island and popular interest. By forwarding the complaint and vouching for its substance, the Council pressed a grievance that served its own case for the island's value, the loss of touching ships threatening the revenue on which its government depended. The detailed case for the storehouse monopoly on tea, set against private supply, reflects a calculated argument that Court sales would both satisfy the planters and capture a profit then escaping to private traders. The Council framed the request for tea not merely as supply for the garrison but as a revenue opportunity, tying a small domestic need to the larger fiscal logic of its administration. | ||
189 | make Such Order thereon as to your great Wisdome shall Seem fittest to redress that Just Complaint The Carnarvan Hartford, Derby & Heathcott who Arrived here on the 12 Inst: having fully Supplyed thernselves with all Necessaries at for their voyage at the Cape had Sailed hence in three days thro: the Influence of Captain Tolson who because of his being Eldest Capt:n is Comandore, had not the Benjamin Arrived with but Eight People well in her whom We have recruited as well as We could that she may go home w:th Company lest there should be Warr with Spain Our Govern:r has been Sick but is now So well recovered that he has been two or three times up in the valley M:r Joseph Staughton of Fort S:t Davids asked Us for a Bill for Eight hundr:d Dollers which tho: We were not under a necessity to take Yet because money is So Extreamly Scarce on this Island We were very glad to have it and have given him Creditt for Two hundred Pounds for the Same w:ch We hope yo:r Hon:rs will not disapprove of dated with all the rest of the Bills on the 16 & 18 of Aprill 1719 | The Council asked the Court to make whatever order on the matter its wisdom thought fittest to redress that just complaint. 7: The Carnarvon, Hartford, Derby and Heathcote, which had arrived on the 12th instant, having fully supplied themselves with all necessaries for their voyage at the Cape, had sailed three days later. This was through the influence of Captain Tolson, who, as the eldest captain, was commodore. Had the Benjamin not arrived with only eight people well aboard her, whom the Council had recruited as best it could, that she might go home in company, the Council feared there should be war with Spain. 8: The Governor had been sick, but was now so well recovered that he had been up in the valley two or three times. 9: Mr Joseph Staughton of Fort St David asked the Council for a bill for 800 dollars. Although it was not strictly necessary to take it, money was so extremely scarce on the island that the Council was very glad to have it, and had given him credit for £200 0s 0d for the same. The Council hoped the Court would not disapprove. The bill was dated, with all the rest of the bills, on 16 and 18 April 1719. Interpretations The conversion of 800 dollars into £200 0s 0d credit fixes the island's working exchange at four dollars to the pound, the dollar being the Spanish silver piece of eight that served as the common trading coin of the Indies and the Atlantic. The Council's eagerness to take the coin despite no strict need reflects the chronic scarcity of money on the island, hard silver being far more useful than the bills and book credits that otherwise circulated. The fear of war with Spain that shaped the convoy's departure points to the diplomatic tension of 1719, when Britain and Spain were in open conflict. The arrangement for the Benjamin to sail home in company under a commodore reflects the wartime practice of grouping merchantmen for mutual protection against enemy cruisers, the Council managing the island's shipping with an eye to that danger. The role of Captain Tolson as commodore by seniority shows the informal command structure by which the eldest captain present directed the movement of a group of Company ships. His influence in sailing the vessels three days after arrival illustrates how convoy discipline rested on rank among the masters rather than on any separate naval authority. Speculations The Council's decision to take 800 dollars it did not strictly need answered the island's persistent want of circulating coin, silver being worth securing whenever a passing servant offered it. By giving book credit for the hard money, the Council strengthened its slender cash stock against the day coin would be needed for a purpose paper could not serve. The recruitment of men onto the under-manned Benjamin so she could sail in convoy reflects a calculated response to the threat of Spanish war. The Council weakened its own thin establishment to make the ship fit to keep company, judging the danger to a lone vessel greater than the cost of sparing the few men it could ill afford. | ||
190 | We have rec: by the Derby from Mad= =dress on your Hon:rs Acc:o the following Goods Voz: 3 Bales ordinary Long Cloth 2 Bales Ginghams &:c 20 Baggs of Sugar And wish We could have had Some Rice and Arrack We are Hon:rd S:rs Union Castle S:t Helena the 19 Apr: 1719 We have rec:d fro: Bencoolen by the Benj: 4 half leg:rs of Arrack &5 Cannisters of fing:r being the Produce of that place and two Men Slaves M:r Cason not getting a Passage in any of these Ships dos not now Come home, nor the Large Bill of One Thousand Pounds Sterl: Jn:o Alexander Yo:r Hon:rs Most humble & faithfull Servants Jno: Pyke Jn:o Alexander Jn:o Goodwin | 10: The Council had received by the Derby from Madras, on the Court's account, the following goods. 3 bales of ordinary long cloth. 2 bales of ginghams. 20 bags of sugar. The Council wished it could have had some rice and arrack as well. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 19 April 1719, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Council had received from Bencoolen, by the Benjamin, four and a half leaguers of arrack and five canisters of finer arrack, the produce of that place, together with two men slaves. A further note recorded that Mr Ceason, not getting a passage on any of these ships, was not now coming home, nor the large bill of £1,000 0s 0d. This was signed by John Alexander. Interpretations The withdrawal of the £1,000 0s 0d bill, the largest draft of the season, followed directly from Mr Ceason's failure to secure a passage home, the bill having been drawn to settle his account on departure. The note cancelling it shows how closely the great remittances were tied to the movement of the people they belonged to, the draft falling away the moment its purpose did. The long cloth and ginghams received from Madras were Indian cotton textiles, long cloth a plain calico measured in long pieces and ginghams a lighter checked or striped weave. These supplied the island's standing need to clothe its slaves and labouring people, the same coarse goods the Council had repeatedly requisitioned for a population of workers rather than a market for fine cloth. The receipt of arrack from Bencoolen as the produce of that place, alongside the purchases from passing commanders, shows the island drawing its liquor supply from the Company's own eastern settlements as well as from the open trade. The finer arrack in canisters distinguished a superior grade from the bulk leaguers, the Council noting the quality as well as the quantity received. Speculations The Council's separate note explaining the lapse of Ceason's bill answered its accountability for so large a draft drawn and then abandoned. By recording at once that the man and his £1,000 0s 0d were no longer coming home, the Council ensured the Court would not expect a remittance that had ceased to exist, consistent with the exact bookkeeping it maintained throughout. The Council's expressed wish for rice and arrack from Madras, noted against what the Derby actually brought, served to remind the Court of supplies still short despite the textiles and sugar received. By recording the gap between what arrived and what was wanted, the Council kept its standing requisitions before the Court even as it acknowledged the goods delivered. | ||
191 | List of the Packet p:r Ship Carnarvan Capt: Josiah Thwaites Comander (voz:t) N:o Gov:r & Councils Gen:l dated the 19 Apr: 1719 Duplicate of Gov:r & Coun: Gen:l p:r Princess Ann dated the 31 Dec:r 1718 Duplicate of Gov:r & Coun: Gen:l p:r Cardonell dated the 7 March 1718/9 Duplicate of Gen:l from Madd:r p:r Derby dated the 18 Dec:r 1718 Duplicate of Gen:l from Bencoolen p:r Ship: Benjamin Capt: Pye dated the 10 Janry 1718/19 Ship Derbys Acc:o on S:t Helena Apr: 18 1719 Ship Benjamins Acc:o on S:t Helena Apr: 18 1719 Receipts for the Pack:t of Cardonell List of the Packett | The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Carnarvon, Captain Josiah Thwaites commander. 1: The Governor and Council general letter, dated 19 April 1719. 2: A duplicate of the Governor and Council general letter by the Princess Ann, dated 31 December 1718. 3: A duplicate of the Governor and Council general letter by the Cardonnel, dated 7 March 1719. 4: A duplicate of the general letter from Madras by the Derby, dated 18 December 1718. 5: A duplicate of the general letter from Bencoolen by the Benjamin, dated 10 January 1719. 6: The Derby's account on St Helena, 18 April 1719. 7: The Benjamin's account on St Helena, 18 April 1719. 8: Receipts for the packet by the Cardonnel. 9: A list of the packet. Interpretations The packet manifest served as a checklist by which the Court could confirm that every enclosure named had arrived, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. The list fixed exactly what the Carnarvon carried, so that any item lost at sea could be identified against it. The despatch of duplicates of three earlier general letters, those by the Princess Ann, the Cardonnel and from Madras and Bencoolen, continued the practice of repeating correspondence across separate conveyances against the loss of a single ship. The accumulation of duplicates reflects the heavy mortality season, the Council ensuring that its record reached home despite the uncertainty of every voyage. The inclusion of the Derby's and the Benjamin's accounts on St Helena reflects the running reckonings kept with each vessel touching the island, settled and forwarded so the Court could reconcile them in London. The ship accounts travelled with the correspondence as the financial counterpart to the narrative of arrivals and supply. Speculations The Council's repeated despatch of duplicate letters by the Carnarvon answered the uncertainty of a season in which ships and men were being lost, ensuring the Court held the full record whatever befell any one conveyance. By bundling duplicates of the winter and spring correspondence into a single later packet, the Council closed any gap a lost vessel might have opened in its account. The forwarding of the Derby's and Benjamin's accounts alongside the duplicated letters reflects the consolidation of the season's financial business with its correspondence. The Council gathered the ship reckonings and the letters they belonged with so that the Carnarvon carried a complete and self-checking record of the island's recent dealings. | ||
192 | Gen:l Lett:r p:r Ship Mary Capt: Rich: Holden Comander dated the 8 May 1719 Hon:ble S:rs Having nothing Materiall Since our Last We Shall not trouble yo:r Hon:rs with a Particular Letter only to Add as a Postscript to our last That on Saturday Last We had Such great Floods of Water here which fell upon the very highest Parts of the Island in such a Wonderfull manner as if a River had Decended from the Heavens We take it to have been a Water Spout that broke in the Passage of Some heavy Clouds over the Ridge, the Damage it did has been Mentioned in Part in our last Consulta= =tion that goes Home herewith Capt: Davis Comeing In here on the Tuesday following with the Mary Capt: Holden, happened to have a good Quan= =tity of Rice which We have bought of him for ten Shillings p:r hundr: Wate: | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Mary, Captain Ralph Holden commander, dated 8 May 1719. 1: Having nothing of importance since its last letter, the Council would not trouble the Court with a full letter, but only add this as a postscript to its last. 2: On the previous Saturday the island had such great floods of water, falling on its very highest parts in so extraordinary a manner that it seemed as if a river had come down from the heavens. The Council took it to have been a waterspout that broke in the passage of some heavy clouds over the ridge. The damage it did had been mentioned in part in the Council's last consultation, which went home with this letter. 3: Captain Dawes, coming in on the following Tuesday with the Mary, Captain Holden commander, happened to have a good quantity of rice, which the Council had bought from him at ten shillings the hundredweight. Interpretations The purchase of rice from Captain Dawes at ten shillings the hundredweight met the island's standing want of rice, a staple the Council had repeatedly requested from India and only intermittently received. The opportunistic buy from a passing commander shows the island filling a chronic gap in its provisions whenever a ship arrived with a surplus, rather than relying on the uncertain supply from the Court's eastern settlements. The waterspout breaking over the ridge and flooding the island's highest ground records a violent weather event of a kind the moderate island occasionally suffered, the damage entered in the consultation sent home. The Council's careful description of the phenomenon reflects its practice of documenting natural disasters that bore on the plantations and the year's harvest. The hundredweight by which the rice was priced was a standard commercial measure of 112 pounds, the unit in which bulk provisions were reckoned in the island's accounts. Its use here fixes the rate in the conventional terms by which the Council recorded purchases of staple goods for the Court's stores. Speculations The Council's decision to add only a postscript rather than a full letter reflects a despatch sent close upon the previous correspondence with little fresh to report. With its substantial business already carried home, the Council used the Mary to record only the flood and the rice, appending the new matter to its last rather than opening a separate account. The immediate purchase of Captain Dawes's rice the moment he arrived with a surplus reflects the Council's readiness to seize supply where the open trade offered it. Knowing rice came irregularly from India, the Council bought from a passing ship while it could, securing a staple the Court's own shipments had failed to deliver in dependable quantity. | ||
193 | has in Some Small measure Supplyed Us and Capt: Holden has brought Us 20 Sheep and a good Stock of Garden Seeds from the Cape, Our last Consultation Mentions the Goods brought as Stores from Bengall and Alsoe One Soldier from Maddrass M:r Jonathan Doveton planter of this place has desired a Bill for two hundr:d Pounds due to him in yo:r Hon:rs Books of Acco:ts for which We have drawn three Bills of Exchange on yo:r Hon:rs dated the 8 of May for the Sume And for Some Small matters w:ch they have Sold among our People they have had Creditt for the Sumes Mentioned in the following Bills, And We ask leave to Say that thus or Worse it will Always be till all our people are all over run in debt if all the Ships So fully Supplye themselves with every thing at the Cape | The Council added that this rice had supplied it in some small measure, and that Captain Holden had brought 20 sheep and a good stock of garden seeds from the Cape. Its last consultation mentioned the goods brought as stores from Bengal, and also one soldier from Madras. 4: Mr Jonathan Doveton, a planter of the island, asked for a bill for £200 0s 0d due to him in the Court's books of account, for which the Council had drawn three bills of exchange on the Court, dated 8 May, for that sum. For some small matters they had sold among the island's people, they had been given credit for the sums set out in the following bills. The Council asked leave to say that matters would always be the same, or worse, until all the island's people were overrun in debt, if all the ships continued to supply themselves so fully with everything at the Cape. Interpretations The Council's complaint that things would worsen until the people were overrun in debt unless ships ceased supplying at the Cape repeats the grievance of the petition forwarded in its consultation of 17 March 1719, that homeward vessels watering at the Cape of Good Hope deprived the island of trade. The point exposes the threat to the island's whole economy, the inhabitants able to sell their produce only to ships that no longer needed to buy. The bill of £200 0s 0d to Jonathan Doveton settled a planter's accumulated credit in the Court's books by transfer to London, the standard means of remitting a debt without shipping coin. The transaction shows the Council converting balances owed to inhabitants into bills on the Court, the triplicate form guarding the remittance against loss at sea. Mr Jonathan Doveton, named here as a planter of the island, belonged to a family long settled on St Helena, his credit in the Court's books marking him as a man of standing who traded with the administration. The size of his bill points to substantial dealings with the Court's stores, consistent with a established planter rather than a small holder. Speculations The Council's open warning about the Cape trade tied the island's mounting debt directly to the Court's own shipping practice, pressing a structural grievance that served its case for the settlement's value. By predicting the people's ruin unless the ships were redirected, the Council framed the islanders' indebtedness not as their own fault but as the consequence of a policy only the Court could change. The recording of small credits given for goods sold among the inhabitants reflects the Council's careful account of every transaction, however minor, that touched the Court's books. By entering even trifling sales as bills, the Council kept a complete reckoning of its dealings with the people, consistent with the exact bookkeeping it maintained against any charge of irregularity. | ||
194 | as they have done for three years last Past for they doe not take among all our people here one quarter of the Provisions they Used to do which is the Occasion of the Enclosed Petition which We Humbly hope your Hon:rs will be pleased to Redress either by restraining the Ships fr: all going in there or by obligeing them to Stay here two days for every day they Spend at the Cape or by any other Method as in your Hon:rs great Prudence shall Appear best for our planters for want of Vent for their things have Some of them instead of Encreasing Neglected their Plantations which We fear will tend to the Utter Ruine & Destruction of the Island in Generalli To Capt: Rich: Holden or Order three Bills for the Sume of One hundr:d & five Pounds ten Shill: & Nine Pence Sterl: dated the 8 of May 1719 | The Council explained that the ships had supplied themselves at the Cape for three years past, so that they now took among all the island's people less than a quarter of the provisions they once did. This was the cause of the enclosed petition, which the Council hoped the Court would be pleased to redress. It might do so either by forbidding the ships from going to the Cape at all, or by obliging them to stay two days at the island for every day they spent at the Cape, or by any other method its prudence thought best. For want of any market for their produce, some of the planters, instead of enlarging their plantations, had neglected them, which the Council feared would tend to the utter ruin of the island in general. To Captain Richard Holden, or order, three bills for the sum of £105 10s 9d, dated 8 May 1719. Interpretations The proposed remedy of obliging ships to stay two days at the island for every day at the Cape sets out a concrete regulatory mechanism to force trade back to St Helena. The Council offered the Court a workable rule rather than a bare complaint, framing the island's recovery as a matter of redirecting shipping by enforceable terms. The neglect of plantations for want of any market exposes the link between the island's external trade and its internal cultivation, planters abandoning improvement once the ships ceased to buy. The warning ties the petition directly to the plantation programme the Council had laboured to advance, the loss of touching ships threatening to undo the very self-supply it had built up. The Council's prediction of the island's utter ruin restates in the gravest terms the grievance of the petition entered in its consultation of 17 March 1719. By casting the Cape trade as a threat to the settlement's survival, the Council pressed a structural danger that bore on the Court's whole investment in the island. Speculations The Council's offer of several alternative remedies, from a total ban to a proportional stay, reflects a calculated attempt to give the Court a practical choice rather than an unanswerable problem. By proposing graduated measures, the Council made redress easier to grant, framing the Cape grievance as something the Court could fix by a single order on its shipping. The Council's emphasis on neglected plantations served to align the inhabitants' commercial grievance with the Court's own interest in the island's cultivation. By showing that the loss of trade discouraged the planting the Court desired, the Council turned a complaint about markets into an argument the Court could not dismiss without harming its own programme. | ||
195 | To Capt: Daws or Order three Bills for the Sume of dated as aforesd of all w:ch begg your Acceptance The reason of this raceing is because One Ship is under Sail & therefore good Part of the Rice We Expected from the D:k of York will not Come on Shore & Shall make an Acco:t for that only which is come We are Hon:ble S:rs Union Castle S:t Helena May 8 1719 Yo:r Hon:rs Most humb:le & faithfull Servants Jno: Pyke Jn:o Alexander Jn:o Goodwin List of the Packett p:r Ship Mary Capt: Rich: Holden Copy of Gov:r & Coun: Gen:l dated the 19 Apr: 1719 w:th a Postscript Added y:e Ship Mary of the 8 May 1719 Sent a part from the Large Packett | To Captain Dawes, or order, three bills for the sum of [...], dated as above, for all of which the Council asked the Court's acceptance. The reason for this haste was that one ship was already under sail. A good part of the rice the Council expected from the Duke of York would therefore not come on shore, and it would account only for that part which had been landed. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 8 May 1719, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Mary, Captain Richard Holden commander. A copy of the Governor and Council general letter, dated 19 April 1719, with a postscript added by the Mary, dated 8 May 1719, sent apart from the larger packet. Interpretations The Council's note that it would account only for the rice actually landed reflects its practice of charging the Court for goods received rather than goods promised, the part left aboard the departing ship falling outside the reckoning. The careful distinction shows the Council reconciling its accounts to physical delivery, consistent with the exact bookkeeping it maintained throughout. The despatch of the 19 April general letter again, with a fresh postscript and sent apart from the main packet, continued the practice of duplicating correspondence across separate conveyances against the loss of a single ship. The repeated letter ensured the Court held the substantive account even if an earlier conveyance had failed to reach home. The shortened Council, signed by only Isaac Pyke, John Alexander and John Goodwin, records the body reduced by the mortality season that had carried off Captain Bazett and the chief surgeon Joseph Du May. The brief list of signatories measured the few capable hands the epidemic had left to govern the island. Speculations The Council's drawing of a bill to Captain Dawes amid a hurried departure reflects the pressure of settling accounts before a ship sailed, the reckoning closed even as the vessel made ready. By recording the bill against the rice landed, the Council ensured the transaction was documented despite the haste, leaving nothing unaccounted behind the departing ship. The addition of a second postscript to the 19 April letter suggests fresh matter arising after the previous despatch was sealed, carried home by the next available vessel. The Council appended the flood, the rice and the new bills to its existing letter rather than open a separate account, keeping the season's correspondence consolidated under the ships that carried it. | ||
196 | N:o The Petition of Sever:l Inhabitants on the Island S:t Helena relateing to Ships touching at the Cape Homew:rd bound Sent in y:e Small Pack:t with the Ship D:k of Yorks Acc:o Duplicate of Consultations from y:e 6 Nov:r 1718 Inclu: to y:e 12 Mar: Exclusive Copy of Consultations from y:e 12 Mar: Inclu: 1719 to the 12 May Excled: follow:g Ship Marys Acc:o in the Stores List of the Packett | The petition of several inhabitants of St Helena, relating to ships touching at the Cape, was sent home in the small packet with the Duke of York's account. 1: A duplicate of the consultations from 6 November 1718 inclusive to 12 March exclusive. 2: A copy of the consultations from 12 March inclusive to 12 May following. 3: The Mary's account in the stores. 4: A list of the packet. Interpretations The inhabitants' petition against ships touching at the Cape was forwarded as a formal enclosure, the same complaint the Council had endorsed as true in fact and pressed in its letters by the Mary. Sending the petition itself, rather than merely reporting it, placed the islanders' grievance directly before the Court for judgement, the inhabitants' own document carrying their case to London. The packet manifest served as a checklist by which the Court could confirm that every enclosure named had arrived, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. The list fixed exactly what the Duke of York carried, so that any item lost at sea could be identified against it. The despatch of duplicate and copied consultations spanning November 1718 to May 1719 continued the practice of repeating the dated record across separate conveyances against the loss of a single ship. The Council ensured the Court held a complete account of its proceedings through the mortality season, whatever befell any one vessel. Speculations The Council's choice to forward the inhabitants' petition as an enclosure rather than summarise it reflects a deliberate alignment with the islanders' grievance over the Cape trade. By letting the people's own document reach the Court, the Council lent the complaint a weight its own report could not carry, pressing a structural danger that served its case for the island's value. The repeated despatch of the consultations by yet another conveyance answered the uncertainty of a season in which ships and men were being lost. By sending duplicates of the minutes with the Duke of York, the Council guarded the documentary record it relied on, ensuring no gap a lost vessel might open in the Court's account of its government. | ||
197 | Island S:t Helena Gener:l Lett:r p:r Ship Morice Capt: Eustace Peacock Comand:r dated 31 May 1719 Hon:ble S:rs Because We think it our Duty to make use of all Opportunitys to Acquaint you with the State of your Island We have resolved to Send a Letter by these Ships tho: We have no Matter of Great Moment to Mention to you As to your Island in General We have had a very fine Season with much rain and every thing now flourishes which We think We ought to Consider as a Great Blessing from Almighty God because the People at the Cape are now in great Distress upon Account of a great Drouth that has been for many months there in= =somuch that their Cattle die, their People Discouraged at their bad Harvests and not their Corn only but their Wine as well as meat has failed them, as your Hon:rs may be informed more fully | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the Morice, Captain Eustace Peacock commander, dated 31 May 1719. 1: The Council thought it its duty to use every opportunity to inform the Court of the state of the island, and so resolved to send a letter by these ships, though it had no matter of great importance to report. 2: As to the island in general, the Council had enjoyed a very fine season with much rain, and everything now flourished, which it thought ought to be considered a great blessing from Almighty God. The people at the Cape were now in great distress on account of a great drought that had lasted many months there, so severe that their cattle were dying and their people were discouraged by their bad harvests. Not only their corn but their wine and their meat had failed them, as the Court might be more fully informed [...]. Interpretations The contrast between the island's fine rainy season and the great drought at the Cape bears directly on the Council's campaign over the Cape trade, the very ships that watered and provisioned at the Cape now finding it failing. The Council's report that the Cape could no longer supply its own people lent fresh force to the petition it had forwarded, suggesting the ships might again need St Helena. The failure of the Cape's wine, corn and meat together records a comprehensive agricultural collapse at the settlement that had drawn off the island's trade for three years. By detailing the Cape's distress, the Council pointed to a shift that might restore St Helena's value to passing ships, the rival station's loss being the island's potential gain. The Council's attribution of the good season to divine blessing reflects the period's habitual reading of harvests and weather as providential, the moderate island's plenty set against the Cape's drought as a mark of favour. The framing served to present the island's recovery as something beyond the Council's own efforts, a turn of fortune worth reporting to the Court. Speculations The Council's emphasis on the Cape's drought served its standing argument that the Court's ships should return to St Helena, the rival station's failure undercutting the reason vessels had bypassed the island. By reporting the Cape's distress so fully, the Council pressed the case that the island remained the surer source of refreshment, reinforcing the petition it had recently sent home. The decision to send a letter despite having nothing of importance reflects the Council's resolve to keep the Court continually informed through every passing ship. By using each conveyance to report even a fine season, the Council maintained an unbroken account of the island's state, consistent with the diligence it had pressed against the charges of neglect. | ||
