St Helena Records 1720-1722
Introduction: This is the sixteenth volume in the series St Helena Records. The series includes the official minute books of the island’s Governor and Council, which recorded their meetings, deliberations and decisions, with abstracts of correspondence, proclamations and regulations, judicial proceedings and financial business. The volumes served as the principal administrative record of government on St Helena and were often titled “Consultations”. Its authority was derived from the EIC, with final decisions directed by instructions issued from London.
Source: Images of the original records can be viewed on the British Library’s website: https://eap.bl.uk/archive-file/EAP1364-1-1-17.
Text Inaccuracy: This text was produced entirely from the AI transcription of handwritten document images on the British Library’s website, at the rapid rate of about thirty pages per hour. The AI was instructed to perform two tasks: first, to convert the handwriting precisely into digital text; and second, to interpret this raw transcription into clear modern English. Present versions of AI are unfortunately incapable of carrying out the first task with accuracy. This is partly because they are designed to prioritise meaning and readability, which creates a strong tendency to alter spellings, expand abbreviations or adjust grammar rather than preserve the original forms. AI is particularly unreliable in recognising the correct spellings of surnames and place names.
Given these limitations, this text should be regarded as unreliable. It should only ever be used as a search-and-find shortcut. Once a relevant section of text has been located, it must always be checked against the original images.
Text Loss: A dark stain, located centrally near the spine and towards the top of the first 250 pages, did not obscure any text. Similarly, ink bleeding from the reverse sides of pages did not interfere with the transcription of the handwritten entries.
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 was paginated with sequential numbers in the top left and right corners of each page, beginning at Film No. 6 (6/1). Page 77 is missing; however, as pages 76 and 78 discuss the same subject, this is considered to be a simple pagination error. At this point, the sequence runs as 80/75, 81/76, 82/78, 83/79 and so on. From there, the sequence continues without further interruption to the end of the volume.
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 consultation held on 17 January 1720 (1721 in the modern calendar) and the latest date is a consultation held on 18 February 1722 (1723 in the modern calendar).
The Council meetings were held during the administrations of Edward Johnson (1719–1723) and Edward Byfield (1723).
Introduction
This account follows the government of St Helena across three years, from January 1720 to February 1723, and closes with the death of Governor Edward Johnson. The island was a possession of the English East India Company, and its records take the form of consultations held at Union Castle in James Valley and, at times, the Plantation House. The same four men sat at almost every meeting: Governor Johnson, with Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth, joined for a time by the accountant Joseph Ormston. The old-style calendar must be kept in mind, since the year then ran to 24 March, so the sittings of early 1720 belong to a year the modern reader would call 1721. [Film No. 6-11, 37]
The evidence is one-sided by its nature. It records only what the council chose to enter, and it speaks for the Company and its officers rather than for the planters, soldiers and slaves who fill its pages as subjects. The settlement belonged outright to the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, styled in the record the absolute Lords Proprietors of the island. St Helena sat on the homeward track of the East India fleets, and its chief value to the Company lay in watering and refreshing ships returning from the East. The voices of the poor, the enslaved and the merely accused reach us only through the council's summary, and the silences matter as much as the entries. [Film No. 6-7, 56-105]
The record must be read critically throughout. Written by the council to satisfy its masters in London, it presents an administration of order, audit and humane discretion, yet its own pages reveal the fragility beneath that surface. The accounts were in disorder bordering on fiction, the storehouse was insecure, skilled men were scarce, the Governor's illness could halt all business, and a defiant ship's master could overturn the council's will. What gives the record its value is precisely its detail: the exact tallies of powder, the named cargoes, the disputes over yams and driftways, and the candid confession of lost stores give a fuller picture of a Company station than any general history could supply. [Film No. 106-107, 168, 199]
Governance and Administration
The most striking feature of the island's government was the concentration of power in very few hands. The Governor could act as magistrate and executive at once. In January 1720 he heard a complaint, granted a warrant of committal and ordered a seizure of goods in a single afternoon. The council that advised him also tried capital crimes and oversaw the estates of orphans, all drawn from one small set of officers. The same four men shifted between roles without changing membership, moving from administrative business at the Plantation House or Union Castle to their judicial capacity at the Sessions House, the change of venue marking the change of function. This left no real separation between those who made the rules, enforced them and judged breaches of them. [Film No. 6, 51, 116-117]
A clear theme of the early months was the recovery of orderly record-keeping. Under Johnson the monthly accounts came in as a matter of course, each examined, approved and signed, after a period of neglect that had cost earlier officers their places. The council governed through a settled weekly routine, each consultation opening with the reading and approval of the previous record, followed by the examination of standing accounts. The surgeon laid before the council his book of medicines dispensed, and the chief overseer and the storekeeper brought in their monthly books of stock and expenses. These checks reflected hard lessons: the medicine book answered an earlier theft from the medical stores, and the monthly stock book grew out of the accounting regime Byfield brought in as chief overseer. [Film No. 12, 25, 79-87]
The reach of the council's authority depended heavily on the Governor in person. When Johnson was laid up with the gout, no consultation was held on 1 August 1721, even for the routine transfer of the quarter's business. The same dependence shows in the restoration of the former gunner John French, dismissed for negligence and for leaving the magazine keys while ships lay in the road, yet pardoned by the Governor alone when he pleaded the hardship his large family would suffer. French had been discharged and restored more than once on similar promises, pointing to an administration short of trained men and willing to overlook serious failings to keep its few skilled hands. [Film No. 79-84, 97]
Authority over the island also answered to authority abroad. Documents flowed home with each departing ship, so the masters in London could read and approve what their officers had done, and the council deferred to them where its own power ran out, as when it referred a disputed inheritance to London in March 1721. The despatch of the consultation book to London by the Hartford on 4 August 1721 is itself a reminder that every word was written for a distant authority the council could not ignore. [Film No. 39, 106-107]
Ultimate authority lay in London, and the autumn of 1721 shows it asserting itself directly. The arrival of the Drake on 8 October 1721 with a general letter of 31 May 1721 reset the agenda paragraph by paragraph. The directors ordered Joseph Ormston restored to the Council and the accountant's office, reversing a suspension the island had imposed, and the council carried out each instruction in turn. The same letter required something more uncomfortable: that the council sit in public judgement on complaints made against itself, the planter Thomas Free having carried accusations against the island's government to London. Under paragraph 44 the directors ordered that he be allowed to make good his allegations, and the council advertised a public hearing in the hall at Union Castle. Whatever the merits of his case, the episode shows a genuine check on local power. [Film No. 141-142, 146-148, 160, 168]
The council insisted strictly on proper procedure. When the accountant Ormston tried to raise his own departure informally, through a private word to a fellow councillor, the Governor refused to act on it, insisting that a sitting member's private business must come before the board in due form. The documentary discipline of the administration was severe. The council refused to discharge any debt on unsupported assertion, tracing every instrument through its books before cancelling it. When the widow Swallow claimed a bond of thirty-five pounds was paid on the word of the dead Antipas Tovey, the council held the sum in hand rather than credit the claim, since Tovey's own widow swore the opposite. An order of council was needed even to deliver up a paid bond. [Film No. 156, 165, 166]
The island's local government was renewed each year by a two-stage election. The inhabitants nominated candidates for churchwardens and highway overseers, divided by district, from whom the council made the final choice. In April 1722 it appointed William Seale and Orlando Bagley as churchwardens and three overseers from the six proposed, a balance that gave the people a voice without surrendering control. The handover of these offices was strictly formalised, outgoing officers summoned to render a final account before discharge while the incoming officers were sworn and invested. The council guarded the Company's authority jealously: the widow Grace Coulson, paid in bank bills rather than coin, fell into a passion and spoke words reflecting on the Company, and though her great age earned only a caution, the episode shows the sensitivity of the bench to any public reflection on its masters. [Film No. 307, 308, 309, 314, 317, 337]
By the close of the period much of the council's effort went to keeping its own records true, a matter on which the directors had complained. The duplicate and copy of a consultation sent home had not agreed, so the council ordered the first consultation of each month examined and later took a full inventory of the secretary's office, listing the seventeen consultation books, the letter books to and from England, the laws, the registers of land and the books of wills. This stocktaking of the archive shows the documentary basis of authority, property and correspondence itself kept under account, the security of every holding and legacy resting on these books being preserved. Its authority rested on the Company's standing as absolute Lords Proprietors, a foundation recited in full when it granted letters of administration over a dead man's estate. [Film No. 409, 422, 423, 442, 443]
Military Affairs and Defence
Defence rested on an alarm system that bound every able inhabitant to a post. When an unidentified sail approached, the guns gave warning and the men were expected to turn out, the duty falling on planters and soldiers alike. In February 1720 ten men were summoned for failing to appear when the brigantine Tartar from Bombay triggered the alarm. Nine were excused on reasonable grounds, while John Bagley, who lived close to his post, was fined. The gunner's monthly accounts record powder spent by occasion rather than by simple total, each issue tied to a salute, an alarm or the exercise of the guard, the heaviest charges falling when homeward fleets passed or sailed. The council practised economy in this: at the arrival of the Tartar no salute was fired, the powder instead going to clear a culverin and keep it serviceable. [Film No. 14, 15, 26]
The scale of the island's armament is shown by the general account the gunner William Slaughter rendered in April 1721. He held 142 iron guns, with 6,970 round shot, 540 double-headed shot and 195 barrels of powder, besides the smaller arms and stores. The inventory ran down to swan shot, hand grenades and two union flags, the flags reckoned among the munitions, the display of the king's colours treated as part of the garrison's standing equipment. The full inventory taken when French resumed his charge listed the same 142 iron guns, nearly 7,000 round shot and over 200 barrels of powder, the flag combining the crosses of England and Scotland since the union of 1707, flown over the forts as the mark of crown authority. [Film No. 49-50, 80, 84]
The seaward battery at Munden's Point enforced the fort's command of the road. On 25 April 1721 a gun was fired athwart the forefoot of the Cardonnell to compel her to bring to, the standing means of bringing approaching vessels under control. Double alarms turned the guards out repeatedly through May, each unidentified or passing ship drawing a charge, a posture sharpened by earlier reports of pirates in the surrounding seas. Salutes to the homeward fleets, by contrast, were purely ceremonial. Militia discipline reached the bench in late July, when Ensign Slaughter complained of the insolent behaviour of Thomas Greentree at the calling of the roll during an alarm. The Governor fined Greentree forty shillings, reserved to himself the decision over the muster list, and warned the young man sharply, guarding the integrity of the attendance record on which the island's defence depended. [Film No. 80, 83, 101-102]
The firing of the island's guns punctuates the record, the gunner John French distinguishing ceremonial salutes to shipping from the alarms fired when the guards turned out. The arrival and departure of vessels such as the Hartford drew salutes of nine to thirteen guns, while sudden alarms brought the garrison to readiness. The largest discharge came on 1 August 1721, King George 1's proclamation day, when 142 guns were fired with the small arms, the great guns sounded by class from demi-cannon down to minions, a deliberate display of the crown's authority over a remote possession. An advertisement forbade firing a gun without the Governor's written licence, on penalty of fine and corporal punishment, joining conservation of the island's game to a wider concern about the uncontrolled discharge of firearms. [Film No. 106, 111, 116]
Ceremonial honours continued to mark the calendar. Twenty-one guns were fired for the anniversary of King William's birthday on 4 November, and the same grade of salute greeted distinguished visitors such as the viceroy of Goa, the head of Portuguese India, received on entering the castle in January 1722. King George's birthday drew 129 guns and over 500 measures of powder, the great salutes marking the calendar of loyalty a remote garrison observed. When the planter John Long failed to attend the double alarm for two China ships in February 1722, he was fined five shillings, the others forgiven on their excuses, the council enforcing a militia duty on which the island's security depended. [Film No. 261, 295, 300, 301, 368]
The working of the line appears most vividly in an incident of early June 1722, when a ship under French colours approached while five Company ships lay vulnerable at anchor. The batteries fired for her to bring to, and when she took no notice, fired from the line for the security of the road until she bore away and sent her boat ashore to prove herself a ship of the French Company from Surat. The council then allowed her to anchor apart from its own fleet, the island serving as a guarded refuge for friendly shipping. The council also guarded the Company's military property against a private traffic, issuing an advertisement forbidding any inhabitant to buy, wear or hold the garrison's red coats, the regimental clothing of the Lords Proprietors, the penalty of five pounds set by reference to the English law against possessing the King's accoutrements. [Film No. 364, 371, 384, 401]
The decay of the defences came to a head in August 1722, when the gunner complained that the platforms and parapets of the line had sunk since they were laid, so that the guns now fired below the horizon and could not bear properly on ships in the road. Worse, the central magazine had been made leaky by the concussion of the gun fired over it during the French ship's approach in June, forcing the powder to be removed so that the centre of the line could not be supplied in an emergency. The council viewed the defects, found them genuine, and ordered the overseer to set the line in order at once. The gunner later returned eighteen guns worn beyond service and nineteen barrels of powder spoiled by the leak, and the guns at Munden's Point were scaled, fired with a light charge to clear the bore, the renewal of axletrees and trucks for the gun carriages showing the island maintaining a serviceable defence against the decay of its batteries. [Film No. 394, 415, 416, 440]
Settlement, Land and Agriculture
The Company granted its waste land on a hard condition: the tenant had to fence and manure it at his own cost. For a man whose only income was a small fixed salary, the land was therefore often worthless, and a recurring pattern was the surrender of such land. Gilbert Sinsnick gave up six acres in Sandy Bay in January 1720, finding it too hard to fence without help or means. Peter Sinsnick gave up five acres called the Sugar Cane Plantation, and Richard Beale surrendered a single acre once the adjoining freehold was sold. In each case the council preserved the obligation by approving a replacement tenant better able to bear the cost, and it encouraged permanent improvement, granting Jonathan Doveton a ninety-nine-year lease before he built a house since a twenty-one-year term would not let him recover the cost. [Film No. 8, 13, 27, 35]
The island's farming community was small and unevenly stocked. A detailed census taken in late May and early June 1721 counted the whole population at 391 white inhabitants and 443 slaves, alongside 1,711 head of cattle and some 3,279 acres of occupied ground, the land divided between freehold owned outright and the Company's waste held on lease. The figures expose a sharp inequality: a handful of leading men held the bulk of the stock and land, while many households kept a few beasts and a little ground or none at all. The partnership of Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkin stood foremost, with 178 head and over 255 acres. [Film No. 71-78]
The council managed the disposal of waste land with evident care. The contest over Taylor's Ground, a parcel of about 12 acres, drew competing petitions from William Beale, Gabriel Powell and Jonathan Doveton across June and July 1721. Powell prevailed because he had bought the adjoining freehold, so that granting him the waste consolidated a single holding. This reasoning, preferring the holder whose property a parcel completed, ran through the council's grants and reflected a standing policy against engrossing, the aim being to keep a white man on every holding and to prevent the largest planters from absorbing ground the smaller settlers needed. A lease of twenty-one years was the usual term. Agriculture also generated friction over access and water, a dispute between William Seale and his neighbours over a driftway settled by the council laying down two defined routes through Seale's land. [Film No. 62, 92, 94]
Land was granted cautiously and almost always after a survey. When Edmund Nichols sought waste land at Old Woman's Valley for a milk pound, the council sent Alexander and Goodwin to view it first, and when the executors of John Nichols senior objected that the parcel would harm the orphans' free land, the viewers found Nichols an equally convenient parcel near Swanley Valley head. This protective concern for fatherless children recurs throughout. The council also worked against land being concentrated in few hands: when the departing planter Joseph Coles twice sought to sell his unexpired lease and crops, it refused, explicitly to discourage the engrossing of lands. The same policy of spreading settlement while keeping a white man on every holding lay behind approving John Harding's plan to sublet land to the landless, newly married soldier Matthew Mudge, but only if Mudge found security beyond his own. [Film No. 109-110, 127-128, 139-140]
Agriculture rested on the yam, the staple that fed both slaves and garrison. The expiry of the Company's lease on Perkins's plantation in July 1721 forced an immediate decision about the yam suckers growing there, which the council moved to new ground rather than lose with the land, turning to the experienced former overseer Captain Cason for advice. Repeated, at first unsuccessful, efforts to survey and divide the thirty acres of leased land from the twenty of free land at Perkins's show how dependent orderly landholding was on accurate plans, a faulty old plot forcing a complete fresh measurement before the boundary could be fixed and lodged in the Secretary's office. [Film No. 113, 138, 145]
In mid-November 1721 the council executed leases to Samuel Jessey for 20 acres and Jonathan Doveton for 8, both on the usual terms of a twenty-one-year tenancy from Lady Day with covenants to fence and plant. It added a vacant parcel to Perkins's plantation and refused waste land to Martin Norman, judging him an idle man who would never bring the ground into order, treating a grant of the Company's land as a charge to be earned by industry rather than a relief for the shiftless. The protection of timber drew a public advertisement reviving the directors' standing orders for planting wood and fencing, the council observing that the orders had lately seemed to lie asleep, yet balancing this against the plight of holders short of labour by reserving a discretion to extend the time case by case. [Film No. 226-227, 244, 246-247]
A recurring concern through the winter of 1721 to 1722 was the failure to register deeds within the period the law allowed. When John Harding brought in several deeds bought over the years but never registered in time, the council required him to obtain a joint petition signed by every seller, each acknowledging a satisfied bargain, before it would confirm the late conveyances. The disposal of leased land was often complicated by buyers withdrawing and by competing applicants. The parcel Harding wished to let passed first to Matthew Mudge, who went back on his bargain, and then to the gunner's mate Giles Hays, who had meanwhile been seeking a direct grant of the Sugar Cane plantation. Governor Johnson rebuked Hays for negotiating two parcels at once without disclosure, and the vacant Sugar Cane parcel then passed to the stone layer Jonathan Higham junior, who took it on paying thirty-five pounds for the standing crop. [Film No. 263, 266, 267, 288-290]
Much island tenure remained loosely defined, with land occupied and bought without survey or written grant. The planter John Worrall petitioned to have parcels measured whose boundaries he did not know, and to obtain a lease for ground he had held seven years without one. The council, cautious as ever against confused or doubled grants, ordered its earlier orders examined before answering. The council managed the island's land through grants, leases and surrenders, all under its own control, letting waste parcels on the standard twenty-one-year term from a quarter day, repurchasing unexpired leases into its own hands, and allowing under-tenancies to change only with the head tenant's consent. When two holders, Bradley and Bodley, sought to surrender small parcels they could not profitably fence, one of them disabled by a hurt in the Company's service, the council took the land back and at once relet it to a soldier seeking ground to raise provisions. [Film No. 295, 296, 373, 396-399]
Land in the close-built Fort Valley served a particular function, lodging the gentlemen of the Company's shipping. The widow Bridget Bazett sought a small interstitial parcel to enlarge her house for receiving paying guests from the ships, and the council granted her a ninety-nine-year lease at ten shillings a year, the long term linked to the heavy cost of building. A remote provisioning station depended on accommodating the officers and passengers of the East Indiamen, a need a private householder filled where the Company itself did not. [Film No. 402]
In the final autumn the council took particular care to confirm that a parcel was clear before letting it. When the landless soldier William Coles sought waste ground in Deep Valley, the council deferred the matter until it had spoken with John Worrall, who had once held and abandoned the land as unfenceable, and then, on the objection of the neighbour Thomas Allis that letting it would harm the common pasture, ordered it left waste while inviting Coles to name some other parcel. The surgeon William Beale was granted two acres under the High Water Fall, only for the grant to be withdrawn when the overseer reported the Company's goats ranged the ground; he was given a parcel at Peak Hill instead, on condition he build a house and keep a white man there. Edmund Bodley's request for ground at Lemon Valley was rejected outright because it was the sole outlet for the neighbourhood's hogs and goats. [Film No. 410, 418, 419, 421, 427, 428]
Water governed the worth of land on the dry island, and disputes over it recur. When Beale's neighbours Joseph Bates and Giles Hayse feared he would divert a watercourse their Purslane Beds depended on, the council confirmed Beale's land but forbade him to disturb the existing channel, separating the ownership of the ground from the use of the water. The same concern drove Robert Gurling's plea for a parcel he could water as a nursery, since digging his yams in the dry season would cost him his suckers, and the unresolved dispute between Samuel Jessey and Ebenezer Leech over a watercourse from Leech's land, referred to chosen viewers. [Film No. 436, 459, 460]
Supply, Provisioning, Trade and Shipping
St Helena depended heavily on the home supply for goods it could not produce. Each year the council drew up an indent, a formal requisition listing its wants. The indent of 1720 was remarkably detailed, covering brasiers' ware, cutlery, haberdashery, ironmongery, timber and much else, keyed to actual shortage, noting where the store had run dry, as with the brass candlesticks of which none remained. The indent reveals a settlement timber-poor for its needs: fir and spruce for girders and joists had to come from England, and billets for pickaxe helves were ordered expressly because the island's own wood was not strong enough for tool handles. Yet the island kept some working capacity, ordering raw pig lead and bar iron rather than finished goods, and religion and schooling were supplied from the same source, the order calling for Bibles, prayer books, primers and horn books alongside the tradesmen's tools. [Film No. 22, 27, 31, 33-34]