198 | by these Ships, they have lately Publishd an Order there to prevent the decrease of their Cattle that no man Shall Sell to any Ship even not to their own any Ewe Sheep least their breed Should faile them for those who have not feed for their Cattle would if not hindered Sell off all which has Occasioned that Decree, But our people make heavy Complaints to Us and desire Us to write Earnestly to Yo:r Hon:rs that Somewhat may be done to Encourage their Industry in increasing their Plantations and Stock of Cattle which lye on their hands now for want of Vent Sine all Ships Provide themselves So fully Altho: because of their bad Season now Mentioned very Dearly at the Cape for their prices of things Encrease much and must fall here for want of buyers Insomuch that they will not many of them be able to pay the Small annual Rents | The Council reported that the Cape authorities had recently published an order to prevent the decrease of their cattle, forbidding any man to sell ewe sheep to any ship, or even to their own people, lest the breed should fail them. Those who had no feed for their cattle would otherwise have sold off everything, which was the reason for the order. The island's people, however, made heavy complaints to the Council and asked it to write earnestly to the Court, that something might be done to encourage their industry in enlarging their plantations and their stock of cattle. These now lay on their hands for want of any market, since all the ships supplied themselves so fully. Although prices at the Cape rose dearly during the bad season just mentioned, prices on the island had to fall for want of buyers. So far did this go that many of the inhabitants would not be able to pay the small annual rents [...]. Interpretations The Cape's order forbidding the sale of ewe sheep records a deliberate breeding-stock protection measure, the authorities restraining trade to preserve the means of replacement during the drought. The Council reported the device as evidence of the Cape's distress, the rival station's defensive policy marking how far its agriculture had failed. The islanders' inability to pay even the small annual rents exposes the chain by which the Cape trade's loss reached the Court's own revenue, the planters' want of a market leaving them unable to meet their obligations. The Council's lease at fourpence per acre, the standing rate, now stood at risk, the failure of trade threatening the rents on which part of the island's income depended. The accumulation of cattle and produce on the planters' hands for want of buyers restates the structural grievance of the petition the Council had forwarded, the island's surplus unsellable while the ships provisioned at the Cape. The Council tied the inhabitants' distress directly to the shipping practice it had pressed the Court to change. Speculations The Council's report of the Cape's sheep order served its argument that the Cape could no longer reliably supply the ships, the rival station now restraining its own trade. By contrasting the Cape's protective measures with the island's surplus, the Council pressed the case that St Helena stood ready to provision vessels the Cape could no longer feed. The warning that planters could not pay their rents pressed the grievance in the terms most likely to move the Court, tying the inhabitants' distress to the Court's own income. By showing that the Cape trade's loss threatened the rents the Court collected, the Council framed the petition not as a local complaint but as a matter touching the Court's revenue directly. | ||
199 | due from them to your Hon:rs for the lands they hold, This is their Case at Present but We hope that by your Hon:rs Wisdome they will be relieved and that yo:r Shiping will be Ordered to Continue less at the Cape or not to go in their So Constantly as they all do to enrich a foreraign people and to discourage and bring to Beggary those who depending on them have been at Continual Labour to raise Provisions for their Use & Service We will not Add any of our own Notions on that affaire because We know Your Hon:rs are best able to help your People here whom you have Always hitherto Protected and Encouraged and doubt not but you'l doe it Still We were Used to think the Safety of this road for Ships and the Danger that all Ships ride in at the Cape would be Motives Sufficient to bring all yo:r Hon:rs English Ships in here But whether there be other reasons for all the Ships going | The Council explained that these rents were due to the Court for the lands the inhabitants held. Such was their situation at present, but the Council hoped that by the Court's intervention they would be relieved, and that the Court's shipping would be ordered to call less at the Cape, or not to go there as constantly as they all did. The present practice enriched foreign people and brought to beggary those who, depending on the ships, had laboured continually to raise provisions for their use and service. The Council would add none of its own opinions on the matter, since it knew the Court was best able to help its people on the island, whom it had always protected and encouraged. It had no doubt the Court would do so still. The Council had once thought the safety of the island road for ships, and the danger that all ships faced riding at the Cape, would be reason enough to bring all the Court's English ships in to the island. Whether there were other reasons for all the ships going continually [...]. Interpretations The contrast between the safe island road and the dangerous Cape anchorage introduces a navigational argument for redirecting the ships, the exposed Cape roadstead posing a risk the sheltered island avoided. The Council pressed the safety of the island's anchorage as a further ground for the Court to order its vessels home by St Helena, adding a practical reason to the economic case. The charge that the Cape trade enriched foreign people identifies the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, whose provisioning of English ships drew the Court's money to a rival nation. The Council framed the grievance in terms of national advantage, the island's loss being a foreign power's gain, an argument calculated to move the Court beyond mere sympathy for the planters. The Council's pointed restraint in adding none of its own opinions, while laying out the case at length, reflects a careful deference to the Court as the authority over its shipping. By disclaiming any view while pressing every supporting fact, the Council deferred formally to the Court's judgement even as it shaped the conclusion it wished the Court to reach. Speculations The Council's hint at other reasons for the ships' constant resort to the Cape suggests a suspicion that private interest, not necessity, drew the vessels there. By raising the possibility without asserting it, the Council implied that the practice served someone's advantage against the island's, inviting the Court to look into motives it would not itself name. The Council's profession of leaving the matter wholly to the Court reflects a calculated humility before a board that controlled the shipping the petition sought to redirect. By presenting itself as a faithful servant adding no opinion of its own, the Council pressed the islanders' case while avoiding any appearance of dictating to the Court, shaping its appeal to a body jealous of its own authority. | ||
200 | Continually goe and tarrying at the Cape Your Hon:rs either best know or quickly will know because We believe from the Experience of our own affairs that nothing can Long be a Secret to you which you think fitt to enquire after As to your Garrison & Affairs Military We are very Glad We can inform Yo:r Hon:rs that the Soldiery Since yo:r Allowance of Tea to them have been in much better health than formerly, their Allowance is two Pound p:r weak but fear We Shall be at a loss how to Continue that Allowance to them because Notwithstanding Your Hon:rs Orders which We have Used to the Ships, We have not been able to procure any Tea from them on yo:r Hon:rs Acc:o but might have had Some of theirs if We would buy it Wherefore We pray Yo:r Hon:rs that you'd be pleased to Order Your Supra Cargoes who goe to China to buy 4 or 6 Picolls of Bohea Tea for | The Council observed that whether there were other reasons for the ships continually calling and tarrying at the Cape, the Court either best knew or would readily learn, since from its own experience it believed nothing could long remain a secret from the Court that it thought fit to inquire into. The Council turned next to the garrison and military affairs. The Council was very glad to inform the Court that since its allowance of tea to the soldiers, their health had been much better than before. Their allowance was two pounds a head. The Council feared, however, that it would be at a loss how to continue that allowance. Despite the Court's orders, which it had shown to the ships, it had not been able to obtain any tea from them on the Court's account, though it might have had some of theirs had it been willing to buy. The Council therefore asked the Court to be pleased to order its supercargoes bound for China to buy four or six chests of bohea tea [...]. Interpretations The improvement in the soldiers' health since the issue of tea sets out a deliberate measure of garrison welfare, the Council crediting a dietary provision with a real fall in sickness. The two-pound allowance per man marked a fixed ration the Council wished to maintain, the want of supply now threatening a benefit it had found to work. Bohea tea was a black China tea of the commoner grade, taking its name from the Wuyi hills, imported in bulk and the ordinary drinking tea of the period. Its supply through the Company's China trade made it the practical choice for a garrison ration, distinct from the finer teas reserved for the London market. The commanders' refusal to deliver tea on the Court's account despite its orders repeats the recurring obstacle the Council had met with Captain Kesar and Captain Newton, who declined to part with tea for want of an instruction clause. The Council's request for a standing order to its supercargoes sought to close the gap that left it unable to secure even a small supply. Speculations The Council's case for the tea ration tied a request for supply to a demonstrated improvement in the soldiers' health, framing the purchase as a measure of garrison welfare rather than indulgence. By crediting the tea with reducing sickness, the Council pressed the Court to secure a supply that served the very establishment the Court maintained at such cost. The Council's repeated frustration over the commanders' refusal reflects a structural gap in the Court's instructions that only a standing order could close. By asking the Court to direct its supercargoes specifically, the Council sought to convert an irregular and contested supply into a dependable one, ensuring the garrison's ration did not fail for want of authority aboard the ships. | ||
201 | for the use of this place which We desire may be put up into Cattee Potts, a Sort of Package which tho: not So fitt for the London markett yet is most Acceptable to our people, We pray your Hon:rs alsoe to Send every year 130 Suits of Soldiers Cloaths, if 160 were Sent they would doe very will because the Poorer Sort of Planters could all wear that Cloathing And please to Order each year 60 Grannadeer Capps As to Stores &:c from India These Ships have brought Us Some Stores from India as is Mentioned in our Consultations which goes home herewith dated the 22 & 26 May 1719 but the four Bales of Quilts We cannot have because they are Stowed away in the Ships hold where Capt: Pitt could not Possibly gett at them tho: he has Used a great Deal of Industry in Searching for them, the officers alledge that | The Council asked that the tea for the island be packed in catty pots, a form of package which, though not so well suited to the London market, was most acceptable to the island's people. It also asked the Court to send every year 130 suits of soldiers' clothing. Were 160 sent, they would serve very well, since the poorer sort of planters could all wear that clothing. The Council further asked the Court to order 60 grenadier caps each year. The Council turned next to stores from India. These ships had brought it some stores from India, as mentioned in its consultations sent home with this letter, dated 22 and 26 May 1719. The four bales of quilts, however, the Council could not have, since they were stowed away in the ships' holds where Captain Pitt could not possibly reach them, though he had used a great deal of effort in searching for them. The officers alleged [...]. Interpretations The request for 130 or 160 suits of soldiers' clothing addresses the standing clothing gap the Council had pressed before, the soldiers' issue having run short of the establishment with caps wanting for the grenadier exercise. The Council's note that the poorer planters could wear the surplus shows the issue serving a double purpose, clothing the garrison and supplying a market among the inhabitants. The grenadier caps, requested separately at 60 a year, were the tall distinctive headgear worn for the grenadier exercise, their want having earlier left that drill incomplete. The Council's specific annual figure marked an attempt to fix a regular supply for a particular part of the garrison's training. The selling of surplus soldiers' clothing to the poorer planters recalls the Council's earlier reckoning that the profit on shirts sold to the inhabitants paid the prime cost of those issued to the garrison. The arrangement turned the clothing supply into a small revenue mechanism, the island market offsetting the cost of equipping the soldiers. Speculations The Council's request for more clothing than the garrison strictly needed reflects a calculated use of the surplus as a saleable commodity among the inhabitants. By asking for 160 suits where 130 would clothe the soldiers, the Council sought stock it could sell to the poorer planters, easing the cost of the garrison's issue through the island market. The careful record of Captain Pitt's effort to reach the buried quilts answered the Council's accountability for stores it had not received, laying the failure on the stowage rather than on any want of diligence. By documenting the search and the officers' explanation, the Council protected itself against the suspicion that goods charged to it had gone missing in its own hands. | ||
202 | that the word S:t Helena not being Written upon them as was upon the rest Occasioned their being Stowed away for which We are very Sorry the whole Island being in great want of them We have also rec: Eight Slaves of whom Six are very good ones and two Indifferent five of them from Capt: Peacock and three from Capt: Pitt who brought them from Bombay on yo:r Hon:rs Acco:t We have drawn for each of this Capt: viz: Capt: Peacock Capt: Pitt & Capt: Collet the following Bills partly Occasioned by Some very Small matters that they have Sold here and partly for money to be Sent to One of Charles Stacards Sons now in your Hon:rs Service in India as Shall be mentioned more Particularly in our next Consultatione And alsoe three Bills of Exchange for Lieu:t Thomas Cason dated the 30 May 1719 for the Sume of Five | The officers explained that because the words St Helena were not written on the quilts as they were on the rest, the bales had been stowed away. The Council was very sorry, the whole island being in great want of them. The Council had also received eight slaves, six of them very good and two indifferent. Five came from Captain Peacock and three from Captain Pitt, who had brought them from Bombay on the Court's account. The Council had drawn the following bills for each of these captains, namely Captain Peacock, Captain Pitt and Captain Collet. They were occasioned partly by some very small matters the captains had sold on the island, and partly for money to be sent to a son of one Charles Stewart, now in the Court's service in India, as the Council would set out more fully in its next consultation. It had also drawn three bills of exchange for Lieutenant Thomas Cason, dated 30 May 1719, for the sum of £500 0s 0d [...]. Interpretations The misplacing of the quilts for want of the words St Helena marked on the bales exposes the dependence of the whole consignment system on correct labelling, an unmarked package lost in the hold as surely as if it had never been shipped. The Council recorded the cause to show that the island's want of the quilts owed nothing to any failing of its own, the fault lying in the marking at the point of lading. The receipt of eight slaves, graded six good and two indifferent, continued the partial meeting of the Council's standing demand for slaves to supply the island's labour. The careful grading by quality fixed the value of the supply for the Court's account, distinguishing serviceable hands from those of lesser worth. The bill of £500 0s 0d to Lieutenant Thomas Cason appears to settle the affairs of the same Thomas Ceason whose larger £1,000 0s 0d bill had lapsed when he failed to get a passage home, the sum now drawn under a military rank. The reappearance of the name with a different figure points to a continuing reckoning of his account as his circumstances changed. Speculations The Council's record of the quilts' mislabelling served its accountability for stores charged to it but never received, fixing the failure on the lading rather than on its own keeping. By documenting that the unmarked bales could not be identified in the hold, the Council ensured the Court would not charge it for goods that had never come ashore. The drawing of bills to forward money to Charles Stewart's son in India shows the Council acting as a channel for remittances between the Court's servants across its scattered settlements. By handling the transfer through its own bills, the Council served the personal financial needs of Company men far apart, the island's bookkeeping linking India and England through St Helena. | ||
203 | hundred Pounds which is fully Mentioned in our last Consultation Govern:r Pyke has desired Bills for the Ballance of his Acc:o as is likewise Men= =tioned in our last Consultation but the Ships going So Suddenly away We dont Send them now but Shall by the next Ship The Bills for the three Capt: before named are as follows (voz:t) To Capt: Eustace Peacock (or Order) three Bills for the Sume of One hundred thirty Nine Pounds Seventeen Shillings To Capt: Will:m Geo: Pitt (or Order) three Bills for the Sume of Seventy five Pounds Six Shill: & five pence To Capt: Tho: Collett (or Order) three Bills for the Sume of Seventeen Pounds two Shill: & one penny We are Hon:ble S:rs Union Castle S:t Helena the 31 May 1719 Yo:r Hon:rs Most humb:le & faithfull Servants Jno: Pyke Jn:o Goodwin Jn:o Alexander | The Council noted that the £500 0s 0d bill for Lieutenant Thomas Cason was fully set out in its last consultation. Governor Pyke had asked for bills for the balance of his account, as likewise mentioned in the last consultation. Since the ships were leaving so suddenly, the Council would not send them now, but would do so by the next ship. The bills for the three captains named earlier were as follows. To Captain Eustace Peacock, or order, three bills for the sum of £139 17s 0d. To Captain William George Pitt, or order, three bills for the sum of £75 6s 5d. To Captain Thomas Collett, or order, three bills for the sum of £17 2s 1d. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 31 May 1719, and signed by the Court's most humble and faithful servants Isaac Pyke, John Goodwin and John Alexander. Interpretations The deferral of Governor Pyke's balance bills to the next ship, because the present vessels left too suddenly, shows the settlement of his outgoing account stretching across several conveyances. The reckoning of a departing Governor's affairs proceeded piecemeal as ships allowed, the balance held over rather than rushed before a hurried sailing. The bills to the three captains, settling small sales and credits, reflect the running accounts kept with each commander touching the island, closed by transfer to London rather than coin. The triplicate form of each set guarded the remittances against the loss of a ship, the standard safeguard of the island's long-distance finance. The signatures of Isaac Pyke, John Goodwin and John Alexander record the reduced Council of mid-1719, the body thinned by the mortality season that had carried off Captain Bazett and the chief surgeon Joseph Du May. The short list measured the few capable hands left to govern after the epidemic. Speculations The Council's decision to hold Pyke's balance bills rather than draw them in haste reflects a care to settle so substantial an account accurately rather than quickly. By deferring the former Governor's reckoning to the next ship, the Council ensured the balance would be drawn correctly, consistent with the exact bookkeeping it maintained through every transaction. The clustering of small bills to departing commanders alongside the deferred gubernatorial account shows the Council distinguishing routine settlements from the more complex reckoning of an officer leaving his post. The captains' modest sums could be closed at once, while the Governor's balance required the deliberation a hurried sailing did not allow. | ||
204 | Island S:t Helena List of the Pack:t p:r Ship Morice Capt: Eustace Peacock Comand:r Gov:r and Councils Gen:l Letter dated y:e 31 of May 1719 w:th Copy of that of the Mary dated the 8 May 1719 Sent a Part N:o Copy of Consultations from the 12 May 1719 Inclusive to the 2 of June follow: Exclusive Copy of Severall Letters from Madd:rs brought Us p:r Ship Mary Capt: Holden Copy of Gen: from Bengall of the 6 Dec:r 1718 &:c p:r Ship List of Families Land & Cattle on S:t Helena for y:e Year 1718 Receipt for the Large Pack:t p:r Mary Receipt for the Small Pack:t p:r d:o Ship Ship Morice Account Ship Stanhops Acc:o Ship Grenthams Acc:o List of the Packitt | The Council listed the contents of the packet sent by the Morice, Captain Eustace Peacock commander. The Governor and Council general letter, dated 31 May 1719, with a copy of that by the Mary, dated 8 May 1719, sent apart. 1: A copy of the consultations from 12 May 1719 inclusive to 2 June following exclusive. 2: Copies of several letters from Madras, brought by the Mary, Captain Holden commander. 3: A copy of the general letter from Bengal, dated 6 December 1718, by the same ship. 4: A list of the families, land and cattle on St Helena for the year 1718. 5: A receipt for the large packet by the Mary. 6: A receipt for the small packet by the same ship. 7: The Morice's account. 8: The Stanhope's account. 9: The Grantham's account. 10: A list of the packet. Interpretations The list of families, land and cattle on St Helena for 1718 was a comprehensive census of the island's settled population and its resources, the kind of return by which the Court tracked the colony's demographic and agricultural state. Such a survey bore directly on the Council's case over the Cape trade, fixing the number of planters and the stock now lying unsold for want of a market. The packet manifest served as a checklist by which the Court could confirm that every enclosure named had arrived, the numbered items forming the formal record against which receipt was acknowledged. The list fixed exactly what the Morice carried, so that any item lost at sea could be identified against it. The inclusion of three ship accounts, those of the Morice, the Stanhope and the Grantham, reflects the running reckonings kept with each vessel touching the island, settled and forwarded for the Court to reconcile in London. The accounts travelled with the correspondence as the financial counterpart to the narrative of arrivals and supply. Speculations The despatch of the families, land and cattle census alongside the letter pressing the Cape grievance reflects a calculated pairing of complaint with evidence. By sending the survey of planters and stock with its argument about lost trade, the Council let the Court weigh the inhabitants' distress against a documented account of the population and produce at risk. The forwarding of Madras and Bengal letters through St Helena shows the island serving as a relay point in the Company's correspondence between India and London. By copying and carrying the eastern letters homeward, the Council performed its standing function as a waystation, the island's value lying as much in its place on the route as in its own produce. | ||
205 | General Letter per Ship King George Capt: Sam Lewis Comand:r dated the 21 Dec:r 1719 Hon:ble S:rs Your Hon:rs General Letter by the Cragg frig: dated the 13 of March 1718 Capt: Jn:o Wynn Comand:r who Arrived here on Saturday evening the 13 of June 1719 came Safe to our hands As also the Invoice & other papers Contained in the Packet, In the Same Ship Arrived the Worshipp:l Edward Johnson Esq:r who took his place as Govern:r of this Island after the read= =ing his Comission and each of the Councell Except M:r Bazett who died the 5 of Aprill Last w:ch We Shall take more particular Notice of in its proper place On Monday morning June the 15 We began the reading Your General Letter To which We Promise your Hon:rs a Punctuall performance and We begg leave in this place to Assure you that no Endeavours Shall be wanting on our Sides at all times that may be thought most Con= =ducive to your Hon:rs Interest which We hope Answers Para: first 2 3 4 & Sixth Your Instructions in the 1 Par: of your Hon:rs said Letter will help Us for the future to regulate & better Methodize the Letters We Transmitt to your Hon:rs and We will take all due Care that our Letters be Concise that each Branch of your Hon:rs Sales on this Island be | This is a general letter to the Court of Directors by the King George, Captain Sam Lewis commander, dated 21 December 1719. 1: The Court's general letter by the Craggs, Captain John Wynn commander, dated 13 March 1719, arrived on Saturday evening 13 June 1719. It came safely to the Council, along with the invoice and other papers in the packet. By the same ship arrived the Worshipful Edward Johnson, who took his place as Governor of the island after reading his commission, and each of the Council except Mr Bazett, who had died on 5 April last. The Council would take more particular notice of this in its proper place. 2: On Monday morning, 15 June, the Council began the reading of the Court's general letter. It promised the Court a careful performance, and assured it that no effort would be wanting on its side by every means thought most likely to serve the Court's interest. The Council hoped to answer the letter in order, beginning with the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth paragraphs. 3: The Court's instructions in the first paragraph of its letter would help the Council to regulate and better arrange the letters it sent home. The Council would take all due care that its letters were drawn up so that each branch of the Court's affairs on the island [...]. Interpretations The arrival of the Worshipful Edward Johnson to take up the governorship marks the formal succession to Isaac Pyke, the reading of his commission before the Council enacting the transfer of authority. The ceremony of reading the commission was the legal act by which a new Governor's power took effect, the assembled Council witnessing the passage of office. The Council's promise to better arrange its letters answers the Court's standing concern, raised through the informer controversy, that its correspondence be clear and complete. The Court's first-paragraph instruction on ordering the letters reflects the same desire for a well-kept record that had run through the disputes of the previous administration. The notice of Captain Bazett's death on 5 April, to be treated more fully in its place, confirms the loss of the long-serving storekeeper and councillor during the mortality season. The new administration carried forward the record of the deaths that had thinned the Council, the change of Governor not breaking the continuity of the island's account. Speculations The new Governor's early commitment to methodising the correspondence reflects a deliberate effort to begin his administration in the good order the Court had pressed for. By taking up the Court's instruction on the arrangement of letters at the outset, Johnson signalled a fresh start in the record-keeping that had been so contested under his predecessor. The Council's careful statement that it would answer the Court's letter paragraph by paragraph reflects the established method of replying under the Court's own heads, the same orderly procedure the previous administration had followed. By adopting it from the first, the new Council aligned itself with the Court's expectations for a complete and traceable response. | ||
206 | be ranged under its Proper head, and that We Use no more repetitions or Sentences than what will Render our meaning Plain and Prevent our Selves being deemed Remiss by yo:r Hon:rs Your Directions in the 2 Par: w:th the 8 will mind Us to acquaint you of the Preceedent, and likewise give the date to what We do Write The present Temper & the hearty zeale for your Hon:rs Interest with which each of Us Seem to be Achiated will We hope Prevent every one of Us having recourse to the 9 Par:d Our Consultations will be Constantly Sent home which We question not will Evince your Hon:rs how observant We are to the 10 Par:d In obedience to the 11 of this years Letter which refers to the 10 of the Preceeding We will use our best Endeavours that an abstract of all Standing Orders from your | The Council promised that each branch of the Court's affairs would be set under its proper head, and that it would use no more repetition or sentences than were needed to make its meaning plain and to prevent itself being thought remiss by the Court. 4: The Court's directions in its eighth paragraph would remind the Council to acquaint the Court with the precedent for each matter, and likewise to give the date of whatever it wrote. 5: The Council hoped that the present temper and the hearty zeal for the Court's interest with which each of its members seemed to act would prevent any one of them having recourse to the ninth paragraph. 6: The Council's consultations would be sent home constantly, which it had no doubt would show the Court how observant it was of the tenth paragraph. 7: In obedience to the eleventh paragraph of this year's letter, which referred to the tenth of the preceding one, the Council would do its best to prepare an abstract of all standing orders from the Court [...]. Interpretations The Court's instruction to cite the precedent and date for each matter written formalises the documentary discipline that the previous administration had practised under pressure of the informer controversy. The requirement made dated authority a standing rule of correspondence, the new Council bound to anchor every report in a verifiable record. The new Council's reference to the present temper and hearty zeal among its members, hoping none would need recourse to the ninth paragraph, hints that the paragraph concerned discord or misconduct within the body. The remark reflects an awareness of the factional troubles that had divided the previous Council, the new administration presenting itself as free of them. The commitment to an abstract of all standing orders shows the Court requiring a consolidated digest of its accumulated directions, the eleventh paragraph building on a like instruction the year before. Such an abstract served to keep a scattered body of orders accessible, the Council charged with reducing years of correspondence to a usable summary. Speculations The new Council's pointed allusion to its own harmony, set against the ninth paragraph, reflects a deliberate contrast with the divisions that had marked the previous administration. By stressing the zeal and good temper of its members, the Council distanced itself from the quarrels and mutual accusations that had shadowed the informer controversy under Pyke. The Council's promise to abstract the standing orders reflects the practical difficulty of governing from a correspondence accumulated over many years and many ships. By undertaking to digest the orders into a single summary, the Council sought a working reference that would prevent the Court's directions being lost or overlooked across the scattered record. | ||
207 | your Hon:rs be with Convenient Speed drawn out In Relation to Shiping We acknowledge yo:r favours in Sending Us a List of the Ships Arrived in the 12 Par: taken into your Service in the 13 Par: Gone and were designed to go for India from England in the 14 Par: with the names of the Supra Cargoes which will Enable Us to Enquire from time to time after your Shiping & always to be in a readiness to give that Dispatch to them your Hon:rs Interest requires Should We be deficient in Acquainting Your Hon:rs with what Ships Arrive here and Likewise with what Intelligence they bring Us in respect to Your Affaires abroad We Should think our Selves Culpable & not deserving those favours Your Hon:rs Bestow on Us We have had no Ships belonging to your Hon:rs Since the Craggs who Departed for Ben= =coolen on the 12 of July last | The Council promised that the abstract of standing orders would be drawn up with convenient speed. 8: Concerning shipping, the Council acknowledged the Court's favours in sending it a list of the ships arrived in the twelfth paragraph, those taken into the Court's service in the thirteenth, and those gone or designed to go for India from England in the fourteenth, with the names of the supercargoes. This would enable the Council to inquire from time to time after the Court's shipping, and always to be ready to give them the despatch the Court's interest required. Should the Council be deficient in acquainting the Court with what ships arrived, and likewise what intelligence they brought concerning the Court's affairs abroad, it would think itself blameworthy and undeserving of the favours the Court had shown it. The Council reported that no ship belonging to the Court had touched there since the Craggs, which had sailed for Bencoolen on 12 July last. Interpretations The Court's provision of lists of ships arrived, ships taken into service and ships bound for India, with the supercargoes named, gave the Council the reference it needed to track the Court's scattered fleet and to expedite each vessel. The exchange of shipping lists in both directions kept the island and the Court mutually informed, the colony's value as a waystation depending on this flow of intelligence. The Council's acknowledgement that it would be culpable if it failed to report arrivals and the intelligence they brought restates the island's core duty as an observation and relay point on the homeward route. The reporting of shipping was not incidental but central to the colony's function, the Council bound to forward news of vessels and the affairs they carried. The named supercargoes in the Court's list reflect the commercial officers who managed the trade aboard each India ship, distinct from the masters who commanded the vessels. The Council's interest in their names points to its dealings over goods and tea, the supercargoes being the men with authority to deliver or withhold cargo at the island. Speculations The Council's emphatic acceptance of its reporting duty reflects the new administration's wish to demonstrate diligence from the outset, in the very area where the previous Council had built its defence. By stressing that it would be blameworthy to fail in shipping intelligence, the new Council aligned itself with the Court's expectations and distanced itself from any suggestion of negligence. The Council's note that no ship had touched since the Craggs in July served to account for the gap in its shipping reports, explaining the silence by the absence of vessels rather than any failure to observe. By recording the last arrival precisely, the Council showed that its reporting was complete up to the moment, no ship having passed unremarked. | ||
208 | On the 9 Arrived the Elizabeth Capt: Jn:o Webster from Madagascar with Negroes from whom We received Elev: Males & Six Females for your Hon:rs use all Good & Sound According to your Permit She Sailed the 16 following In pursuance to your 16 Par:d We forward ed the Ship Craggs with the Charterparty to Bencoolen Your Hon:rs will find in the Consultation of the 26 June by our Protest to the Craggs a due regard had to your 17 Par:d relating to Demorage and you may depend Upon our persevering to do our duty To all other Rules formerly given by your Hon:rs relating to Shiping We Shall have due recourse to in answer to Par:d the 18 We promise Strict obedience to all Orders Sent Us from the Gentlem: Appointed by your Hon:rs to be the Secret Committee from time to time in obedience to your 19 Par:d | 10: On the 9th the Elizabeth, Captain John Webster commander, arrived from Madagascar with slaves. From her the Council received eleven men and six women for the Court's use, all good and sound according to its instruction. She sailed on the 16th following. 11: In compliance with the Court's sixteenth paragraph, the Council had forwarded the Craggs with the charter party to Bencoolen. 12: The Court would find in the consultation of 26 June, by the Council's protest to the Craggs, that due regard had been paid to its seventeenth paragraph relating to demurrage. The Court might depend on the Council persevering in its duty. 13: As to all other rules formerly given by the Court relating to shipping, the Council would have due recourse to them in answer to the eighteenth paragraph. 14: The Council promised strict obedience to all orders sent it by the gentlemen appointed by the Court to be the Secret Committee, in compliance with the nineteenth paragraph. Interpretations The receipt of eleven men and six women from the Elizabeth, all good and sound according to instruction, continued the supply of slaves the Council had long pressed for, the grading by soundness fixing their value for the Court's account. The note that they met the Court's standard shows the Council answering a specific requirement laid down for the quality of slaves received. The protest to the Craggs over demurrage repeats the Council's standing enforcement against ships failing to unload within the appointed time, the same charge it had pressed against earlier commanders. Demurrage was the penalty for a vessel detained beyond its agreed lay days, the Council holding masters to the terms of their charter parties. The Secret Committee named in the nineteenth paragraph was a small inner body of the Court entrusted with confidential business, its orders carrying particular authority. The Council's pledge of strict obedience reflects the Committee's standing above the ordinary correspondence, its instructions touching matters the Court kept close. Speculations The Council's reference to its dated protest over demurrage answered the Court in the documentary manner the new administration had adopted, anchoring its compliance in a specific consultation. By pointing to the minute of 26 June, the Council showed that it had enforced the Court's rule in practice, not merely promised to, demonstrating the diligence it meant to maintain. The Council's particular emphasis on obedience to the Secret Committee reflects the weight such confidential instructions carried, distinct from the general body of orders. By singling out its compliance with the Committee, the Council acknowledged the special authority of the Court's inner counsel, signalling that it understood which directions demanded the closest observance. | ||
209 | The Declaration of Warr against Spain and the Proclamation to recall all his Maj:ty Subjects being Sea faring men in Forreigne Princes Service were Published by beat of Drum and after fixed up in the Usuall publick places, to Caution all your Comanders on their return thereof, We Shall be mindfull of what relates to the Ostend or other Ships & Shall have a Particular regard thereto which We hope will answer your 20 & 21 Par:d Secondly concerning what Goods We have received p:r Craggs The Woollen goods and other Goods are all very Good Stockings, Womens Bodices, and Jumps, and fishing Tackle We have not received they were Excepted against at the Bottom of the Bill of Lading because they were not put on board the Ship, those are what are Extreamly wanting hire and the Disappointm:t is the Greater and We must be forced to make hard Shifts untill the | 15: The declaration of war against Spain, and the proclamation recalling all the King's subjects who were seafaring men in the service of foreign princes, had been published by beat of drum and afterwards posted in the various public places. This was to caution all the Court's commanders on their return. The Council would be mindful of what related to the Ostend or other ships, and would pay particular regard to it, which it hoped would answer the Court's twentieth and twenty-first paragraphs. The Council turned next to the goods received by the Craggs. 16: The woollen goods and other goods were all very good. The stockings, women's bodices and jumps, and the fishing tackle, the Council had not received. They had been excepted against at the bottom of the bill of lading, since they were not put aboard the ship. These were the items most badly wanted on the island, and the disappointment was the greater. The Council would be forced to make do until the arrival [...]. Interpretations The declaration of war against Spain published by beat of drum records the formal proclamation of the 1719 conflict, the proclamation to recall the King's seafaring subjects from foreign service aimed at denying skilled mariners to the enemy. The Council's posting of the proclamation marked the island's part in enforcing a wartime measure across the Company's shipping. The Council's note of the Ostend ships touches the rivalry with the Ostend Company, the Austrian Netherlands venture that competed with the English and Dutch in the eastern trade. The Court's instruction to watch for such vessels reflects its concern with interloping competitors, the Council bound to report and act against them. The exception entered at the foot of the bill of lading for goods not shipped shows the documentary mechanism by which the island recorded short deliveries against the Court's account. The endorsement protected the Council from charge for goods it never received, the same practice it had used over adulterated arrack and missing stores in earlier years. Jumps were a kind of unstiffened bodice or light stays worn by women, a softer alternative to boned bodices, the item appearing among the textile goods the island imported for its inhabitants. Their inclusion in the requisition reflects the island's standing need to supply clothing for a settled population, women's wear among the goods ordered from the Court. Speculations The Council's careful record of the goods excepted at the foot of the bill of lading answered its accountability for stores charged but not delivered, fixing the failure on the lading rather than on its own keeping. By noting that the missing items had never been put aboard, the Council ensured the Court would not hold it responsible for goods that had never reached the island. The Council's emphasis on the disappointment over the unshipped goods pressed the urgency of supply in the very items most wanted. By stressing that the missing stockings, bodices and fishing tackle were those most needed, the Council framed the short delivery not as a minor lapse but as a real hardship the next shipping must remedy. | ||
210 | Arrivall of the next Ship when must begg Your Hon:rs to Send Us a Larger Supply of those Necessarys The other Goods not delivered are Excepted against on the back of the Bill of Lading by the Store= =keeper (for We could not by any Arguments) prevaile on the Capt: to pay for them The twenty one Chaldron of Coals Sent Us We have Sent to Bencoolen for the reasons already assignd in the Consultation of the 16 June w:ch We hope Your Hon:rs will adjudge Sufficient Whatsoever Goods We receive be they either from England or from any Part of India they Shall be duely Enterd in our Consultations which will be a guide for Us on the Storekeeper and may be more ready in case your Hon:rs have recourse thereto, and We will observe your Hon:rs Directions to make the Advance on the Prime Cost of what is Ornamentall, Denote what is necessary but w:th Such Caution as the Planters themselves Shall have no Just occasion to complain of being imposed on by Us, and We will at the Same time take | The Council asked the Court to send a larger supply of those necessities by the next ship. The other goods not delivered had been excepted against on the back of the bill of lading by the storekeeper, since the Council could by no argument prevail on the captain to pay for them. 17: The twenty-one chaldrons of coals sent to the Council had been forwarded to Bencoolen, for the reasons already given in the consultation of 16 June. The Council hoped the Court would judge this sufficient. 18: Whatever goods the Council received, whether from England or from any part of India, would be duly entered in its consultations. This would serve as a guard for it on the storekeeper's part, and would be the more readily available should the Court have recourse to it. The Council would observe the Court's directions to make the advance on the prime cost of what was ornamental, and to mark what was necessary, but with such caution that the planters themselves should have no just cause to complain of being imposed on. At the same time it would take [...]. Interpretations The forwarding of twenty-one chaldrons of coals to Bencoolen confirms the island's standing position that it did well enough without coals, the same view behind its request that the Court ship tiles as ballast instead. The chaldron was a large measure of coal, the Council sending the unwanted fuel on to a settlement that needed it rather than burdening the island with stock it could not use. The Court's direction to add an advance on the prime cost of ornamental goods while marking necessities sets out a deliberate pricing policy, profit taken on luxuries and restraint shown on essentials. The mechanism let the Court raise revenue on goods of choice while keeping necessary supplies affordable to the planters, the Council charged with holding the balance. The entering of all goods received in the consultations as a guard on the storekeeper formalises the documentary control over the stores, every receipt recorded against later question. The practice protected both the storekeeper and the Court, fixing what had come in so that the account could be checked against the record. Speculations The Court's pricing instruction, profit on ornamental goods and care on necessities, reflects a calculated effort to draw revenue from the island's trade without provoking the planters into grievance. The Council was charged with applying the policy so finely that the inhabitants felt no imposition, the Court seeking income that would not breed the complaints that reached it from discontented settlers. The Council's stress on recording goods as a guard for the storekeeper reflects the lessons of the previous administration, in which a faulty inventory had been laid on the writer who drew it up. By entering every receipt in the consultations, the new Council sought to protect its storekeeper against the kind of charge that had troubled its predecessor, building the documentary defence into routine from the start. | ||
209 | take care there Shall be no Private Store House whereby the Poorer Sort mayn't be Oppressed, The Generall words Whatsoever Goods Mentioned at the begining of this Par: We conceive will take in those Goods likewise Mentioned in yo:r Hon:rs following Par: to be bought of Capt:s &:c and fully instruct Us to Pursue yo:r Hon:rs Instructions in Par:d 24 & 25 For our better Guidance in that Necessary Part of our business Indenting for Stores want= =ing here will persue the Method Appointed by the 26 Par:d of the Last Years Lett:r & other former Instructions Secondly Relating to yo:r Hon:rs Serv:ts Civil or Military The Acco:ts of S:t Helena in Gener: & true State of Yo:r Stock & Revenues At the Arrivall of the Craggs Frigot M:r Bazett was dead, the Councell then Consisted of Gov:r Pyke M:r Tovey as 2:d M:r Alexander 3:d and Sec:ry and M:r Goodwin 4 & Storekeeper | The Council promised to take care that there should be no private storehouse by which the poorer sort might be oppressed. It understood the general words whatever goods at the beginning of the eighteenth paragraph to take in those goods likewise mentioned in the following paragraphs, to be bought of the captains. These carefully instructed the Council to follow the Court's directions in its twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth paragraphs. 19: For its better guidance in the necessary part of its business, the indenting for stores wanted on the island, the Council would follow the method appointed by the twenty-sixth paragraph of last year's letter and other former instructions. The Council turned next to the second head, relating to the Court's servants, civil or military, and the account of St Helena in general and the true state of the Court's stock and revenues. 20: At the arrival of the Craggs, Mr Bazett was dead. The Council then consisted of Governor Pyke, Mr Tovey as second, Mr Alexander third and secretary, and Mr Goodwin fourth and storekeeper. Interpretations The pledge to allow no private storehouse that might oppress the poorer sort renews the long campaign against the private trade, the same concern behind the twelvepence duty laid on the understorehouses of Powell and the parson. By channelling supply through the Court's store, the Council both raised revenue and protected the poorer inhabitants from the higher prices of private dealers. The composition of the Council at the Craggs's arrival, Pyke as Governor with Tovey, Alexander and Goodwin in order beneath, records the depleted body that had governed through the mortality season before Johnson's succession. The ranking by seniority and office fixed the order of authority, the secretary and storekeeper named with their functions for the Court's record. The death of Bazett, noted again as the state of the Council before the change of administration, confirms the loss of the storekeeper whose office passed to Goodwin. The repeated record of his death across the correspondence marks its significance to the island's government, the man who had served so long now replaced in the reduced establishment. Speculations The new Council's emphasis on preventing any private storehouse reflects its adoption of the central policy of the previous administration, the control of trade through the Court's store. By taking up the campaign against private dealing at the outset, the Council signalled continuity in the fiscal strategy that had defined Pyke's government, the protection of revenue and of the poorer planters alike. The careful setting out of the Council's order and offices serves the Court's standing concern with a clear record of who held authority on the island. By naming each member with his rank and function as the administration changed, the Council fixed the line of succession and responsibility, consistent with the documentary order the Court had pressed for in its instructions. | ||
210 | We hope for and will use that Dilligence in Your Affaires as may deserve your Hon:rs Undoubted Gene= =rosity of the Gratuitys Added to our Sallarys and We are So farr from thinking that Neglect of duty & Misbehaviour in Your Hon:rs Service Deserves Gratuity that We have not only Stopt the Gratuitys but likewise Suspended the Sallary of M:r Tovey Untill We have Your Hon:rs further Orders, as appears by Consulta= =tion of the 6 July to which We begg your Hon:rs would have recourse where the Matter of Fact will appear at large This our Opinion will We think Shew our agreement to Your Hon:rs Declara= =tion Concerning Gratuitys in Par:d 27 The Instructions in your two former & Your Possitive Resolutions in this years Lett:r will keep Us in the Same Opinion and Precaution Us not to incurr your Hon:rs Displeasure but Prompt Us as farr as We are able Punctually to Observe Par:d 28 which the Consultations of the 27 of July, and likewise that of Aug: y:e 5 will Evidently make Mannifest thereby and your Hon:rs will See the true State We found the Office in with Relation to | 21: The Council hoped for, and would use, such diligence in the Court's affairs as might deserve the Court's generosity in the gratuities added to its salaries. So far was it from thinking that neglect of duty and misconduct in the Court's service deserved a gratuity that it had not only stopped the gratuity but also suspended the salary of Mr Tovey, until it had the Court's further orders, as appeared by the consultation of 6 July. The Council asked the Court to have recourse to it, where the matter would appear at large. This opinion, it thought, showed its agreement with the Court's declaration concerning gratuities in the twenty-seventh paragraph. 22: The instructions in the Court's two former letters, and its positive resolutions in this year's letter, would keep the Council in the same opinion and caution it not to incur the Court's displeasure, but would prompt it, as far as it was able, to observe the twenty-eighth paragraph punctually. The consultations of 27 July, and likewise that of 4 August, would clearly make this manifest. The Court would see the true state in which the Council found the office, with relation to [...]. Interpretations The suspension of Mr Tovey's salary as well as his gratuity, pending the Court's orders, applies the Court's own declaration on gratuities to a specific case of alleged misconduct. The action carried forward the troubled record of Antipas Tovey, the former accountant who had been restrained from the General Table and charged debtor in the previous administration, his affairs still unresolved under the new Council. The Court's declaration that gratuities should reward only faithful service, and not neglect or misconduct, sets out the principle by which the supplements to salary were governed. The gratuity was a discretionary addition the Court could withhold, the Council applying it as an instrument of discipline by stopping both salary and bonus where duty had failed. The Council's repeated reference to dated consultations, those of 6 July, 27 July and 4 August, continues the documentary method the new administration had adopted, every action anchored in a minute the Court could consult. The practice made the Council's discipline of Tovey verifiable, the record standing as the proof of its conduct. Speculations The Council's prompt suspension of Tovey's salary served to demonstrate to the Court that the new administration would enforce its declaration on gratuities without favour. By acting against a member of its own body and recording it in dated minutes, the Council showed it understood the Court's expectation and would apply discipline where the previous administration's disputes had left matters unsettled. The Council's careful citation of the consultations bearing on Tovey reflects an awareness that the handling of so contentious a figure would be closely examined. By directing the Court to the minutes where the matter appeared at large, the Council protected itself against any charge of mishandling, letting the dated record rather than its own assertion justify the action it had taken. | ||
211 | the Books of Accounts The Acco: of Ships Shall be Sent by every Shiping and We assure Your Hon:rs We will not make Excuses our Subterfuge but conform in every respect to your Directions in Par: 29 of this as well as those of the Year before Whatsoever bills We Shall receive from Capt:s drawn on their owners We will Advise yo:r Hon:rs of in our General Letters, As to what Bills Necessity Occasions Us to draw on your Hon:rs Pract care Shall be taken to follow yo:r Methods and avoid any Mistakes w:ch may formerly have been Comitted by Perusing Your Hon:rs 30 Par:d as often as We shall have Occasion to make use of it Relating to Transferrs We are very well Satisfyed Your Hon:rs have had Reason to Complain of what was formerly Transacted But now will Pleasure We can assure your Hon:rs there is a better Method Observed, no Transfers Can or Shall be Entered but in Consultation the Gov:r keeps the Book We make it part of our Care to Satisfy our selves how each Persons Affairs Stand on the Island least | The Council promised to give the true state in which it found the books of accounts. 23: The accounts of ships would be sent by every shipping. The Council assured the Court that it would make no excuses or evasions, but would conform in every respect to the Court's directions in the twenty-ninth paragraph of this letter, as well as those of the year before. 24: Whatever bills the Council received from captains, drawn on their owners, it would advise the Court of in its general letters. As to what bills necessity obliged it to draw on the Court, great care would be taken to follow the Court's methods and to avoid any mistakes that might formerly have been committed, by consulting the Court's thirtieth paragraph as often as it had occasion to use it. 25: As to transfers, the Council was well satisfied the Court had had reason to complain of what was formerly done. It assured the Court, however, that a better method was now observed. No transfers could or would be entered except in consultation, the Governor keeping the book. The Council made it part of its care to satisfy itself how each person's affairs stood on the island [...]. Interpretations The reform of the transfer procedure, by which no transfer could be entered except in consultation with the Governor keeping the book, answers the Court's standing complaint about the loose handling of credit transfers under earlier administrations. The transfer was the bookkeeping act by which a debt or credit passed from one party to another in the Court's accounts, the new control requiring the whole Council's witness and the Governor's custody of the record. The Council's acknowledgement that the Court had had reason to complain of past transfers concedes a real defect in the previous bookkeeping, the same accounts that had figured in the informer controversy. By admitting the fault and setting out the remedy, the new administration distanced itself from the irregularities that had drawn the Court's censure. The distinction between bills drawn by captains on their owners and bills the Council drew on the Court itself marks two separate channels of the island's finance, each requiring its own reporting. The Council's promise to advise the Court of both reflects the documentary discipline by which every draft was recorded and traced to its proper account. Speculations The new Council's reform of the transfer book served to demonstrate that the abuses the Court had complained of would not recur under its government. By requiring consultation and the Governor's custody for every transfer, the Council built a procedural safeguard that answered the specific grievance, showing the Court a concrete change rather than a bare promise of better conduct. The Council's open admission that past transfers had given just cause for complaint reflects a calculated candour, conceding the fault to mark its own distance from it. By acknowledging the defect plainly and tying the remedy to it, the new administration sought the Court's confidence through frankness, presenting reform as proof of a fresh standard rather than a defence of the old. | ||