The island's whole purpose was bound up with shipping. It served as a port of refuge and resupply on the long passage home. In February 1720 Captain John Harvey put in with the brigantine Tartar, leaky and short of stores, and appealed for help to continue his voyage. The watch drew a sharp line between friend and rival. When the Company's ship Montague arrived from China in February 1720, two Ostend Company ships came in sight off Munden's Point and then bore away. The Ostenders traded to China outside the English monopoly, and the council noted them with care, distinguishing its own vessels from the interlopers it would not assist. A small Portuguese ship, running slaves from Brazil to Angola and down to three casks of water, mistook St Helena for the African mainland and put in only to refresh, its value as a watering place open to any ship that chanced upon it. [Film No. 17, 18, 21, 26, 43]
The chief home-grown provision was the yam, guarded as a thing of real worth. When Mrs Swallow's slaves carried off two bags of yams from Slaughter's plantation beyond the one bag granted for a wedding, the council fined her ten shillings and ordered her to pay three times the value of the excess, the strictness over so small a taking showing how closely the staple food crop was protected. The Company's storehouse sold imported goods at fixed prices but competed against the cheaper private trade carried on visiting ships. This surfaced sharply over a parcel of gurrahs, a coarse Indian cotton used chiefly for slave clothing, left unsold since 1717, found priced on a false prime cost, struck at eight shillings fourpence when the invoice book showed a true cost of only four shillings sixpence. The council ordered them sold at six shillings to clear dead stock. [Film No. 69-70, 93]
The handling of a storm-damaged cargo shows the storehouse discipline at work. When the Hartford reached the island in July 1721 with goods damaged in rounding the Cape, the council allowed her master to land the bales for washing only on a recorded account of import and export, demanding the marks and numbers of each bale so the salvaged goods could be reconciled against the ship's manifest, grounding its demand in the directors' standing instructions carried by the Princess Amelia. Shipping was the lifeblood of the economy, the consultations recording a near-constant procession of homeward East Indiamen putting in for water, provisions and the settling of business. In late April 1721 the Mary, Derby, Sarum and Cardonnell arrived from the Cape, and in May the Carnarvon and Bridgewater from China and the Duke of York from Bengal. [Film No. 57-59, 69, 97-98]
The cargoes the Company drew for its stores reveal the range of the eastern trade. Bengal ships brought arrack, rice, shirts and stockings, reckoned in rupees, annas and pies. Madras ships carried the finer cottons of the Coromandel coast, the long cloth, chintz and coloured shirts, reckoned in pagodas and by the candy. China ships brought tea, silk and cheap porcelain, reckoned in taels and mace. A single invoice page could thus carry three separate systems of money and weight, each cargo entered in the measures of its place of origin, Indian cloth bought and shipped by the corge, a tally of twenty pieces. The island also served the shipping of other nations: three French ships from Pondicherry called for water and provisions in May, and Dutch ships from Batavia laden with tea called in July. [Film No. 63, 67, 69-70, 94-95, 97]
The Company's stores supplied the island, and their security was a running worry. The storekeeper Captain Goodwin argued for new storehouses that would bring the scattered stores under a single watch, the existing places lying so far apart that an exact account was impossible, the case made directly against a background of losses and book discrepancies an audit had exposed. The Drake under Captain William Westerban arrived in October 1721 with the Company's cargo, the binding general letter and ten pipes of Madeira, the council enforcing the master's duty under his charter party to land the goods within ten days. Shipping also exposed the limits of the Company's monopoly, since visiting vessels traded directly with the inhabitants and undercut the storehouse, forcing the council to cut its prices. [Film No. 106, 124, 134-135, 141]
The Drake's cargo, priced at the consultation of 8 November 1721, is a portrait of a colony wholly dependent on England for its material life. The whole invoice came to a prime cost of 2,446 pounds 1 shilling 10 pence. It carried the tools of a working settlement, pickaxes, saws, files and smiths' bellows, and the timber a treeless island could not yield, deals, baulks, spars and wainscot boards. It brought the staple provisions the slender local harvest could not supply, thirty-two casks of bread and twenty of flour, alongside tar, pitch and bar iron for the upkeep of buildings, boats and the forge. The same cargo supplied the comforts and distinctions of society: fine cloth and ready-made garments, ribbons, lutestring and gold buttons, graded hats from the laced soldier's to the silk-lined gentleman's, bibles and two hundred church catechisms, horn books and tutors for schooling, and fishing lines and hooks graded for cod, dolphin and albacore. [Film No. 228-243]
In November 1721 the council sent home by the Drake a substantial run of letters to the Company's eastern presidencies, writing in near-identical terms to Nathaniel Elwick at Fort St George in Madras, Samuel Feake at Bengal and Charles Boone at Bombay. The dominant message was that the island was dangerously overstocked, the council asking every presidency to stop sending India goods until further notice and redirecting the customary one per cent allowance toward sugar, rice and wax. The glut of arrack was a particular problem, and to spare incoming masters a wasted venture the council left a sealed circular letter at Batavia, the chief source of the arrack, to be passed from one English commander to the next. The correspondence also registered wider dangers, the council expressing its sorrow at the pirates infesting the Indian coast and its concern for the loss of the Cassandra. [Film No. 160-162, 167]
Later in November 1721 the council priced the China goods brought by Captain Gordon, adding freight, insurance and interest to the prime cost. Bohea and singlo tea were sold by the catty, a Chinese weight, alongside porcelain cups, saucers and bowls and raw silk priced at a steep advance. The repricing answered a recurring anxiety, the storekeeper having reported in August how loosely the Company's goods were held and how disordered its accounts had become. The island depended totally on imported manufactures, as the great annual indent makes plain, the council ordering everything the warehouse would sell over the coming year, grouped by trade, and learning from experience, doubling the supply of the fishing hooks that had proved serviceable and calling for bayonet blades longer than those last sent. [Film No. 253, 276-277, 280]
The winter of 1721 to 1722 was punctuated by vessels on the homeward route. The Sunderland, the Aislabie and the French Triton all called from Mocha on the Red Sea coffee route, while the Maurice and the Macclesfield came in from China. Each ship's account for refreshment and supply was made up and discharged before it sailed, and the consultation record was copied and sealed into the homeward packet. The island's role as an intelligence post is clear from the boarding of passing ships: when a Danish vessel passed in February 1722, the council manned its boat and sent Captain Goodwin aboard, learning from a Dutch passenger of the movements of the Little King George and the Monmouth and the death of a supercargo in the eastern trade. [Film No. 272, 273, 293, 294, 299, 305]
The island served as a vital refreshment station where ships gathered after touching at the Cape before the final Atlantic passage. In May 1722 the London, Grantham and Greenwich arrived together from Bombay, while China ships such as the Cardigan put in from Canton. The cargoes from Bombay show the reach of the textile trade, entered in rupees and reckoned by the corge, including cuttanees and allejars, both striped fabrics of western India, and pallampores, the painted cotton bed-coverings exported for the European market. Relations with commanders could turn hostile: the council had a standing right to a barrel of gunpowder from every arriving Company ship as a port duty, and when Captain Barnes of the Greenwich flatly refused, the council recorded a formal protest, charging him six pounds sixteen shillings sixpence in its place. [Film No. 312, 315, 331, 332, 338, 340, 349]
The summer of 1722 brought a central supply problem: beef for the homeward ships. When four ships' captains complained that the planters had refused them fresh provisions, the council summoned those indebted to the Company to account for their cattle against the herd each had declared in the March census. The planters answered with the condition of their herds rather than outright refusal, pleading that their cattle were too few, too poor or still improving to be killed without loss, the recurring complaint being of the backward seasons, a run of poor weather over four years that had thinned the herds. The council's eventual answer was a public advertisement offering to take all grown cattle any person might offer before Christmas, designed both to provision the next year's shipping and to remove the planters' grievance that they were hindered from selling. [Film No. 359-360, 392, 395-396]
Supply also flowed the other way, the council moving to throttle back goods it could not sell. By July 1722 the stores were so overstocked with India goods and arrack that the council deferred pricing fresh China ware lest it undercut the old stock, and honoured a captain's arrack contract only in part. The season was crowded with homeward shipping: squadrons arrived together from the Cape, among them the Heathcote, Monmouth, Frances and Marlborough at the end of May, the Stretham from Bengal in June, and the Leithulier from England later that month. The council set uniform prices on sugar, arrack, rice and made-up cloth so goods drawn from several ships could be sold off the stores at a steady return, and enforced the customs duty on private trade, summoning Powell and Wrangham over chintzes sold without custom. [Film No. 310, 336, 357-358, 361-363, 365-370, 374, 382]
The most striking administrative act of the summer was a coordinated round of correspondence with the eastern settlements. On a single day the council wrote in near-identical terms to Fort St George, Bombay, Bengal and Bencoolen, asking each to send no more India goods because the stores were overstocked, but to continue the full one per cent in sugar, rice and wax for candles. It also asked the presidencies to warn the ships' commanders that the island would buy no arrack, seeking to head off the private trade at its source. These letters reveal the island as the relay point of the Company's eastern communications, the council enclosing lists of shipping arrivals and departures and duplicating its letters by separate ships against the loss of correspondence, the supposed loss of the Dartmouth running through the Bencoolen letter as the explanation for a gap. [Film No. 377-381]
Shipping remained the island's lifeline to the close. The Caesar under Captain William Mabbot called in December 1722 from Mocha by way of the Cape, bringing the melancholy news that the Nightingale, the Shandois and the Addison had been driven ashore in a violent storm, a reminder of the constant peril of the southern seas. The stores were a source of profit as well as supply, the council pricing imported goods at a steep advance on cost, Indian cotton gurrahs bought at seven shillings sixpence marked up to nine shillings sixpence, and a chest of chinaware brought by the Essex and Captain Newsham priced item by item far above invoice, bowls that cost not sevenpence sold at two shillings sixpence. [Film No. 409, 445, 451, 453, 454, 457]
The Judiciary and the Orphans' Court
The council functioned as a court of debt recovery for private creditors as well as for the Company. When John Lacy, lately removed from the accountant's office, was owed money by men who put him off, he obtained the Governor's warrants to compel their appearance, each debtor made to acknowledge his debt and name a date for payment, the common deadline of 25 March tying private debts to the island's accounting day. The limits of this summary process appeared where a debt was contested: John Bagley denied owing a sum, claiming he had already settled with the late Captain Haswell through diet bills accepted before his death, and the council declined to enforce a debt that was not clear. Its quick procedure reached only admitted obligations, not disputed ones that required proof. [Film No. 19, 20]
A distinct and important function was the orphans' court, which sat with the same members to oversee the estates of fatherless children. Executors rendered yearly accounts of each estate, reckoned as debtor and creditor, with the stock counted head by head and deaths noted. The estate of the deceased Charles Steward was a web of credits owed by some thirty named persons across the island. The court took care to protect each child's portion: the stock of the four youngest Steward children was set apart as a separate herd so it could not be absorbed into the general assets. It held guardians to a strict reckoning, and in April 1721 the widow Swallow was summoned for failing to account for her late husband's estate, her plea that she did not know what belonged to the orphans being no excuse. [Film No. 39, 40, 47]
A large part of the council's judicial work concerned the estates of the dead. Wills were proved on the sworn testimony of their witnesses and entered into a dedicated register, as with the wills of Simon Whaley and the Sinsnick brothers, the pairing of a proved will with a sworn inventory giving the two instruments by which the island governed the descent of property at death. Where a man died without a will, the council granted letters of administration to his widow, the fullest example being the grant to Bridget Coles, which set out the council's authority over intestate estates as flowing from the Company's position as Lords Proprietors, not from any English or ecclesiastical court. Similar grants went to Margaret Tovey, widow of the disgraced former secretary. [Film No. 68, 86-91, 96]
The orphans' court pressed hard against guardians it judged unfaithful. The widow Swallow was repeatedly ordered to perfect an inventory of her late husband's estate, and the council later appointed John Harding and Benjamin Greentree as trustees over the orphans' dividends, charging her with daily neglecting and embezzling the estate and harbouring one Bedloe. This use of court-appointed trustees to displace a defaulting parent reflects a genuine protective concern, yet the same record shows the council reaching into private estates for its own ends, as when it redirected a legacy left to a daughter towards a debt owed to the Company. The official account presents the council as guardian of the helpless, but its interventions also served the Company's interest in clearing debts. [Film No. 56, 61, 65-66, 85]
The island's court was the Council itself, sitting with a sworn jury of twelve inhabitants. At the sessions of 5 September 1721 the jury was drawn from the island's principal men, with Orlando Bagley as foreman and members such as Gabriel Powell, Richard Gurling and Jonathan Doveton, the same names that fill the council's surveys, reflecting the very narrow pool from which a competent jury could be found. The trial of the soldier William Rooksby reveals the court's priorities: charged with stealing a silk drugget coat and with attempting to escape the island in breach of his five-year covenant, he was acquitted of the theft but convicted of attempting to desert his contracted service, and sentenced to be whipped and shipped to Bencoolen. The abandonment of bound service was treated as a serious crime in its own right. [Film No. 117-120]
The court was also careful, on the surface, about its own record. During the Free inquiry the clerk struck out depositions already entered, including an allegation that Free had a second wife in Ireland and a confused account of a disputed bill, and the secretary worried that irregularly taken depositions could not be entered in the fair council book without first being copied into order. This concern for the authoritative record is genuine, but it also shows the council controlling exactly what was preserved, the official account shaped as much by what was removed as by what was kept. [Film No. 149-151, 200]
The longest judicial matter of the autumn of 1721 turned on the estate of the deceased planter Daniel Griffith, whose widow Free had married. From early 1720 the council had pressed Free to account for the Griffith orphans' estate, which had become intermingled with his own. He met successive summonses with the same excuses, that he could give no inventory and that none was customary while a child's mother lived, which the bench read as a design to defraud the orphans. The council therefore issued a warrant to seize the estate, appointed James Ryder to manage it, and took the three Griffith children into its care, exercising a standing protective jurisdiction over the island's fatherless children. [Film No. 208-210]
The seizure and sale generated a minute valuation of Free's whole substance, appraised by James Greentree and Gabriel Powell. The inventory reveals the material world of a planter's household, from feather beds, pewter and cane chairs to an Indian palempore, a printed cotton bed covering. The clear estate stood at 237 pounds 15 shillings, but the slaves and yams made up the bulk of the worth. Free's central grievance was that his estate had been sold for less than its worth, and the council answered with figures: the public sale in the Fort Valley on 2 November 1721 was recorded lot by lot, each with its set-up price, the sum it fetched and the buyer named, and reached 390 pounds 7 shillings against an appraisal of 388 pounds. The named prices were the bench's proof against the charge of undervaluing. [Film No. 183, 185, 187-188, 190, 211-217, 219-220]
A second cause, tried before a jury at the sessions house on 16 November 1721, shows the council sitting as a court of law. John Long sued John Lacy to recover fifty pounds and several head of cattle, claimed under a deed of gift of 1715 by which Elizabeth Lacy, in her former widowhood, had settled money and a marked heifer on her children. The matter was adjourned for a month because Lacy's wife, the original donor and a material witness, lay ill. Governor Johnson, sitting as judge, held that even if the deed were good, the money and cattle had passed through the hands of two successive husbands without the gift being enforced, so the claim ranked only as an ordinary debt of the last husband's estate, not as a secured charge. The court let the general sale proceed but reserved the disputed cattle so long as the Company, Sheffield and Powell could be paid without them. [Film No. 248-252]
The Long and Lacy cause resumed in December 1721. The deed, made by Lacy's wife Elizabeth to provide fifty pounds and heifers for the Steward orphans, carried the date 2 March 1715, but Lacy alleged it had been antedated. The court took sworn evidence from everyone present at the signing, and the calendar point that 2 March had fallen on a Wednesday rather than the Sunday all recalled told against the document. The jury found the deed void, not on its substance but on the manner of its making, the false date and secret execution overriding the donor's clear and well-attested intention. Tellingly, the parties achieved within weeks by registered bills of sale what the defective deed could not, Elizabeth Lacy conveying her life interest in the same land to the Steward children. The court apportioned the costs with care, charging Lacy with the adjourned hearing his wife's absence had caused and Long with the present one. [Film No. 269-272]
The council exercised its standing jurisdiction over orphans throughout. In April 1722 the executors of several estates rendered detailed accounts of the land, slaves, cattle and goods in their charge, the Steward orphans' estate reckoned as debtor and creditor and found solvent. The court provided for orphan children chiefly by apprenticeship: the four Leech children were each bound to a master, including Mary Leech to John Long, and the Burnham boys were similarly bound by indenture until they came of age, a charitable but also profitable scheme placing the children in settled households at the Company's least cost. The unsettled affairs of Thomas Free continued to entangle the orphans' business, James Ryder's bill for boarding the two youngest Griffith orphans unable to be met because the Griffith estate remained in suspense. [Film No. 318-321]
The council sat regularly as a court of debt, wills and property through 1722. It proved the will of Thomas Swallow despite a shortfall of witnesses, curing the defect by summoning every party named in it to affirm their assent rather than leave the estate unsettled. It registered bills of sale and bonds to give creditors and buyers a formal record, and managed debtors' affairs flexibly to recover the Company's money, transferring a debtor's secured house to a willing buyer, accepting a wealthier man as paymaster for another's debt, and taking a widow's note for the balance of her son's account. These arrangements show a bench more interested in eventual recovery than in immediate payment, willing to defer and substitute so long as the debt was secured. [Film No. 365, 369, 372, 375, 386, 403]
The council resolved private disputes on sworn evidence and a careful weighing of conduct. When Thomas Free claimed that John Long had taken up a cow of his under colour of its being the late William Portley's, the matter turned wholly on the evidence of the mark: witnesses who handled the beast found no trace of Free's mark and one ear bearing Portley's, so the council ordered Long keep the cow. The case vindicated in practice the very system of registered cattle marks the council had been regulating through the autumn. The small-debt jurisdiction reveals how loosely accounts were kept: when Richard Tinsley demanded six shillings of William Seale, Seale set off claims for work and punch supplied in 1709 and 1711, and the council, unable to reckon cleanly, weighed the parties' conduct, took notice of Tinsley's known honesty, and advised both to quit all accounts to that day. [Film No. 446, 447, 449, 450]
Economy, Finance, Currency and Accounting
A cashless credit economy ran through the island's affairs, debts settled by assignment of paper rather than by coin. Joshua Johnson held a bill drawn on a planter who carried a balance in his favour, and turned it against his own bonded debt to the Company, value moving across the books without money changing hands. The council worked to convert loose credit into enforceable debt, in a single sitting calling in a run of debtors and requiring each to give a formal bond carrying six per cent interest, the standing rate, applying a credit discipline that had capped unsecured planter credit at fifty pounds. The system depended on personal sureties and could stall when they failed, as when Giles Smith's intended surety withdrew on the day. [Film No. 10, 11, 38]
The cargo accounts show the reach of the Company's trade in their very units. Goods from China were entered in taels, mace and candareens at the Canton rates, while goods from Bengal were reckoned in rupees, annas and pies at the Calcutta rates, with allowances such as batta for the exchange of coin, and these sums were never converted to sterling. Careful accounting met the losses of long carriage, the council gauging the arrack casks by inches to fix what each lacked, and noting the shortfalls on the backs of the bills of lading so the Company's loss could be charged. The council also enforced private credit as a regular part of its business, debtors summoned to acknowledge what they owed and to agree terms of payment, Mary Swallow admitting a debt of twenty-five pounds to Robert Wallington and allowed a month's grace. [Film No. 21, 44, 54-55, 57, 90-91]
The deepest administrative failure running through the record was the disorder of the Company's accounts. The accountant Van Oosten was pressed over the books for 1720, long in arrears, and promised to finish them by October 1721, the drive to bring the books up to date repeatedly uncovering old errors such as the miscast price of the gurrahs. The trouble came to a head when the storekeeper found that the carried-forward balances of store goods did not agree with the new inventory. His final report is one of the most candid entries in the whole record: after re-examining every invoice and book, he and Van Oosten could not reconcile them except by supposing mistakes of many years' standing, large quantities had plainly been stolen, and the store room was so exposed that boards had been found sliced through. The losses lay beyond proof, the only remedy tighter custody and a secure store. [Film No. 85, 93, 96, 105]
The island ran on credit and on the Company's books rather than on coin, and the autumn of 1721 is dominated by an effort to bring those books into order. The Governor moved to stop indebted planters using store credit to pay one another, which diverted money owed to the Company, by requiring that no bill be drawn on the stores without his prior allowance. The audit kept uncovering obligations the accounts had failed to record: Captain Newton was owed for tea delivered in 1719 but never credited, and a very large balance of over 875 pounds was found due to Captain Cason with nothing entered since March 1719. Cason, like other departing servants, asked the Company to hold his balance at interest, there being no other safe place on the island, so the Company acted as his banker. Prices were actively managed, China silk cut from half a crown an ounce to twelve pence to keep the inhabitants supplied. [Film No. 111-112, 132-136, 143-144]
The island suffered a chronic shortage of ready money, which shaped many of its dealings. When Free's estate was sold for cash in November 1721, few planters were present to buy, and the soldiers of the garrison, having no coin, were allowed to buy on credit in the Company's stores, some standing indebted by forty to sixty pounds a man. Credit moved by the transfer and endorsement of bills rather than by coin, the confusion this could cause shown by a single bill for three pounds four shillings for Free's pork, first entered among Ormston's credits and had to be redirected to Free. The council also acted as banker to its principal planters: when Powell offered two hundred pounds to relieve Free, the Governor answered that Powell held so much money in the Company's hands that the sum was his own to dispose of. [Film No. 179-180, 186, 196-197]
The Company was the chief creditor of the island, and debt enforcement was constant business. Free's largest debt by far, nearly 292 pounds, was owed to the Company, set against smaller sums to Powell, Ryder and others, showing the store held above all other creditors. Warrants of seizure were the standing instrument of recovery, pressed by Powell against Lacy as the latter prepared to sell his estate. Land transfers depended on a registration regime that the council enforced and repaired: Henry Francis had sold a house to Gabriel Powell and 17 acres to Francis Wrangham but had let pass the month within which such bargains had to be registered, and the council confirmed the sales retrospectively, but only after calling Francis in and asking him directly whether he had been paid. This shows registration as constitutive rather than merely evidential. [Film No. 216, 254-255]