212 | unawares We Should give too great Creditt, The back= =wardness & Ill posture of Your Hon:rs Books We fear may at Present Prevent our being So Correct because to them We are forced to have recourse to See how Peoples Acco:te Stand in Relation to your Hon:rs & We crave leave in this place to Acquaint You that there are no Endeavours at Present wanting to gett them forwarded and when Perfected We promise Your Hon:rs that there Shall be due Care taken to keep them So, As we are willing to Incourage what's Praise Worthy So We Shall be Sure to Punnish with the Utmost Severity all Practices that Seem to tend but the least to your Hon:rs Prejudice We have tho: with great Difficulty Pursuant to your 32 Par: Settled Acco: with Doc:t Thomlinson which w:th many former Instructions We were forced to Urge against his Unreasonable Demands of a retrospection for Six Years past, We are Sencible We may Perhaps Seem to have Extended beyond the Litteral meaning of Some Sentences (but he having been weak and indisposed for Some time and Consequently at a great Charge in Blacks | The Council was wary lest it give too great credit to anyone. It feared that the backward and ill-ordered state of the Court's books might at present prevent its accounts being entirely correct, since it was forced to consult those books to see how people's accounts stood with the Court. The Council acknowledged that no effort was now wanting to get the books brought up to date, and promised that once they were perfected, due care would be taken to keep them so. Just as it was willing to encourage whatever was praiseworthy, so it would punish with the utmost severity any practices that seemed to tend even slightly to the Court's prejudice. 26: The Council had, though with great difficulty, settled the account with Doctor Tomlinson in compliance with the Court's thirty-second paragraph. Many former instructions had forced it to press against his unreasonable demands for a retrospective payment covering six years past. The Council was aware that it might seem to have gone beyond the strict meaning of some sentences. Doctor Tomlinson, however, had been weak and unwell for some time, and consequently had been at great charge in slaves [...]. Interpretations The settlement of the account with Doctor Tomlinson against his demand for six years' retrospective payment touches the chaplain Joshua Tomlinson, whose earlier pressure for a parsonage and rent the previous administration had carefully recorded. The new Council inherited the dispute, resisting the backdated claim while conceding the difficulty of holding strictly to the Court's instructions. The Council's fear that the backward state of the Court's books might prevent its accounts being correct restates the documentary problem the new administration had set out to remedy. The disordered records inherited from the previous government undermined the very accuracy the Court demanded, the Council bound to bring them up to date before it could rely on them. The Council's pledge to punish with severity any practice tending to the Court's prejudice sets out its disciplinary stance toward the irregularities that had troubled the previous administration. The promise tied its handling of accounts and conduct to the protection of the Court's interest, the new Council presenting rigour as the mark of its government. Speculations The Council's acknowledgement that it might seem to have stretched the Court's instructions in settling with Tomlinson reflects a calculated candour about a difficult compromise. By conceding the point while explaining the chaplain's circumstances, the Council sought the Court's understanding for a settlement reached under pressure, presenting its departure from the letter as a reasonable response to an awkward claim. The Council's emphasis on the inherited disorder of the books served to set its own accuracy apart from the failings it had received. By attributing any present error to the state in which it found the records, the new administration guarded against being charged with faults that belonged to its predecessor, while pledging to perfect the accounts it had taken over. | ||
213 | to carry him up and downe that he might do his duty) We have been Induced to make him a larger Allowance than at first Sight may Seem Reasonable as will appear by Consultation of the 10 July last Yet he thinks himself hardly used, which We Humbly Submitt to the Discreti= =on of your Hon:rs We have herewith Sent a Copy of his Acco: with a Bill for 1300 15 8 and one other Sett for 247 5 which According to Your Hon:rs orders We have drawn on your Hon:rs payable twenty days after Sight & dated the 11 of July 1719 We have like= =wise drawn bills on your Hon:rs payable to Gov:r Pyke for 1244 6 8 6 being the Ballance of his Acc:o & dated the 7 day of July 1719 payable twenty days after Sight Likewise bills on your Hon:rs payable to M:rs Mercy Carne a Young Woman & Orphan to George Carne died for the Sume of 159 dated alsoe the 7 July 1719 Payable twenty days after Sight It appeared due to her in your Hon:rs Books of Acco:ts and is her Fortune w:ch a Small Matter Enterd to her Creditt that She was obliged to pay to M:r Shelly at Bencoolen whither She had Liberty | The Council explained that to keep Doctor Tomlinson able to do his duty, it had been led to make him a larger allowance than might at first seem reasonable, as the consultation of 6 July last would show. He still thought himself hardly used, which the Council submitted to the Court's judgement. It had sent a copy of his account, with a bill for £300 15s 8d, and one other set for £47 5s 0d, which it had drawn on the Court according to its orders, payable twenty days after sight and dated 11 July 1719. The Council had likewise drawn bills on the Court payable to Governor Pyke for £244 6s 6d, being the balance of his account, dated 7 July 1719 and payable twenty days after sight. It had also drawn bills on the Court payable to Mrs Mercy Carne, a young woman and orphan to George Carne, deceased, for the sum of £159 0s 0d, dated 7 July 1719 and payable twenty days after sight. This sum appeared due to her in the Court's books of account and was her fortune, with a small matter added to her credit. She was obliged to pay it to Mr Shelly at Bencoolen, to which she had leave to go [...]. Interpretations The bill of £244 6s 6d to Governor Pyke settled the balance of his account, completing the reckoning held over from the hurried sailings of the previous spring when the bills could not be drawn in time. The transaction closed the outgoing Governor's affairs, the deferred settlement now resolved as a fixed sum under the new administration. The estate of Mrs Mercy Carne, orphan to the deceased George Carne, was remitted as her fortune by bill to Bencoolen, the Council acting as guardian of the inheritance recorded in the Court's books. The family had long held land and goat flocks on the island, the Carne valuations having figured in earlier consultations, and the orphan's portion now passed with her to her destination. The drawing of all these bills payable twenty days after sight fixes the standard credit term of the period, the interval allowing the drawee in London time to verify the bill before payment fell due. The uniform term across the several drafts reflects the routine mechanics of the Company's bill finance, each set in triplicate against loss at sea. Speculations The Council's handling of Mercy Carne's fortune, remitted to Bencoolen where she had leave to go, shows the administration arranging the transfer of an orphan's inheritance across the Company's settlements as she moved. By converting her credit into a bill payable at her destination, the Council ensured her portion travelled safely with her, the island's bookkeeping serving the personal needs of a dependent in its charge. The larger allowance granted to Tomlinson, made to keep him fit for his duty despite his continued complaints, reflects a calculated concession to retain a necessary servant. The Council weighed the chaplain's grievance against the cost of his discontent, choosing to satisfy him beyond what seemed reasonable rather than risk the loss of the only minister the island had. | ||
214 | by Gov: Pyke and whether She's gone All Sallarys hire either y:e Year or the month with the Persons Names & to whom & their Additions for what paid We will According to N:o 33 Par: render to Your Hon:rs useing the Same frugality for your Hon:rs in all our Expences as if were our own, Here your Hon:rs Seem to Back an Order Sent the last year w:th an Expectation now not to Hire any more Blacks grounded on the Consideration how plentefully We are Supplyed with them, if their Abilities answered the Number We might w:th Pleasure agree w:th your Hon:rs and Say We are Supplyed, But the Superannu= =ated, the Sick & weak, the Child bearing Women and Young Children all Uncapable of working Excuse more than two thirds from being doe far of any Service that they are become a very Great charge & burthen In answer to the 34 Par:d We will take care to Transmit your Hon:rs a Distinct List of all Your Blacks, Males & Females their Ages and | The Council added that Mrs Mercy Carne went home by Governor Pyke. 27: All salaries on the island, whether by the year or the month, with the persons' names and to whom additions were paid, the Council would set out in compliance with the thirty-third paragraph. It would show the Court the same care for its money in all its expenses as if they were its own. The Court seemed to favour an order sent the previous year, expressing an expectation that no more slaves should be hired, on the ground of how plentifully the island was supplied with them. Had their abilities matched their number, the Council might readily agree and say it was well supplied. The superannuated, the sick and weak, the women bearing children, and the young children, were all incapable of labour. These exceptions amounted to more than two-thirds, who were so far from being of any service that they had become a very great charge and burden. 28: In answer to the thirty-fourth paragraph, the Council would take care to send the Court a detailed list of all its slaves, male and female, with their ages and [...]. Interpretations The Council's analysis of the slave population, showing more than two-thirds incapable of labour, answers the Court's expectation that no more slaves need be hired by exposing the gap between numbers and useful hands. The superannuated, sick, child-bearing women and young children counted against the total, the Council arguing that a large nominal supply masked a small effective workforce. The detailed list of slaves by age and sex required under the Court's thirty-fourth paragraph was a census of the human establishment, the kind of return by which the Court tracked its labour force and its value. Such a survey let the Court judge the Council's claim that the apparent abundance of slaves concealed a real shortage of able workers. The Council's promise to treat the Court's money as its own restates the standing principle of careful stewardship the new administration had pressed throughout, every expense weighed against the Court's interest. The pledge tied the salary accounts to the same documentary discipline applied to the bills and transfers, the Council accountable for what it paid and to whom. Speculations The Council's breakdown of the slaves into the useful and the burdensome served to refute the Court's assumption that the island needed no more, turning a bare headcount into an argument for continued supply. By showing that two-thirds were a charge rather than a help, the Council pressed the case that able slaves remained wanting despite the numbers on the books. The Council's careful classification of the dependent slaves reflects an effort to justify ongoing expense to a Court inclined to think the island over-supplied. By detailing the superannuated, the sick and the children as a burden, the Council explained why the cost of maintaining the slaves stayed high even as their labour fell short, anticipating the Court's question before it was asked. | ||
215 | how Employd, as We acquainted Your Hon:rs in the Par:d preceding, the Number will not Answer by far the workes your Hon:rs might reasonably Expect from Such a Number, As to Store roomes building there are Severall reasons w:th Submission to your Hon:rs may be offerd why as they are not begun We cannot at Present without your Hon:rs Assistance of Edifices undertake, for were your Hon:rs but Sencible of the Difficulties we meet w:th daily in carrying on those buildings which are already begun (and unless they are) will prove a very Great Damage & run to Ruine after the Great expence yo:r Hon:rs have Already been at they would plead for Us & clear Us to Your Hon:rs from being Blamed that We do not Enterprize a Work We Acknowledge So Necessary, likewise the Exorbitant Demands of Persons Ignorant of what they would Undertake Deters Us from making any further use of them than what Necessity obliges Us to To what Relates to our Care of the Blacks We hope We may assure Your Hon:rs there cannot be the least Complaint whatever there may have been for they | The Council explained that, as it had told the Court in the preceding paragraph, how the slaves were employed meant their number would not answer by far the work the Court might reasonably expect from such a number. As to building storehouses, several reasons might be offered why, since they were not begun, the Council could not at present undertake them without the Court's assistance of skilled men. Were the Court only aware of the difficulties met daily in carrying on the buildings already begun, which unless finished would prove a great loss and fall to ruin after the great expense the Court had already borne, this would plead for the Council and clear it from being blamed for not undertaking a work it acknowledged so necessary. The exorbitant demands of people ignorant of what they would undertake likewise deterred the Council from making any further use of them than necessity obliged. 29: As to the care of the slaves, the Council hoped to assure the Court there could not be the least complaint, whatever there might formerly have been [...]. Interpretations The Council's plea that storehouses could not be begun without skilled men from the Court continues the labour argument that had run through the previous administration's correspondence, the want of artificers stalling every building project. The new Council inherited the same constraint, the buildings already begun at risk of ruin for want of the hands to finish them. The warning that the unfinished buildings would prove a great loss after the Court's heavy expense restates the danger of works left incomplete, the investment already made forfeited unless the labour was supplied to complete them. The Council framed the request for skilled men as the protection of money already spent, not a fresh demand. The exorbitant demands of unskilled people offering to undertake work they did not understand exposes the island's labour market, where the scarcity of true tradesmen drove up the price of incompetent ones. The Council's reluctance to employ such people reflects the same difficulty the previous administration had met, the want of skill inflating the cost of every task. Speculations The new Council's repetition of the skilled-labour argument shows it adopting the central defence of its predecessor in the matter of the buildings, the failure laid on the Court's failure to supply artificers. By stressing that the works already begun would be lost without skilled men, the Council pressed the Court to send the hands that alone could protect its investment. The Council's emphasis on clearing itself from blame over the unbegun storehouses reflects an awareness that the Court might charge it with the same neglect alleged against the previous administration. By setting out the difficulties in advance and tying them to the want of skilled men, the new Council guarded itself against a reproach it had seen levelled before, anchoring its defence in the labour shortage rather than any want of will. | ||
216 | at the Severall Plantations have 5 of Beef every day be= =tween Seven Blacks & Each Black 5 of Yamms p:r week those at the Fort have every other day because they have the Opportunity of the fish, We take Care to keep the fishing Boot out, what it Produces over the Hon:rs Comp:s Table We See carefully Distributed among them, Rice We have none Pease We See given out every day to the Sick & New Blacks, The Consideration that they are Human Added to Your Hon:rs Injunctions in the 57 Par: of your Letter p:r the Princess Amelia where your Hon:rs Express a Generous Concern for Such unhappy Mortals and contains Proper Instructions for our Deportm:t towards them, will oblige Us to Persue them In your Hon:rs 35 relating to Yams our Experience as yet is So Small our Answer must be very Short that the Improvem:t of the Island in Generall We have So much at heart that no One Branch Shall be Neglected as oft as opportunity Offers for Your Hon:rs Interest, which leads Us to Acquaint you that upon a Review of Your Plantations by the Council and Mess:rs Greentree Powell Coles | The Council reported that the slaves at the several plantations had five pounds of beef every day among seven of them, and each slave five pounds of yams. Those at the fort had beef every other day, since they had the opportunity of fish. The Council took care to keep the fishing boat out, and what it produced over the Company's table was carefully distributed among them. Rice it had none. Pease were given out every day to the sick and to new slaves. The thought that the slaves were human, added to the Court's injunctions in the fifty-seventh paragraph of its letter by the Princess Amelia, where it expressed a generous concern for such unhappy people and gave proper instructions for the Council's conduct towards them, would oblige the Council to follow them. 30: In answer to the Court's thirty-fifth paragraph relating to yams, the Council's experience as yet was so small that its answer must be very short. It had so much at heart the improvement of the island in general that no one branch should be neglected, as often as opportunity offered, for the Court's interest. On a review of the plantations by the Council and Messrs Greentree, Powell, Coles [...]. Interpretations The detailed ration scale, five pounds of beef among seven slaves and five pounds of yams each daily, with fish at the fort and pease for the sick and new arrivals, records the fixed provisioning by which the Court's slaves were maintained. The graded allowance, beef less often where fish was available, reflects a system calibrated to the labour and circumstances of each group. The Court's injunction in the fifty-seventh paragraph of the Princess Amelia letter, expressing concern for the slaves as unhappy people and directing their humane treatment, marks an instruction from London on the conduct of slavery on the island. The Council's acknowledgement that the slaves were human, set beside the Court's order, records the terms in which the period framed its obligations toward those it held in bondage. The naming of Messrs Greentree, Powell and Coles among those reviewing the plantations brings forward established planters of the island, Powell being the wealthy Gabriel Powell whose dealings the previous administration had watched closely. Their inclusion in the survey reflects the use of experienced local men to assess the Court's agricultural state. Speculations The Council's careful recital of the slaves' rations served to answer the Court's expressed concern for their welfare with concrete evidence of their maintenance. By setting out the exact allowances of beef, yams, fish and pease, the Council demonstrated compliance with the Court's humane injunction, meeting a moral instruction with a documented practice. The Council's plea that its experience of the yams was as yet too small for a full answer reflects the new administration's caution in reporting on matters it had not yet mastered. By confining itself to a short reply pending a proper review, the Council avoided committing to claims it could not yet support, consistent with the documentary care it brought to its dealings with the Court. | ||
217 | and Wrangham with your Chief Overseer there was no more than 727650 Yams found in all the Planta= =tions, Whereas by an Acc:o taken before the Arrivall of the Worsh: Gov: Johnson there was 1061522 w:ch appears to be over Reckond Altho: the Increase Since that Acco: was given in hath been included in the 727650) 333872 which We greatly Admire at We calling those Under Us to Account will cause Us to think it reasonable to render your Hon:rs a true State of all your Stock in Generall and alsoe of the Increase or Decrease of each Distinct Branch p:r= =suant to Your Hon:rs Directions in Par: y:e 36 Your Hon:rs method Pointed out to Us in Par: y:e 39 Shall be Punctually observed in the yearly Acc:o to the 25 of March both of Revenues and other incomes to your Hon:rs whether they arise from Customs on Goods Landed or Rents of Lands or from liberty of Grazing on the Commons or from Fines Levyed to which last We Shall have a due regard that our Rigour therein do's not Exceed yo:r Hon:rs tenderness that your People Should not be Oppressed | The Council reported that, on a review of the plantations by the Council and Messrs Greentree, Powell, Coles and Wrangham with the chief overseer, no more than 727,650 yams were found in all the plantations. By an account taken before the arrival of the Worshipful Governor Johnson there had been 1,061,522, so that the earlier figure appeared to have been overcounted, although the increase since that account was given had been included in the 727,650. The difference came to 333,872, at which the Council greatly wondered. 31: Calling those under it to account would lead the Council to think it reasonable to give the Court a true state of all its stock in general, and also of the increase or decrease of each distinct branch, in compliance with the Court's directions in the thirty-sixth paragraph. 32: The Court's method set out in the thirty-ninth paragraph would be punctually observed in the yearly accounts to the 25th of March, both of revenues and other incomes to the Court, whether they arose from customs on goods landed, rents of lands, the liberty of grazing on the commons, or fines levied. As to the fines, the Council would have due regard that its rigour did not exceed the Court's tenderness, that the Court's people should not be oppressed. Interpretations The discrepancy of 333,872 yams between the earlier count of 1,061,522 and the review finding of 727,650 exposes a serious overstatement in the figures of the previous administration, the very yam counts on which Pyke's government had rested its case. The new Council's wonder at the gap implicitly questions the inflated numbers its predecessor had reported, including the claim of upwards of 1,236,000 yams growing. The Court's instruction to render the yearly accounts to the 25th of March fixes the old-style year end, the date on which the legal and fiscal year then turned. The accounts closing at Lady Day reflect the calendar in force before the later reform, the Council bound to reckon revenue and stock to that annual boundary. The enumeration of the island's revenue sources, customs on landed goods, land rents, grazing fees on the commons and fines levied, sets out the fiscal base of the colony's internal income. Each head represented a distinct mechanism by which the administration raised money, the whole amounting to the modest internal revenue against which the establishment's far greater cost was weighed. Speculations The new Council's pointed record of the yam shortfall served to distance its administration from the inflated counts of its predecessor, establishing an honest baseline at the outset of Johnson's government. By documenting the discrepancy and expressing its surprise, the Council signalled to the Court that it would report the true state rather than carry forward the optimistic figures that had marked the previous regime. The Council's promise of due regard that fines should not oppress the people reflects a calculated balance between revenue and grievance, the new administration alert to the complaints of harsh dealing that had reached the Court before. By tempering its rigour over fines with concern for the inhabitants, the Council sought income without provoking the resentment that had shadowed its predecessor's government. | ||
218 | The List of Families with their Blacks, Cattle the quantity of Land each planter Occupies & with a full Concurrence of each Article Containd in the 40 Par: Shall be transmitted According to Your Hon:rs Charge therein Fourthly touching y:e Fortifications buildings & Garrison Stores The publick buildings We found begun but not new finished will not Admitt of Such an Answer as your Hon:rs Seem to Expect in yo:r 41 Par: But in answer thereunto and likewise to the 42 Par: Your Hon:rs may most Assuredly Rely that We have used the Utmost Diligence and the Greatest Frugality Possible So that they may best Answer your Hon:rs Interest hitherto and that We will on all Occasions continue the Same that We have Already Acquainted your Hon:rs in the 29 Par: of this Letter Concerning your Blacks & our Mannagem:t of them will We hope give your Hon:rs Satisfaction to the remainder of Your 34 Parragraphe | 33: The list of families, with their slaves and cattle, the quantity of land each planter occupied, and a full account of each item contained in the fortieth paragraph, would be sent in compliance with the Court's charge. The Council turned next to the fourth head, the fortifications, buildings and garrison stores. 34: The public buildings the Council found begun, but not yet finished, would not admit of such an answer as the Court seemed to expect in its forty-first paragraph. In answer to that, and likewise to the forty-second, the Court might most assuredly rely that the Council had used the utmost diligence and the greatest possible economy, that the buildings might best serve the Court's interest, and that it would on all occasions continue the same. What it had already told the Court in the twenty-ninth paragraph of this letter concerning the slaves and its management of them would, it hoped, give the Court satisfaction as to the remainder of its thirty-fourth paragraph. Interpretations The list of families, slaves, cattle and land held by each planter required under the fortieth paragraph was a comprehensive estate survey, the kind of return by which the Court tracked the colony's population, labour and landholding together. Such a census let the Court assess the distribution of resources among the inhabitants and the state of its own establishment. The unfinished public buildings, which would not admit the answer the Court expected, carry forward the building difficulties of the previous administration, the works begun but stalled for want of skilled labour. The new Council inherited the same incomplete state, unable to report the completion the Court looked for. The Council's defence of its diligence and economy in the buildings restates the standing answer to the charge of slow progress, the failure laid on the inherited state of the works rather than on any want of effort. The pledge tied the building account to the same stewardship the Council professed throughout, every expense weighed against the Court's interest. Speculations The new Council's careful framing of its answer on the buildings reflects an awareness that the Court expected progress the inherited state could not show. By stressing its diligence and economy while explaining that the works were found unfinished, the Council guarded against the charge of neglect that had troubled its predecessor, anchoring its defence in the condition it had received. The Council's cross-reference to its earlier account of the slaves served to tie its management of labour to its answer on the buildings, the two questions bound by the shortage of useful hands. By directing the Court back to the twenty-ninth paragraph, the Council linked the unfinished works to the want of able workers it had already set out, presenting a single coherent explanation across the heads of the Court's letter. | ||
219 | Your Hon:rs Directions in the 43 Shall be Exactly attended as oft as We have Occasion to have recourse thereto and Say the Same in Answer to yo:r 44 & 45 Relating to the Gunners Accounts & Acc:o of Stores Fifthly touching the Civil Governm:t of the Island or the Productions thereof in Gen: & what concerns any of y:e Inhabitants Not only our Selves but the whole Inhabitants are well pleased w:th our new Gov:r and He returns your Hon:rs his hearty thanks for your Candid opinion of him and hopes to Preserve the Civil Governm:t of this Island and Promote its welfare to Your Hon:rs and theirs Satisfaction and We all will Gladly assist him to the best of our Judgments and Endeavour nothing may be wanting on our Parts to Answer your Hon:rs Expedations in all our Proceedings According to those Plain Rules & Orders to Us Directed for the good Governm:t of this Island & the Inhabitants thereof, tho: your Hon:rs are very Sencible it is too difficult a thing for Us to please every one of them | 35: The Court's directions in the forty-third paragraph would be exactly followed as the Council had occasion to consult them. It would say the same in answer to the forty-fourth and forty-fifth, relating to the gunner's accounts and the account of stores. The Council turned next to the fifth head, the civil government of the island, its produce in general and what concerned the inhabitants. 36: Not only the Council but the whole body of inhabitants were well pleased with the new Governor. He returned the Court his hearty thanks for its favourable opinion of him, and hoped to preserve the civil government of the island and promote its welfare to the Court's satisfaction and their own. The Council would all gladly assist him to the best of its judgement, and would see that nothing was wanting on its part to answer the Court's expectations in all its proceedings, according to the plain rules and orders given for the good government of the island and its inhabitants. The Council acknowledged the Court was well aware it was too difficult a thing to please every one of them. Interpretations The inhabitants' satisfaction with the new Governor Johnson marks a deliberate contrast with the discord of the previous administration, the new government presenting itself as welcomed where Pyke's had faced complaint. The reported goodwill served to open Johnson's tenure on terms of harmony, distancing it from the factional troubles and the informer controversy that had shadowed his predecessor. The Council's acknowledgement that no government could please everyone restates the standing difficulty of ruling the quarrelsome inhabitants, the same observation the previous administration had made over their litigious temper. The remark prepared the Court for grievances that would inevitably reach it, framing future complaints as the unavoidable lot of any island government. The civil government head, opening the section on the island's internal affairs and its inhabitants, marks the division of the Court's letter dealing with governance rather than trade or fortification. The Council's reply under this head addressed the conduct of authority and the management of the people, the matters most exposed to the complaints that had troubled the previous regime. Speculations The Council's emphasis on the universal welcome given to Johnson reflects a calculated effort to establish the new administration's legitimacy and harmony from the outset. By reporting that the whole body of inhabitants approved the new Governor, the Council signalled to the Court a fresh start, free of the divisions that had marked the closing years of Pyke's government. The Council's early acknowledgement that it could not please everyone reflects a shrewd anticipation of the grievances that island government always produced. By conceding the point before any complaint arose, the new Council sought to inoculate itself against the discontented voices that had reached the Court before, presenting future grumbling as the predictable resentment of a people hard to satisfy. | ||
220 | Yet We Shall have a Particular regard to what your Hon:rs enjoine Us in your 47 Par: and the 69 of your Letter the Year before Whenever and as often as any Cases Should happen to be referd to your Hon:rs for your Ultimate Decision We Shall take Effectuall Care to State the whole as plainly & as fully w:th our Opinions thereon after the best manner We can for your Easier determination thereof Pursuant whereunto In this place We Trans mit to your Hon:rs the true State of M:r Toveys Case whom We have Suspended untill We have your Hon:rs Orders Soon after the Arrivall of the Gov:r viz: On the 23 of June Last a Petition of Severall of the Principle Inhabitants of the Island was Pre= =sented to the Gov:r & Council Complaining of the disorderly behaviour of M:r Tovey a Copy whereof is as follows Island S:t Helena To the Worsh:l Edw:r Johnson Esq:r Gov:r Council &:c The | 37: The Council would pay particular regard to what the Court enjoined in its forty-seventh paragraph, and in the sixty-ninth of its letter the year before. 38: Whenever and as often as any cases should be referred to the Court for its final decision, the Council would take effectual care to set the whole out as plainly and as fully, with its opinions on the matter, in the best manner it could, for the Court's easier determination. In compliance with this, the Council now transmitted to the Court the true state of Mr Tovey's case, whom it had suspended until it had the Court's orders. 39: Soon after the arrival of the Governor, on 23 June last, a petition of several of the principal inhabitants of the island was presented to the Governor and Council, complaining of the disorderly behaviour of Mr Tovey, a copy of which follows. The inhabitants addressed the Worshipful Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor, and the Council. Interpretations The petition of the principal inhabitants against Mr Tovey carries forward the troubled record of Antipas Tovey, the former accountant restrained from the General Table and charged debtor under the previous administration, whose salary the new Council had now suspended. The inhabitants' complaint of disorderly behaviour added popular weight to the disciplinary action the Council had already taken, the case now referred home for the Court's judgement. The reference of Tovey's case to the Court for final decision sets out the limit of the island's authority over a senior servant, the Council able to suspend but not to determine his fate. The matter passed to London as the ultimate arbiter, the Council bound to lay the whole state before the Court rather than resolve it locally. The principal inhabitants who brought the petition were the leading planters and householders of the island, men of standing whose collective complaint carried particular force. Their formal address to the Governor and Council marks the recognised channel by which the island's substantial men could press a grievance against a member of the administration. Speculations The Council's decision to transmit the full state of Tovey's case, with the inhabitants' petition, reflects the documentary method the new administration had adopted, every contentious matter laid before the Court in complete form. By forwarding the petition rather than merely reporting the suspension, the Council let the inhabitants' own complaint justify its action, anchoring its discipline in the people's grievance as well as its own judgement. The arrival of the petition so soon after Johnson took office suggests the inhabitants seized the change of Governor to press a complaint they had withheld under Pyke. By bringing their grievance against Tovey to the new administration at once, the principal inhabitants tested the fresh government's willingness to act where the old one had not, the timing pointing to long-standing discontent now given its opportunity. | ||
221 | The Humble Petition of the Inhabitants Sheweth That Whereas M:r Anthos Tovey being a very Malitious, drunken, fractious & dangerous Person, We do Humbly take leave to Present before Your Worsh:p & Council the many Insults and Barberous Actions Comitted by him to the Inhabitants of this Island Viz:t He haveing in former times Stuck one Sutton Sciaik (planter now living) with a Penknife in the dark, and Some time after M:r George Carse w:th a Sword Privately, and when of Council & M:r Francis Wrangham Sitting in M:r Etches House drinking Part of a bottle of Wine w:th his Friend where he being in Comp: Privately drew his Sword and Stuck the aforesaid Wrangham at the Table Now your Petitioners haveing Long Groaned under the heavy burthen of y:e many Impositons repeated by the Said Tovey We the Subscribers Humbly beggs your Worsh:p and Council will take it into Consider | The inhabitants set out their petition. 40: They described Mr Antipas Tovey as a malicious, drunken, quarrelsome and dangerous man, and asked leave to lay before the Governor and Council the many insults and violent acts he had committed against the island's inhabitants. On one occasion he had stabbed Sutton Jacaib, a planter still living, with a penknife in the dark. Some time afterwards he had wounded Mr George Carne privately. On another occasion, when of the Council, while Mr Francis Wrangham sat in Mr Etches's house drinking part of a bottle of wine with his friend, Tovey, being in the company, secretly drew his sword and stabbed Wrangham at the table. Having long groaned under the heavy burden of these and many other impositions repeated by Tovey, the subscribers asked the Governor and Council to take the matter into consideration. Interpretations The catalogue of Tovey's violent acts gives the substance behind the disciplinary record carried through the previous administration, the wounding of Francis Wrangham now set out as one of several assaults. The earlier account had noted Tovey's committal for striking Wrangham and the Governor's refusal to consent to his indictment for felony, the petition now gathering these incidents into a formal complaint by the injured community. The stabbing of Wrangham at the table, drawn out here in detail, matches the case the previous Council had passed over in its reply as a lesson on the ill consequences of hard drinking, for which Tovey had been fined at the Court of Judicature. The petition recasts the incident as part of a pattern of dangerous conduct, the inhabitants pressing what the earlier administration had treated more leniently. The naming of Sutton Jacaib and George Carne as further victims extends the record of Tovey's violence beyond the known assault on Wrangham, the Carne family again appearing in the island's affairs. The accumulation of named injuries gave the petition its force, the complaint resting on specific acts against identifiable men rather than general accusation. Speculations The inhabitants' decision to gather Tovey's several assaults into a single petition reflects a calculated effort to present a pattern of dangerous conduct rather than isolated quarrels. By listing the woundings of Jacaib, Carne and Wrangham together, the subscribers built a case for Tovey's removal that no single incident, treated leniently before, had achieved. The petition's submission to the new administration suggests the inhabitants judged Johnson more likely to act against Tovey than Pyke had been. The previous Governor had refused to consent to Tovey's indictment for felony over the Wrangham wounding, and the timing of the complaint points to the community seizing the change of government to press for the redress the old regime had withheld. | ||
222 | Consideracon and Provide a remedy or means whereby the Oppressed Petitioners may find a Speedy releife And yo:r Petition: in duty bound will ever pray James Draper Josh: Johnson Walt:r Morris Jn:o French Jn:o Nichols Tho:s Allis Jn:o Knipe Rob:t Bell John Coles John Bagley Jn:o Long Will:m Beale Tho:s Tree Gab:l Powell Rich: Greeting Witt:m Wreall Rich: Swallow James Rider Whereupon the Govern:r Acquainted the Gentlemen attending the Petition that he would take upon himself to Speck with and Advise M:r Tovey At a Consultation Held on Fryday the 26 of June 1719 M:r Tovey informed the Gov:r & Council That Gov:r Pyke has had for these three years past a great Number of Blacks Maintaind at the Hon:ble Comp:s Cost, Whereupon it was Ordered That Govern:r Pyke be Acquainted therewith & that he answer the Same the next morning and | The inhabitants asked the Governor and Council to consider the matter and provide some remedy by which the oppressed petitioners might find speedy relief. The petition was subscribed by James Draper, Joshua Johnson, Walter Morris, John French, John Nichols, Thomas Allis, John Knipe, Robert Bell, John Coles, John Bagley, John Long, William Beale, Thomas Free, Gabriel Powell, Richard Greatling, William Worrall, Richard Swallow and James Rider. The Governor told the gentlemen attending with the petition that he would take it upon himself to speak with Mr Tovey and advise him. 41: At a consultation held on Friday 26 June 1719, Mr Tovey informed the Governor and Council that Governor Pyke had for these three years past kept a great number of slaves maintained at the Court's charge. It was ordered that Governor Pyke be acquainted with this, and that he answer it the next morning [...]. Interpretations The eighteen subscribers to the petition include several men long established in the island's affairs, among them Gabriel Powell the wealthy planter, William Worrall the overseer who had ended the runaways' siege under Lot, and Richard Swallow whose dispute with William Beale the previous administration had settled. The breadth of the signatories, drawn from the principal inhabitants, gave the complaint against Tovey the weight of the settled community. Tovey's counter-charge that Pyke had maintained a great number of slaves at the Court's charge opens a dispute within the outgoing administration itself, the accused councillor turning an accusation against the former Governor. The allegation touches the slave establishment whose true working strength the Council had recently questioned, Tovey raising a fiscal charge as the inhabitants pressed their grievance against him. The Governor's offer to speak privately with Tovey before formal proceedings reflects the discretion a new Governor might exercise in handling a senior colleague, seeking to advise before disciplining. The approach marks an attempt to manage the matter within the administration before it hardened into a formal case requiring the Court's decision. Speculations Tovey's accusation against Pyke, raised at the consultation following the petition, suggests an attempt to deflect the complaint against himself by turning attention to the former Governor's conduct. By charging Pyke with maintaining slaves at the Court's expense, Tovey sought to recast himself from accused to accuser, opening a counter-inquiry that might complicate the case the inhabitants had brought. The Governor's decision to require Pyke's answer the next morning reflects the new administration's resolve to deal with Tovey's charge promptly and on the record. By calling the former Governor to respond at once, Johnson treated the accusation seriously enough to investigate, while ensuring the matter was handled through dated consultation rather than left to private dispute. | ||
223 | and make out how he brought any diett for the Said Blacks the 27 Gov:r Pyke Attended the Consultation (Capt: John Wynn was desired by the Gov:r to be present at that Consultation to hear the whole Affair, w:ch he did, Gov:r Pyke desired M:r Tovey to make good his information against him if he could, for he told him it was utterly false Upon Examination We found that Govern:r Pyke had charged Your Hon:rs no more than what every Planter did for the Hire of their Blacks & their Victuals as Severall Planters attested, and that the Said M:r Toveys Informa= =tion was Malitious, frivolous & Groundless For We further found the whole Subject of that Information to have been Settled and approved of in the Consultation of the 12 of May last, the 4 of July in Consultation M:r Tovey desired M:r Portley the Hon:ble Comp:s their Overseer might be Sworn which was Acordingly done, the Gov:r at M:r Toveys Mohan asked him whether or not he did know of Gov:r Pykes Exchanging Dead or Sick Blacks for well ones of y:e Hon:ble Comp:s | The Council required Governor Pyke to show how he had charged any diet for the slaves. On the 27th Governor Pyke attended the consultation, Captain John Wynn being desired by the Governor to be present and hear the whole affair, which he did. Governor Pyke challenged Mr Tovey to make good his charge against him if he could, telling him it was utterly false. On examination, the Council found that Governor Pyke had charged the Court no more than what every planter did for the hire of their slaves and their food, as several planters confirmed, and that Mr Tovey's charge was malicious, frivolous and groundless. The Council further found that the whole matter of that charge had been settled and approved in the consultation of 12 May last. On 4 July, in consultation, Mr Tovey asked that Mr Powley, the Company's overseer, might be sworn, which was accordingly done. At Mr Tovey's request, the Governor asked Powley whether he knew of Governor Pyke exchanging dead or sick slaves for healthy ones belonging to the Court [...]. Interpretations The Council's finding that Pyke had charged no more than any planter did for slave hire and food cleared the former Governor of Tovey's accusation, the matter resting on the comparison with ordinary planter practice. The charge collapsed against the testimony of several planters and the record of its earlier settlement, the Council judging Tovey's complaint malicious and groundless. The reference to the consultation of 12 May, in which the whole matter had already been settled and approved, exposes Tovey's charge as the revival of a question previously closed. By raising a settled matter, Tovey weakened his own position, the Council pointing to the dated record to show the accusation had no fresh ground. The swearing of Powley the overseer reflects the formal taking of evidence on oath in the Council's investigation, the sworn testimony of a Company servant carrying particular weight. The procedure marks the Council acting as a court of inquiry, examining witnesses under oath to determine the truth of the competing charges. Speculations The presence of Captain John Wynn as an independent witness to the examination reflects the Council's care to conduct the inquiry openly, before a party not of the administration. By desiring an outside captain to hear the whole affair, the Council guarded its handling of so contentious a dispute against any later charge of partiality, the witness lending the proceedings credibility. Tovey's escalation from the slave-maintenance charge to an allegation that Pyke had swapped dead or sick slaves for healthy ones suggests a determined effort to substantiate some misconduct against the former Governor. Having failed on the first charge, Tovey pressed a graver one, the shift pointing to a man seeking any ground to turn the inquiry from his own conduct onto Pyke's. | ||
224 | Comp:s He answered he did not know of any Plan desline Exchanging of Blacks with any Person Whatsoever on the Island, Peter & Robin are the Names of the two Blacks fixed on by M:r Tovey M:r Portley was further asked whither he knew that for Gov:r Pyke charg:d the Hon:ble Comp:s w:th the Hire of those Blacks, he answered no, Gov:r Pyke denyed ever to have had Blacks of either of those names, & produced his Books of All his Blacks and therein was no Such names But in the List of the Hon:ble Comp:s Blacks taken in Consultacon of 26 of May last there was those Names Gov:r Pyke Acquainted Gov: Johnson with Some words that he heard to have been Spoken by M:r Tovey tending to the drawing a Side Some of the Councill and to Forme a Party to M:r Toveys Interest to the Prejudice of the Hon:ble Comp:s M:r Alexander Declared That M:r Tovey made a Proposall to him That if he would Stand by him & joyne w:th him they Should have Interest Eno: to mannage all Affairs, M:r Alexander being asked what he took M:r Toveys Proposall to Relate to he Answer | Powley answered that he knew of no exchange of slaves with any person on the island. Peter and Robin were the names of the two slaves Mr Tovey fixed upon. Powley was further asked whether he knew that Governor Pyke had charged the Court for the hire of those slaves, and he answered no. Governor Pyke denied ever having had slaves of either of those names, and produced his books of all his slaves, in which there were no such names. In the list of the Court's slaves, taken in the consultation of 26 May last, however, those names did appear. 42: Governor Pyke acquainted Governor Johnson with some words he had heard spoken by Mr Tovey, tending to draw aside some of the Council and form a party to Tovey's interest, to the prejudice of the Court. Mr Alexander declared that Mr Tovey had made a proposal to him, that if he would stand by him and join with him, they should have interest enough to manage all affairs. When asked what he took Tovey's proposal to relate to [...]. Interpretations The collapse of Tovey's slave-exchange charge, the names Peter and Robin proving to belong to the Court's slaves and not to Pyke's, completed the refutation of his accusations against the former Governor. Pyke's production of his own slave books, showing no such names, set against the Court's list where they appeared, exposed Tovey's charge as baseless on the documentary record. Tovey's attempt to draw aside members of the Council and form a party to his own interest reveals a charge of faction within the administration, the same divisive conduct that had troubled the previous government. The allegation, supported by Alexander's declaration, recast Tovey not merely as a violent man but as one seeking to subvert the Council itself, deepening the case for his removal. Alexander's testimony that Tovey proposed they might together manage all affairs identifies a bid to control the administration through a combination of councillors. The secretary's account marks the kind of internal intrigue the Court most feared, a member of the Council seeking to capture its government for his own ends. Speculations The shift from charges against Pyke to evidence of Tovey's own factional scheming suggests the inquiry turned decisively against him as his accusations failed. Having seen Tovey's complaints against the former Governor collapse, the Council and Pyke brought forward his attempt to form a party, the redirection pointing to a case now built firmly around Tovey's own misconduct. Pyke's introduction of Tovey's divisive words reflects a counter-move by the former Governor against the man who had accused him, turning the inquiry back upon his accuser. Having cleared himself of the slave charges, Pyke pressed evidence of Tovey's intrigue, the exchange showing the dispute hardening into a contest in which each sought the other's discredit before the Court. | ||
225 | answer'd to the transactions of Publick Affairs, M:r Goodwin Acquainted the Gov:r that he was informed by M:r Lacy that M:r Tovey was making a Party M:r Lacy was called in & Examined on Oath who Declard That M:r Tovey told him that if he would Stand by him, for he had honest Joseph meanu= =ing M:r Ormston they would knock them all down, Upon full Examination on the whole Affaire M:r Tovey was Suspended from Council Gratuity, and Diett as Such till the Hon:ble Comp:s pleasure be further known He hath Since (upon the Gov:r reminding him to do his duty in the Accomptants office) Resign= =ed up that Office A true State of the Case of M:r John Jones Chaplain of S:t Helena M:r Jones notwithstanding the many Instances of Respect & Favours shewd by the Gov:r to him thereby hopeing to Encourage him to a faithfull Discharge of his Function and to draw him off from Associating himself w:th those of too mean a Rank for him now as a Clergy man tho: his | Alexander answered that he took Tovey's proposal to relate to the conduct of public affairs. Mr Goodwin told the Governor that he was informed by Mr Lacy that Mr Tovey was forming a party. Mr Lacy was called in and examined on oath. He declared that Mr Tovey had told him that if he would stand by him, for he had honest Joseph, meaning Mr Ormston, they would knock them all down. On full examination of the whole affair, Mr Tovey was suspended from the Council, and from his gratuity and diet as a councillor, until the Court's pleasure should be further known. Since then, on the Governor reminding him to do his duty in the accountant's office, he had resigned that office. The Council turned next to the true state of the case of Mr John Jones, chaplain of St Helena. 43: Despite the many instances of respect and favour the Council had shown Mr Jones, hoping to encourage him to a faithful discharge of his function and to draw him away from associating with people of too mean a rank for him as a clergyman [...]. Interpretations The suspension of Tovey from the Council, his gratuity and his diet, followed by his resignation of the accountant's office, completed the disciplinary action the inquiry had built toward. The penalty matched the Court's declaration that gratuities should not reward misconduct, the Council applying the full range of sanction within its power while reserving the final judgement to the Court. Lacy's sworn evidence that Tovey spoke of knocking them all down with the help of honest Joseph Ormston confirmed the charge of faction, the named confederate giving the conspiracy substance. The testimony, taken on oath, turned the allegation of party-forming from rumour into evidence, the Council building its case on examined witnesses. The case of the chaplain John Jones opens a fresh matter, the minister whose association with people beneath his station the Council had tried to discourage. The reference recalls the troubled history of the island's clergy, the previous administration having dealt warily with the parson over his demands and his suspected role in the informer controversy, the new Council now facing difficulties of its own with the church. Speculations The Council's accumulation of sworn testimony from Alexander, Goodwin and Lacy reflects a deliberate effort to establish Tovey's faction beyond dispute before suspending him. By gathering the evidence of several witnesses on oath, the Council ensured its action against a senior member would stand examination by the Court, the documentary case protecting it against any charge of unjust dealing. The resignation of the accountant's office, prompted only by the Governor's reminder to do his duty, suggests Tovey withdrew rather than face the scrutiny of an office he could no longer manage under suspension. The timing points to a man retreating from a position that had become untenable, the Council securing the stores' accounts from a member it had judged unfit. | ||
226 | his Equals when he was on the Island before a Private Soldier, The Gov:r attributed his too familier Phrases and Expressions he us'd to lett fall at the Table before him in Some Measure from his not Con= =versing with a better Sort, therefore invited him to be his Companion and Allotted him an Apparlm:t at the Plantation House to be there when the Gov:r was there, The Gov:r not only allowd him to keep a School but Promised alsoe to Encourage So good a Work himself, The Gov:r also Appointed him to read Prayers every day at the Fort to the Garrison but at the Same time told he could oblige him to it and Annexes it to the duty for which he received his Sallary and Gratuity from Your Hon:rs but that he would make him a further allowance out of his owne Pockett On the 22 of Septemb:r last, at the Plantation House A wedding hapend one of the Gentlemen of the Council to a Young Gentlewoman, The Account of what Fish the fishing Boat had taken was brought to the Govern:r as usuall, The Acco:t | The Council noted that Jones had been a private soldier on the island before. The Governor attributed the coarse phrases and expressions Jones let fall at the table in some measure to his not associating with better company. He therefore invited Jones to be his companion and allotted him a room at the plantation house, to be there when the Governor was there. The Governor not only allowed him to keep a school but also promised to encourage so good a work himself. He further appointed Jones to read prayers every day to the garrison at the fort. At the same time he told Jones he could oblige him to do it, annexing it to the duty for which he received his salary and gratuity from the Court, but that he would make him a further allowance out of his own pocket. 44: On 22 September last, at the plantation house, a wedding took place between one of the gentlemen of the Council and a young gentlewoman. The account of what fish the fishing boat had taken was brought to the Governor as usual [...]. Interpretations The chaplain John Jones, formerly a private soldier raised to the ministry, presents an unusual progression from the ranks to holy orders, his coarse manners attributed to his low former company. The Governor's efforts to refine him by bringing him into his own household reflect the difficulty of maintaining a fit clergyman on an island that produced its ministers from such material. The Governor's annexing of the daily prayers to the duty for which Jones drew his salary, while offering a further allowance from his own pocket, sets out the relationship between the chaplain's stipend and his obligations. The arrangement marks the Governor distinguishing what he could compel as part of the Court's paid duty from what he chose to reward privately, managing the clergyman through both authority and inducement. The wedding of a councillor to a young gentlewoman at the plantation house records a social event among the island's small governing class, the plantation house serving as the setting for the administration's domestic occasions. Such marriages within the official community reflect the close and confined society of the island's leading households. Speculations The Governor's investment of personal effort and money in reforming Jones reflects a calculated attempt to secure a serviceable chaplain from the unpromising material the island offered. By taking the former soldier into his household and supplementing his pay, the Governor sought to raise a fit minister where none could be imported, the personal allowance binding Jones to his improved conduct. The detailed account of how Jones was managed serves to set out the new administration's careful and benevolent handling of a difficult clergyman, in contrast with the disputes over the parson that had troubled the previous government. By recording the Governor's patience and generosity, the Council presented its dealings with the church as reasonable, anticipating any complaint Jones might later carry to the Court. | ||