The island ran on credit and on paper rather than coin, and the winter of 1721 to 1722 is dominated by the effort to bring the Company's books to a true state. Two forms of local paper were recalled for reckoning, the bank bills called in so the issue could be balanced, and the older cash notes put out under Governor Pyke gathered up because the council could no longer reckon how many remained outstanding. A year-end audit was fixed for January 1722, all labour accounts to be settled in bank bills. With coin almost absent, debts were paid in kind, in labour, or by transfers. The planter James Ryder offered slaves, cattle, yams and hogs against the hundred and thirty pounds he owed, but the council, holding 251 head of cattle, declined nearly all of it, and the shoemaker Samuel Price discharged a small debt by undertaking to make shoes for his creditor's family. [Film No. 256, 258, 259, 260, 263, 264, 266, 268, 289]
Credit standing in the island books was converted into sterling through bills of exchange, the means by which money was effectively remitted from an island with no coin to export. The foremost landholder Gabriel Powell drew bills of one hundred and thirty-one pounds and later one hundred and seventy-one pounds against his balance, and the council settled visiting ships' accounts the same way, three bills discharging the two hundred and eighty-six pounds due to Captain Peacock of the Maurice. The restored discipline of parallel monthly accounts is visible at almost every consultation, the chief overseer's live-stock book, the storekeeper's store account and the steward's table account each examined and passed in the same sitting, the table accounts showing the cost rising at Christmas to over eighty-three pounds, arrack consistently the single largest charge. A separate list reckoned forty-nine people regularly fed at the Company's table. [Film No. 265, 274, 282, 286, 287, 304, 305]
The council pursued a deliberate reform of the island's tangled finances in 1722, moving away from a system of perpetual book-credit toward prompt cash settlement, paying the garrison and people in bank bills and small money rather than carrying their balances forward. A new order required suppliers to be paid at the next consultation after delivery and labourers quarterly, aiming to prevent the long arrears and tangled transfers that had marked the disordered accounts. Debt recovery reached across the eastern settlements as well as the island itself: the council pursued a shortfall of thirty-five pounds ten shillings sevenpence in the late chaplain Thomlinson's account, following the debt into the hands of a trustee at Bengal who held the man's effects, the corrected account books serving as the instrument by which stale obligations of many years' standing were traced and recovered. [Film No. 313, 381]
With coin almost absent, the island ran on credit cleared through the Company's books to the close. A man owed for his labour, salary or diet could assign that credit to another who owed the Company, so that obligations cancelled on paper without money changing hands. At the quarterly reckonings long lists of such transfers passed the soldiers' diet to the planters who fed them and concentrated credits in substantial creditors such as James Greentree. The council also intercepted a debtor's assets, taking the twelve pounds owed to John Worrall on the sale of his house and applying it to his Company debt. The largest reckoning was with Gabriel Powell, whose account the directors' general letter required to be examined for seven years past, and Powell defended his account not by disputing the figures but by upholding the mechanism, maintaining the credits had all arisen from the public transfers the government itself authorised. [Film No. 412, 413, 431, 432, 443, 448]
The drive to bring the Company's accounts to a true state dominated the final period. The directors' accountant general Mr Fletcher had made remarks on the books sent home, and the accountant Van Oosten was ordered to answer them account by account, while the fair copy of the 1721 books was examined by two councillors before being trusted to the directors. Through its hold on the cash the Company acted as banker and trustee to its servants' estates: a long-dormant fund of fifty-two pounds belonging to the children of a dead planter was apportioned among the surviving Leach brothers, the absent brother Richard Leech presumed dead after sixteen years unheard of, and letters of administration granted to the eldest on a bond to indemnify the Company. The widow's share passed at once to discharge her new husband Ralph Orme's debt, and Orme later drew his wife's four-pound dividend to stock a newly licensed punch house. [Film No. 414, 422, 433, 450, 453]
The island ran on a two-tier paper currency that the council managed under the directors' rules. When a ship's captain had taken local bank bills in payment during his stay, the council converted them into bills of exchange drawn on the Company in England, redeeming the local note for an instrument payable at home so the commander could carry his takings off the island in transferable form, the bills drawn pursuant to the Company's orders, the home accounts protected by the controlled issue. [Film No. 385]
Slavery and Coerced Labour
Slave labour underpinned the island's works, and the record reveals how precarious its subsistence was. The slaves at the plantations and fortifications drew their food from the island's fishery, and when heavy surf wrecked the fishing boats in February 1720, their food supply was cut off at a stroke. The council met the crisis by killing failing cattle, certain to die in the coming rains, to feed the hands left short. It moved hard against an illicit trade between white inhabitants and the Company's slaves, white persons buying undervalued goods from the slaves and unlawfully hiring their labour, and held this traffic responsible for driving slaves into theft. It moved by general proclamation rather than by prosecuting individuals, a sign the trade had grown too widespread, the skilled tailoring slaves singled out as the chief point at which the trade tapped the Company's resources. [Film No. 17, 20, 24]
The proclamation exposed the legal position of the enslaved with brutal clarity. Every white inhabitant was forbidden to deal with slaves and required instead to seize any goods a slave offered as stolen, and to bring both goods and slave to the Governor. A slave had no recognised capacity to own or trade, so anything in his hands to sell was held stolen by definition, the whole settler population turned into an instrument of control. Such controls met resistance and risk. Corporal John Dixon was whipped with thirty-one lashes for enticing slaves to take a fishing boat without leave, then held in prison until he made the boat good, the council treating the unauthorised use of the scarce boats as grave since they fed the labour the establishment could not spare. [Film No. 20, 24, 25]
Slave labour underpinned the island's economy, and the census of 1721 fixed the enslaved at 443 against 391 free inhabitants, so that the enslaved outnumbered the free across the settlement as a whole. The Company and the leading planters held most of the slaves, and the council reckoned slaves as productive capital, listing them to the directors by a fixed date alongside the stock and stores. They were valued against cattle and exchanged for them, as when the slaves Roger and Rose were awarded to claimants in satisfaction for cattle the dead Richard Swallow had received. Slavery also shaped private contracts: a slave boy was transferred to Mary Swallow as consideration for her undertaking to raise Richard Thompson's son, the terms fixed by written articles, the enslaved treated as a medium of exchange in the ordinary dealings of the island's households. [Film No. 66, 67, 71-77, 95-96]
The most revealing material of 1721 concerns the council's response to runaway slaves. Their numbers were rising despite a law for punishing them, framed by the leading inhabitants themselves and agreed by the council in February 1721. Governor Johnson held that the flight was largely caused by the neglect of the masters, and proposed a striking change: the part of the law dealing with simple flight was repealed and handed back to each master as a matter of private discipline, while theft remained a public crime carried before the bench. A reward of forty shillings was set on the recovery of any slave absent three nights, charged directly to the negligent owner. The new reward moved at once into practice, John Young claiming the bounty for returning Hanson's slave within weeks, yet the record's framing, blaming masters, sits oddly beside a system that treated flight as theft of the owner's own property and never asked why the enslaved fled. [Film No. 81-83, 86]
Slavery was the foundation of the island's labour, and the autumn of 1721 treats slaves as both property and a constant security problem. A runaway-reward law of 13 June 1721 was now in full operation, owner after owner charged a fixed forty shillings for the recovery of an absent slave, the captors repeatedly the Company's own slaves, so the bounty was paid by private owners for work done by the Company's hands. Slaves were also moved between settlements as valued cargo: twenty, listed by name and age and certified sound by the doctor, were shipped to Bencoolen on the Drake with rice and sugar for the voyage. The Governor himself surrendered his slave women Ellen and Sarah, with Sarah's two children, to the Company at fixed valuations taken as credit on his account, human beings priced and entered in the books like any other asset. [Film No. 108, 111, 142, 154]
The clearest and most disturbing case of 1721 is that of Peter, a slave of the widow Shreeve. A persistent runaway, he repeatedly broke out of the dungeon even when chained, and after one escape was secured with an iron collar and an anvil of some two hundredweight. Tried on three indictments for burglaries going back to January 1719, he pleaded guilty to all. The inhabitants then petitioned collectively for his execution, arguing openly that the island's large slave population would overwhelm their masters if not kept in awe, so his death was sought less for his crimes than as a deterrent to the many. The court agreed, and ordered thirteen previously convicted slaves to draw the cart to the gallows, turning the execution into a calculated spectacle. Peter was valued at twenty pounds, and a poll tax was levied on every slaveholder in proportion to the slaves they held, credited to the widow's account, capturing how the island treated the killing of a man partly as an accounting problem. [Film No. 114, 120-126, 131, 136]
The island served as a transfer point in the Company's movement of slave labour. Following the Masters' orders, the council sent ten male and ten female slaves by the Drake to Isaac Pyke, the former Governor of St Helena now Deputy Governor at Bencoolen on Sumatra, the slaves certified sound by the ship's surgeon before they sailed. The feeding of the island's own slaves depended heavily on local arrangements: beef had long been killed every Saturday for them, and the council arranged for the planter Thomas Free to fatten hogs in succession on his spare yams. That arrangement broke down and exposed how far provisioning rested on private bargains, for when the overseer Portley came for the hogs, Free had killed for his own use the beast put up for the Company, then claimed it had died choked with fat, forcing Portley to kill the Company's own beef instead. [Film No. 163, 177-179]
In the Free estate, the slaves were by far the most valuable asset, appraised at £125 for six and a half persons besides the children. The fraction is telling: the record speaks of half a slave, and at the sale a half-share in the slave Moses was sold to Ryder, two owners dividing a single human being between them. The slaves were knocked down at public auction like the cattle and furniture, the men, women and children dispersed among the very councillors and planters who governed the island. Edward Byfield, second in council, bought three of the four slave men sold from Free's estate, while Captain Alexander, Captain Goodwin, Ryder and Powell took slaves, cattle and goods between them. When the widow Shreve's slave Peter was executed, the council levied a tax of twenty pounds on the heads of the grown slaves across the island to compensate her, spreading the loss of a condemned slave among all who held such property. [Film No. 215, 218-219, 223, 226]
Slavery was the foundation of the island's labour through the winter of 1721 to 1722, and the record treats slaves as the Company's most valuable property, their births and deaths entered with the same exactness as the herds. The death of a four-month-old child called Mercy at the Hutts and the births of the boy Tom and the girl Megg to slaves at the plantation house and the fortifications were all noted as changes in the Company's stock. The slave Frank was appraised at twenty-five pounds by an independent valuer and bought outright from his owner Thomas Leech, the council reasoning that purchase was cheaper than the hire it had paid for his use, since he was the only man fit for the long boat. The runaway-reward law remained in force, and at the close of the period the Company's own slave Jack claimed the reward from John Long for retaking the runaway Cloice, Long resisting on the ground that his slave had been beaten in the taking. [Film No. 257, 263, 291, 297, 298, 305]
The annual census of the Company's slaves, taken on 26 March 1722, recorded each man, woman and child by name, age, employment and quality, the whole holding coming to 145 men and 50 women, with children counted apart. Every slave was graded as good, indifferent, sickly or bad, the assessment governing the Company's use of him. The list reveals a workforce heavily burdened by sickness and disability: smallpox ran through the gangs, and many slaves were marked as sickly, lame, ruptured or run away, the starkest cases Jack Pyrate, sick for eighteen months and still continuing, and Nathan, entered as almost dead. The census also exposes the dehumanising logic of the system, slaves stripped of their own names and given classical or London place names such as Plato, Drury Lane and Rotherhith, yet the record also preserves traces of their humanity, noting kinship such as Old Mary's daughter and Caesar Lewis's wife. [Film No. 323, 325, 328-330, 341, 343, 345-348]
The slaves were distributed across the island's plantations and works according to their skills, the mass of hands labouring at the plantation house, the Hutts and the Peak raising yams, while the skilled stone layers, smiths and carpenters maintained the fortifications and specialist gangs manned the long boat and the fishing boats. The management of this labour by appraisal and transfer was constant, troublesome slaves like Stepney marked to be sent to Bencoolen to be rid of them. A protracted quarrel concerned a reward for recapturing a runaway: John Long resisted paying the usual forty shillings, claiming the Company's slave Jack had injured his runaway in the taking, and the surgeon swore the slave had been both under treatment for smallpox and bruised by the blows, so the council apportioned the cost, charging Long only twenty shillings. [Film No. 306, 314, 326-327]
Slavery ran through the summer of 1722 as transferable labour, as flight and as theft. The council resolved to send ten slaves to Bencoolen on the Leithulier, listing each by name and age and having the surgeon Beale certify them fit. The enslaved sought to escape that traffic by sea: soon after the Leithulier sailed, the overseer reported that a Company slave named Benjar was missing, supposed to have got privately aboard under cover of going into the country to fetch his yams. The fullest glimpse of slave life comes from a theft uncovered in September 1722, when several Company slaves brought the Governor chest locks given them by a slave named Yon, and an examination found four dozen and four locks missing, levered from a barred store-room window with a bent iron hoop while two slaves watched the doors. [Film No. 376, 387, 405]
The theft of locks exposed both the insecurity of the warehouse and a hidden economy among the island's slaves. The slaves Yon and Mingo had contrived to draw the locks from between the bars of the store-room window, and the locks then passed through the slave community as a small currency, given for debts and favours, the receivers each offering a sailor as the innocent source. The Governor ordered graded lashings, a hundred each for the two principals and fewer for the receivers, rewarded the slave who informed, and summoned Mingo's owner Samuel Jessey to make good the locks still missing, the master answerable for his slave's theft. The births of the girls Mary and Betty and the boy Neptune to slave women, and the deaths of the slaves Soldier of the lime kiln and John Portuguese, were all reported to the council as changes in the Company's stock. [Film No. 406, 407, 419, 426, 429, 435, 463]
The clearest mark of the system's logic is the council's quiet transition from hired to owned labour. The Company had for years hired the planters' slaves to man its boats for want of hands, but late in 1722, its own complement at last complete, it discharged all the hired slaves and assigned the Company's own by name to the long boat and the fishing boats. The replacement spared the Company the cost of hire and made the island's labour entirely its own, the culmination of the long build-up of a slave force recorded through the births and purchases of these years. The enslaved people so allocated appear only as names against the vessels they were set to work. [Film No. 452]
Crime, Punishment and Social Order
Much of the council's social regulation turned on financial liability rather than morals. When the churchwardens suspected the single woman Margaret Swallow of being pregnant, the concern was that an illegitimate child might become a charge on the island. The council ordered a formal medical examination by the midwife Mary Shrewe, then carried the inquiry to the woman's house when she would not come to it. That case turned on conflicting evidence: the midwife swore on oath that Margaret was pregnant, while Margaret swore she had never been involved with any man. The council resolved the matter not by deciding the truth but by securing the parish against future cost, her father Thomas Swallow giving bond to indemnify the churchwardens against any charge. [Film No. 7, 9, 14, 15]
The gravest matter in the early months was a capital trial. In April 1721 a slave named Sultan, who had earlier been called Garret Johnson and sent from Bombay on a charge of murder, killed his master John Coles. He strangled him with doubled rope yarn and bound the body to a tree root near Feather Bed Hill before escaping, the cordage of the island's daily work turned to the killing of the man who owned him. The killing of a master by a slave struck at the foundation of the island's order, and the law's response was severe. Sultan pleaded guilty and was sentenced at once to hang, and the court went further, ordering the body bound in iron bands and hung on a gibbet at the top of Fort Hill, the height commanding both the valley and the road so the warning reached the island's slaves and the ships alike. [Film No. 48, 52, 53]
The council punished breaches of order firmly and in public. A second affair of 1721 shows the council guarding its control over marriage. In late July a ship's doctor named Middleton married the soldier Joseph Bedloe to the widow Mary Swallow without the council's consent, the ceremony performed by a transient person aboard a visiting ship. The Governor treated this as an insolent breach of the known laws, ordering Bedloe whipped with fifty lashes and confined until the next store ship sailed, and ordering the widow twenty lashes, though he remitted hers once she was bound at the flagstaff, judging public shame punishment enough. The council's reach over the doctor, who had fled aboard ship, depended wholly on the master's cooperation, the Governor writing directly to the master of the Hartford, who gave his word and surrendered the man. [Film No. 102-104]
The council policed speech as well as conduct. Sarah Southen was whipped in 1721 for spreading a seditious report that a new Governor and new faces were coming and for her open contempt of the officers Cason and Slaughter, the Governor grounding the punishment in the disturbance of the minds of the people and citing his earlier clemency after her 1720 conviction for libels against the chaplain Jones. Justice could also be tempered by composition: when an oval pewter dish of the Company's was found in the publican Joseph Bates's house, the council stopped the prosecution and fined him three times its value instead. The integrity of sworn testimony was enforced severely, Corporal Swallow being whipped and broken for prevaricating on oath against Southen, the unreliable witness punished as seriously as the offender he testified against. [Film No. 115, 128-130]
The island used distant settlements as a place of transportation for its most troublesome men. Five prisoners were sent to Bencoolen by the Drake in 1721, and the council catalogued each man's offences to warn the receiving Deputy Governor of his character. The gravest was Garrett Johnson, sent from Bombay on a charge of murder and accused of attempting the like crime aboard the Fordwich. He had declared he would do some mischief on purpose to be sent off the island, and the council judged him so dangerous that it had kept him confined since April, sending him to Bencoolen the act of a council managing a prisoner it could neither safely hold nor release. [Film No. 163, 164]
The council preferred to settle minor disorder by composition rather than punishment. When the planter William Beale and the corporal Joseph Bates fought in the valley in early 1722 over a slander and then made peace, the council held that Beale, having freely chosen to fight and taken his own satisfaction, had no cause of complaint afterwards, and simply advised the two to remain friends. The council also regulated the sale of drink through a victualling licence system. The cooper Andrew Bergue, the Company's only cooper, was fined for keeping company at unseasonable hours and selling liquor without licence, the penalty raised from ten to forty shillings for his persistence, the complaint coming through the sergeant's night rounds. The protection of the island's pasturage was a matter of urgent concern, the council ordering hogs turned into the Great Wood after the rains removed within a day on pain of a fine. [Film No. 296, 297, 322, 353]
The season of 1722 generated its own disorders. The leading planters of the Sandy Bay district complained of heavy losses in their goats, which ranged loose on the open ground, attributing the damage to thieves who killed the animals to subsist themselves, and the council connected the killing to firearms and ordered a general search of the district's houses for guns. Minor disorder was handled pragmatically to the close: the council excused Robert Gurling for shooting a dog caught worrying a goat, holding he did only what any man would in defence of his stock, and in the quarrel between the corporal Joseph Bates and the secretary Mr Hawkes over a few broken panes of sash glass, it reprimanded Bates as the man who gave abusive language and struck first, the reprimanded Bates asking to be discharged as corporal. [Film No. 397-398, 455, 461, 462]
Religion, Education and the Care of Dependants
Formal religion appears only at the edges of the record, chiefly through the unfinished accounts of the departed chaplain Thomlinson, which the council was still untangling in 1721. There was no resident minister active in these months. The care of orphans was a more constant duty: the orphan Thomas Easton, apprenticed to the carpenter Richard Swallow, was left unsupported when Swallow died insolvent, so the council transferred the remainder of his term to Orlando Bagley senior, who undertook to keep him, the boy's own consent recorded. The bench's repeated protection of the Nichols and Griffith orphans in disputes over land and estates shows the same concern, though it also reinforced the council's authority over the descent of property. [Film No. 111, 135, 139]
Religion on the island rested on makeshift in the absence of an ordained chaplain. A layman, Thomas Houlditch, petitioned in 1722 for some reward for having read the prayers and a sermon every Sunday and performed the daily services before the Governor, council and garrison, the parish duties carried on by a willing inhabitant when no clergyman was present. The council, having no precedent to fix a stipend for a service the establishment did not provide for, referred the matter to the directors at home, marking the limit of its authority over charges outside its settled scale. The leave granted to leading families to send their sons to England for education marks the absence of any settled schooling the island could itself supply. [Film No. 383, 397-398]
Formal religion and schooling appear only at the margins of the later record, glimpsed through the clerk, schoolmaster and drummer who attended the Governor's table on Sundays and public days. The clearest trace of parish life is in poor relief, the churchwardens securing twenty pounds for Thomas Watts to bring up and maintain a parish child, the cost of rearing a dependent infant met by a fixed allowance and paid through the same system of book transfers that settled the soldiers' diet. The council enforced order and supported dependants through the parish as well as the bench: the churchwarden William Seale complained against John Coulson for so neglecting his family that his plantation might fail and his household fall on the parish, the council exacting a promise of industry. The orphan William Addis sought a new guardian against executors who had failed to clothe him, though the council, on their promise to supply him, bound them to their duty rather than remove them. [Film No. 282, 285, 416, 422, 430]
Personalities
Certain individuals recur across the record and reveal its texture. Samuel Price, a planter of marginal standing, declined from an early attempt to settle into poverty, imprisonment and the seizure of his goods, the Governor freeing and rehousing him on a promise of better conduct, yet the council later granted him new land in trust for his children rather than in his own name. Doctor Scrimshire embodies the strain on the island's medical establishment, complaining repeatedly that the shop lacked necessary medicines and making shift by buying a stock from Captain Glegg of the Cardigan at a premium of twenty-five per cent above prime cost, and by April 1721 seeking passage home. Captain William Mawson of the Cardonnell defied the council outright, ordered under a clause of his charterparty to carry the troublesome surgeon Scrimshire home, refusing, threatening the marshal with violence, and holding his own deck against the island's officers. [Film No. 6, 23, 36, 47, 54, 58-59]