227 | was 12 fishes calld Jacks and 12 fishes calld old wives which Occasiond the Gov:r to Joke with M:r Jones, by Saying Parson You nor I need not dispair, for the old English Proverb a Jack for every Gill is veryfied even by the fish, for See here 12 Jacks to 12 Old wives which Expression put M:r Jones in mind of the Old Woman he Married when he went off from hence to England before and raised his Passion, which the Gov:r took no Notice of at first but endeavoured to overlook it, But when he grew Noisey the Gov:r askd him what was the Matter who had Angerd him, He in a Surly loud way Replyd why you have, if I had the Misfortune to marry an old Woman must I always be twited in the teeth of it, when the Govern:r told him he did not designe any reflection on him, it was the Proverb agreeing with the fish was the Occasion, but that Answer not Asswaging his fury, the Gov:r told him Since he could not be Easey he Should Quit the House to morrow, to which he Replyd Aye that I'le do now I wont be beholden to You | The account showed twelve fishes called jacks and twelve called old wives. This led the Governor to joke with Mr Jones, saying that the parson need not despair, for the old English proverb that there was a jack for every gill was borne out even by the fish, since there were twelve jacks to twelve old wives. The remark put Jones in mind of the old woman he had married when he went off from the island to England before, and roused his temper. The Governor took no notice of it at first and tried to overlook it. When Jones grew loud, however, the Governor asked him what was the matter and who had angered him. In a sullen and loud manner Jones replied, asking why, if he had the misfortune to marry an old woman, he must always be thrown in the teeth of it. The Governor told him he meant no reflection on him, and that it was only the proverb agreeing with the fish that prompted the remark. This did not calm his fury, and the Governor told him that since he could not be easy, he should leave the house the next day. Jones replied that he would, and that he would not now be beholden to the Governor [...]. Interpretations The quarrel between the Governor and the chaplain, sparked by a joke about the fish count, exposes the volatility of the minister whose temper the administration had laboured to manage. The incident gave concrete form to the difficulties with Jones the Council had begun to set out, the clergyman's hot response to a casual remark marking him as a man hard to keep in the household. The Governor's offer to overlook the outburst at first, then his order that Jones leave the house, traces the breakdown of the patronage the administration had extended. The chaplain's rejection of the Governor's hospitality marks the failure of the effort to refine him through his place at the plantation house, the relationship collapsing over a trifling provocation. The proverb of a jack for every gill, a saying that every man might find a mate, was turned by the Governor to the fish in the day's catch, the pun on the fish names jack and old wife giving the jest its point. The chaplain's reading of it as a gibe at his own marriage to an elderly woman shows how a light remark touched a raw nerve, the social ease of the table breaking on the minister's sensitivity. Speculations The Council's full recital of the quarrel served to document the chaplain's unreasonable temper against any complaint he might carry to the Court, showing the breach as his doing rather than the Governor's. By setting out the trivial cause and the Governor's repeated efforts to smooth it over, the Council presented Jones as the author of his own grievance, guarding the administration against a charge of ill usage. The detail that Jones declared he would no longer be beholden to the Governor suggests the chaplain meant to break the dependence the administration had built around him. By rejecting the Governor's hospitality and allowance, Jones asserted an independence that freed him to complain, the rupture pointing toward the kind of clerical grievance that had reached the Court under the previous government. | ||
228 | you and So went his way, The next day there being a Funerall at the Country Church the funerall Service whereof the Govern:r Attended, In his return as he was going up the Steps into the Plantation House he heard a voice Saying I want to Speak w:th you the Gov:r turning his head Saw it was from M:r Jones The Gov:r told him he did not want to Speak w:th him and that if he had any thing to Say to the Gov:r he must Apply himself regularly, About the 12 of November the Gov:r recei'd Advice from M:r Slaughter Ensigne that M:r Jones told him that he would no longer read Prayers to the Garrison Unless in due Season The Govern:r went to the Fort that afternoon & Orderd the Bell to be rung as usuall for Prayers, After Prayers the Govern:r call'd M:r Jones and told him he was very much Suprizd at a Message he had recieved that he refused to read Prayers, his Answer was nor will I I know the worst you can doe to me, that is to Stop my Gratuity, which you will and then We must try who hath most friends You or I, he told the Gov:r he had Used | The chaplain went his way. The next day there was a funeral at the country church, whose service the Governor attended. On his return, as he was going up the steps into the plantation house, he heard a voice saying it wanted to speak with him. Turning his head, the Governor saw it was Mr Jones. The Governor told him he did not wish to speak with him, and that if he had anything to say to the Governor he must apply through the proper channel. About 12 November the Governor received word from Mr Slaughter, the ensign, that Mr Jones had said he would no longer read prayers to the garrison unless in due season. That afternoon the Governor went to the fort and ordered the bell to be rung as usual for prayers. After prayers the Governor called Mr Jones and told him he was very much surprised at the message he had received, that Jones refused to read prayers. Jones answered that he did refuse, and added that he knew the worst the Governor could do to him was to stop his gratuity, which he might do. He said they must then try who had the most friends, the Governor or himself. He told the Governor he had used [...]. Interpretations The chaplain's open defiance over reading prayers, and his challenge to see who had the most friends, marks the dispute hardening into a direct contest of influence with the Governor. The threat carries the same logic that had shadowed the previous administration, the clergyman trading on his connections and the protection of his office to resist the island's authority. The Governor's repeated insistence that Jones apply through the proper channel reflects the formal procedure by which grievances against authority were to be raised, the Governor refusing private confrontation. The approach mirrors the conduct of the previous administration, which had insisted that complaints come through the regular channel rather than personal appeal. Jones's calculation that the worst the Governor could do was stop his gratuity exposes the limit of the island's hold over a beneficed clergyman, the stipend being the only real sanction available. The chaplain's readiness to forfeit it, trusting to his friends, marks the difficulty of disciplining a minister who could appeal beyond the island to powerful patrons at home. Speculations Jones's threat to try who had the most friends suggests the chaplain meant to carry the quarrel to the Court through his connections, the same channel by which clerical grievances had troubled the previous government. By framing the dispute as a contest of influence, Jones signalled that he would not be governed by the island's authority alone, anticipating an appeal over the Governor's head. The Governor's prompt ordering of the bell for prayers, despite Jones's refusal, reflects a calculated assertion of routine and authority against the chaplain's defiance. By proceeding as usual and confronting Jones only after, the Governor maintained the garrison's worship while exposing the minister's refusal on the record, building the documented case the Council would lay before the Court. | ||
229 | Used him uncouthly, the Govern:r answerd he hoped not, and he should be very Glad to hear wherein He gave the Gov:r one Instance which was in reading Prayers in the Fort Hall in M:r Jones his absence & that he was resolved to try by what Authority he did So On Munday the 24 of Nov:r last the Govern:r Ordered M:r Jones to be Sumond to attend the Consultation the next day which he Peremptorily denyd and bid the Marshall tell the Govern:r he would not come whereupon the Govern:r Issued a Warrant for Neglecting to use that Forme of Prayer for the Hon:ble Comp:s by them Directed, on the Sunday preceeding as well as at Severall other times before, when he was brought before the Consultation he behaved himself very Insolently and made Severall frivolous Excuses Saying he did Pray for the Comp:s and his Munday was no more Infallible then the Gov:r and that he might do his Worst, Wherefore Ordered That M:r Jones Gratuity be Stopt for his Neglect of his Duty and his Ill behaviour, He was farther Cautiond not | The chaplain said the Governor had used him unkindly. The Governor answered that he hoped not, and would be very glad to hear in what way. Jones gave one instance, which was the reading of prayers in the fort hall in his absence. He said he was resolved to try by what authority the Governor did so. 45: On Monday 24 November last, the Governor ordered Mr Jones to be summoned to attend the consultation the next day. Jones flatly refused, and told the marshal he would not come. The Governor therefore issued a warrant against him for neglecting to use the form of prayer directed by the Court for the Company on the Sunday before, as well as at several other times. When Jones was brought before the consultation, he behaved very insolently and made several frivolous excuses, saying he did pray for the Company, and that his Monday was no more infallible than the Governor. So that the Governor might do his worst, he was ordered that Mr Jones's gratuity be stopped for his neglect of duty and his bad behaviour. He was further cautioned not [...]. Interpretations The issue of a warrant against Jones for neglecting the form of prayer directed by the Court marks the escalation of the dispute into formal legal process, the chaplain's refusal now treated as a punishable offence. The Court's prescribed form of prayer for the Company carried the weight of an institutional duty, its omission a breach the Governor could prosecute. The stopping of Jones's gratuity for neglect of duty and bad behaviour applied the only effective sanction the island held over a beneficed clergyman, the very penalty Jones had defied the Governor to impose. The Council acted within its power while the deeper question of the chaplain's conduct passed, like Tovey's, toward the Court's judgement. Jones's defiant summons to attend the consultation and his insolent conduct before it record the breakdown of the minister's submission to the island's authority. His refusal to obey the marshal and his frivolous excuses before the Council mark a clergyman openly resisting the government, the confrontation now fully on the record. Speculations The Governor's resort to a formal warrant reflects a calculated shift from private remonstrance to legal process once Jones's defiance became open. By prosecuting the refusal as a neglect of the Court's prescribed duty, the Governor placed the dispute on a footing the Court could not ignore, building the documented case that would justify the action against the chaplain. The Council's detailed record of Jones's insolence before the consultation served to establish his misconduct beyond dispute, anticipating his appeal to the friends he had threatened to invoke. By documenting his frivolous excuses and defiant manner, the Council ensured that when the matter reached the Court, the chaplain's own behaviour would weigh against whatever grievance he might press through his patrons. | ||
230 | not to Neglect his duty as formerly which the Gov:r in Respect to the Cloth had Passed by, The Pulpit he hath Severall times made the Stage to Reflect on the Govern:rs Administration & arrange the People which might have Proved of Ill Consequence had not the whole Island been better Satisfyed On the 27 of Nov:r the Govern:r Sent Ensigne Slaughter to M:r Jones to lett him know and not be Suprized if his Neglect of attending on the Curtain as belong= =ing to the Garrison Should be Punished when the Gov:r from the Country enterd the Garrison as the rest of the Gentlemen of the Garrison did, he Sent word he knew no Obligation neither would he, the 28 an Alarm being made he took his Post on the Mount, when the Gov:r told him that by his answer to M:r Slaughter he Refused to doe the Duty belonging to the Garrison in paying the Respect to the Govern:r thereof, and therefore he Oderd him out of the Garrison On the Sunday following in his reading Divine Service he Misstook the Collect for the day, when the Govern:r Sayd to M:r Jones You are wrong this is the 2 Sunday in Advent which he Soon recollected | The Council reported that Jones was cautioned not to neglect his duty as before, which the Governor, out of respect for the cloth, had passed over. The chaplain had several times made the pulpit the stage for reflecting on the Governor's administration and stirring up the people, which might have proved of ill consequence had not the whole island been better satisfied. On 27 November the Governor sent Ensign Slaughter to Mr Jones, to let him know, and not be surprised, that his neglect of attending the guard as belonging to the garrison would be punished when the Governor came in from the country and entered the garrison as the rest of the gentlemen of the garrison did. Jones sent word that he knew of no such obligation, and would not do it. On the 28th, an alarm being made, he took his post on the mount. The Governor told him that by his answer to Mr Slaughter he had refused to do the duty belonging to the garrison in paying respect to the Governor, and therefore ordered him out of the garrison. On the Sunday following, in reading divine service, Jones mistook the collect for the day. When the Governor said to him that he was wrong, that it was the second Sunday in Advent, Jones soon recollected [...]. Interpretations The chaplain's use of the pulpit to reflect on the Governor's administration and stir the people repeats the most dangerous form of clerical opposition, the same conduct that had marked the parson's role in the previous administration's troubles. The pulpit gave Jones a platform beyond the reach of ordinary discipline, his preaching against the government carrying the risk of inciting the inhabitants the Council had worked to keep content. The Governor's repeated forbearance out of respect for the cloth reflects the special protection a clergyman's office afforded, the administration restrained from dealing with Jones as it would a layman. The deference to the cloth marks the institutional barrier that made disciplining a minister so difficult, the Governor passing over offences he would otherwise have punished. The dispute over Jones attending the guard and paying respect to the Governor on entering the garrison exposes the chaplain's resistance to the military duties of his place, the same defiance carried into the routine of the fort. His refusal to acknowledge the obligation, and the Governor's order putting him out of the garrison, mark the conflict spreading from prayers into every part of his service. Speculations The Council's record of Jones reflecting on the administration from the pulpit served to cast the chaplain's opposition as a public danger, justifying the Governor's discipline as a defence of order. By noting that ill consequence was avoided only because the island was well satisfied, the Council framed Jones's preaching as a threat the administration had contained, pressing the case against him before the Court. The Governor's repeated emphasis on his forbearance toward the cloth reflects a calculated effort to present himself as patient and respectful, in contrast with the defiant minister. By stressing how much he had passed over out of regard for Jones's office, the Governor positioned the eventual discipline as forced upon him, guarding against the charge of persecuting a clergyman that Jones might carry to his patrons. | ||
231 | recollected, before the Litany he read the Forme Appointed for the Hon:ble Comp:s and then the Collect for the first Sunday which never was done in that place before nor Enjoyned by our Church, when he came to the Communion Service he began to read the wrong Collect Notwithstanding the Gov:r again reminded him and Persisted and Read the Epistle & Gospple in open Defyance of the Govern:r whereupon for his Insolent behaviour as well before the Gov:r & Council then as before He was Confined to his Chamber Untill the Departure of the King George or the Addison then in the Road, and to be put on board for England The Scandalous Libel fixt up in the Valley Reflect= =ing on the Governm:t the Same night y:e Concourse of People to Visit the Parson the falfe Reports and Representations of what the Gov:r Should Say Another Libel two nights after Mentioning the Govern:rs Name both writt in a hand unknown began to make Some People So uneasy that the Gov:r was forced to Send for Severall People to trace the Authors and which was found to be the Sad Cruelties of this Island, The thoughts of the Unhappy State this | Before the litany the chaplain read the form appointed for the Company, and then the collect for the first Sunday, which had never been done in that place before, nor was required by the Church. When he came to the communion service he began to read the wrong collect. Despite the Governor again reminding him, Jones persisted and read the epistle, the congregation present, in open defiance of the Governor. For this insolent behaviour, both before the Governor and Council and on these occasions, he was confined to his chamber until the departure of the King George or the Addison, then in the road, to be put aboard for England. A scandalous libel had been posted in the valley reflecting on the Governor, the same night that a concourse of people went to visit the parson. The false reports and representations of what the Governor was supposed to have said led to another libel two nights afterwards, mentioning the Governor by name. Both were written in an unknown hand. These began to make some people so uneasy that the Governor was forced to send for several people to trace the authors, who were found to be the sad realities of the island. The Council turned to the thoughts of this unhappy state [...]. Interpretations The decision to confine Jones and ship him to England aboard the King George or the Addison marks the administration's resort to removal once discipline and forbearance had failed. The expulsion of a clergyman from the island was a grave step, reserved for a minister whose defiance had become intolerable, the Council sending the matter and the man home together for the Court's final judgement. The scandalous libels posted in the valley, reflecting on the Governor and written in an unknown hand, repeat exactly the pattern of the informer controversy that had shadowed the previous administration, where anonymous attacks on authority were traced toward the parson. The coincidence of the libels with the concourse of people visiting the chaplain points to the same clerical channel of opposition the earlier Council had suspected. The connection drawn between the libels and the visit to the parson links the anonymous attacks to the chaplain's circle, the minister's house again serving as the gathering point for discontent. The pattern recalls the previous administration's suspicion that the parson's boarding house, full of disaffected gentlemen, was the source of the misinformation sent home. Speculations The Council's linking of the libels to the concourse at the parson's house served to fix the anonymous attacks on the chaplain's circle, building the case that Jones lay behind the opposition to the Governor. By recording the coincidence of the gathering and the libels, the Council pressed the inference that the minister fostered the discontent, justifying his confinement and removal as a defence against organised faction. The Governor's resort to confining and shipping Jones home reflects a judgement that no lesser measure would end the chaplain's defiance, the stopping of his gratuity having already failed. By removing him from the island altogether, the administration sought to cut off the source of the libels and the disorder, sending Jones to answer before the Court where his threatened friends could no longer shield him from the consequences of his conduct. | ||
232 | this Island may be Reduced to by His Unstable ill designing Ignorant but haughty Priest, by his Insinuating himself into the tender minds of a weak and Undiscerning People by that fallacious Mistaken Pretince of the Church is in Danger, His holy Order is affronted, when Indeed the vile Practice of the man is Punished, will Justify our Proceedings herein to your Honours. 46: Herewith comes Copys of our Consultations as farr as could now be Copyed & what is want= =ing Shall come by the Next Ships, Alsoe Comes Govr Pykes Bond and Covenants as Your Honrs Directed with a Copy of the Last Genl Letter from hence by yr Morrice 47: Having no Sea in the Stores for the use of your Garrison and Inhabitants We have bought some that Capt Thwaits left here last Voyage amounting to One Hundred fifty three Pounds eight shillgs for which We have drawn Bills payable to him or Order on yo Honrt by yo r acceptance | 44: The damage an unstable, restless, ignorant but haughty priest could bring upon the island had to be guarded against. The man insinuated himself into the trust of weak and undiscerning people through the false pretence that the Church was in danger and his holy office insulted. The punishment of his vile conduct justified the Council's proceedings reported to the Court. 45: Copies of the consultations went home with this letter, as far as they could be copied to date, the remainder to follow by the next ships. Governor Pyke's bond and covenants went with them, as the Court directed, together with a copy of the last general letter sent from the island by the Morice. 47: No tar remained in the stores for the use of the garrison and the inhabitants, so the Council bought a quantity left here last voyage by Captain Thwaites. The amount came to one hundred and fifty-three pounds eight shillings, for which bills were drawn payable to him or his order on the Court, against acceptance. Interpretations The priest at the centre of the passage was the chaplain John Jones, confined to his chamber and warned of a contest over who had the most friends, his case referred home for the Court's judgement. The defence rested on a standard administrative principle. The clergyman could not shelter misconduct behind the dignity of his office, so the Council framed the punishment as a civil matter rather than an attack on the Church. The pattern of an unstable clergyman drawing weak people to his side through the cry that the Church stood in danger had appeared once before under Governor Pyke. The parson Joshua Tomlinson recited a scandalous petition in the consultation of 17 September 1716, claiming his church and function were threatened, while his real grievance lay elsewhere. The recurrence of the same complaint, and the same channel of influence through the chaplain's circle, gave the present charge its force. Governor Pyke's bond and covenants were the formal sureties every Governor entered on taking office, binding him to account for the Court's property and to answer for his conduct. Sending them home with the consultations let the Court hold the security against the closing of his administration, his final balance of £244 6s 6d having been drawn by bill dated 7 July 1719. The Morice carried the earlier general letter of 31 May 1719, in which the Cape trade grievance was pressed a second time. The reference fixes the present letter as later correspondence, written after that ship had sailed. Speculations The purchase of Captain Thwaites's tar answered a long-standing supply failure rather than an ordinary want. Pitch and tar had been short for years, the gun carriages left untarred above two years by the Council's postscript of 15 February 1717, so a chance parcel left by a passing ship was taken up at once and settled by bill for want of coin on the island. | ||
233 | 48: We have alsoe drawn three Bills payable to Gabriel Powell or order, for the Sume of Fifty Pounds, which We could not Deny him and bear date with the above Decr 23th 1719 payable after thirty days sight. We are Union Castle St Helena Decr 23d 1719. Honbe & Wd Your Honrs Most obedt faithfull Servants. Geo: Johnson Jno Alexander Wm Goodwin Jos: Ormston | 48: Three further bills were drawn payable to Gabriel Powell or his order for the sum of fifty pounds, which the Council could not refuse him. They bear the same date as those above, 25 December 1719, payable thirty days after sight. The letter closed at Union Castle, St Helena, on 23 December 1719, the Council subscribing themselves the Court's most obedient and faithful servants. It was signed by Edward Johnson, Thomas Alexander, John Goodwin and Joseph Ormston. Interpretations Joseph Ormston signing as a member of the Council marks his rise from the position he held earlier in the year. He was named only as honest Joseph, the confederate Antipas Tovey counted on in his attempt to form a party, by the reply of 21 December 1719. His signature here shows him seated in the place left open once Tovey was suspended from the Council, his gratuity and his diet. The bills to Gabriel Powell carried a later date than the body of the letter, 25 December 1719 against the close of 23 December 1719. The Council drew them at thirty days after sight, the standard term giving the Court two days of grace to examine and accept the bill before payment fell due. Powell was the wealthiest planter on the island, worth about 5,000 pounds and holding some 300 acres, so a demand from him was not easily put aside. | ||