Governor Edward Johnson emerges as a man who mixed firm discipline with a streak of rough humour, calling young Greentree a saucy, conceited boy and sparing the widow Swallow the lash at the flagstaff while ordering the soldier whipped. The former gunner John French recurs as a figure of repeated failure and forgiveness, dismissed and restored more than once, kept on chiefly because the island could ill spare a skilled hand. The widow Swallow is perhaps the most vivid presence in these pages, appearing again and again as a debtor, a reluctant guardian charged with embezzling her own grandchildren's estate, a defendant fined for taking yams, and finally the central figure in the irregular marriage affair, the council reading her silence over the slaves Roger and Rose as evidence against her. [Film No. 66, 68, 79, 85, 102-103]
Joseph Ormston, the accountant, dominates the opening of the autumn of 1721 through his tangled attempt to leave the island, his plan collapsing when his wife refused to go and the money owed him could not be paid. His conduct toward her was unhappy, seeking a public advertisement disclaiming her debts and hunting in vain for someone to stand surety for her. He at once asked leave to depart on being restored by the directors, then retracted on reflecting that his covenant bound him to stay, his vacillation set out in successive remonstrances across late October 1721. John Martin Van Oosten appears as the troubled keeper of the accounts, made to recopy the obliterated books and whipped at the flagstaff alongside the slave woman Mercy for his persistent involvement with her, the Governor having warned him of the fate of Smitherman, whose throat the slave Jacob was suspected of cutting over the same woman. [Film No. 130, 137, 139, 151-155, 157, 159, 160, 224-225, 245]
Thomas Free emerges as a man whose own words repeatedly undid him. The bench met his complaints with his own petitions, including one of February 1719 in which he confessed to having misreported the Governor, and his accounts were riddled with contradictions, most damningly over the hog he claimed had died of itself but had in fact killed for his own use. He carried his case over the council's head to London, his petitions mixing legal argument over his wife's customary third with appeals to pity for his aged wife and bitter charges that the inquiry was managed against him, closing as the ruined and unhappy Thomas Free, asking the Company to strip off the mask. Whether he was the obstinate fraud the council drew or a man crushed by a bench judging its own cause cannot be settled from a record written by his judges. [Film No. 169-173, 175-176, 179, 204, 206-208, 222]
Edward Byfield appears in a striking double role in 1721, sitting as second in council while also acting in his private capacity as attorney to the absent creditor Sheffield, pressing in court for a sale that the same bench he sat on had to weigh, the overlap of public office and private interest passing without comment in the record. Sarah Southen stands out across the period as a determined adversary of the Company. Already convicted of a seditious libel against the chaplain Jones, she repudiated in 1722 a large debt of over 118 pounds, claiming it was her husband's alone, the council reading this as a new device to defraud given that she had earlier acknowledged the debt and promised to work it off. Henry Johnson, a former clerk, dominates the close of spring 1722 through a bitter campaign of defamation, passing written papers to the widow Bridget Coles to break the courtship of the corporal Joseph Bates, the Governor seizing his locked desk and committing him to prison. [Film No. 221, 251, 316, 350-352, 354]
The summer of 1722 is dominated by Sarah Southen, a woman the record calls violent who defied the council outright over a debt she denied. She refused every summons, shut her doors against the marshal and frightened him into resigning, yielding only to a file of musketeers. Whether she was the obstinate debtor the bench drew or a woman with a genuine grievance against a claim she did not accept cannot be settled from a record written by those pursuing her. James Greentree, who stood surety for her and then abandoned the engagement when the Governor pressed the larger liability, shows how loosely such bonds were recorded and how readily they broke down. The most telling personality of the final period is the accountant Van Oosten, whose repeated disgrace and reinstatement embodied the council's struggle to keep its books in order, kept in a place he was unfit for because no better man offered. [Film No. 356, 388-393, 399-401, 403-404, 433, 439]
Conclusion
Taken together, these consultations show a small, remote society held firmly within the grip of a commercial company. The dominant logic of its government was financial. Household disputes, illegitimate births, land grants and even a wife's inheritance were all handled with an eye to the Company's debts and the island's accounts, Margaret Vesey refused her own legacy because her husband owed the Company. The record's great value lies in its detail, yet its limits must be remembered: it is the official voice of the council, and it serves the Company's interest. The enslaved appear chiefly as property, a danger or a charge, and the poor appear as debtors and defaulters, the illicit slave trade it tried to suppress hinting at an unofficial economy the entries barely glimpse. [Film No. 6, 24, 25, 55]
Across the three years St Helena emerges as a small, tightly governed settlement whose rulers struggled to impose order with very limited means. The same four men made the law, ran the stores, granted the land, tried the causes and hanged the condemned, and the leading planters who sat as jurors and victualled the garrison were the same families who held the largest estates. The administration's central preoccupations were security and solvency: securing the scattered stores and the insecure prison, tightening the credit that bound the inhabitants, recalling the island's paper currencies, conducting the year-end audits, the seven-year reckoning with Powell, the regulation of cattle marks by a central register, and the endless effort to drag the Company's chaotic accounts into order. Behind all of it lay an absolute dependence on coerced labour and an anxious awareness that the slaves outnumbered those who controlled them. [Film No. 106, 117, 124, 264, 432, 433]
The period closed with the death of Governor Johnson of the bloody flux in February 1723 and the orderly succession of Edward Byfield, the next councillor moving up by the settled rule of seniority, his authority proclaimed to the inhabitants gathered at the funeral. The evidence must be read with its origin in mind. It is the administration's own account, written for the directors, and it naturally presents the bench as fair and reluctant in its severities. Yet the directors' insistence that Thomas Free be heard in public shows a real check on local power, while the careful striking-out of depositions shows how the record was shaped, and the execution of Peter, justified as a deterrent and settled as an accounting matter, exposes the system's logic more starkly than any statement of policy. [Film No. 126, 141, 199, 452, 466, 468]
The island emerges throughout as a hinge in a vast network, its life shaped wholly by the sea. It drew its goods, its labour, its prisoners and its very calendar from the wider Company world, served the homeward fleets, watched the rival traders, and reported its gravest acts to London for approval. Its slaves were drawn from many sources and shipped on to Sumatra, its stores filled by the textile trade of Bombay and the tea of Canton, its waters crossed by the ships of three rival European companies. What the record cannot supply is the voice of those it governed: the slaves shipped to Bencoolen, the runaway drawn to the gallows, the soldier returned to a posting he had fled. Their absence is the clearest limit of the evidence, and the strongest reason to read the confident official narrative against its own grain. [Film No. 43, 55, 126, 154, 332, 405]
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EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St. HELENA Records 1720-1722 Photographer PETER Date photographed 10 NOV 2021 Additional comments | |||
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1 | Janry 1720. Island St Helena. At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 17th day of January 1720 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2d Pres: Jno Alexander 3d &c Jno Goodwin 4th of Council The Last consultation (of the 10th Inst:) was read & approv'd of. The Governr Reports that on Tuesday the 10th Inst: in the afternoon Samuel Price his wife made Complt to him that Her husband did not take that Necessary Care to Provide for her & Children as he ought to do, and that they were ready to Starve, that he had sold his working Shoemakers Tools that he might not follow his trade on Purpose for an Excuse that he might not work. Whereupon he granted a Warrant & Committed him to Goal, at the same time Granted a Warrant for the Seizure of his House & Effects, for payment of the Honble Compas debt which was Accordingly Exeuted and an Inventory taken. On Saturday the 14: the said Price apply'd himself to the Govr and owned he was Sorry for his Neglect & Promised to take all Care Possible for the future both for the Maintenance of his family and paying the Margin Notes: Sam: Prices &c in a poor Condition Price committed & his House &c for debt. Prices Applicaton on to ye Govr | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 January 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin, fourth, of council The last consultation, of the 10th of this month, was read and approved. Governor Johnson reported that on the afternoon of Tuesday 10 January 1720 Samuel Price made a complaint against his wife, alleging that she failed to provide proper care for him and their children, that the family was close to starvation, and that she had sold his shoemaking tools so that he could not carry on his trade, using that as a pretext to avoid labour. The Governor granted a warrant and committed Price to prison. At the same time he issued a warrant to seize Price's house and goods to satisfy his debt to the Company, which was carried out, and an inventory of the property was taken. On Saturday 14 January 1720 Price came to the Governor and admitted his fault, expressing regret for his neglect. He promised to do everything he could in future both to maintain his family and to pay [...]. Interpretations The proceedings show the Governor exercising a combined judicial and executive power in a single afternoon, issuing a warrant of committal and a warrant of seizure together. The household dispute was treated less as a private matter than as a threat to the Company's financial interest, since the seizure of Price's house and goods was directed specifically at recovering his outstanding debt rather than at resolving the family's distress. The complaint reverses the more usual direction of such cases, the husband Samuel Price laying the charge against his wife rather than the other way about. The grievance combined three distinct claims, neglect of the children, the threat of starvation and the deliberate disabling of his trade through the sale of his shoemaking tools, the last presented as a calculated move to keep him idle. Samuel Price already stood within the council's view as a planter of marginal standing, having petitioned at the consultation of 3 January 1716/17 to settle on the vacant Bodley plantation when he intended to marry the widow Sarah Sinsnick. His later poverty and the seizure of his effects mark a clear decline from that earlier attempt to establish himself. Speculations The Governor's choice to seize the house and goods for the Company's debt at the very moment of committing Price to prison suggests the domestic complaint was used as the occasion to settle a separate financial claim. The opportunity of having Price in custody, his affairs exposed and his property unguarded, allowed the recovery of the Company debt to be folded into the handling of the family quarrel, the two matters advanced together in a single stroke. | |
2 | January. Honble Company. The Govr released him as the only way to put him in a Capacity to do either & gave him his necessary Household Goods & things being of little Vallue. And Orderd his House to be Sold. The Doctors brought in & deliverd their Book of Medicines Expended since the 3d Inst: which was Examind and approved of Accordingly. William Beal made complt that Thos Swallow Detains some Ground from him, that lies on the Back Part of the said Swallows dwelling House in this valley Upon which We went this day to take a view thereof: Orderd That the said Swallow be Summond to attend next Consultation day to Shew by what Title he holds the said Ground. Upon Complaint of the Present Church Wardens Mr John Coles & Mr Jonath: Doveton that they suspect Margarett Swallow Singlewoman to be with Child which when born will be a Bastard and may be chargable to the Island. Therefore Orderd That a Warrant be Issued out to bring her before Consultation this day Sevennight to be Examind, and that Doctr Scrimshire Cheif Surgn Mr Beal his Asist: & mary Shrewe Midwife be Summond to attend at the same time. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: his Houshold & House to be Sold. Beals Complt agt Tho: Swallow Swallow to be Summoned. Church Wardens information abt Margt Swallow She's Ordd to Appear, & others to Examine her Condition | The Honourable Company. Governor Johnson released Price as the only means of restoring him to a position where he could provide for himself and his family, and returned his household goods, which were of little worth. The Governor ordered Price's house to be sold. The doctors brought in and delivered their book of medicines dispensed since the 3rd of this month, which was examined and approved. William Beale complained that Thomas Swallow had withheld a piece of ground from him lying behind Swallow's dwelling house in James Valley. The council went that day to view it. The council ordered that Swallow be summoned to attend the next consultation day to show by what title he held the ground. On the complaint of the present churchwardens John Coles and Jonathan Doveton, who suspected that the single woman Margaret Swallow was pregnant, the child being one that would be born illegitimate and might become a charge on the island, the council ordered that a warrant be issued to bring her before the consultation a week from this day to be examined, and that Doctor Scrimshire the chief surgeon, his assistant Mr Beale and Mary Shrewe the midwife be summoned to attend at the same time. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The order over Margaret Swallow turned on the financial liability of an illegitimate birth rather than on any moral or disciplinary concern. An unsupported child fell to the parish for its keep, so the council moved to identify the situation early and fix responsibility before the cost reached the island's account. The summoning of the chief surgeon, his assistant and the midwife together points to a formal medical examination intended to establish the pregnancy as fact. The Beale and Swallow boundary dispute was a continuation of a long-running quarrel between the two men. At the consultation of 14 January 1718 Swallow had complained that Beale, as successor to Sergeant John Field in the James Valley house, threatened to wall up his back door and stop his use of Swallow's Alley. The roles are now reversed, with Beale as complainant, but the contested ground behind Swallow's house is the same disputed strip, the council resolving the matter by demanding proof of title rather than weighing the parties' assertions. The release and rehousing of Samuel Price reveal the limit of the council's earlier severity. Having seized his goods and committed him, Governor Johnson restored the household effects and freed him on the practical ground that an imprisoned and stripped man could support neither himself nor the family whose neglect had begun the case. The sale of the house proceeded regardless, the Company's debt taking priority over the family's shelter. | |
3 | 1720. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 24th day of Janry 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approved of. Gilbt Sinsmick Monkhoss Presented his Petition Setting forth therein that he having (about one Year since) Hired Six Acres of the Honble Compas Wast Land Scituate in Sandy bay Valley, finds it too Difficult to ffence in he having no help nor wherewith to Pur= =chase any Except his bare Sallary which is but Suffi= =cient for his own maintenance) Wherefore Prays he may have leave to dispose of the said Land & Lease for the same to Such Person as Shall be ap= =prov'd of for a Tennant in his Stead. And as in duty bound shall ever pray &c Gilbt Sinsmick. Granted Provided We like the Tennant. Upon Complt of the Church Wardens as in Consultation of the 17 Inst: Margaret Swallow Singlewoman was Sumond to appear here this day Her mother desird to be admitted in and Declard that her daughter is not able to appear she being very ill. Margin Notes: Gilbt Sinsmick desires leave to dispose of his Wast Land. Granted on Condition. Margt Swallow Sumond at Hon: Consultacon &c. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 24 January 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Gilbert Sinsnick Monhoss presented his petition, setting out that about a year earlier he had hired six acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay Valley. He found it too hard to fence, having no help and no means to buy any beyond his bare salary, which was barely enough for his own keep. He therefore asked leave to give up the land and to have a lease of it granted to whatever person the council approved as a tenant in his place. The council granted the request, provided it approved of the tenant. On the complaint of the churchwardens, raised at the consultation of 17 January 1720, the single woman Margaret Swallow was summoned to appear this day. Her mother asked to be admitted and stated that her daughter could not appear, being very ill. Interpretations The Sinsnick petition turned on a defect built into the terms of grant rather than on idleness or want of effort. The Company let waste land on condition the tenant fence it, but the rent of fencing labour and materials fell on a man whose only income was a small fixed salary. The land was therefore valueless to him, and the council's grant of surrender on condition of approving the replacement preserved the fencing obligation by transferring it to a tenant better able to bear it. The reappearance of Margaret Swallow shows the limit of the council's reach over a person who would not present herself. The mother's intervention, pleading her daughter's illness, deferred the examination the council had ordered the previous week to establish the pregnancy and fix liability for the expected child. The summoning of the surgeon, his assistant and the midwife to the same sitting suggests the council expected resistance and had prepared to settle the question by physical examination if she came. | |
4 | Janry The Church Wardens were both Present & desird that Mrs Shrew Midwife might be Examind, who being call'd in Declares that She thinks to the best of her knowledge the said Margaret Swallow is now with Child She having been at Mrs Swallows House about ten days ago and took very good Notice of the said Margarett The Governr & Council upon this Resolves to go to Thom: Swallows House on monday next in Order to the Examining of the said Margaret Swallow. Upon William Beals Complt against Thomas Swallow planter he was Sumond to appear before us this day. The said Swallows Son Richard Swallow appeared in his fathers behalf he being very Antient & not able to appear himself, and Produced Writings continuing his fathers Title, which was Examined & read over in their hearing. And now Orded That the former Orders of Council, of the 22d July 1718 and 5th August following be Confirmd & the Parties concernd to abide by them Accordingly, and not to be Contravened or Disputed hereafter. Mrs Free was Sumond to Clear & Discharge the Estate of Mr Griffith (Decd) According to the Inventory taken after his Death. The said Free appeard & Sayd he had not drawn out an Acco: of the debts and Creditts of Margin Notes: Mrs Shrew Examnd at of Church Wardens request. Margt Swallow to be Examd at her fathers house. Beals Swallows Estate abt ground Compl: of. Order thereon. Free Sumond abt Griffiths Orph: Frees Answer. | Both churchwardens were present and asked that the midwife Mary Shrewe be examined. Called in, she stated that to the best of her knowledge Margaret Swallow was pregnant. She had been at Swallow's house about ten days earlier and had observed Margaret closely. The Governor and council resolved to go to Thomas Swallow's house the following Monday to examine Margaret Swallow. On William Beale's complaint against the planter Thomas Swallow, Swallow had been summoned to appear this day. His son Richard Swallow appeared on his father's behalf, the father being very aged and unable to attend himself, and produced documents confirming his father's title, which were examined and read aloud in the hearing of those present. The council now ordered that its earlier orders of 22 July 1718 and the 5th of August following be confirmed, and that the parties concerned abide by them and not contravene or dispute them in future. Thomas Free was summoned to settle and discharge the estate of the deceased Mr Griffith according to the inventory taken after his death. Free appeared and stated that he had not drawn up an account of the debts and credits of Mr [...]. Interpretations The midwife's examination served as the council's instrument for establishing a fact of the body that no other authority could settle. Mary Shrewe's standing rested on her trade, and her sworn observation of Margaret Swallow provided the evidence on which the council could proceed against the expected illegitimate birth and its threatened cost to the island. The resolution to go in person to Swallow's house shows the council adapting its procedure to a defendant who would not come to it, carrying the examination to the woman rather than compelling her attendance. The Beale and Swallow boundary dispute was closed by reaffirming the council's earlier rulings rather than by fresh adjudication. The orders of 22 July 1718 and the 5th of August following had already determined the matter, and the production of Thomas Swallow's title documents through his son confirmed the basis on which those orders stood. The council's direction that the parties not dispute the question again marks an attempt to end a quarrel between the two men that had recurred across several years. The Free and Griffith matter concerned the proper administration of a deceased estate against an executor who had let it lie. Thomas Free, having married Daniel Griffith's widow, was bound to account for the estate according to the inventory taken at the death, and his admission that he had drawn up no account of its debts and credits exposed the neglect the council was pressing him to remedy. The estate carried obligations to the Griffith orphans, whose interest the council's intervention was designed to protect. | |
5 | 1720. Mr Griffith, but would Endeavour to do it, & promises to bring it in next Consultation day. Arthur Bradley having formerly had Sixty Pound lent him in the Honble Compas Books, was Sumoned & gave Bond for Paymt of the same at the End of one Year from this time wth the Interest of Six per Cent ⅌ Annum. John French was also Sumond and now promises Either to pay the two hundred Pounds he borrowed of the Honble Compt in Govr Pikes time at the 25th of March next, or to give Good Security for a longer Continuance with Interest for the same. Giles Smith was also Sumond & Promises to give Bond & Security for his debt to the Honble Company which he intended to have done too day, But was disap= =pointed by Samuel Jessey who had Promised him & on whom he depended telling him to day he could not do it He promises to gett Security by this day Sevennight Capt Goodwin having an Acco: of Bonds for two hundred Pounds, Offers to give Bond for the same with the Interest of Six per Cent ⅌ Annum. Orderd That a Bond be drawn Accordingly. Likewise Mr Wrangham having an Acco: of Bonds for Seventy Pounds, also Offers Bond for the same with the usual Interest of Six per Cent ⅌ Annum. Orderd That a Bond be drawn Accordingly, for the said Sume Margin Notes: Bradley gave Bond for 60lb Jno French Sumond to give Bond for 200lb Giles Smith was also Sumond abt his debt. Promises Security Capt Goodwin Offers Bond for 200lb of Compy Mr Wrangham Bond for 70li | Mr Griffith, but would try to do it and promised to bring it in at the next consultation day. Arthur Bradley, who had earlier been lent sixty pounds in the Company's books, was summoned and gave bond for payment of the sum at the end of one year from this date, with interest at six per cent a year. John French was also summoned and now promised either to pay the two hundred pounds he had borrowed from the Company in Governor Pyke's time by 25 March next, or to give good security for a longer term with interest on the sum. Giles Smith was also summoned and promised to give bond and security for his debt to the Company, which he had intended to do this day. He had been let down by Samuel Jessey, on whom he depended and who had promised to stand for him, but who told him this day that he could not do it. Smith promised to obtain security within a week. Captain Goodwin, holding an account of bonds for two hundred pounds, offered to give bond for the sum with interest at six per cent a year. The council ordered that a bond be drawn accordingly. Mr Wrangham likewise, holding an account of bonds for seventy pounds, offered bond for the sum with the usual interest of six per cent a year. The council ordered that a bond be drawn for the sum. Interpretations The run of summonses shows the council converting a set of unsecured credits into bonded debts in a single sitting, the same exercise begun at the consultation of 10 January 1721 when the holders of bond accounts whose bonds had never reached the Governor were called in. Each debtor was required to give a formal instrument carrying six per cent interest, the standing rate, so that a credit advanced without enforceable backing became a secured loan the Company could pursue. The pattern applied the credit discipline of the regulation of 2 August 1720, which had capped planter credit at fifty pounds without bond and interest. The treatment of Giles Smith illustrates how the bonding regime depended on a chain of personal sureties that could break down. Smith was willing to give bond but could not, his intended surety Samuel Jessey having withdrawn on the day, leaving him to find another within the week. The episode shows that the council required not merely the debtor's promise but a second responsible party to stand behind it, and that the absence of such a party could stall the whole arrangement. The two largest debts, Captain Goodwin's two hundred pounds and Mr Wrangham's seventy, were settled without resistance, both councillors offering bond at once. Their ready compliance, set against the difficulties of the smaller men, marks the difference between substantial holders who could bond their debts on the spot and marginal debtors whose obligations turned on borrowed security or distant repayment dates. | |
6 | Janry Mr Joshua Johnson presented a Bill payable to himself by John Coles plant (who has Credit due to him) for the sume of £250, desiring it may be placed to his Acco: of Credit for the paiment of his debt to the Honble Compa: for which we hold Bond at Six per Cent ⅌ annum Intrest. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 7th day of Febry 1720. At Union Castle in James valley Edw: Johnson Esq Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approv'd of. The busines Appointed for the 3d of the last mounth being Consultation day, was put off to this day, by reason the works requird the Governrs presence at that time Mr James Ryder & Thomas Free were Orderd to appear this day. The Govr upon Severall Petitions from Thomas Lawrence, and Willm Portley who has been Confind Margin Notes: £250 paid by Jno Coles to Jo: Johnson Ryder & Free Appeard. | Mr Joshua Johnson presented a bill payable to himself by John Coles, a planter who had credit due to him, for the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds. He asked that it be placed to his account of credit towards payment of his debt to the Company, for which he had given bond at six per cent interest a year. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 February 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. The business set down for the 3rd of last month, being a consultation day, was put off to this day because the Company's affairs required the Governor's presence at that time. The council ordered James Ryder and Thomas Free to appear this day. Governor Johnson, on several petitions from Thomas Lawrence and William Portley, who had been confined [...]. Interpretations The Joshua Johnson transaction shows credit on the island settling debts by assignment rather than by coin. Johnson held a bill drawn on John Coles, a planter who carried a balance in his favour in the Company's books, and turned that paper claim to his own use by having it set against his bonded debt to the Company. The mechanism let a debt between two private parties discharge a debt owed to the Company, the bill moving value across the books without any money changing hands. The deferral of the council's business from the 3rd of the month marks the Governor's executive duties taking precedence over the regular sitting. The works of the Company required his presence, so the consultation appointed for that date was held over, a sign that the routine of formal council days yielded to the practical management of the settlement when the two competed for the Governor's time. The reappearance of William Portley confirms his continued confinement after the perjury conviction at the general sessions of 15 December 1720. He had been sentenced to the pillory, a month's imprisonment and a fine of twenty pounds to the Lords Proprietors, and further committed in irons for declaring in open court that the Governor had contrived the charge against him. His petitioning, alongside that of the confined soldier Thomas Lawrence, shows him seeking relief from the council that had pursued and sentenced him. | |
7 | 1720. Sometime, and therein asking Pardon and Promising a mendmt were Orded to be brought hither, Acknowledg =ing their faults & asked Pardon wth Promise of Good be haviour for the future. Mr Byfeld brought in his monthly Acco of the Honble Compas live Stock & Expences for the month of Janry last which was Examind, approvd & by us Signd. The Doctors brought in their Book of Medicines Expended from the 17 Janry last, which was Examind and approvd of. Capt Goodwin brought in his Book Containing monthly Acco: for the month of Janry which was Examind, approvd & Signd by us Accordingly. Mr ffree appeared and his Acco: not being Settled is Ordered to attend this day Sevennight. Gabriel Powell Execulr to Charles Steward Deceasd Complt against John Lacy who married the Widdow of the said Charles Steward, for hindering Thomas Steward Orphan from dwelling at Mr Veseys, where he might be the better brought up & Instructed in learn= =ing according to the Executers Appointment. Ordered that the said John Lacy to be Sumond to appear next Consultation day. The following Petitions were Presented Vizt The Petition of Gabriel Powel Setting forth therein That He having lately Purchased a House & Garden &c of Henry ffrancis, Humbly Prays leave may Margin Notes: Portley & Lawrence Discharg'd from Prison. Mr Byfeld Accot of Compas live Stock for Janry Doctors Acco for Janry ffree to Attend. Powells Complt against John Lacy abt Steward. Lacy to be Sumoned. Gabr: Powells Petition for [...] | Both men, having been confined for some time and asking pardon with a promise to do better, were ordered to be brought before the council. They admitted their faults and asked pardon, promising good behaviour in future. Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account of the Company's livestock and the expenses for the month of January, which was examined, approved and signed. The doctors brought in their book of medicines dispensed since the 17th of January, which was examined and approved. Captain Goodwin brought in his book containing the monthly accounts for the month of January, which was examined, approved and signed. Mr Free appeared, and his account not being settled, he was ordered to attend a week from this day. Gabriel Powell, executor to the deceased Charles Steward, complained against John Lacy, who had married the widow of Charles Steward, for keeping the orphan Thomas Steward from living at Mr Vesey's, where he might be better brought up and instructed in learning as the executors had arranged. The council ordered that Lacy be summoned to appear at the next consultation day. The following petitions were presented. The petition of Gabriel Powell set out that he had recently bought a house, garden and other property from Henry Francis, and asked leave [...]. Interpretations The complaint over the orphan Thomas Steward shows the council acting as the ultimate authority over the placement and education of fatherless children. The executors of Charles Steward had arranged for the boy to live at Mr Vesey's for his upbringing and schooling, but his stepfather John Lacy, having married the widow, kept him at home against that arrangement. The dispute set the executors' duty to provide for the orphan's education against the stepfather's control of the household, and the council's summons of Lacy marks its role in enforcing the executors' authority over a guardian who obstructed it. John Lacy had already fallen under the council's censure. He was discharged from the accountant's office at the consultation of 3 May 1720 for negligence, having absented himself a fortnight together and ridiculed Governor Johnson's warnings. His later obstruction of the Steward orphan's placement shows the same disregard for the council's arrangements that had cost him his post. The settled routine of monthly accounts, the livestock book, the medicine book and the store accounts brought in and signed in turn, marks the recovery of orderly record-keeping under Governor Johnson after the long neglect that had cost Antipas Tovey and others their places. The bookkeeping discipline pursued through 1719 and 1720 had reached the point where each officer's monthly return was examined and approved as a matter of course. | |
8 | Febry be Granted him to Enclose a Small Piece of Ground (to range with the back wall of the Garden afores: that lies on the back part of his other House formerly Samuel Wranghams (decd) who planted severall Fruit trees therein, But did not live to Enclose it. Granted as farr as to Range with the Wall calld the high wall on the back side of the Houses & the Corner of his own Garden wall next this Ground Petitiond for The Petition of Robert Bell Setting forth That he had formerly Purchased one Small Parcell of Land of Jonathn Higham Senr and one other Parcell of the Honble Compa: formerly Walter Balwards, But having had no Deed for either Parcell of Land to Ascertain him a better Title Humbly prays Deeds may be Granted, for the free Land & Leases for what Hired Land hath been Granted him Adjoyning to the afores: two Parcells of free that He may with the more Encouragemt Sett about to ffence and plant the same. And &c Granted. The Petition of Peter Sinsmick planter Setting forth that he has had Granted to him 5 Acres of the Honble Compas Wast Land lying in Sandy bay calld the Sugar Cane Plantation, but finding himself not able to ffence in the whole & to manure it as it Should be Humbly prays leave may be Granted him to Dispose of the said Land to such other Tennant as We Should approve of. And &c Granted Margin Notes: Wast Ground behind for Old House Granted. Robt Bell Petitions for Deeds & Leases for Sevl Parcells Lands. Granted. Peter Sinsmick desires leave to Dispose of his Sug: Cane Plantation. | The petition asked that he be granted leave to enclose a small piece of ground ranging with the back wall of the garden already mentioned. The ground lay behind his other house, formerly the property of the deceased Samuel Wrangham, who had planted several fruit trees there but had not lived to enclose it. The council granted leave as far as to range with the high wall on the back side of the houses, and to the corner of his own garden wall next the ground he had asked for. The petition of Robert Bell set out that he had earlier bought one small parcel of land from Jonathan Higham senior and another parcel from the Company, formerly held by Walter Belvird. Having no deed for either parcel to establish a better title, he asked that deeds be granted for the freehold land and leases for the hired land that had been granted to him adjoining the two parcels of freehold, so that he might enclose and plant the whole with better encouragement. The council granted the request. The petition of the planter Peter Sinsnick set out that he had been granted five acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay called the Sugar Cane Plantation. Finding himself unable to fence the whole and manure it as it should be, he asked leave to give up the land to whatever tenant the council approved. The council granted the request. Interpretations The grant to enclose the ground behind the former Wrangham house was bounded by the council to range only with the existing wall and the corner of the garden. The restriction shows the council fixing precise physical limits on a grant of waste land in the valley, so that the enclosure could not creep beyond the line of the neighbouring houses and the petitioner's own garden wall, a control on encroachment of the kind it had applied across James Valley. The Robert Bell petition turned on the difference between holding land in practice and holding a secure title to it. Bell had bought two parcels and been granted others but possessed no deeds, leaving his title open to challenge. His request for deeds to the freehold and leases for the hired ground sought to convert uncertain possession into documented right, the council's grant giving him the formal instruments that would secure his investment in fencing and planting. The Peter Sinsnick surrender repeats the pattern of the Gilbert Sinsnick petition granted at the consultation of 24 January 1720, a tenant unable to bear the fencing burden on the Company's waste asking to pass the land to another. The Company's terms required the holder to fence and manure the ground, and a man who could not meet that cost was permitted to surrender on condition the council approved his replacement, preserving the obligation by moving it to a tenant able to discharge it. | |
9 | 1720. Granted Provided we like the Tennant. Mr Slaughter brought in Deliverd the following Acco: of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of Janry last which was Examind & Approvd of Accordingly. An Acco: of Gunners Stores Expended from ye 5 Janry 172⁰/₁ to the 31 Do following. Janry 5 At the Sailing of the Princess Ann, Hanover and Godfrey 29 29 Do 4 For Exerciseing the Guards, & at Mounting & Dismounting 16 14 Deliverd to Thos Allis to alarm Sandybay 5 23 An Alarme 4 4 Received the Arrabella 5 5 30 At the Sailing of the Arrabella 5 5 A Pouch fild for the Guard 5 31 A Cartouch Box, for Prosperous bay 2 2½ Cartridge Paper Expended 2½ Tracks deliverd the Carpenters 5 Flints 18 Match 5 Signd ⅌ Wm Slaughter 18 5 2½ 43 62 According to the Resolution of the 24th Janry last, the Governr & the Gentlemn of the Council went to Mr Swallow's to take the Examination of Margarett Swallow Spinster at the Complt of the Church Wardens as in that Consultation before Expressed, the said Margarett on Oath denyed her ever having been Concernd with any man; Thomas Swallow her father gave Bond to Margin Notes: Tennant Granted Acco: Gunners Stores Expended. Janry 5 Margt Swallow Examnd by ye Governr &c. Bond | The council granted the request, provided it approved of the tenant. Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered the following account of gunner's stores expended in the month of January, which was examined and approved. An account of gunner's stores expended from 5 January 1720 to the 31st following. 5 January 1720 At the sailing of the Princess Ann, Hanover and Godfrey 29 falcons, 29 pounds of powder 7 January 1720 For exercising the guards at mounting and dismounting 16 pounds of powder 17 January 1720 Delivered to Thomas Allis to alarm Sandy Bay 1 pound of powder 23 January 1720 An alarm 4 falcons, 4 pounds of powder [23 January 1720] Saluted the Arabella 5 falcons, 5 pounds of powder 30 January 1720 At the sailing of the Arabella 5 falcons, 5 pounds of powder A pound filled for the guard 1 pound of powder 31 January 1720 A cartouche box for Prosperous Bay 1 pound of powder Cartridge paper expended 2 quires and a half Trucks delivered the carpenter 5 Flints 18 Match 5 pounds Signed by William Slaughter 18 falcons, 5 [...], 2½ [...] = 43 falcons, 62 pounds of powder Following the resolution of the consultation of 24 January 1720, Governor Johnson and the gentlemen of the council went to Swallow's house to examine Margaret Swallow, the single woman, on the complaint of the churchwardens set out in that earlier consultation. Margaret, on oath, denied that she had ever been involved with any man. Her father Thomas Swallow gave bond [...]. Interpretations The gunner's account records powder spent by occasion rather than by simple total, each issue tied to a salute, an alarm or the exercise of the guard. The heaviest single charge fell at the departure of the homeward ships, the Princess Ann, Hanover and Godfrey sailing together on 1 January 1721, the falcon rounds marking the honours given as they left the road. The account closes with the stores of cartridge paper, trucks, flints and match issued to the carpenter and the batteries, the whole signed by the gunner Slaughter, who had taken the office on the discharge of Isaac Leech. The examination of Margaret Swallow turned the council's earlier resolution into action, the Governor and councillors carrying the inquiry to the woman's house when she would not come to them. Her denial on oath, set against the midwife Mary Shrewe's sworn statement that she was pregnant, left the council with two conflicting accounts to weigh. The father's giving of bond shows the council securing responsibility for the expected child in advance, so that if the birth proved the midwife right the cost would not fall on the island. The falcon was a light gun of small bore, and the powder issued for it was reckoned in the same pound measures as the charges for the larger pieces. The account distinguishes the rounds fired for ceremony and warning from the stores of paper, flints, match and gun-carriage trucks consumed in maintaining the batteries, the two kept apart within the single monthly return. | |
10 | Febry to the present Church Wardens, or the Church Wardens for the time being to Indemnify the Parish from any Charge that may Accrue from her now being with Child. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 14th day of ffebry 1720. At Union Castle James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & approved of. Severall Persons were Sumoned for not Appearing at their Posts on the Alarm for the Tartar Brigantine from Bombay on the 8th Inst: Vizt Willm Pinny Sold: Richd Harding do Jonath: Doveton plant Rich: Long do John Teadits do Samuel Jesey do Samuel Price do Charles Steward do Willm Worrall do John Bagley do These nine persons having made reasonable Excuses for their Neglect were discharged wth only a Check & Cautiond for the future, But John Bagley living very near to his Post & making no Satisfactory Excuse for his Neglect Orded he be find 5 to the Honble Compt Margin Notes: fathr gave Security. Persons that Neglected their Duty | The father gave bond to the present churchwardens, and to the churchwardens for the time being, to indemnify the parish against any charge that might arise from her pregnancy. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 14 February 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Several persons were summoned for failing to appear at their posts on the alarm for the Tartar Brigantine from Bombay on the 8th of this month. William Penny, soldier Richard Harding, planter Jonathan Doveton, planter Richard Long, planter John Twaits, planter Samuel Jessey, planter Samuel Price, planter Charles Steward, planter William Worrall, planter John Bagley, planter These nine persons, having made reasonable excuses for their neglect, were discharged with only a caution for the future. John Bagley, living very near to his post and giving no satisfactory account of his neglect, was ordered to be fined five [...] to the Company. Interpretations The bond given by Thomas Swallow shows the council securing the parish against the future cost of an illegitimate birth before the child arrived. The instrument bound the father to indemnify the present churchwardens and their successors, so that whatever the outcome of the dispute over Margaret Swallow's condition the island's account would bear no charge. The arrangement closed the matter the churchwardens had raised by shifting the financial risk onto the family rather than resolving the conflict between the midwife's sworn statement and the woman's denial. The alarm muster reveals the obligation on every able inhabitant to turn out to his post when an unidentified sail approached, the Tartar Brigantine from Bombay having triggered the call on the 8th of February. The summoning of ten men for failing to appear shows the council enforcing the island's defensive duty against planters and soldiers alike. The discharge of nine on reasonable excuse, set against the fining of John Bagley who lived close to his post and could give no good account, marks the council weighing each man's failure by the strength of his explanation rather than imposing a uniform penalty. The list names a defaulting roll that overlaps closely with the men called in over their bond debts earlier in the same run of consultations, John Twaits, Samuel Jessey, Samuel Price and John Bagley among them. The same marginal planters who struggled to secure their credit also appear among those who neglected their defensive duty, a sign of the pressure on the island's poorer householders pulled between the demands of the Company's books and the garrison's musters. | |
11 | 1720. John Lacy appeared According to the Sumons Ordered in Last Consultation, and Says that Thomas Steward was put to his wife by the Executors at Seven Pounds a year, and she to Maintaine & learn him and that she put him out to Mr Vesey and He has paid him for Schooling & Boarding out of his own Money for which the Executors has Accounted with him Ordered That Mr Lacy deliver the Orphan Thomas Steward to the Executors to be putt out as they shall think fitt: The Doctors brought in their Book of Medicines Expended since the 7th Inst: which was Examind and approvd of. Peter Sinsmick Presented a Petition Setting forth that in Pursuance to the leave Granted in his former Petition Enterd in Consultation of the 7th Inst: He had Disposed of the five Acres of Land therein Mentiond & Lease for the same, with the Provisions, to Joseph Coles planter and therefore desires He may be Admitted the Honble Compas Tennant for Said Land. Granted Mr ffree Appeared & Says that Mr Powell coming from Home in a hurry this morning (when the Alarm was made) forgott to bring his Book of Accots with him without which he cannot finnish the Inventory he was Ordied to bring in this day. Therefore It is Ordered That he attend next Consultation day &c. Margin Notes: Mr Lacy Appeared abt Tom: Steward Deliver to the Executors. Peter Sinsmick Passes for Coles for Sevnl Coupled ffree's Excuse for not bringing his Acco: but no Inventory ffree to attend next Consultation | John Lacy appeared as summoned at the last consultation. He stated that the executors had placed Thomas Steward with his wife at seven pounds a year, she to maintain and educate the boy, and that she had put him out to Mr Vesey and had paid for his schooling and board out of her own money, for which the executors had accounted with her. The council ordered that Lacy deliver the orphan Thomas Steward to the executors, to be placed as they should think fit. The doctors brought in their book of medicines dispensed since the 7th of this month, which was examined and approved. Peter Sinsnick presented a petition setting out that, under the leave granted in his earlier petition entered at the consultation of the 7th of this month, he had given up the five acres of land mentioned there, with the lease and the provisions on it, to the planter Joseph Coles. He therefore asked that Coles be admitted the Company's tenant for the land. The council granted the request. Mr Free appeared and stated that Mr Powell, coming in from Stone in a hurry this morning when the alarm was raised, had forgotten to bring his account book with him, without which he could not finish the inventory he had been ordered to bring in this day. The council ordered that he attend the next consultation day. Interpretations The Lacy dispute was resolved by removing the orphan from the household altogether and returning him to the executors' control. Lacy's account showed that his wife, the boy's mother, had been paid seven pounds a year to maintain and educate Thomas Steward and had in turn placed him with Mr Vesey at her own charge. The council nonetheless directed that the boy be delivered up to the executors, holding their authority over his upbringing superior to the arrangement his mother and stepfather had made, and closing the complaint Gabriel Powell had brought at the consultation of 7 February 1720. The Peter Sinsnick transaction completed the surrender begun at the consultation of 7 February 1720, the land and its lease passing to Joseph Coles with the council's approval of the new tenant. The Company's interest lay in keeping the waste occupied by a holder able to fence and manure it, so the transfer of the five acres at the Sugar Cane Plantation from a man who could not bear that burden to one who could preserved both the obligation and the rent. The delay over the Griffith inventory shows how the alarm for an approaching sail could disrupt the council's ordinary business. Powell, summoned in from the country to complete the account, arrived without his book because the alarm had hurried his departure, and the inventory the council had pressed for could not be finished. The episode illustrates the competing demands on the island's leading men, the defensive call overriding the administrative task even as both fell due on the same day. | |
12 | February The Governr Reports that by reason of the great Surfs that has lasted this fortnight, the fishing Boats have not been able to goe out a fishing, that they are this day hauld a Shore and have received So much Damage that they will not be Refitted in a fortnights time, from whence the Blacks at the Plantations & ffortifications used to have their Subsistance. Mr Byfeld informd us that by reason of the two Seasons failing the last Year, the Cattle in Generall are So very Bare that upon the Coming in of these rains the Honble Compas are likely to Loose many. Therefore We think it the best way to kill those that are ready to die, and to Provide for the Blacks out of them. The following Letter was recd from Capt Jno Harvey Comander of the beforenamed Tartar Brigantine To the Worshipfll Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr & Council of St Helena Whereas I John Harvey have by vertue of a Pass from the Honble Charles Boone President of & for all the Affairs of the Honble United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East India on the Coast of India Persia & Arabia Governr and Comander in Cheif of his Majesties Castle and Island of Bombay, undertaken a Voyage to England as Comander of the Tartar Brigantine a Vessel Margin Notes: Govr Report abt ye fishg Surfs. Seasons failt: the Comp: Cattle likely to die fr Want. Some to be killd for ye Blacks Capt Harveys Letter | Governor Johnson reported that because of the heavy surf over the past fortnight the fishing boats had been unable to go out. They were that day hauled ashore and had suffered so much damage that they would not be refitted within a fortnight. The slaves at the plantations and fortifications drew their food supply from this fishery. Mr Byfield reported that, the two seasons having failed the previous year, the cattle were generally so lean that the Company would probably lose many when the present rains came on. The council therefore judged it best to kill those ready to die and to provide food for the slaves from them. The following letter was received from Captain John Harvey, commander of the Tartar Brigantine. To the Worshipful Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor of St Helena, and the council. John Harvey held a pass from Charles Boone, President of and for all the affairs of the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies on the coast of India, Persia and Arabia, and Governor and Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Castle and Island of Bombay. Under that pass he had undertaken a voyage to England as commander of the Tartar Brigantine, a vessel belonging [...]. Interpretations The failure of the fishery exposed how directly the island's slave labour depended on the sea for its food. The boats supplied the plantations and the fortifications, so a fortnight of heavy surf that wrecked them threatened the subsistence of the very hands the Company relied on for its works. The interruption was not a private loss but a strain on the whole establishment, the food of the slaves at the batteries and the plantations cut off at a single stroke. The decision to slaughter the failing cattle shows the council turning a threatened loss to account. Two failed growing seasons had left the herds too lean to survive the coming rains, so beasts certain to die were killed at once and their meat directed to feed the slaves whose fish supply had just been cut off. The two shortages were met together, the dying cattle answering the want left by the broken boats, a single measure addressing both the loss of the herd and the failure of the fishery. The pass carried by Captain John Harvey establishes the chain of authority under which a Company vessel sailed. The document issued from Charles Boone, President of Bombay and Commander in Chief of the Company's western settlement, and licensed Harvey's homeward voyage in the Tartar Brigantine. Its production to the council at St Helena allowed the island to satisfy itself that the ship was a lawful Company vessel rather than an interloper or enemy, the recital of Boone's full style serving as the warrant of the voyage. | |