234 | Honble Srs ⅌ Ship Marlbro The foregoing is a Duplicate of ours by the King George Capt Lewis Comander dated the 21 Decr 1719 since when nothing of any Moment hath Occurd worth your Honrs Notice only the Arrival of the Marlbro Capt Meiklefield from Madrs but last from the Cape, on Sunday evening the 31 Janry last We being in Extream want of all sorts of strong Liquors and our rainy Season in which many People here are very Subject to Great fitts of sickness, being daily Expected We have for the preservation of their Healths and to supply our own Necessitys bought Fifteen Leagrs of Bata Arrack of Capt Meiklefield at 5/6 ⅌ Gallon which was the lowest Price We could gett it at he knowing how much We wanted, And had We not bought it tho at a greater Rate the Inha= =bitants would have been very much Dissatisfyed for want thereof they having made Great Complaints amongst themselves and did Murmere the Island thro because We did | The Council addressed the Court by the Marlborough, opening with the customary salutation to the Worshipful Directors. The letter above was a duplicate of the one sent by the King George, Captain Lewis commander, dated 21 December 1719. Nothing of any importance had happened since, save the arrival of the Marlborough, Captain Micklefield commander, from Madras but last from the Cape, on the evening of Sunday 31 January last. The island stood in extreme want of strong liquors of every kind. The rainy season was at hand, during which many of the people were very liable to severe fits of sickness. To preserve their health, and to meet the island's own needs, the Council bought fifteen leaguers of Batavia arrack from Captain Micklefield at five shillings and fourpence the gallon. That was the lowest price it could be got at, the captain knowing well how much the island wanted it. Had the Council not bought it, even at the higher rate, the inhabitants would have been greatly dissatisfied for want of it. They had already made great complaints among themselves and grumbled throughout the island, because the Council did Interpretations The Marlborough under Captain Micklefield was a fresh arrival, distinct from the earlier Marlborough in which Captain Brown carried the Bencoolen letter home on 20 March 1718. Her route home by way of the Cape placed her on the very track the Council had been protesting, the homeward ships watering and provisioning there to the island's loss, the grievance pressed in the petition of 17 March 1719 and again by the Morice of 31 May 1719. The purchase of arrack at the moment of a passing ship's call followed the island's settled method of supply. With no liquor remaining in the stores, and the captain aware of the want, the price was set against the Council rather than for it. The rainy season raised the demand sharply, sickness running high in the wet months and one man in ten falling ill by the garrison's own reckoning, so the Council paid the captain's rate rather than face the inhabitants' anger. | ||
235 | did not buy Arrack of Capt Lewis which We did intend to have done had he not Stood out for 6/ ⅌ Gallon and this Quantity being now by Us We hope will be a means of bringing before this Summer shiping is over at 4/ the Gallon which Price We insisted on as a former Priced but to no Effect wherefore We was obliged to give the Capt 5/6 tho he Stood out till the last or goe without, and nothing but having Your Honrs Stores here well Supplyd will make Arrack as well as every thing Else Cheap The quantity of these 15 Legars of Arrack is 2400 Gallon which with 160 Gallon of Cape Wine some Seed & China Ware which the Stores are Quite without and but very little upon the Island, together with a Good Large Long boate for your Honrs Service to fetch Lime & Cutt Stone from Sandy bay the Old one We have being very Crazey and weak in many places amounts to the Sume of 1086, 13 & 7 for which We have drawn Bills of Exchange on Your Honrs payable to Capt Rich: Meiklefeild or his Order after 30 days | The Council had meant to buy arrack from Captain Lewis, and would have done so had he not held out for five shillings and sixpence the gallon. Now that this quantity was in hand, the Council hoped it would serve to buy more before the summer shipping was over at four shillings the gallon. That was the price the Council insisted on as a fair one, but to no effect. The Council was therefore obliged to give the captain five shillings and sixpence, though he held out till the last for it or would go without. Only the thought of keeping the Court's stores well supplied made the Council take arrack at that rate, as well as everything else, as cheaply as it could. The fifteen leaguers of arrack came to 2,400 gallons. With 160 gallons of Cape wine, some seed and some chinaware, all of which the stores were quite without and very little of it to be had on the island, together with a good large longboat for the Court's service to fetch lime and cut stone from Sandy Bay, the old one being very crazy and cracked in many places, the whole came to one thousand and eighty-six pounds thirteen shillings and sevenpence. For this the Council drew bills of exchange on the Court payable to Captain Richard Micklefield or his order after thirty days Interpretations The contest over the arrack price turned on a fixed ceiling the Council was holding to against a seller who knew its position. Four shillings the gallon was the rate the Council pressed as fair, the same rate paid to Captain Misener of the Princess Amelia at the island from 10 to 25 July 1717, while five shillings and sixpence was the price forced by a captain who could take his cargo away. The Council paid the higher rate only because the stores held nothing. The longboat answered a practical breakdown in the island's own building supply. Lime and cut stone had to be fetched by sea from Sandy Bay, and the old boat was no longer fit for the work, so a replacement was bought into the same account as the liquor and stores. The stone served the fortification programme, the half-bastions and the Castle Path still in hand, which depended on a steady supply of worked stone from the windward bays. The whole purchase of £1,086 13s 7d was settled by a single bill on the Court rather than in coin. The island's money stock stood at about 700 pounds against a yearly charge near 3,000 pounds, far too little to meet a demand of this size, so the bank bill drawn on London at thirty days after sight was the only instrument that could carry it. | ||
236 | days sight and dated this 3 of febry 17 20 and begg your Honrs acceptance thereof with a favourable Construction on our Proceedings herein Assureing Your Honrs We shall be as frugall in the Expence as Possible and what We Dispose of among the Inhabitants shall be at a reasonable Advance tho We shall Always Act for Your Interest as much as in Us lies We have recd by this Ships whose Accots Comes herein Six Bales Ordinary Long Cloth and ten Cannisters of Sugar from Maddrass Union Castle St Helena 3 febry 17 20 We are Honble Srs Your Honrs Most faithfull & most obedient Servts Edwd Johnson Jno Alexander Wm Goodwin Jos Ormston | The bills were dated 3 February 1720, the Council asking the Court to accept them and to take a favourable view of its proceedings. The Council gave its assurance that it would be as sparing in expense as possible. Whatever it sold among the inhabitants would be at a reasonable advance, though it would always act for the Court's interest as far as it could. By this ship came goods on the Court's account, namely six bales of ordinary long cloth and ten canisters of sugar from Madras. The letter closed at Union Castle, St Helena, on 3 February 1720, the Council subscribing themselves the Court's most faithful and obedient servants. It was signed by Edward Johnson, Thomas Alexander, John Goodwin and Joseph Ormston. Interpretations The pledge to sell among the inhabitants only at a reasonable advance set out the Council's dual role as both the Court's agent and the island's supplier. Goods bought on the Court's account were resold to the planters and soldiers at a margin, the profit easing the establishment's costs, a mechanism already set out in the slave clothing scale where the profit on shirts sold paid the prime cost of those issued. The long cloth was a plain cotton cloth from the Coromandel coast, imported in bulk for ordinary wear and for making up into the shirts and shifts issued to the slaves and garrison. Its arrival in six bales matched the steady demand for cheap cloth on the island, where about 1,200 ready-made shirts a year were reckoned the market and no thread remained for mending. | ||
237 | Honble Srs Genll Lr ⅌ Susanna Capt John Edwards Comd dated 3 March 1719 1: In Complyance wth our duty We take this Opportunity to Acquaint Your Honrs with all Occurrences of any Moment that have Happend here since our last Lettr to Your Honrs which was by the Marlbro Capt Meiklefield who Sailed hence the 3 febry last 2: The uneasiness in the minds of the People Occasi= =oned & fomented by the Restless Temper of Mr Jones Your Honrs Chaplain when he was here amongst Us (As We gave your Honrs an Acco in our Genll Lettr by the King George Capt Sam Lewis) Still Conti =nueing, The Govr was informed that there had been severall Scandalous & false Papers handed up and downe the Island to be Signed by the Inhabitants in favour of Mr Jones and that two Papers were Signed whilst Mr Jones was here by severall & sent to England with him, The Govr thereupon Ordered Charles Steward, Joseph Bedloe Edwd Bagley Chyrurgeon Civil Surgn Edmd Leigh Surgn & John Worrall Serjt to be Apprehended & Committed them to Prison | The Council addressed the Court by the Susanna, Captain John Edwards commander, in a general letter dated 3 March 1719, opening with the customary salutation to the Worshipful Directors. 1: In keeping with its duty, the Council took the occasion to inform the Court of everything of importance that had happened on the island since its last letter, sent by the Marlborough, Captain Micklefield commander, which sailed on 3 February last. 2: The unrest in the minds of the people had been stirred up and kept alive by the restless temper of Mr Jones, the Court's chaplain, during the time he was on the island. The Council had already given the Court an account of this in its general letter by the King George, Captain Sam Lewis commander, and the matter still continued. The Governor was told that several scandalous and false papers had been passed round the island to be signed by the inhabitants in favour of Mr Jones, and that two such papers were signed while Mr Jones was on the island, by several people, and sent to England with him. The Governor thereupon ordered Charles Steward, Joseph Bedloe, Edward Bagley, Chelmondely the civil surgeon, Edmund Leigh the surgeon and John Worrall the sergeant to be apprehended, and committed them to prison. Interpretations The date of 3 March 1719 sits before the chaplain's confinement and his shipping home, events the Council placed later in the year, so it belongs to the modern year 1720 by the old calendar's reckoning of the year from 25 March. The letter follows the Marlborough correspondence of 3 February 1720 in proper sequence, the Susanna carrying the next instalment of the same continuing account. The scandalous and false papers were the libels on the Governor that the Council had already referred home for the Court's judgement, posted in an unknown hand the same nights a concourse visited the chaplain. Here the matter widened from anonymous attack into organised petitioning, the papers passed round for signature and carried to England by Jones himself, the clergyman's circle now drawing named inhabitants into open support. The arrests turned a dispute over a chaplain into a criminal proceeding against his backers. Chelmondely Civilly the civil surgeon, already judged to understand little of his business by the reply of 19 April 1719, stood among those committed, the medical and minor offices of the establishment caught up in the faction. The Governor met the petitioning by seizing its signatories, treating support for Jones as a matter for the prison rather than the Council table. | ||
238 | Prison for Signeing a false Scandalous & Seditious Libel, and likewise Sweah Southen for Publishing and Seduceing Persons to Signe the Same, Afterwards Admitted them to Bail to answer it at Sessions Those Persons that were Seduced to Signe the other Paper Petitioned the Govr & Councile Island St Helena To the Worll Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr and Councill 3: The Humble Petition of Us Planters whose hands are hereunto Subscribed Humbly Sheweth That Whereas We have Signed a Certificate for the Good behavour to Us of Mr Jones late Chaplain to the Honble United East India Comp: We doe Assure Yor Worll & Councill it was not done by any of Us out of any Disrespect to Your Worll &c or in any wise to Intermeddle with what the Governmt of this Island had Determined in Relation to Mr Jones but that it did Proceed from a Charitable Disposition in Us to gett him a Liveing in England and We your Humble Petitioners thereupon Desire & Yor Worship | The six were committed to prison for signing a false, scandalous and seditious libel, and likewise Sarah Southen for publishing it and persuading others to sign it. Afterwards the Governor admitted them to bail, to answer the charge at the next court. Those who had been led to sign the other paper then petitioned the Governor and Council. The petition was addressed to the Worshipful Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor, and the Council, on the island of St Helena. 3: Several planters, whose names were subscribed to it, set out their case to the Governor and Council. They had signed a certificate as to the good behaviour towards them of Mr Jones, late chaplain to the Worshipful United East India Company. They assured the Governor and Council that none of them had done so out of any disrespect to the Governor, nor to interfere in any way with what the Governor of the island had decided concerning Mr Jones. It came rather from a charitable wish on their part to help him get a living in England. The petitioners therefore asked the Governor Interpretations The two papers were now clearly distinguished, one a seditious libel and the other a certificate of the chaplain's good behaviour. The signatories of the libel were committed and bailed for trial, while the signatories of the certificate were merely led astray and now sought to withdraw, the Council separating deliberate sedition from foolish goodwill. The distinction governed who faced the court and who was let off with a retraction. Sarah Southen stood charged not with signing but with publishing the libel and procuring signatures, the graver part in the matter. Publishing a libel and drawing others into it carried more weight than adding one's own name, so she was named apart from the six committed for signing. The household of Southen had already given the Council trouble, the sergeant Southen heard at large over his English wife by the reply of 3 November 1718. The petition of the certificate's signatories was a formal retraction framed as an appeal to mercy. By disclaiming any disrespect to the Governor, and recasting their act as charity toward a man they wished gone to England, the planters sought to detach themselves from the libel and escape the proceedings. The certificate's stated purpose, to secure Jones a living at home, matched the Council's own wish to be rid of him by shipping him out. | ||
239 | Worship &c will no Longer Harbour Such an Opinion of us. And as in Cthion shall ever pray Janry 16 James Vasey Richd Greenling Robt Greenling Henry Beale Wal Morris Jno Nichols Jno French Gab: Powell James Greenbee Joshua Johnson Jno Doidg James Ryder They were forgiven 4: And that they You might Shew the rest of the Island how basely they had been Imposed on and Deluded by the sly Insinuations of Mr Jones Ordered the Sessions on the 23 of Janry Accordingly & was opend by the Govr with a speech from the bench to the Court as follows Gentlemen of the Jury, Gentlemen Planters & You Gentlemen the Rest of the Inhabitants I spare me a few words now We are Assembled together here, occasioned by Circumstances to me no way pleas= =ing, and attended in my Opinion wth a Melancholy view to Us All, Its Surprizing Gent That so Small a space of time Should put so different a face on things as ap= =pears to me at Present, For if you Remember Gent at the General Muster which was on the 7 October last, When told You I gladly Embraced that first | The petitioners asked the Governor to harbour such an opinion no longer, and gave their assurance of continued good conduct. The petition was signed by James Vasey, Richard Greatling, Robert Greatling, Henry Beale, Walter Morris and Joseph Nichols, and by John French, Gabriel Powell, James Greentree, Joshua Johnson, John Long and James Ryder. They were forgiven. 4: So that the rest of the island might see how easily these people had been imposed upon and misled by the cunning suggestions of Mr Jones, the Governor ordered a court to be held on 23 January. It opened with a speech from the bench to the people, addressed to the jury, the planters and the rest of the inhabitants, in the following terms. The Governor asked for a few words now that the court was assembled, brought together by circumstances far from welcome to him and, as he saw it, sad for them all. It was surprising that so short a span of time should put so different a face on things as appeared at present. The inhabitants would remember that at the general muster on 7 October last, when the Governor addressed them, he had gladly taken that first Interpretations The list of signatories was set out as two columns and is rendered here as the two groups it forms, the names carried over in full. These were the planters who signed the certificate for Jones, now forgiven on their retraction, distinct from the six committed and bailed for the libel. Gabriel Powell among them shows the wealthiest planter drawn into the chaplain's affair, his name lending weight to the certificate. The Governor turned the court into a public lesson rather than a simple trial. By opening the proceedings of 23 January with a speech from the bench, addressed to jury, planters and inhabitants together, he sought to show the whole island how Jones had deceived his supporters. The aim was correction by example, the forgiven signatories held up as men misled, the gathering used to settle opinion across the settlement. The general muster of 7 October stood as the point of contrast the Governor drew. The whole body of the island's men assembled for the militia review, and his address to them then was remembered as a time of goodwill, set now against the discord the chaplain had since stirred. The muster bound every able planter to the obligation of defence, the same gathering at which standing matters were put to the inhabitants. | ||
240 | first Opportunity Offered Since my Arrival to meet you Altogether to return you my thanks for the Civil Respects I had received from every one of You over and above what I might enforce by Law, I then did Assure you these Nothing should be wanting on my Side to Cultivate & Preserve it, And that your Ease and Quiet Gent with the Improvement of the Island should be my Chief Care and Study As farr as it was Consistent with the Interest of the Honour of those Honrable Gentlemen who had Reposed their trust & Confidence in me I dare Gent appeal to You All in Generall Nay to each Person Distinctly to make a Charge against me wherein I have even Swerved in the Most minute affair from it A principle handed downe to me by my Ancestors & which I early Imbibed & ever since my riper Years, have not only my self preserved it but Endeavoured to inculcate into unthinking minds, That no Commu= =nity was ever made or designed to be Subservient to the Will of any one man further then it Con= =duced to the Good & Comon Welfare of that | The Governor recalled that this had been the first chance since his arrival to meet the inhabitants all together. He had taken it to thank them for the courteous regard he had received from every one of them, beyond anything the law could compel. He had assured them then that nothing would be wanting on his part to foster and keep up that goodwill. Their ease and quiet, together with the improvement of the island, would be his chief care and study, as far as that was consistent with the interest and honour of the Worshipful Directors, who had placed their trust and confidence in him. The Governor said he dared appeal to them all in general, and to each person singly, to make a charge against him in which he had departed from that course even in the smallest matter. He spoke of a principle handed down to him by his forebears, one he had deeply absorbed and, ever since his riper years, had not only held to himself but tried to instil into unthinking minds. No community was ever formed or meant to be subject to the will of any one man, beyond what served the common good and welfare of that Interpretations The Governor's appeal rested on a distinction between obedience compelled by law and regard freely given. By thanking the inhabitants for courtesy beyond what the law could enforce, he set his administration apart from mere authority, claiming a goodwill the chaplain's faction had since broken. The speech built his defence on consent rather than command. The principle the Governor set out marked the political ground of his case against Jones. By holding that no community was meant to serve the will of one man except for the common good, he answered the charge that he had acted as a tyrant over the chaplain and his supporters. The argument turned the accusation back, casting his own rule as government for the public welfare and the faction as the threat to it. | ||
239 | that Community but on the Contrary I always thought He was the Most happy man who tho at the head of Governmt gained most at the ease & Satisfaction of those Governed, This very Principle I Say must Always keep me fixed, I hope none of You Gent will Impute the Punishmts the Wilfull transgressors of the Law or the open Contemners of Lawfull Authority either have or shall draw on their own heads to Proceed from any haughtyness Rancour or ill Nature in my temper For I Appeal to God Almighty the only Searcher of hearts I make little or no Question whither my Concern for these Unhappy Persons now under the Censure of the Law doth not Equal their own, which does not Proceed Let me tell You Gent from any Tarer or fear for that Can have no Effect on me when in Execution of any Comonission ore Authority I am Entrusted with, As hath been more then once tryed in my Publick Administration of Justice in England, Can a Person (whose hands are tyed up even from resenting a Private affront by the Care of the Publick which is Incumbent on me) bear Gent also to have that Authority the Comonission the Lords Propriet rs of this | The Governor held the contrary view of community. He had always thought that the happiest man was the one who, while at the head of government, secured the most ease and satisfaction for those he governed. This very principle, he said, must always keep him steady. He hoped none of the inhabitants would suppose that the punishment which wilful breakers of the law, or open defiers of lawful authority, had drawn or might draw upon their own heads came from any haughtiness, rancour or ill nature in his temper. He appealed to Almighty God, the only searcher of hearts. He made little or no doubt that his concern for these unhappy people now under the censure of the law equalled their own. It did not come, he told them, from any terror or fear on his part. That could have no effect on him when he was carrying out any commission or authority he was entrusted with, as had been tried more than once in his public administration of justice in England. The Governor asked whether a man whose hands were tied even from resenting a private affront, by the care of the public that lay upon him, was also to hold that authority, the commission the Lords Proprietors Interpretations The Governor's appeal to his record of administering justice in England set his authority on experience earned before his arrival. By citing trials he had carried through at home, he answered any doubt of his fitness to hold a court on the island, casting himself as a practised magistrate rather than a Company servant reaching beyond his place. The claim lent weight to the proceeding against the chaplain's signatories. The Governor drew a line between private affront and public duty to deny any personal motive in the prosecution. By insisting that the care of the public barred him even from resenting an insult to himself, he met the charge that the case against Jones sprang from wounded feeling. The argument cast the punishment as the law's work, not the Governor's revenge. Speculations The reference to the Lords Proprietors rather than the Court of Directors points to the Governor reaching for the language of chartered authority to dignify his commission. The island was governed by the Company under its charter, not by proprietors in the manner of a colony so held, so the phrase served to clothe his power on the bench in the fullest terms available. The choice raised the standing of his court above that of an ordinary Company tribunal. | ||
240 | this Island have Invested me with insulted & Contemned without shewing a Publick Resentmt thereof As in Mr Jones his Case it was as I shall Plainly Shew You anon, for from thance I conjecture flowes all these Disorders now I No I should then Render my self unworthy the Honr Conferd & make my self despicable even in your Eyes, But for the future I flatter my self Gent you'l See its more for yor Interest to Adhere th'already Concurrence wth me in what shall be thought most Proper for the Comon Good of Us All, So Gent I conclude in Assureing on my Part that when= =soever & whosoever shall come in & joyne wth me in Restoreing the Peace & tranquility of this Island may Expect to meet wth a sutable reception from me But on the Contrary that those whose Malice Rancour and Inveteracy Still causes their Obstinacy, must thank themselves if the Utmost Severitys the Law can Inflict falls on them Island St Helena &c Sarah Southen The Indictment You Stand Indicted by the name of Sarah Southen wife of Thomas Southen of this Island Planter | The commission the Lords Proprietors of the island had given him had been insulted and defied, without any public mark of resentment being shown. So it was in Mr Jones's case, as the Governor said he would plainly show them shortly, for from that source he traced all the disorders now afoot. Were he to do otherwise, he would make himself unworthy of the trust the Court had placed in him, and contemptible even in their eyes. As for the future, he flattered himself that the inhabitants would see it was more in their own interest to side with him. He would meet any agreement with what should be judged most proper for the common good of them all. The Governor closed by giving his assurance that whoever came in and joined with him in restoring the peace and quiet of the island might expect the kindest reception from him. Those whose malice, rancour and stubbornness kept up their obstinacy must thank themselves if the law's utmost severity fell upon them. The indictment was then read, against Sarah Southen, on the island of St Helena. She stood indicted by the name of Sarah Southen, wife of Thomas Southen, a planter of the island. Interpretations The Governor's closing struck a deliberate balance between mercy offered and severity threatened. By promising the kindest reception to those who joined him while warning the obstinate of the law's full weight, he set out the terms on which the island might return to quiet. The speech worked as an open invitation to submit, the choice laid before each inhabitant in plain terms. Sarah Southen's indictment named her as a wife and identified her through her husband, Thomas Southen the planter. A married woman stood at law under her husband's name, so the charge ran against her in that form, the planter named to fix her place on the island. Her prosecution as the publisher of the libel set the chief charge on the person who spread it rather than those who merely signed. | ||
241 | Planter, for a Misdemeanor for that You the Said Sarah out of a Vexatious Temper & Evil Designe to Delude under a falla= =cious pretence and to raise Sedid & Animositys in the Quiet minds of Several of the Good People of this Island Did on or about Sunday the 13 day of Decembr Last at your dwelling House in James Valley in this Island then and there Publish a false Scandalous & Seditious Libel therein Leaving out what might Aggravate the Crime in Mr Jones and in the same Libel Highly reflecting on the Worll Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr of this Island Intending thereby to Alienate the Affections of the Said Good People of this Island from the Worshipfull the Govr and to disturb the Quiet Governmt thereof, And likewise for that you the Said Sarah did on or about the day & year & place above said falsely Seduce entice & delude One Charles Steward of this Island to Signe the Said Libel, and that you the Said Sarah have Since that time Clandestinely made Use of Several false Artifices & Cunning Insinuations to prevail on others to Signe the Said Libel Contrary to the Peace of our Soveraigne Lord King George his Crown and | The charge against Sarah Southen was a misdemeanour. Out of a troublesome temper and an evil design, she had set out to mislead people under a malicious pretence and to stir up ill feeling in the quiet minds of several of the island's good people. On or about Sunday 13 December last, at the Governor's dwelling house in James Valley, she there published a false, scandalous and seditious libel. In it she left out whatever might make Mr Jones's offence appear worse, and in the same libel she cast severe reflections on the Worshipful Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor of the island. Her aim in this was to turn the affections of the island's good people away from the Governor and to disturb the quiet of his government. The indictment further charged that, at the same day, year and place, Sarah Southen had falsely tempted and misled one Charles Steward of the island into signing the libel. Since that time she had secretly used a number of false tricks and cunning suggestions to prevail on others to sign it, against the peace of the sovereign lord King George, his crown and Interpretations The indictment turned a political quarrel into a criminal charge framed around the King's peace. By laying the libel as an offence against the crown and dignity of George, the proceeding cast Sarah Southen's act as sedition rather than a private slander, the gravest footing available short of treason. The form bound the island's court to the language of the realm's law. The place of publication, the Governor's own dwelling house in James Valley, sharpened the charge. To circulate a libel against the Governor at his residence made the act a direct affront to his authority on his own ground. The detail fixed the offence in a specific time and place, the form the law required, and underlined the boldness the Council laid against her. The charge that Sarah Southen left out whatever would worsen Mr Jones's offence exposed the libel as a calculated defence of the chaplain. By suppressing the matters that told against him while attacking the Governor, the paper was framed to clear Jones and blacken his prosecutor. The indictment treated this selective account as part of the deceit by which the signatories were drawn in. | ||