13 | 1720. belonging to the Honble East India Company on Urgent Affairs to the said Honble East India Company, and the Vessel Proving Leaky and being in want of severall Necessarys without which it would have been Imposible for Us to Proceed on Our Voyage Caused me to make for Your Island, and I must hereby Desire your Asis= =tance for Necessarys in Order to Proceed on my Voyage which will be of great service to Our Honble Masters Interest, and will very much Oblige Worshipfll Sr & Gentlemen. St Helena Road. ffebry the 9th 1720/1 Your Humble Servant: John Harvey Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | The vessel belonged to the Company and was sailing on urgent business for it. Harvey explained that the ship had proved leaky and was short of several necessaries, without which it would have been impossible to continue the voyage, and this had forced him to make for the island. He asked the council's help in supplying those necessaries so that he might proceed, which would greatly serve the Company's interest. The letter was dated from St Helena Road on 9 February 1720 and signed by John Harvey. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The letter shows the standing role of St Helena as a port of refuge and resupply for the Company's ships on the long passage home. Harvey's brigantine, leaking and short of stores, could not have continued without putting in, and the island existed in large part to meet exactly that need. His appeal framed the supply as a service to the Company's own interest rather than a private favour, since both the ship and its cargo of urgent affairs belonged to the same masters the council served. | |
14 | ffebry Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 21st day of ffebry 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approvd of. The Doctors brought in & deliverd their Book of Medicines Expended since the 14th Inst: which was Ex= =amind and Approvd of. Mr Lacy made Complt that severall Persons Stood Indebted to him in Sundry Sums of money & put him from time to time without making any Payment & therefore desird the Govr to grant him a Sumons for their Appearance at Consultation, which was granted him and are as follows. Francis Funge He Says owes him £3, 17s 5d The Said Funge ownes the debt and Says he will En= =deavour to pay it as Soon as Posible his present Circumstance being Such that he cannot make immediate Payment therefore beg a weeks time given him to gett the money John Long owes him £21, 8s 7½d He ownes the debt and Promises Paymt in a fortnights time, or by the 25th of March next at furthest. Richard Ray owes to Capt Heswels Estate 10s 6d he ownes the debt & promises Payment. Margin Notes: Mr Lacys Complt agt severall Persons for debt who they are & Sums owing | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 February 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. The doctors brought in and delivered their book of medicines dispensed since the 14th of this month, which was examined and approved. Mr Lacy complained that several persons owed him various sums of money and put him off from time to time without making any payment. He asked Governor Johnson to grant him summonses for their appearance at the consultation, which was granted. They are as follows. Francis Funge owes him £3 17s 5d. Funge admitted the debt and said he would try to pay it as soon as possible, his present circumstances being such that he could not pay at once. He was therefore given a week to raise the money. John Long owes him £21 8s 7½d. Long admitted the debt and promised payment within a fortnight, or by 25 March next at the latest. Richard Ray owes Captain Haswell's estate 10s 6d. Ray admitted the debt and promised payment. Likewise [...]. Interpretations The summonses show the council placed at the service of a private creditor pursuing his debtors. John Lacy, owed various sums by men who put him off without paying, obtained the Governor's warrants to compel their appearance at the consultation, where each debtor was made to acknowledge his debt and name a date for payment. The council functioned here as a court of debt recovery, its authority converting evasive private obligations into admitted debts with fixed terms, the same enforcing role it exercised over the Company's own credits. The common deadline of 25 March recurs across the debtors' promises, the date marking the island's accounting day on which the store books were settled and balances struck. Long's undertaking to pay by that day at the latest ties his private debt to the rhythm of the Company's financial year, the quarter day serving as the natural point at which a planter might expect to have realised his crop and be able to clear his obligations. The pursuit of these debts came shortly after Lacy's own removal from office. He had been discharged from the accountant's place at the consultation of 3 May 1720 for negligence and had obstructed the Steward orphan's placement in the complaint resolved at the consultation of 14 February 1720. His turning to the council to recover his private debts shows a man out of the Company's employment relying on the same authority that had lately censured him to enforce his own claims. | |
15 | 1720. Likewise Thomas Watts owes £1, 7s 6d He ownes the debt & promises Payment. John Bagley Senr owes on the same Acco: £6, 5s He denys the debt alledging he did owe Capt Haswell So much but paid him in two diett Bills that He Accepted of Some time before his death. This being no Proper debt to Mr Lacy must lie longer in Suspence. William Worrall He Says owes him £2, 4s 6d He owns the debt & promises Paymt as Soone as Posible. Peter Sinsmick owes him £1, 4s 6d He owns the debt and Promises to pay it on the 25 March next. Mrs Shrwe owes him £1, 4s - she owns the debt, & promises Payment as Soone as Posible. The Governr Reports that He committed Jno Dixon Corporal on Saturday last for Inticeing two of the Honble Compas Blacks & one of Mr Byfelds to take out one of their fishing Boats to go a fishing in without leave and Savd the Boat. And that He had Orded him to be whipt Yesterday with 31 Lashes, for Inticeing the Blacks as aforesaid, and then Committed him to Prison for taking the Boat untill he make Satisfaction for the Boat. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: belong to Capt Haswel. Jno Dixon Committed. Whipt. | Likewise Thomas Watts owes £7 0s 6d. He admitted the debt and promised payment. John Bagley senior owes on the same account £6 5s 0d. Bagley denied the debt, claiming that he owed Captain Haswell so much but had paid him in two diet bills that Haswell accepted some time before his death. This being no clear debt, the matter against Lacy was left undecided. William Worrall owes him £2 14s 6d. He admitted the debt and promised payment as soon as possible. Peter Sinsnick owes him £1 14s 6d. He admitted the debt and promised to pay it on 25 March next. Mr Shrewe owes him £1 1s 0d. He admitted the debt and promised payment as soon as possible. Governor Johnson reported that he had committed Corporal John Dixon on the previous Saturday for enticing two of the Company's slaves and one of Mr Byfield's to take out one of the fishing boats and go fishing without leave, and that the boat had been saved. He had ordered Dixon whipped the previous day with thirty-one lashes for enticing the slaves, and then committed him to prison for taking the boat until he should make satisfaction for it. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The Bagley dispute marks the limit of the council's debt-recovery procedure where the obligation itself was contested. The other debtors admitted their debts and were given dates to pay, but Bagley denied owing the sum, claiming he had already settled with Captain Haswell through diet bills accepted before Haswell's death. The council declined to enforce a debt that was not clear, leaving the claim against Lacy unresolved and showing that its summary process reached only admitted obligations, not disputed ones requiring proof. The diet bill was a credit note issued against board provided, and Bagley's defence rested on having discharged his debt to Haswell in such bills rather than in coin. The instrument let provisions supplied to the Company's table be converted into a transferable claim, so that a man could pay a debt with the credit he had earned by victualling, the bills passing as a form of money within the island's accounts. The punishment of Corporal Dixon shows the council treating the unauthorised use of a fishing boat as a serious offence at a moment when the boats were vital and scarce. The fishery supplied the slaves at the plantations and fortifications, and the boats had lately been wrecked by surf, so taking one out without leave risked a resource the establishment could not spare. Dixon was both whipped for enticing the slaves and held in prison until he made good the boat, the double penalty reflecting the gravity of endangering the means of the slaves' subsistence. Speculations The Governor's decision to hold Dixon in prison until he made satisfaction for the boat, rather than simply punishing the offence, suggests the imprisonment was used to compel payment rather than to mark the wrong. The whipping answered the enticement of the slaves, but the continued confinement was tied specifically to the boat, ending only when Dixon made it good. The measure turned the prison into a means of recovering the value of a damaged asset, the man's release made conditional on restoring what his conduct had put at risk. | |
16 | ffebry Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 28 of ffebry 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & Approvd of. On ffryday last the 24th Inst: We had a double Alarm made at Prosperous bay for three Ships to Windward about Seven Leagues Distance. In the afternoon of the same day Arrived the Ship Mountague Capt John Gordon Commander from China, and informd us that Wee thre two Ships were Ostenders also from China, they came in Sight of Mundens Point and then Bore away. Received by this Ship Mountague from China the following Cargo of Tea, China Ware, & Silk. No 1 1 Chest Bohea Tea qt £1, 28lb (lb Catty wt) at 36s ⅌ Cwt 46s 8d 2 1 Ditto Single qt £1, 32 26 34s 3s 2d 1 Chest China viz qt of 391 Sneakers 795 Cups 30 Bowles 13s 5s 9s 5 Stitching & Sewing Silk 1 Box qt 20lb (Catty wt) at £1, 6 ⅌ Catt: 32s 4 1 Charges for 3 Chests & Canistors for the Tea 8s 2 1 Sume Totall: 134s 1 9s 5 Errors Excepted ⅌ R Savage Tho Dadle Margin Notes: Ship Mountague Arrival. Sneakers for China. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 February 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. On Friday last, the 24th of this month, a double alarm was made at Prosperous Bay for three ships to windward at about seven leagues distance. In the afternoon of the same day the ship Montague, Captain John Gordon commander, arrived from China and reported that the other two ships were Ostenders, also from China. They came in sight of Munden's Point and then bore away. The following cargo of tea, china ware and silk was received from this ship Montague from China. Number 1 1 chest of bohea tea of 728 pounds net at 36 per pound 46 taels 8 mace [Number 2] 1 chest of single tea of 832 pounds net at 26 per pound 34 taels 3 mace 2 candareens 1 chest of china ware of 391 sneakers, 795 cups and 30 bowls 13 taels 5 mace 9 candareens 5 [...] Stitching and sewing silk, 1 box of 20 catties at 1 tael 6 mace per catty 32 taels 4 mace 1 candareen Charges for 3 chests and canisters for the tea 8 taels 2 mace 1 candareen Sum total 134 taels 1 mace 9 candareens 5 [...] Errors excepted R Savage Thomas Dadd Interpretations The cargo account was kept in Chinese money of account, the tael divided into mace, candareens and the smallest fractional unit, the whole reckoned at the Canton rates rather than converted to sterling. The goods reached St Helena under the standing arrangement by which the council took a small quantity of the Company's consigned tea, china ware and silk from returning China ships, the invoice signed off with the customary form of errors excepted by the ship's supercargoes Savage and Dadd. The pricing by the pound for tea and by the catty for silk fixed each commodity against its own Canton measure. The alarm and the bearing away of the two Ostenders show the watch the island kept on unidentified shipping. The Ostend Company traded to China in competition with the English Company and outside its monopoly, so the appearance of two of its ships off Munden's Point was a matter the council recorded with care. Their coming in sight and then standing off, while the Company's own Montague put in, marks the distinction the island drew between a vessel of its own masters and the rival interlopers it would not assist. The sneaker was a small drinking vessel or cup, and the china ware chest was reckoned by counting its separate pieces, the sneakers, cups and bowls listed as distinct articles within the single chest. The bohea and single teas were the common grades of the China trade, bohea the darker and cheaper sort, the two together making up the bulk of the tea taken from the ship and priced by weight at the Canton rate. | |
17 | 1720. Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 7 day of March 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. On Sunday the 5th Inst: Arrived the Ship Essex from China Commanded by Capt Sommers (late Cheif mate) who Succeeded after the death of Capt John Pinnell And brought from thence for the use of this Island the following Tea, Silk, & China Ware. 1 Chest Bohea Tea cont qt 6 Catties at 36 tale ⅌ Cwt 34s 5s 6d 1 ditto Single cont qt 1, 7 - at 24 tale ⅌ Cwt 25s 6s 8d Sewing Silk 1 Box cont 20lb (Catty wt) at £1, 5 ⅌ Catty 30s 1 0 China Ware 1 Chest cont qt 100 Bowles 150 Sneakers 493 Coffee Cups 17s 3s 9s 5 Charges on Invoice 14s 5s 8d Ja: Wilkinson R Neasnam Waldo du Bois 122s 2s 1s 5 We this day Considered of what Stores and Goods were wanting on this Island, and begun to draw out an Indent for the same, which We hope Our Honble Masters will send Us, they being all very Necessary Margin Notes: Essex Arrival. Her Invoice Indent begun. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 March 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. On Sunday the 5th of this month the ship Essex arrived from China, commanded by Captain Sommers, the former chief mate, who took command after the death of Captain John Pinnell. The ship brought from China for the use of the island the following tea, silk and china ware. 1 chest of bohea tea containing 936 catties at 36 taels per hundred 34 taels 5 mace 6 candareens 1 ditto of single tea containing 7 [...] catties at 24 taels per hundred 25 taels 6 mace 8 candareens 1 box of sewing silk containing 20 catties at 1 tael 5 mace per catty 30 taels 1 mace 0 candareens 1 chest of china ware containing 100 bowls, 150 sneakers and 493 coffee cups 17 taels 3 mace 9 candareens 5 [...] Charges on invoice 14 taels 5 mace 8 candareens 122 taels 2 mace 1 candareen 5 [...] James Wilkinson R Newsham Waldo du Bois The council considered this day what stores and goods the island needed and began to draw up an indent for them, which it hoped the Company would send, all being very necessary. Interpretations The Essex cargo repeats the arrangement seen with the Montague at the consultation of 28 February 1720, the council drawing a small quantity of tea, silk and china ware from a homeward China ship and entering the invoice in Chinese money of account. The two ships arriving within a week of one another show the island taking advantage of the China fleet's passage to stock its store, the goods priced by the catty and the tael at the Canton rates and signed off by the supercargoes with the standing form of attestation. The succession of Captain Sommers to the command of the Essex on the death of Captain Pinnell illustrates the standing practice by which a ship's chief mate stepped up when the commander died on the voyage. The vessel continued under the next senior officer rather than being left without a master, the change of command recorded so that the council knew under whose authority the ship and its cargo now stood. The drawing-up of the indent shows the island setting out its yearly order against the next ships from England. The indent was the settlement's formal requisition, listing the stores and goods it lacked, and its preparation marks the regular point in the year at which St Helena reckoned its wants and put them to the Company's buyers in London. The council's hope that the masters would send the goods reflects the island's dependence on the home supply for the materials it could not produce. | |
18 | March Necessary and adjudged for only one years Expence. Mr Byfeld brought in his Book Containing an Acco: of the Honble Company live Stock and Expence for the month of ffebry last, which was Examind, approvd, and by us Signd. Capt Goodwin likewise brought in his Book Containing the monthly Acco: for the month of ffebry, which was also Examind, approvd, & Signd by us. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednes =day the 8th day of March 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d in Town: Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & approvd of. Docter Scrimshire made Complaint to the Govr that William Beale his Asistant, had Scendalized him by Saying & reporting that the Company had better a given a hundred Pound than to have Sent Doctr Scrimshire here, and that he was now a Picking Mr Greentrees Pockett. The Said Beale being Sumoned and now before us ownes he did Say Something like the former words, but never Sayd any thing of the latter as he remembers tho' perhaps he might Say Something tending thereto. Margin Notes: Mr Byfeld Acco: Honble Compas live Stock & Expences for ffebry Dor Scrimshires Complt agt Late Mate Beale Beals answer | The stores were judged sufficient for only one year's expenditure. Mr Byfield brought in his book containing the account of the Company's livestock and expenses for the month of February, which was examined, approved and signed. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his book containing the monthly accounts for the month of February, which was also examined, approved and signed. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Wednesday 8 March 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second, in council John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Doctor Scrimshire complained to Governor Johnson that his assistant William Beale had slandered him by saying and reporting that the Company had better have given a hundred pounds than to have sent Doctor Scrimshire here, and that Beale was now picking Mr Greentree's pocket. Beale, being summoned and now appearing, admitted that he had said something like the first of these, but maintained that he had never said anything of the latter as far as he could recall, though perhaps he might have said something tending towards it. Interpretations The slander complaint shows the council acting to protect the standing of a Company officer against words spoken by his subordinate. Doctor Scrimshire, the chief surgeon, brought the matter before the Governor because Beale's reported words struck at his fitness for the post the Company had sent him to fill. The dispute set the senior surgeon's authority against his assistant's loose talk, and the council's summoning of Beale to answer marks its concern that the reputation of a man placed by the Company should not be undermined by those serving under him. Beale's partial admission illustrates the difficulty of fixing liability for spoken slander. He owned the first set of words, that the Company would have done better to give a hundred pounds than to send Scrimshire, but denied the more pointed charge of accusing him of picking Greentree's pocket, conceding only that he might have said something tending that way. The council was left to weigh an acknowledged insult against a denied accusation, the same problem of proof that attended the disputed Bagley debt at the consultation of 21 February 1720. William Beale appears across these consultations in several capacities, as the assistant surgeon here, as the complainant in the boundary dispute with Thomas Swallow, and as the assistant summoned to attend the examination of Margaret Swallow. His recurring presence marks him as a man of some standing on the island who nonetheless drew the council's notice for loose conduct, the slander of his own superior being of a piece with the friction he generated elsewhere. | |
19 | 1720. Peter Sinsmick was then calld & Sworne who Deposes that he heard Mr Beale Say that the Company had better given a hundred Pound than to have Sent Docter Scrimshire here, and that he was at this time a Picking Mr Greentrees Pocket, and would in a very little time Shew himself in his true Colours, or words to this Effect. Beal was reprimanded and both of them Advised to mind their Business and their Dismist. Island St Helena By the Worshipfll Edward Johnson Esqr Govr & Council An Advertizement. Whereas Several white Persons in and about the Island have, and do too frequently Demean themselves by holding & keeping a Secret & Clandestine Correspon= =dence with Blacks (& Especially the Honble Compas Employed in Tayloring work) and underhand do Buy & Sell with, and receive money, Goods, & other things from them, for little or no vallue things of greater worth & have at Sundry times unlawfully Employd them Inso= =much that many Idle & Evill minded Blacks have thereby been Encouraged to turn Robbers & fellons and betake themselves to wicked & evill habits of life which tends to the Great Scandal of all the Good People of the Said Island, and to the Great Loss & Prejudice of all Masters and owners of Such Blacks. For Remedy whereof and to Prevent all Such Evill Practices for the future We Margin Notes: Peter Sinsmicks Deposition. forbidding all Blacks to Trade or to have Correspondence wth ye Compas Taylors. | Peter Sinsnick was then called and sworn. He deposed that he had heard Beale say that the Company would have done better to give a hundred pounds than to have sent Doctor Scrimshire here, and that Beale was at this time picking Mr Greentree's pocket and would in a very little time show himself in his true colours, or words to that effect. Beale was reprimanded, and both men were advised to mind their own business and were then dismissed. Island of St Helena By the Worshipful Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor, and council. An advertisement. Several white persons in and about the island too frequently kept up a secret and clandestine correspondence with slaves, especially those of the Company employed in tailoring. They secretly bought, sold and received money, goods and other things from the slaves for little or no value, things of greater worth, and at various times unlawfully employed them. So many idle and ill-minded slaves had thereby been encouraged to turn robbers and felons, and to fall into wicked and evil habits of life. This tended to the great scandal of all the good people of the island, and to the great loss and injury of all masters and owners of such slaves. To remedy this and to prevent all such evil practices in future, the council [...]. Interpretations The deposition of Peter Sinsnick supplied the council with the sworn evidence that fixed Beale's words beyond his own partial admission. Where Beale had owned the first insult but denied the charge of picking Greentree's pocket, Sinsnick's oath confirmed both, allowing the council to reprimand him on proof rather than on his qualified confession. The episode shows the same reliance on a sworn witness to settle a disputed fact that the council had used in the examination of Margaret Swallow, the oath of a third party resolving what the parties themselves contested. The advertisement addressed a structural problem in the island's economy, the illicit trade between white inhabitants and the Company's slaves. White persons bought stolen or undervalued goods from the slaves and unlawfully hired their labour, and the council held this traffic responsible for driving slaves into theft to feed it. The measure framed the trade not as a series of isolated offences but as a settled practice that corrupted the slaves and robbed their masters, the council moving by general proclamation to suppress a commerce that ordinary prosecution had failed to check. The particular notice of the Company's tailoring slaves marks the value of skilled slave labour and the temptation it created. Slaves trained to a trade produced goods that could be diverted into the private market, so the inhabitants' dealing with them drew off both the labour and its product from the Company's use. The advertisement's emphasis on this group shows the council identifying the skilled slaves as the chief point at which the illicit trade tapped the Company's resources. Speculations The council's choice to proceed by a general advertisement rather than by prosecuting individual offenders suggests the trade had grown too widespread for case-by-case enforcement. The proclamation named no single culprit but condemned the whole practice and threatened all who engaged in it, an attempt to deter a diffuse and concealed commerce by public warning. The measure aimed at the secrecy that made the trade hard to catch, substituting a standing prohibition with a known penalty for the difficult task of proving each clandestine exchange. | |
20 | March We the Governr & Council of this Island Do hereby Order and Strictly Enjoyne that no white Person on the Said Island of what Denomination Soever Do henceforth Presume to Employ, Buy, Sell, Trade, Traffick, Barter, or Exchange to or with any Black or Blacks whatsoever, or to receive, or take from them upon any Acco: any Sort of money, or Goods, or any other kind of Merchandize. But where any Black or Blacks shall bring & Offer to Sale, or for Merchandize, any manner of Goods, or thing whatsoever, We Strictly Charge & Comand all & every white Person or Persons to Seize the Same as Stolen Goods, and to apprehend the Said Black or Blacks & to bring him, Her, or them with the Said Stolen Goods Immediatly to the Governr. And all Persons are hereby further Strictly forbidden to offend in any of the before: =mentiond Articles, on pain of being Prosecuted for their offence to the utmost Severity of the Law in that Case made and Provided, wherefore all Persons are to take Notice Accordingly. Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 24th day of ffebruary 1720. & Signd ⅌ Ordr of the Worshipfll Governr &c Jno Alexander Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: All Persons forbid trading wth Blacks. the Penalty This fair hath been Coppyd and Sent Home ⅌ Ship Mountague Capt John Gordon Comdr who Saild there March 1720. | Governor Johnson and the council ordered and strictly required that no white person on the island, of whatever rank, should from now on presume to employ, buy, sell, trade, barter or exchange with any slave, or to receive or take from them any kind of money, goods or other merchandise. Where any slave brought and offered for sale, or as merchandise, any kind of goods, every white person was strictly charged and required to seize the goods as stolen, to apprehend the slave, and to bring both the slave and the goods at once to the Governor. All persons were further strictly forbidden to offend in any of the matters set out, on pain of being prosecuted for the offence to the utmost severity of the law made and provided for such a case. All persons were therefore to take notice accordingly. Dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 24 February 1720, and signed by order of Governor Johnson and the council. John Alexander Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin This was copied fairly and sent home by the ship Montague, Captain John Gordon commander, which sailed on the [...] of March 1720. Interpretations The body of the advertisement sets out the enforcement machinery behind the policy declared in the preamble. Every white inhabitant was not merely forbidden to deal with the slaves but positively required to seize any goods a slave offered and to deliver both the goods and the slave to the Governor. The order turned every white person into an agent of enforcement, converting the whole settler population into a check on the slaves' movement of goods, a far wider net than prosecution of individual buyers could cast. The presumption that any goods a slave offered for sale were stolen reveals the legal mechanism at the heart of the measure. By treating the slave's possession of saleable goods as proof of theft, the council removed the need to prove how each item had been obtained, shifting the whole transaction outside lawful commerce. A slave had no recognised capacity to own or trade goods, so anything in his hands to sell was held stolen by definition, and the white person who took it was acting not as a buyer but as a recoverer of stolen property. The recording of the advertisement's despatch home by the Montague shows the council building its account for the Company's masters. The fair copy sent to London under Captain Gordon, who had brought the China cargo entered at the consultation of 28 February 1720, placed the measure on the record the directors would read. The island's government regularly transmitted its proclamations and proceedings home, so that its handling of the illicit slave trade should be seen and approved by the masters whose property the trade injured. | |
21 | 1720. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 14th day of March 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & approvd of. On ffryday the 10th Instant the Ships Mountague and Essex Saild hence for England. Mr Slaughter brought in the Acco: of Gunners Stores Expended for the month of ffebry last wch was Examined approvd & is as follows. ffebry 5 5th For ye Guard Mount: Dismount: & Exerciseing 16 ditto 9 An Alarme 4 4 Do 9 Arrived ye Tartr Brigantine No Guns fired for the Clearing a Culverene 1 Do 12 A double Alarme for 6 Ships Pass'd by 6 6 Do 14 A double Alarm for 2 Ships Pass'd by 6 6 A Pouch fild for the Guard 6 6 Do 24 a Double Alarm for 3 Ships Do Arrived the Mountague (two Ostend Pass'd by) 22 22 2 Flasques of Powder Expended 2 Muskett Bolls 2 Cartridge paper 1 axeltrees 1 trucks 2 Spunge Staves 18 fflints 1 Sheep Skins 2 match 3 Hand Spikes 2 Scouring Rodds 2 2 3 2 1 18 2 1 1 2 44 64 | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 14 March 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. On Friday the 10th of this month the ships Montague and Essex sailed from the island for England. Mr Slaughter brought in the account of gunner's stores expended for the month of February, which was examined and approved, and is as follows. 5 February 1720 For guards mounting, dismounting and exercising 16 minions, 16 pounds of powder 9 February 1720 An alarm 4 minions, 4 pounds of powder [9 February 1720] Arrived the Tartar Brigantine, no guns fired for the clearing of a culverin 1 pound of powder 12 February 1720 A double alarm for 6 ships passing by 6 minions, 6 pounds of powder 14 February 1720 A double alarm for 2 ships passing by 6 minions, 6 pounds of powder A pouch filled for the guard 6 [...] 24 February 1720 A double alarm for 3 ships 22 minions, 22 pounds of powder [24 February 1720] Arrived the Montague, two Ostenders passing by 2 pounds of powder Musket balls 2 Cartridge paper 1 quire Axletrees 1 Trucks 2 Sponge staves 18 Flints 100 Sheep skins 2 Match 3 Hand spikes 2 Scouring rods [...] 2 musket balls, 3 [...], 2 axletrees, 1 quire of cartridge paper, 18 sponge staves, 2 trucks, 1 [...], 1 [...], 2 hand spikes = 44 minions, 64 pounds of powder Interpretations The gunner's account records a fortnight of unusual traffic past the island, the powder issued by occasion as each sail came in view. The heaviest charge fell on 24 February 1720 for the double alarm raised at three ships, the same day the Montague put in and two Ostenders stood off, the rival China traders noted as passing without being saluted. The run of double alarms across the month, for six ships, then two, then three, shows the watch turned out repeatedly as the homeward fleets crossed the road. The minion was a small cannon of light bore, and the powder for it was reckoned in pound measures matching the falcon charges of the earlier returns. The account separates the rounds fired for alarms and the exercise of the guard from the stores of flints, match, sponge staves and gun-carriage trucks consumed in maintaining the batteries, the two kinds of charge carried within the single monthly total signed by the gunner Slaughter. The note that no guns were fired at the arrival of the Tartar Brigantine, the powder instead spent on clearing a culverin, marks the council's economy in the use of its ammunition. Where a salute might have been given, the charge went to maintaining a gun in serviceable order, a sign that powder was treated as a resource to be spent on need rather than ceremony when the occasion allowed. | |
22 | March Jonathan Doveton free Planter Presented the follow =ing Petition Setting forth That Whereas he had a former Grant of a Piece of Ground in James Valley Adjoyn =ing to his dwelling House, and is now minded to Build a House thereon, the Charge whereof the Shortness of the terme of 21 Years already Granted will not near Answer And therefore Prays an Additional time to that afore for Ninety nine Years to Commence from the Can =celing of that former Lease. Humbly Conceiving the Same to be no Prejudice but advantage to the Honble Compa: by his building a House thereon. And &c Granted He paying the annual Rent formerly agreed on. The Acco: of the two last Ships with the Tartar Brigantines was this day Enterd in the Transferr Journal An Indent of Stores wanted on the Island St Helena. Sent for ⅌ Ship Mountague. Brasiers Ware. Quality. Quantity 2 doz: Tea Kettles from 3 pints to One Gallon 1 doz: ⅌: Brass Candlesticks wthout Snuffers have none in ye Store 2 doz: Brass Pepper Boxes. 2 doz: Copper Sauce pans abt 2 quts Each 2 doz: Brass Ladles. 1 doz: Chafeing Dishes Large Margin Notes: Mr Dovetons Petition for a Lease of 99 Yrs for ground in ye Valley. Granted. Ships Acco: ⅌ Compd Indent of Stores wanted. | Jonathan Doveton, free planter, presented the following petition. He had earlier been granted a piece of ground in James Valley adjoining his dwelling house and now intended to build a house on it. The cost of building would not be repaid within the twenty-one-year term already granted, so he asked for additional time to that, namely a lease for ninety-nine years to begin from the cancelling of the former lease. He held that this would be no loss but an advantage to the Company through his building a house on the ground. The council granted the request, he paying the annual rent formerly agreed. The accounts of the two last ships, together with the Tartar Brigantine, were this day entered in the transfer journal. An indent of stores wanted on the island of St Helena, sent for by the ship Montague. Brasiers' ware 2 dozen tea kettles from 3 pints to one gallon 1 dozen brass candlesticks without snuffers, none in the store 2 dozen brass pepper boxes 2 dozen copper saucepans at about 2 quarts each 2 dozen brass ladles 1 dozen chafing dishes, large Interpretations The Doveton petition turned on the mismatch between the cost of building and the length of the tenure that secured it. A house was a heavy investment that a twenty-one-year lease would not let the builder recover, so Doveton sought a ninety-nine-year term to make the outlay worthwhile. The council's grant on the former rent shows it encouraging permanent building in the valley by extending the security of tenure, the long lease serving as the inducement to improve the ground with a substantial house. The indent sets out the island's order against the home supply, listed by the London trade that produced each class of goods. The brasiers' ware covered the worked brass and copper vessels for the kitchen and table, the tea kettles, candlesticks, pepper boxes, saucepans, ladles and chafing dishes that the island could not make and had to draw from England. The note that no brass candlesticks remained in the store shows the requisition keyed to actual want, the order placed against the goods the settlement had run short of. The chafing dish was a vessel for keeping food warm at table over coals or a spirit lamp, and its inclusion among the brasiers' ware marks the domestic equipment of the island's better households. The list as a whole reflects the material standard of the settlement's kitchens, dependent for its metal vessels on the yearly indent sent home, the goods reckoned by the dozen and specified by size and kind so the Company's buyers could match them. | |
23 | 1720. Cutlary Ware Quality Quantity 16 doz: Pocket knives & forks, some Ivory hafts 10 doz: Clasp Pruning knives 4 doz: Clasp Penknives of the best Sort ½ doz: ⅌: Taylors Sheers 10 doz: Shoemakers knives 12 Gross Aul Blades Sorted for Shoemakers. 20 Grt: Tacks Sorted Haberdashery Ware 2 Peices of Black Alamodes for Hoods. 10 of fine ounce thread Sorted 2 fine flowrishing ditto 50 Coloured Thread 50 Browne Ditto 50 Whited Browne ditto 6 Gross Pins Sorted 10 Mill: fine Needles 100 Shoemakers thread 100 Twine ½ Gross Holland Tape ½ Grt: Colld Tape Sorted 1 Grt: Ferretting Sorted 6 Dozn Ivory Combs 1 Gross of Galloom Sorted 1 Grt: of Thimbles for Women 2 doz: ⅌: Black Silk Gloves for Ditto 2 doz: ⅌r of Stays & Jumps for Ditto 1 doz: of Gold & Silver Triming for Hatts. | Cutlery ware 16 dozen pocket knives and forks, some with ivory hafts 10 dozen clasp pruning knives 4 dozen clasp penknives of the best sort half a dozen pairs of tailors' shears 10 dozen shoemakers' knives 12 gross awl blades, sorted, for shoemakers 20 gross tacks, sorted Haberdashery ware 2 pieces of black alamode for hoods 10 pounds of fine ounce thread, sorted 2 pounds of fine flourishing thread 50 pounds of coloured thread 50 pounds of brown thread 50 pounds of whited brown thread 6 gross pins, sorted 10 thousand fine needles 100 pounds of shoemakers' thread 100 pounds of twine half a gross of Holland tape half a gross of coloured tape, sorted 1 gross of ferreting, sorted 6 dozen ivory combs 1 gross of galloon, sorted 1 gross of thimbles for women 2 dozen pairs of black silk gloves for women 2 dozen pairs of stays and jumps for women 1 dozen of gold and silver trimming for hats Interpretations The indent lists the haberdashery and cutlery the island drew from England by trade, the goods reckoned by the dozen, the gross and the pound and specified by sort so the Company's buyers could match them. The cutlery covered the worked blades the settlement could not produce, the pocket knives, pruning knives, penknives and the shoemakers' knives, awl blades and tacks ordered specifically for the island's leatherworkers. The shoemaking goods recur across the requisition, marking the trade as one the settlement supported and supplied from home. Several of the named wares would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. Alamode was a thin glossy black silk used for hoods and mourning wear. Ferreting was a stout tape or narrow ribbon of cotton or silk used for binding and trimming. Galloon was a close-woven braid or lace, often of gold, silver or silk, used to edge garments and furnishings. Jumps were an unstiffened bodice worn in place of rigid stays, and stays were the boned bodice that shaped a woman's dress. Whited brown thread was unbleached thread that had been partly whitened. The flourishing thread was a fine thread used for ornamental needlework. The provision of women's apparel and trimmings, the silk gloves, stays, jumps, thimbles and the gold and silver hat trimming, marks the consumer demand of the island's households for goods of some refinement. The settlement was small and remote, yet its better families wanted the same dress accessories as their counterparts at home, and the indent met that demand through the same yearly order that supplied the kitchen vessels and the tradesmen's tools. | |
24 | March Hatts. Quality. Quantity 2 doz: fine Cloth Hatts 10 doz: Ordy ditto 4 doz: Ordy ditto for Boys 1 doz: fine ditto for Do Hosiers Ware 28 Worsted of Gray Colrs 1 Gross Knitting Needles 300 pr Strong Ordy Stockings for Labouring People 100 pr Mens fine ditto Such as Cost in Lond: ab: 3/6 ⅌ pr 50 pr ditto four threaded 50 pr fine Stockings for Women 100 pr Ordy Do for Do 150 pr Youths Ordy Do Iron Mongers Ware 6 doz: Stock Locks Sorted 6 doz: Clospett Spring Locks 6 doz: Chest Locks & 2 doz: Chest Hinges 6 doz: Splinter ditto 6 doz: Cupboard Do 1 doz: Setts of Till Do 2 doz: of Steel Hand Saws 500 watt 4 Nayles 1000 Do 6 ditto 500 Do 8 ditto 1000 Do 10 ditto 1000 Do 20 ditto 200 Pick Axes from 5 to 7 each | Hats 2 dozen fine cloth hats 10 dozen ordinary cloth hats 4 dozen ordinary cloth hats for boys 1 dozen fine cloth hats for boys Hosiers' ware 28 pounds of worsted of grey colours 1 gross knitting needles 300 pairs of strong ordinary stockings for labouring people 100 pairs of men's fine stockings, such as cost in London about 3s 6d per pair 50 pairs of men's fine four-threaded stockings 50 pairs of fine stockings for women 100 pairs of ordinary stockings for women 150 pairs of youths' ordinary stockings Ironmongers' ware 6 dozen stock locks, sorted 6 dozen closet spring locks 6 dozen chest locks and 2 dozen chest hinges 6 dozen splinter hinges 6 dozen cupboard hinges 1 dozen sets of till hinges 2 dozen steel hand saws 500 weight of 4-penny nails 1,000 weight of 6-penny nails 500 weight of 8-penny nails 1,000 weight of 10-penny nails 1,000 weight of 20-penny nails 200 pickaxes from 5 to 7 pounds each Interpretations The hosiers' and ironmongers' wares show the island ordering goods graded by the rank and use of those who would wear or handle them. The stockings ran from strong ordinary pairs for the labouring people up to fine pairs for men and women, the requisition specifying the London price of the better men's stockings so the Company's buyers could match the quality wanted. The labouring stockings were ordered in the largest quantity, three hundred pairs, reflecting the size of the working population the Company clothed. The nails were reckoned by the hundredweight and graded by the penny, the old measure of nail size by the price per hundred, so a 4-penny nail was smaller than a 20-penny. The range from 4-penny to 20-penny, ordered by the thousandweight, marks the building and repair the island carried on, the nails the basic fastening for the construction of houses, fences and fittings that the settlement could not produce and drew wholly from home. The locks and hinges, sorted by their use on stocks, closets, chests, cupboards and tills, reveal the demand for security and fitted furniture in the island's households and stores. The till locks point to the strongboxes and counters of trade, the chest and closet locks to the safekeeping of goods, the whole class of ironmongery reflecting a settlement that needed to secure its property against the theft the council had lately moved to suppress. | |
25 | 1720. Iron Mongers Ware continued Quantity 1 Gross of Small Gimbletts 1 Grt: Trowills for Stone layers & Plaistering. 2 doz: Box Irons 6 doz: frying Panns 6 doz: Small H Hinges 6 doz: ditto Dovetailes 6 doz: Shod Shovels 5 doz: ⅌r Tongs Tin Mens Ware 5 doz: Coffee Potts Sorted 12 doz: Sauce Pans Sorted 1 doz: Watering Potts 2 doz: Pasty pans 20 doz: Sheet Tin 2 ⅌ Large Speaking Trumpetts & To hail the Ships & Boats 3 ⅌ Small ditto Sat Banks & Mund: Point. Pewterers Ware 10 doz: Porringers 2 doz: Tankards 10 doz: Chamber Potts Sorted ½ doz: middling Soope Dishes 3 doz: Small Dishes 6 doz: Basons Sorted. Plumbers Ware 1 Ton of Pigg lead for Severall Uses, In Ingotts. 500 watt: of Bird Shott | Ironmongers' ware continued 1 gross of small gimlets 1 gross of trowels for stone layers and plastering 2 dozen box irons 6 dozen frying pans 6 dozen small H hinges 6 dozen dovetail hinges 6 dozen shod shovels 5 dozen pairs of tongs Tin men's ware 5 dozen coffee pots, sorted 12 dozen saucepans, sorted 1 dozen watering pots 2 dozen pasty pans 20 dozen sheet tin 2 large speaking trumpets, to hail the ships and boats 3 pairs of small speaking trumpets, for Banks's and Munden's Point Pewterers' ware 10 dozen porringers 2 dozen tankards 10 dozen chamber pots, sorted half a dozen middling soup dishes 3 dozen small dishes 6 dozen basins, sorted Plumbers' ware 1 ton of pig lead for several uses, in ingots 500 weight of bird shot Interpretations The continued indent shows the island ordering the worked metal goods of several distinct trades, each class listed under the London craft that produced it. The ironmongers' ware covered the iron tools and fittings for building and the kitchen, the gimlets, trowels, box irons, frying pans, hinges and shovels, the trowels marked specifically for the stone layers and plastering the settlement's construction required. The box iron was a flat iron heated by a slug of metal placed inside it, and the shod shovel was a wooden shovel edged with iron to take the wear. The speaking trumpets reveal the practical need to hail shipping and pass signals between the island's batteries. The two large trumpets were ordered to hail the ships and boats in the road, and the smaller pairs were assigned to Banks's and Munden's Point, the two seaward forts. The instruments let the forts communicate with vessels and with one another across distances the voice alone could not carry, a piece of the island's defensive and harbour equipment rather than mere domestic goods. The pig lead and bird shot under the plumbers' ware mark the raw materials the island worked up for itself. The ton of pig lead in ingots was ordered for several uses, the unwrought metal to be cast or beaten on the island as need arose, while the bird shot supplied the fowling that supplemented the settlement's food. The requisition of raw lead rather than finished articles shows the island maintaining a capacity to fashion some of its own metal goods from imported stock. | |
26 | March Fishing tackling of all Sorts & ¾ of the Hooks to be of the Smallest Sizes and Some of the Lines to be 40 fathom long, being very much wanted & Always usefull. A Saine of 15 foot deep at the Ends & 300 foot in length wth which we can Catch abundance of fish Provisions. Quantity 20 Punchions of Beef. 10 ditto of Pork 10 Hogd: of Bread 25 Casks of Flour 20 ditto of Pease to give the Blacks in the rainy Seasons. 1 ditto of ditto for Seed to plant. 1 do: of Beans 100 of Starch Shoes. Vizt 50 pr of Handsome Mens Shoes & half of em to be of Spannish Leather for our own Ware, We count no Ordy having none in the Stores 50 pr Womens Calf Skin Shoes 50 pr ditto Spanish leather Do 100 pr of Boys & Girles Shoes Sorted. Stationary Ware 3 Legers of 3 Qur each of Royall Paper those formerly Sent 3 Journals of 2 Qr each of Ditto Us had too much in 3 Books of 3 qr each for Consultations. 3 Blank do: of do: Size for other Uses. Margin Notes: a good Quantity The Saine 6 Blank | Fishing tackle of all sorts, a good quantity, two-thirds of the hooks to be of the smallest sizes, and some of the lines to be 40 fathoms long, being much wanted and always useful. A seine 15 feet deep at the ends and 300 feet long, with which the island can catch abundance of fish. Provisions 20 puncheons of beef 10 puncheons of pork 10 hogsheads of bread 25 casks of flour 20 casks of peas to give the slaves in the rainy seasons 1 cask of peas, for seed to plant 1 cask of beans, for seed to plant 100 pounds of starch Shoes 50 pairs of handsome men's shoes, half of them to be of Spanish leather, for the island's own wear, no ordinary sort being wanted, none being in the stores 50 pairs of women's calfskin shoes 50 pairs of women's Spanish leather shoes 100 pairs of boys' and girls' shoes, sorted Stationery ware 3 ledgers of 3 quires each of royal paper, those formerly sent having held too much 3 journals of 2 quires each of royal paper 3 books of 3 quires each for consultations 3 blank books of the same size for other uses, 6 blank Interpretations The fishing tackle and the seine show the island provisioning the fishery on which its slave labour depended for food. The seine was a long net weighted at the foot and buoyed at the head, drawn through the water to enclose a body of fish, and its dimensions were set so the island could take large catches at once. The order came shortly after the heavy surf had wrecked the fishing boats, reported at the consultation of 14 February 1720, and the requisition of tackle and a net marks the council restoring the means of the catch the slaves relied on. The provisions reveal the staples the island drew from home to feed its people, the salt beef and pork in puncheons, the bread, flour, peas and beans. The peas were ordered both for eating, to give the slaves in the rainy seasons when the local provisions failed, and separately for seed to plant, the small quantities of seed peas and beans kept distinct from the bulk for the table. The starch and the provisions together show a settlement that grew its yams and kept its stock but still depended on the home supply for its salt meat and grain. The stationery requisition exposes the administrative apparatus of the island's government, the ledgers, journals and consultation books in which the Company's accounts and the council's proceedings were kept. The note that the ledgers formerly sent had held too much shows the council fitting the order to its actual rate of business, calling for smaller books better suited to the volume of its records. The royal paper was a large standard sheet, and the books were graded by the quires they held for their several uses. | |
27 | 1720 Stationary Ware Continued Quantity 6 Blank Books of 2 Qrs each for Sundry Uses Ruld. 1 Doz: of Octavo Bibles, good Print. 3 doz: of Comon Prayer Books Sorted 4 doz: of Primmers 6 doz: of Horne Books 1 Rheam of Each Sort of Paper 2 doz: Ivory handle Penknives 1 Gross Black lead Pencels 1 do: of Sealing Wax. 2 Wafers 1 Gallt: Red Ink. 5000 Good Quills 1 doz: of Rulers ½ Rhe: Blue Paper Turnary Ware 3 doz: Large Squar Trays 3 doz: Large Bowles 1 doz: Hair Brooms fasten'd well wth wyer 2 doz: Cloth Brushes 1 doz: Scrubing ditto 2 doz: Shoe ditto Woollen Goods Vizt 1 Peice fine Scarlett Broad Cloth with Triming Suitable to each Sort. 1 Pr fine Black ditto 2 Pr fine fashionable Cloth Collours 20 Pr Serges wth Triming Suitable to Each Colloure. 2 Prs | Stationery ware continued 6 blank books of 2 quires each for sundry uses, ruled 1 dozen octavo Bibles, good print 3 dozen common prayer books, sorted 4 dozen primers 6 dozen horn books 1 ream of each sort of paper 2 dozen ivory-handled penknives 1 gross black lead pencils 1 gross sealing wax 2 [...] wafers 1 gallon red ink 5,000 good quills 1 dozen rulers half a ream blue paper Turnery ware 3 dozen large square trays 3 dozen large bowls 1 dozen hair brooms fastened well with wire 2 dozen cloth brushes 1 dozen scrubbing brushes 2 dozen shoe brushes Woollen goods 1 piece of fine scarlet broadcloth, with trimming suitable to each sort 1 piece of fine black broadcloth, with trimming suitable to each sort 2 pieces of fine fashionable cloth colours 20 pieces of serges with trimming suitable to each colour, 2 pieces Interpretations The stationery continued shows the island ordering the books of religion and instruction alongside the materials of writing. The octavo Bibles, common prayer books, primers and horn books were the texts of worship and of teaching children to read, the horn book a leaf of paper bearing the alphabet and the Lord's prayer protected under a sheet of transparent horn on a wooden frame. The order marks the council provisioning the island's church and schooling from the same yearly indent that supplied its trades and kitchens. The turnery ware covered the wooden articles shaped on a lathe and the fitted brushes, the trays, bowls and brooms of the household and the brushes for cloth, scrubbing and shoes. The hair brooms were specified to be fastened well with wire, the council fixing the manner of their make so they would stand the use, the kind of practical specification that ran through the whole requisition to ensure the goods arrived fit for service. The woollen goods point to the demand for fine cloth among the island's better households and the moderate climate that made such cloth wearable. The fine scarlet and black broadcloth, with trimming to match, were the materials of good coats and gowns, and the serges supplied the commoner woollen wear. St Helena's temperate weather, cool in its season, allowed the wearing of broadcloth and serge that a tropical station could not have used, the requisition reflecting a settlement clothed much as its counterparts at home. | |