242 | and Dignity and is in high Contempt of the wholesom Laws and Ordinances of this Island made by the Honble Lords Propriet rs for the Good Governmt thereof To which Indictment She pleaded not Guilty 6: Willm Beal Deposed that She the Said Sarah Southen did call him into her House and carryed him into the Inner Room and shew'd him a Written Pajur Re= =lating the true State of what had Happened at Church the 29 of Novr last between Mr Jones & the Govr as She call'd it & requested him to Signe it John Thwaits deposed that She asked him to Signe it at the same time Serjeant Worral was wth him the Told them they were the most Proper Persons on ye Island to Signe it for the one was Church Warden and the other Clerk, they neither did Signe it then, She after that sent Several times to speak wth him but he did not goe to her, She Saw him another time in the valley when She beckoned to him to come to her when She renewed her request to him by Saying will you do what I asked of you before but he denyd it whereupon She Said I wonder what makes people so backward | The libel was laid as a high contempt of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Worshipful Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island. To this indictment Sarah Southen pleaded not guilty. 6: William Beal gave evidence that Sarah Southen called him into her house and took him into the inner room. There she showed him a written paper setting out the true state of what had happened at church on 29 November last, between Mr Jones and the Governor, as she called it, and asked him to sign it. John Thwaits gave evidence that she asked him to sign it at the same time, while Sergeant Worrall was with him. She told them they were the most suitable persons on the island to sign it, the one being churchwarden and the other clerk. Neither of them signed it then. She afterwards sent several times asking to speak with him, but he did not go to her. He saw her another time in the valley, when she beckoned him to come to her. There she renewed her request, saying surely he would do what was asked of him, but he refused. She then said she wondered what made the people so backward. Interpretations The selection of churchwarden and clerk as the wished-for signatories shows the libel aimed at the marks of parish standing. Sarah Southen sought the names of the two lay officers of the church, whose signatures would carry the weight of the congregation behind the defence of Jones. The choice tied the paper to the very office the chaplain held, lending it the colour of the parish itself. The evidence traced a sustained effort at persuasion rather than a single approach. By calling Beal into an inner room, then pressing Thwaits repeatedly and stopping him in the valley, Sarah Southen pursued the signatures over time and in private. The pattern matched the charge of cunning suggestions used to prevail on others, the witnesses describing the very conduct the indictment laid. The paper's account of the clash at church on 29 November fixed the origin of the quarrel in the chaplain's open defiance from the pulpit. Jones had persisted in reading the wrong collect against the Governor, the act that brought his confinement, and the libel recast that scene as the Governor's fault. The reframing was the deceit the Council charged, the truth of the church dispute turned to serve the chaplain. | ||
243 | Charles Steward Deposed that she sent for him to her House to perswade him to Signe it John George Deposed that Severall she had Perswaded him to Signe Mr Doveton Deposed that she had offered a Paper to him to Signe but he refused & Advised her to desist for she did not know what she was doing she would bring her self into trouble John Hodgkinson Marshal Deposed that he took the Paper out of her bosom She was found Guilty 7: Edward Bagley, Chelmondly Civel Edmond Leigh and John Worral were Indicted for Signing the Said Libel Chelmondly Civel only found Guilty Sarah Southen Sentenced to stand one hour upon the Pillory and to find Suretys for her Good behaviour for a year Chelmondly Civel to Stand in the Pillory for one hour to find suretys whilst he stayd here to be sent off by the first Ship 8: John Worral was Indicted for Saying that the Govr was a strong Papist he was found Guilty | Charles Steward gave evidence that Sarah Southen sent for him to come to her house, to persuade him to sign it. John George gave evidence that she had pressed him hard to sign it. Mr Doveton gave evidence that she had offered him a paper to sign, but he refused and advised her to give it up, for she did not know what she was doing and would bring herself into trouble. John Hodgkinson, the marshal, gave evidence that he took the paper out of her bosom. She was found guilty. 7: Edward Bagley, Chelmondely Civilly and Edmund Leigh, and John Worrall, were indicted for signing the libel. Chelmondely Civilly alone was found guilty. Sarah Southen was sentenced to stand one hour upon the pillory and to find sureties for her good behaviour for a year. Chelmondely Civilly was to stand in the pillory for one hour and to find sureties, while he stayed on the island, to be sent off by the first ship. 8: John Worrall was indicted for saying that the Governor was a strong papist. He was found guilty. Interpretations The marshal's evidence of taking the paper from Sarah Southen's bosom supplied the physical proof the charge needed. Recovering the libel from her person fixed possession on her directly, the document produced from where she had hidden it. The act of the marshal, the officer who executed the court's process, gave the prosecution the paper itself rather than mere report of it. The sentence of the pillory with sureties for good behaviour set public shame against future restraint. An hour on the pillory exposed the offender to the gathered island, while the bond for a year held the threat of forfeit over any repetition. The two together punished the past act and bound the conduct to come, the pillory before the same people the libel had sought to stir. Chelmondely Civilly drew the added penalty of removal from the island by the first ship. The civil surgeon, already judged to understand little of his business by the reply of 19 April 1719, was now to be shipped off as well as shamed, his part in the libel ending his place on the establishment. The Council had wanted a better surgeon in any case, so his expulsion served two ends at once. The separate charge against John Worrall, for calling the Governor a strong papist, struck at the most dangerous slander of the day. To brand a man a Roman Catholic under George touched loyalty to the Protestant succession itself, an accusation graver than ordinary libel. The Council drew it out as its own count, the words tried apart from the signing of the paper. | ||
244 | Fined five Pounds and to find Suretys for one year Thomas Free was Indicted for raising a false Report of the Governr that he Should Say he would Seize any Planters Estate without giveing any Reason for soe doing, he was found Guilty and fined five Pounds & to find Suretys for one Year The Governr Concluded the Sessions with a short Speech Gentlemen 9: Before I can discharge you I must Conclude this Sessions with the Same Assurances wth wch I opend it, Nay if Ye are not wanting to your selves Ye may Promise your selves all the Ease & Quiet & Happiness this Island is Capable of, For on my part I am Resolved to use my Utmost Endeavours to live the Remainder of my time wth You quietly & with tranquility of mind, which I must confess hath been absent from me this two months, The method I Propose Gent is by distinguishing those wth marks of favour and Respects who joyne wth me in so good a Work and by puting the Utmost Severity of the Law in Execution against them that Impede and obstruct which Number I hope will Lessen every day | John Worrall was fined five pounds and required to find sureties for one year. Thomas Free was indicted for spreading a false report of the Governor, that he was said to have threatened to seize any planter's estate without giving any reason for it. He was found guilty, fined five pounds and required to find sureties for one year. The Governor closed the court with a short speech to the inhabitants. 9: Before he discharged them, the Governor said he must end the court with the same assurances on which he opened it. If the inhabitants did not fail themselves, they might count on all the ease, quiet and happiness the island could afford. For his own part, he was resolved to use his utmost efforts to live the rest of his time among them in quiet and in peace of mind, which, he admitted, had been absent from him these two months. The method he proposed was to distinguish those who joined him in so good a work by marks of favour and regard, and to put the law's full severity into execution against those who hindered and obstructed it. That number, he hoped, would grow less every day. Interpretations The indictment of Thomas Free pinned a particular threat to the Governor, the seizing of planters' estates without cause. The charge answered the fear most likely to alarm a landholding community, the loss of property at the will of authority, and laid it as a false report. Free had a history of contested land claims, his demand for the Griffith children's land refused as unjust in the reply of 21 December 1719, which may explain his readiness to circulate such a tale. The Governor's admission that quiet of mind had been absent from him these two months dated the disturbance to the turn of the year, around the chaplain's confinement and the posting of the libels. The span fixed the trouble to a defined episode rather than a settled state, the court of 23 January falling at its end. The remark set the proceedings as the close of a particular crisis. The closing method matched the opening exactly, favour for the compliant and the law's full weight for the obstinate. By ending on the same terms he began with, the Governor framed the whole proceeding as consistent and deliberate, the punishments handed down a fulfilment of the warning given. The repetition was the instrument of settlement, the island left in no doubt of the choice before it. | ||
245 | The prosecutions of this Sessions must evince every thinking Person That Doe not delight in severity for the Law would have justifyed in me much more Severe Punishments then what by the Sentences I have inflicted on the Delinquents 10: ON Wedensday the 27 febry last Arrived the Ship Susanna Capt John Edwards from Mocho but last from the Cape, He made Us an offer of Severall Goods But We bought none but what our Necessity did oblige Us to, and are Contained in the Ships Acco So that your Honrs will see the Severall Prices We gave and having an Indifferent Stock of Arrack by Us We did at last agree for Six Legars Containing 926 Gallon at 4/6 ⅌ Gallon and as We acquainted your Honrs in our last We are in hopes of buying at the Old Price of 4/ & nothing but having a Good Quantity in the Stores will induce the Captains to sell under 4/6 5/ or 6 the Gallon 11: We have drawn three Bills of Exchd dated 3 March 1719 for the Ballance of Capt Edwards Acco Amounting to £ 153, 11, 2 of which We pray your | The Governor said the prosecutions of this court must satisfy every thinking person that he took no pleasure in severity. The law would have justified far heavier punishments than those he had handed down on the offenders. 10: On Wednesday 27 February last the Susanna, Captain John Edwards commander, arrived from Mocha but last from the Cape. He made the Council an offer of several goods, but it bought none except what its needs obliged it to take, all of which were set out in the ship's account. The Court would see the various prices the Council paid. Having an indifferent stock of arrack in hand, the Council at last agreed for six leaguers, containing 926 gallons, at five shillings and sixpence the gallon. As reported in its last letter, the Council still hoped to buy at the old price of four shillings, for nothing but a good quantity in the stores would induce the captains to sell under five shillings and sixpence, or five shillings, or six shillings the gallon. 11: Three bills of exchange were drawn, dated 3 March 1719, for the balance of Captain Edwards's account. They came to one hundred and fifty-three pounds eleven shillings and twopence, which the Council asked the Court Interpretations The arrack purchase repeated the bind set out in the Marlborough correspondence, the Council holding to four shillings the gallon while the captains forced higher rates. With only a poor stock in the stores, the Council had no leverage and paid five shillings and sixpence, the same rate Captain Micklefield had forced. The remedy named was a full store, which alone would let the Council refuse the captains' price and bring the rate back down. The Susanna under Captain Edwards came home by way of the Cape, like the Marlborough before her, placing another homeward ship on the route the Council had been protesting. Her call let the island buy arrack and goods it could not otherwise get, the dependence on passing ships cutting both ways, the supply welcome but the price dictated by the seller. | ||
246 | your acceptance Alsoe three Bills more to Mr William Jordan Cheif mate for the Sume of £ 57, 8: 2 for Arrack &c Likewise 3 Bills more To Mr John Wharton mate for the Sume of £ 71, 19: for Arrack payable at 30 days sight date dated as above 12: On fryday the 29 febry We had an Alarm for one Ship which about noon sent her Boat on shore and gave Us an Acco it was the Joseph Capt Hale from China in the Emperours Service with a Letter Signed by Mr Richd Holland & Peter Waldo desireing the Usuall Refreshmn of this Island which was denyd them, the ship Still Standing In for the Road We fired from Munders a theart her forefoot and made her bare away tho she would not till We fired the 3 Gun very near her, About three in the afternoon the boate came a shore again with a Gentleman who desired to speak with the Governr when he came to the fort the Govr knew Mr Waldo who requested what the Lettr had Mentioned but the Govr Positively denyd him and Ordered him Immediatly off whereupon Mr | The Council asked the Court to accept these bills. There were also three more bills to Mr William Jordan, chief mate, for the sum of fifty-seven pounds eight shillings and twopence, for arrack and other goods. Likewise three bills drawn to Mr John Wharton, second mate, for the sum of seventy-one pounds nineteen shillings, for arrack, payable at thirty days after sight and dated as above. 12: On Friday 29 February the Council had an alarm for one ship. About noon she sent her boat ashore and gave an account of herself. She was the Joseph, Captain Hale commander, from China in the Emperor's service, with a letter signed by Mr Richard Holland and Peter Waldo asking for the usual refreshment of the island, which was refused them. The ship still standing in for the road, the Council fired from Munden's a shot athwart her forefoot and made her bear away, though she would not until the third gun was fired very near her. About three in the afternoon the boat came ashore again with a gentleman who asked to speak with the Governor. When he came to the fort the Governor knew Mr Waldo, who asked what the letter had set out, but the Governor flatly refused him and ordered him off at once. Thereupon Mr Interpretations The Joseph was treated as an interloper and turned away by force, the island's settled response to shipping outside the Company's licence. By firing across her bow from Munden's and refusing her the usual refreshment, the Council enforced the monopoly as it had against the St Matthew and the Charles Galley in 1716, both made to sail the same day. The escalation to a third gun fired close shows the ship's reluctance and the Council's resolve to compel her departure. The claim to be in the Emperor's service from China was the ground on which the ship sought entry, a foreign commission set against the Company's exclusive right. The Council weighed the letter from Holland and Waldo but refused it, the stated employment giving no title to the island's stores. The Governor's flat dismissal of Waldo at the fort marked the refusal as final, the personal acquaintance making no difference to the rule. The firing of guns to drive off a single ship answered the standing fear behind the island's defences, that a vessel might gain the road and the stores under a false colour. The Council met the approach with the fort's artillery rather than parley, the alarm raised and the guns served exactly as the constant guard was set out to do, sixty men always on duty against just such an arrival. | ||
247 | Mr Waldo asked the Govr if he would not suffer them to take in Water & Wood, to which the Govr answered no nothing, Mr Waldo offerd to shew the Emperours Comission calling it his Masters The Govr told him he both had & would Act According to his own Com= =mission it was his best way to make hast off, According to the Report Spread they were three Sail, and that Mr Naish was one It Seemed to the Govr as if Mr Waldo came more to make the Expe= =riment what Usage those Ships in that Employ might Expect then out of Necessity, And if any other in that Service comes here We shall have so much Regard to Your Honrs Interst as not to suffer them to have the least refreshmt or to Anchor in our Road Equinally if any of Your Ships is here at the same time 13: We send Chelmondly Civel by this Ships Susanna and think our selves well Rid of such a troublesom person 14: William Saxby one of your Garrison being by an Unfortunate blow So much disabled that he is not Capable of doing Yor Honrs any Service We granted | Mr Waldo asked the Governor whether he would not let them take in water and wood, to which the Governor said nothing. Mr Waldo offered to show the Emperor's commission, calling it his master's. The Governor told him he both had and would act according to his own commission, and that his best course was to make off quickly. According to the report going round, there were three sail, and Mr Nash was one of them. It seemed to the Governor that Mr Waldo came rather to try what reception ships in that employment might expect, the Council looking out for them on the chance of necessity. Should any other ship in that service come here, the Council would have so much regard to the Court's interest as not to let them have the least refreshment, nor to anchor in the road, and least of all if any of the Court's own ships were there at the same time. 13: Chelmondely Civilly was sent home by the Susanna, the Council reckoning itself well rid of so troublesome a person. 14: William Saxby, one of the garrison, had been so disabled by an unlucky blow that he was no longer able to do the Court any service. The Council granted Interpretations The Governor's silence on the request for wood and water was itself the refusal, a calculated denial of even the most basic relief. To withhold an answer rather than give one left no opening for argument, the want of necessaries used as the instrument that forced the ship away. The Council pressed the monopoly to the point of denying water to a vessel it judged an interloper. The Governor read Waldo's visit as reconnaissance rather than true distress, a test of how such ships would be received. By treating the approach as an experiment on the island's posture, the Council set its hard line as a deliberate signal to the whole trade in that employment. The standing rule was framed for the future, refusal promised to any like ship and sharpened where a Company vessel lay in the road. The removal of Chelmondely Civilly by the same ship tied the sentence of the court to the first available passage. The civil surgeon, condemned to be shipped off by the first ship, went out on the Susanna within days of the proceeding, the Council executing its judgement at the first chance. His departure as a troublesome person closed the matter of the libel's signatories. | ||
248 | ⅌ and him a Brief to Collect the Charity of the People here, which was Sufficient to Clear his debt with You hire and £ 21, 8: remaining We have out of Pitty to his Poor Condition drawn Bills of Exchange on Your Honrs for Paym thereof date as aforesaid and Humbly recommend him to Your favour & Petition 15: We have at the request of Edmd Leigh given him leave to take Passage on this Ship Susanna and haveing £ 21, 3 & 7½ due to him in Yor Honrs books have According to his desire drawn two Setts of Bills, one for £ 15, 3 & 7 and the other Sett for £ 6 date the 3 March 1719 at thirty days sight which I pray You'l Accept We are Honble Srs Union Castle St Helena March ye 3 1719 Your Honrs Most Humble faithly & obedt Servants | The Council granted William Saxby a brief, allowing him to collect charity from the people of the island. This was enough to clear his debt at the stores and left him twenty-one pounds eight shillings over. In view of his poor condition, the Council drew bills of exchange on the Court for that sum, dated as above, and recommended him to the Court's favour and protection. 15: At the request of Edmund Leigh, the Council gave him leave to take passage home on the Susanna. Having twenty-one pounds three shillings and sevenpence halfpenny due to him in the Court's books, it drew, as he wished, two sets of bills, one for fifteen pounds three shillings and ninepence and the other for six pounds, dated 3 March 1719, at thirty days after sight, which the Council asked the Court to accept. The letter closed at Union Castle, St Helena, on 3 March 1719, the Council subscribing themselves the Court's most humble, faithful and obedient servants. Interpretations The brief granted to William Saxby was a licence to gather alms for a fixed purpose, the recognised means of relieving a man the establishment could no longer employ. By authorising a public collection, the Council cleared his debt to the stores from the charity raised rather than from its own funds, the islanders' giving turned to settle the Court's books. The arrangement passed the cost of his misfortune to the community while the Council recommended him home. The settlement of both men's small balances by bills on London showed the cashless island clearing even modest sums through paper. Saxby's surplus and Leigh's wages alike were paid by bills of exchange rather than coin, the same instrument that carried every transaction of any size. The drawing of two separate sets for Leigh let him divide his remittance, a convenience the bill allowed where coin could not. Edmund Leigh's departure followed his acquittal on the libel charge, the surgeon leaving freely while his fellow Chelmondely Civilly was shipped off under sentence. Leigh had been indicted for signing but not found guilty, so he took passage at his own request rather than by order. The contrast marked the line the court had drawn between the condemned and the cleared. | ||
249 | List of the Packet ⅌ Ship Susanna Capt John Edwards Comand No 1: Govr & Councils Genll Lettr dated ye 3 March 1719 2: Copy of ditto ⅌ Marlbro dated 3 febry 1719 Added to that ⅌ King George dated 21 Decr 1719 3: Copy of Chelmondly Civels Tryall Octr 15 1719 4: Capt Edwards Acco in the Stores 5: Mr Willm Jordans Acco 6: Mr Jno Whartons Acco 7: Recpt for ⅌ Packt ⅌ Marlbro 8: List of this Pack Memorandm That the next Lettr Book to England No 0 begins wth the Genll Lettr ⅌ Ship Bouverie Capt Tho Wotton dated the 8 June 1720 | The packet sent by the Susanna, Captain John Edwards commander, contained the following items. 1: The Governor and Council's general letter, dated 3 March 1719. 2: A copy of the letter sent by the Marlborough, dated 3 February 1719, added to that sent by the King George, dated 21 December 1719. 3: A copy of Chelmondely Civilly's trial, dated 15 October 1719. 4: Captain Edwards's account in the stores. 5: Mr William Jordan's account. 6: Mr John Wharton's account. 7: The receipt for the packet sent by the Marlborough. 8: A list of this packet. A memorandum noted that the next letter book to England, numbered 0, began with the general letter sent by the Bouverie, Captain Thomas Wootton commander, dated 8 June 1720. Interpretations The packet list shows the island's practice of sending its correspondence in duplicate against loss at sea. The copies of the earlier Marlborough and King George letters travelled with the new general letter, so that a single capture or wreck could not cut the Court off from the news. The receipt for the Marlborough packet, carried back in turn, let each side track which despatches had reached their destination. The date of 15 October 1719 set against Chelmondely Civilly's trial fixes the proceeding well before the letter that reported it, the surgeon condemned in the autumn and shipped home only in the spring. The earlier trial stood apart from the court of 23 January against the libel's signatories, his case tried on its own in October. The enclosure of the trial record let the Court review the judgement that sent him home. The memorandum opening a fresh letter book numbered 0 with the Bouverie of 8 June 1720 marks the close of one register and the start of another. The Susanna letter of 3 March 1719 thus stood by the old calendar, the year running to 25 March, so it fell in the modern year 1720 only weeks before the new book began. The note gave the Court the thread between the two volumes. | ||
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252 | Sr I have among other Instructions from ye Honble Comp the following Advice wch being Proper to Communicate to you I have Copyed out what Part from our Honble Masters Letter wch is as follows Here recite ye 10th Paragraph Success All I have further to Having given you this advice I doubt not but of your Care But committ you to the Protection of Almighty God & wish you a good Voyage I am Sr Union Castle St Helena ye Septr 1717 Yor Humb Servt J P All I have further to Add is ye Recomending both Ships now in ye Road to keep Company togather wch I take to be for ye Mutuall Safety & will be Acceptable to the Honble Company | The Governor wrote that, among other instructions from the Worshipful Company, the following advice seemed proper to pass on. He had copied out the relevant part from the Court's letter, which ran as set out below. Here was to be recited the tenth paragraph of the letter sent by the Success. All the Governor had further to add was this. Having given this advice, he had no doubt of the recipient's care, and he committed him to the protection of Almighty God and wished him a good voyage. The letter closed at Union Castle, St Helena, in 1717, the Governor subscribing himself a humble servant, with the initials I. P. The Governor added a further note, recommending that both ships now in the road keep company together. This, he thought, was for their mutual safety and would be acceptable to the Court. Interpretations The letter was the cautionary note the Governor gave to each homeward commander, carrying the Court's tenth paragraph on the treatment of interloping ships. The Council had undertaken to hand a copy of that paragraph, with a covering letter from the Governor, to every returning captain, a copy kept home in the packet. The instruction here is that standing letter, the tenth paragraph left to be recited rather than written out afresh each time. The initials I. P. mark the writer as Governor Isaac Pyke, whose sole-signature letter of 28 April 1717 went home by the King George. The note belongs to his administration, before the arrival of Governor Edward Johnson on 13 June 1719, the date of 1717 placing it among the despatches Pyke signed alone. The recommendation that the two ships keep company answered the danger of the homeward passage, the convoy giving mutual protection against capture. The advice to sail in company set the Court's interest in its ships against the perils of the sea and the enemy. By urging the two vessels to keep together for safety, the Governor applied the convoy principle to merchant shipping, the loss of a lone ship a heavier risk than the delay of matching courses. The note tied the island's despatch practice to the wider hazards the Company's trade faced on the long route home. | ||
253 | Book cover | |||
254 | EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St Helena letters to England 1717 - 1720 Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) (H) 33cm x (22.5cm - W) (D) 4cm No. written pages: 261 No. blank pages: 3 Spine and cover Very good Condition Recently rebound. Inside pages Good Condition Pages are double numbered Seperately. (1) At the bottom of left handed pages and on every other page. (2) Top hand corner of right side pages. Additional comments Time taken to photograph (hours) 3 hours. | |||