28 | March Woollen Goods Continued. Quality. Quantity 2 Pcs fine Flannell 100 Pcs Kerseys Cloth Collr: for the Blacks 12 Pcs Thicksett fine & Very Good 100 Pcs Fushons very Strong 6 Pcs fine Black & White Crape for Women Timber Vizt 20 Peices of Fir Timber of 18 & 20 foot Long for Girders 100 Baulks for Joice 50 Spares 100 Ufers 100 Spruce Deals 2000 10 foot Yellow ditto 1000 Billetts for Pick ax helves. Our Wood being not Strong Enough Garrison Stores. 60 Granadeer Coats. 40 Rain ditto 60 Granadeer Caps 40 Hatts 1 Grt: of Spare Chases for the Bayonetts 100 Sword Belts for the Soldiers. 3 Drums with Spare heads & Cords. Gunners Stores. 100 Iron Crows. 200 Handspikes 500 Tompkins Greet & Small 20 Rheam Cartridge paper 200 Spunge | Woollen goods continued 2 pieces of fine flannel 100 pieces of kerseys of cloth colours, for the slaves 12 pieces of thickset, fine and very good 100 pieces of fustians, very strong 6 pieces of fine black and white crepe for women Timber 20 pieces of fir timber of 18 and 20 feet long, for girders 100 baulks for joists 50 spars 100 risers 100 spruce deals 2,000 spruce deals of 10 feet 1,000 billets for pickaxe helves, the island's wood not being strong enough Garrison stores 60 grenadier coats 40 rain coats 60 grenadier caps 40 hats 1 gross of spare chapes for the bayonets 100 sword belts for the soldiers 3 drums with spare heads and hoops Gunners' stores 100 iron crows 200 hand spikes 500 tompions, great and small 20 reams cartridge paper 200 sponge [...] Interpretations The woollen goods for the slaves mark the Company's obligation to clothe its labour against the island's cool season. The kerseys, a coarse ribbed woollen cloth, were ordered in a hundred pieces specifically for the slaves, while the thickset and fustians, both stout cotton or mixed cloths, supplied hard-wearing garments. The provision of warm cloth for the slaves reflects St Helena's moderate climate, where the cold of the wet season pinched the labour the Company depended on, a recurring concern across these years. The timber requisition exposes the island's dependence on imported wood for its building. The fir and spruce for girders, joists, spars and deals had to come from home because the island's own wood would not serve for construction, and the billets for pickaxe helves were ordered expressly because the local wood was not strong enough for tool handles. The note marks a settlement timber-poor for its needs, its scarce native woods unfit for the structural and tool uses the requisition met from England. The garrison and gunners' stores set out the military supply the island drew from home, the grenadier coats and caps, the sword belts, drums and bayonet fittings for the soldiers, and the iron crows, hand spikes, tompions and cartridge paper for the guns. The tompion was the plug that stopped the muzzle of a cannon to keep out the wet, and the chape was the metal mounting at the tip of a bayonet scabbard. The whole class of stores shows the garrison maintained entirely from the Company's home supply, its arms, clothing and gun furniture beyond the island's making. | |
29 | 1720. Gunners Stores Continued. Quantity. Quantity 200 Spunge Staves 12 Bouge Barrells 200 Sheep Skins 25 Pruning Wyer great & Small 800 Match 18 Axeltrees for Demy Cannon 36 Demy Canon Trucks 24 Tarr Brushes 1500 Horns for Lanthorns 24 Bitts of the best Sort Bl: R: W: 20: 10: 10: Pcs Bunting red, white, & blue 40 Pcs 500 Scouring Rodds 100 Tin Partridge Cases. 24 Formers, Great & Small 100 Linstocks 48 Demy Canon Rammer Heads 36 Demy Canon Spunge Heads 300 Starch Smiths Indent. 2 Large Standing Vices 1 Large Hole vice 2 pr Hand Vices 1 pr Large Bellows 1 Cast of Tibb Iron 6 doz: Warding files 6 doz: Ditto Sorted 1 doz: Iron Wyer 1 Sledge Hammer 1 Small ditto 2 Hand ditto 2 Reamer Strikes 5 Some Cett Gutt for Drill Cocoes of Borax, & 6 Ton of flatt & Square Iron in Bars. | Gunners' stores continued 200 sponge staves 12 budge barrels 200 sheep skins 25 pounds of priming wire, great and small 800 pounds of match 18 axletrees for demi-cannon 36 demi-cannon trucks 24 tar brushes 1,500 horns for lanterns 24 bits of the best sort bunting red, white and blue, 40 pieces, being 20 red, 10 white and 10 blue 500 scouring rods 100 tin partridge cases 24 formers, great and small 100 linstocks 48 demi-cannon rammer heads 36 demi-cannon sponge heads 300 pounds of starch Smiths' indent 2 large standing vices 1 large stake vice 2 pairs hand vices 1 pair large bellows 1 last of bar iron 6 dozen warding files 6 dozen warding files, sorted 1 dozen iron wire 1 sledge hammer 1 small sledge hammer 2 hand hammers 2 reamer strikes some cast steel for drills, cocks and square iron in bars, half a ton of slate [...] of borax, and 6 tons of [...] Interpretations The gunners' stores continue the supply of the materials for serving and maintaining the great guns, the sponge staves, rammer and sponge heads, scouring rods and formers fitted to the demi-cannon, the chief piece of the island's ordnance. The budge barrel was a small powder cask with a leather cover and mouth, carried into the battery to supply the guns while keeping the loose powder from sparks, and the linstock was the forked staff that held the lighted match for firing. The whole class of stores marks the maintenance of the artillery as a constant draw on the home supply. The bunting in red, white and blue and the partridge cases reveal two distinct uses of the gunners' provision. The bunting was the loose woollen cloth from which the island's flags and ensigns were made, the colours ordered so the signals and the king's flag could be renewed, while the tin partridge cases held the small shot fired against the wild fowl the island took for food. The horns for lanterns supplied the transparent leaves that glazed the lanterns used about the magazine and the batteries. The smiths' indent sets out the tools and raw metal for the island's forge, the standing and hand vices, the bellows, files, hammers and the bar iron and cast steel the smith worked up. The forge let the island make and repair its own ironwork from imported stock, the warding files for shaping the wards of locks and keys, the reamer strikes for boring, the steel for drills and cocks. The requisition of raw iron and steel rather than finished goods shows a settlement that maintained a working capacity to fashion and mend its own metalwork from the materials sent home. | |
30 | March Coopers Indent: 1 Sett of Coopers Tools Indent of Surgeons Medicines wanted Sent apart Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 21 day of March 1720. At Union Castle in James Valley Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & approvd of. The Doctors brought in their Book of Medicines Expended since the 21 ffebry, which was Examind and approvd of. The following Petitions were Presented. (Vizt) The Petition of Richard Beale planter Setting forth that he had lately Sold ten Acres of free Land to Joseph Bates, and is now Tennant to the Honble Compa: for one Acre of their Wast Land that lies almost adjoyning to the said free Land, which being now of no Advantage to the Petitioner He Margin Notes: Wm Beale Petitions for leave to Dispose of an Acre of Land | Coopers' indent 1 set of coopers' tools The indent of surgeons' medicines wanted was sent separately. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 March 1720 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. The doctors brought in their book of medicines dispensed since the 21st of February, which was examined and approved. The following petitions were presented. The petition of the planter Richard Beale set out that he had recently sold ten acres of free land to Joseph Bates and was now tenant to the Company for one acre of their waste land lying almost adjoining the free land. That acre being now of no advantage to him, he [...]. Interpretations The close of the indent with the coopers' tools and the separate despatch of the surgeons' medicine list shows the requisition divided by the trade or office each part served. The coopers' tools maintained the island's capacity to make and mend the casks in which provisions and liquor were stored, a trade the settlement had to keep up for itself. The surgeons' medicines were sent apart because they formed the distinct requisition of the medical establishment, drawn up by the surgeon and kept separate from the general stores. The Beale petition turned on the value of a single acre of waste land that had lost its use once the adjoining freehold was sold. Richard Beale had held the acre as a Company tenant because it lay next to his own free land, but having sold that land to Joseph Bates he no longer gained by the acre and sought to surrender it. The pattern matches the surrenders of Gilbert and Peter Sinsnick earlier in these consultations, a holder giving up Company waste he could no longer turn to account, the land's worth to a tenant depending on its fit with his other ground. | |
31 | 1720. He humbly Prays leave to Dispose of the Said One Acre of Land with the Lease for the same. And &c Granted. Gilbert Sinsmick Monkhoss Petitiond Setting forth that in Pursuance to leave lately Granted him by Petition He had Disposed of the Lease for five Acres of Wast land He Hires of the Honble Compa: to Thomas Hodgkinson And therefore Humbly Prays He may from this time be admitted Tennant thereto in the Petitionrs Stead And &c Granted The Petition of Samuel Price planter Setting forth that He having a wife and three Children to Maintaine, & having no land or any Provisions but what he is Oblig'd to buy (which is very Chargeable to him) He therefore Humbly Prays We would be pleas'd to Grant him about two Acres of the Honble Compa: Wast Land lying in Sandy Bay Valley which He hopes will be Sufficient to Raise Provisions for his Said family. And &c Granted to him in Trust for his Said Children John Bagley Junr Presented a Bill of Sale for a dwelling House in James Valley He bought of John Orchard, desireing the same may be Registerd for better Security thereof. Granted Comple as Orded That an Inventory be taken of all the Honble Stores & to begin on Monday next the 27 Instant. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Margin Notes: Granted. Gilbt Sinsmick Passes Thomas Hodgkinson Tennant to be admitted Tennant Granted. Sam Price prays his Land in Sandy Bay. Granted for ye use of his Childn Jno Bagley Junr Bill of Sale for a House in ye Valley Registred Invy of Honble Compas Store to be taken. | He asked leave to give up the acre of land together with the lease for it. The council granted the request. Gilbert Sinsnick Monhoss presented a petition setting out that, under the leave granted in his earlier petition, he had given up the lease of the five acres of the Company's waste land to Thomas Hodgkinson. He therefore asked that Hodgkinson be admitted tenant in his place. The council granted the request. The petition of the planter Samuel Price set out that he had a wife and three children to support and held no land or provisions but what he was obliged to buy, which was very costly to him. He asked that the council grant him about two acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay Valley, which he hoped would be enough to raise provisions for his family. The council granted the land to him in trust for his children. John Bagley junior presented a bill of sale for a dwelling house in James Valley that he had bought from John Orchard, and asked that it be registered for his better security. The council granted the request. The council ordered that an inventory be taken of all the Company's stores, to begin on Monday the 27th of this month. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander Interpretations The grant of land to Samuel Price in trust for his children marks a deliberate protection of the family against the man's own demonstrated unreliability. Price had lately been committed to prison and had his goods seized for debt, the matter set out at the consultations of 17 and 24 January 1720, and the Governor had freed and rehoused him only on his promise of better conduct. By vesting the new land in trust for the children rather than in Price himself, the council secured the provision ground for the family beyond the reach of the father's debts and neglect. The Gilbert Sinsnick surrender completes the transfer first sought earlier in these consultations, the five acres passing from a tenant unable to bear the fencing burden to Thomas Hodgkinson. The repeated surrenders of Company waste across this run of sittings, by both Sinsnicks, by Peter Sinsnick and now by Richard Beale, show a common pattern in which the land's worth depended on the holder's ability to fence and manure it, the council preserving each grant by approving a replacement able to discharge the obligation. The order for a full inventory of the Company's stores set in train the regular reckoning of the island's holdings. The stocktaking, fixed to begin on a named day, formed part of the accounting discipline pursued under Governor Johnson after the long neglect of the books, the periodic count of the stores giving the council a true measure of what the settlement held against what its indent had ordered from home. | |
32 | March Island St Helena At a Consultation held on on Tuesday the 28 day of March 1721. at Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read and approvd of. According to an Advertizemt Issued out We begun this day for the Transfering Bills for the Quarter past and hearing any Matters that might Offer. The Doctors brought and deliverd their Book of Medi =cines Expended Since the 21 Inst: which was Examind and approvd of. The following Petitions were Presented (Vizt The Petition of Gabriel Powell Setting forth that He had lately bought a dwelling House of John Long Scituate in James Valley Wherefore Humbly Prays he may have leave to Enclose So much Ground on the Back part of the House as the breedth Contains, & as farr Back as the Corner of his Garden Wall next the Water Run on the back of his other House. And &c Granted. The Petition of Richard Beale free planter Setting forth that in Pursuance to leave Granted him upon a former Petition, He had Disposd of the One Acre of Hired Land therein Mentioned to Joseph Bates Margin Notes: Bills Transferd Gabr: Powells Petition for leave to Enclose ground behind Mr Powels late Jno Longs. Granted. Rich: Beals requests to have Jo: Bates admitted Tennt. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 March 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Following an advertisement issued for the purpose, the council began this day to transfer bills for the past quarter and to hear any parties that might come forward. The doctors brought in and delivered their book of medicines dispensed since the 21st of this month, which was examined and approved. The following petitions were presented. The petition of Gabriel Powell set out that he had recently bought a dwelling house from John Long lying in James Valley. He asked leave to enclose a piece of ground on the back part of the house, the breadth running back as far as the corner of his garden wall next the watercourse on the back of his other house. The council granted the request. The petition of the free planter Richard Beale set out that, under the leave granted in his earlier petition, he had given up the one acre of hired land mentioned there to Joseph Bates [...]. Interpretations The transfer of bills for the quarter, opened by public advertisement, marks the regular accounting point at which the island settled its credits and heard the claims of those concerned. The transfer journal recorded the movement of bills and balances between accounts, and the council's notice that it would hear any parties coming forward shows the process opened to all who had business in the quarter's reckoning, the settlement of paper claims conducted as a formal public exercise tied to the financial period. The Powell enclosure repeats the pattern of grants in James Valley bounded by the existing walls and watercourses. Powell had bought a house from John Long and sought to enclose ground behind it, the limit fixed by the corner of his own garden wall next the watercourse, the same kind of precise physical boundary the council had set on the grant behind the former Wrangham house at the consultation of 7 February 1720. The control kept each enclosure within defined lines so that building in the valley did not encroach beyond the holder's adjoining ground. The dating of this consultation to 1721 marks the turn of the old-calendar year, the sittings of January, February and March 1720 belonging to the year that ran to 24 March, with 28 March falling into the new year 1721. The change of regnal year at Lady Day rather than at the first of January placed these late March consultations at the start of a fresh year in the manuscript's reckoning, the continuous run of business carrying across the boundary without break. | |
33 | 1721. Wherefore Humbly Prays He may be Admitted the Honble Compa: Tennant thereto in the room & Stead of the Petitioner. And &c Granted The following Petition was also Presented by Jonathan Doveton, Francis Leech & James Leech Setting forth therein That Wherzas Richard Leech an Orphan went off this Island for England about twenty one Years Since and being at that time under Age the Dividend Due to him of his fathers Estate according to appraisemt after the Decease was put to his Acco: in the Honble Compa: Books by Order of the then Govr & Council and was So to remaine till he came of full age. But the Said Richard Leech having been absent from that time and of Age for about Sixteen Years past & hath not been heard of Since that time. The Petitioners have Good reason to Conclude he is Dead, Wherefore the Said Jonathan Doveton in right of his wife who was Sister to the Said Richard Leech with Francis and James Leech his Brothers Humbly Conceives they have Just right to the Said Rich: Leech's Dividend being £2, 1s 4d which Accordingly they pray may be Transferd to their Account of Creditt in three Equall Shares. And &c Jonathan Doveton Francis Leech James Leech Orderd. Margin Notes: for ye Wast Land Granted. A Joynt Petition for Rich: Leech's Dividend. with their Reasons. | The petition asked that Joseph Bates be admitted the Company's tenant in place of the petitioner. The council granted the request. The following petition was also presented by Jonathan Doveton, Francis Leech and James Leech. The orphan Richard Leech had left the island for England about twenty-one years earlier, being then under age. The dividend due to him from his father's estate, according to the appraisement made after the death, had been placed to his account in the Company's books by order of the Governor and council of the time, to remain there until he came of age. Richard Leech had been absent since then and of age for about sixteen years past, and had not been heard of in that time. The petitioners had good reason to conclude he was dead. Jonathan Doveton, in right of his wife, who was sister to Richard Leech, together with Francis and James Leech, his brothers, held that they had a just right to Richard Leech's dividend, amounting to fifty-two pounds one shilling and fourpence. They asked that it be transferred to their account of credit in three equal shares. Jonathan Doveton Francis Leech James Leech The council ordered [...]. Interpretations The Leech petition turned on the long custody of an absent orphan's inheritance and the presumption of his death after prolonged silence. The dividend of Richard Leech's share had been held in the Company's books from his departure as a minor, to remain until he came of age, an arrangement that secured the fatherless child's portion until he could claim it. With sixteen years passed since his majority and no word of him, the surviving kin sought to treat him as dead and divide the sum, the council's authority over the estate now invoked to release to the heirs what had been preserved for a man presumed lost. The claim of Jonathan Doveton in right of his wife illustrates how a husband took the legal standing of his wife in matters of inheritance. Doveton advanced no claim of his own blood but stood in his wife's place as sister to the dead man, joining her share to those of the two Leech brothers. The threefold division among the sister and the two brothers followed the descent of the estate to the nearest surviving kin, the council acting to confirm the distribution of a portion that the original holder would now never claim. The sum had lain in the Company's books for twenty-one years as a fixed credit against the orphan's name. The arrangement turned the Company's accounts into the safekeeping of an absent heir's property, the dividend neither paid out nor lost but held in suspense until either the man returned or his death could be presumed. The petitioners' request to have it transferred to their own credit shows the same paper mechanism by which debts and balances moved between accounts on the island without coin, the inheritance discharged by an entry rather than a payment. | |
34 | March Orded That the Petition be ref-rd to Oure Honble Masters for their Orders to Us nothing Appearing in the Honble Compas Books Since the Year 1708 when We find the Said Dividend was De- posited in their Cash. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Court Held for Orphans on Wednesday the 29th day of March 1721. At Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. Messrs Gabriel Powell & Richard Gurling Executors to the Orphans & Estate of Charles Steward Deceasd brought and deliverd the following Acco: of the Sd Orphans Stock & Estate (Vizt) The half of a House 20½ Acres of Hired Land 3 Black Men 1 do: Boy & 2 Girles Blacks. 6 Cows 8 Calves 4 Heifers 5 Yearlings 1 Bullock 24 head belonging to the Comon Stock. 8 Cows Margin Notes: Referrd to ye Honble Compa Orphans Court. Stewards Orph: Acco: Neat Cattle | The council ordered that the petition be referred to the Company's masters for their orders, nothing appearing in the Company's books since the year 1708, when the dividend was found to have been placed to their cash. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a court held for orphans on Wednesday 29 March 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, executors to the orphans and estate of the deceased Charles Steward, brought in and delivered the following account of the orphans' stock and estate. The half of a house 20½ acres of hired land 3 black men 1 black boy 2 black girls Neat cattle 6 cows 8 calves 3 heifers 5 yearlings 2 bullocks 24 head belonging to the common stock 8 cows Interpretations The reference of the Leech dividend to the Company's masters marks the limit of the council's authority over a claim it could not itself verify. The sum had been placed to the Company's cash in 1708, and the absence of any later entry left the council unable to confirm the right of the surviving kin to draw it down. By sending the matter home, the council deferred to the masters whose books carried the original deposit, treating the long-held credit as a charge on the Company itself rather than a balance it could transfer on its own warrant. The orphans' court shows the council sitting in a distinct capacity to oversee the estates of fatherless children. The executors of Charles Steward rendered the account of the orphans' stock, the half-house, the hired land, the slaves and the cattle, so the council could see the estate preserved for the children's use. The court's separate convening, with the same members as the council but for the particular business of orphans, marks the formal structure through which the island protected the property of minors against waste or misappropriation by their guardians. The account distinguishes the orphans' own beasts from the Company's common stock grazing among them. The six cows, calves, heifers, yearlings and bullocks made up the children's herd, set apart from the twenty-four head belonging to the common stock, the careful separation marking the need to keep the orphans' property identifiable within a shared grazing. The slaves and cattle together formed the productive capital of the estate, the labour and the herd that would maintain the children until they came of age. | |
35 | 1721. 8 Cows 2 Bullocks 3 Heifers & 6 Calves 19 head being a Seperate Stock & belonging to the four Youngest Children. 8 Sows 12 Shoats 8 Barrows & 6 Piggs Hoggs, 34 Great & Small. The Said Charles Stewards Estate Dr & Cr Dr To Orlando Bagley 0, 12s James Ryder 0, 8s 6d Sutton Isaack 0, 6s Seperate Stock 29, 4s 3d Gabriel Powell 78, 17s 5d Richard Beale 18s £110, 6s 2d Cr By Walter Morris 10, 13s - Nidh: Shrewe 5, 5s 6d Jno Long 19, 4s 6d Joshua Johnson 8, 9s 3½d Anty: Lovey 14, 3s 10d Frans Funge 22, 17s 9d Mary Cottaway 4, 15s Peter Sinmick 4, 7s 6d Ralph Orme 6, 5s - Thom: free 1, 3s Robt Gurling 2, 13s 11d Mary Swallow 4, 13s 7d Jonath: Higham Senr 11, 2d Jno Nichols 8, 19s 6d Jno French Senr 4, 2s 6d Jno Bagley Senr 4, 18s 6d Benj: Cleverlee 4, 3s 9d James Greenhee 3, 10s 9d Edmd Nichols 3, 14s 1d Martha Robinson 4, 8s - Willm Slaughter 4, 17s 3d Gilbert Sinsmick 4, 7s 6d Charles Steward 256, 13s 6d Rich: Gurling 3, 5s 11d Capt: Jno Goodwin 10, 8s - £424, 12s 3½d The | Island of St Helena At a court held for orphans on Wednesday 29 March 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, executors to the orphans and estate of the deceased Charles Steward, brought in and delivered the following account of the orphans' stock and estate. The half of a house 20½ acres of hired land 3 black men 1 black boy 2 black girls Neat cattle 6 cows 8 calves 3 heifers 5 yearlings 2 bullocks 24 head belonging to the common stock 8 cows 2 bullocks 3 heifers 6 calves 19 head, being a separate stock and belonging to the four youngest children 8 sows 12 shoats 8 barrows 6 piggs 34 hogs, great and small The estate of Charles Steward, debtor and creditor. Debtor, owed to: Orlande Bagley £0 12s 0d James Ryder £0 8s 6d Sutton Isaack £0 6s 0d Separate stock £29 4s 3d Gabriel Powell £78 17s 5d Richard Beale £0 18s 0d £110 6s 2d Creditor, owed by: Walter Morris £10 13s 0d Nicholas Shreeve £15 5s 6d John Long £19 4s 6d Joshua Johnson £8 9s 3½d Antipas Tovey £14 3s 10d Francis Funge £22 17s 9d Mary Conaway £1 15s 0d Peter Sinsnick £0 7s 6d Ralph Orme £0 5s 0d Thomas Free £1 3s 0d Robert Gurling £2 13s 11d Mary Swallow £1 13s 7d Jonathan Higham senior £11 2s 0d John Nichols £8 19s 6d John French senior £0 2s 6d John Bagley senior £4 18s 6d Benjamin Cleverlee £0 3s 9d James Greentree £3 10s 9d Edmund Nichols £3 14s 0d Martha Robinson £0 8s 0d William Slaughter £4 17s 3d Gilbert Sinsnick £1 7s 6d Charles Steward £256 13s 6d Richard Gurling £3 5s 11d Captain John Goodwin £10 8s 0d £424 12s 3½d Interpretations The debtor and creditor account shows the Steward estate as a web of credits extended across much of the island's population. The estate was owed money by some thirty named persons, from leading men like Antipas Tovey, John Long and Francis Funge down to small debtors of a few shillings, the largest single sum the £256 13s 6d standing against Charles Steward himself, perhaps the deceased's own account or that of his namesake heir. The spread of debts marks the estate as a creditor to the settlement at large, its assets lying as much in money owed as in land and stock. The separation of the youngest children's stock from the main herd reveals the careful partition of the estate to secure the portions of the several heirs. The nineteen head set apart for the four youngest children, marked as a distinct stock, kept their share identifiable within the estate so it could not be absorbed into the general assets or the elder children's portions. The arrangement shows the executors maintaining the divisions on which each child's eventual inheritance depended, the cattle held in trust until the children came of age. The account names debtors who recur across these consultations in their own affairs, John Long, Peter and Gilbert Sinsnick, William Slaughter the gunner and Captain John Goodwin among them. The same men who surrendered Company waste, bonded their debts or served as officers also stood as debtors to a private estate, the entries showing how the credit of the island's leading and middling householders ran through every account, the same persons appearing as debtors, creditors, tenants and officers across the settlement's interlocking obligations. | |
36 | March The reason why the aforesaid Acco: of Charles Stewards Orphans is Reduced So much less to what it appeard to be last Year is because his Eldest Son Francis Steward (in India) had his Dividend as may appear to be paid to Mr Rich: Adams his attorny in Consultation of the 28 of June 1720. And another Dividend hath been Since paid & deliverd to Charles Steward the 2d Son upon his Marriage according to that Appraisemt Mr James Greenhee & Mr Joshua Johnson brought & deliverd an Acco: of the Stock & Estate of Robert Addis: Orphans as follows Robt Addis: Orphans Dr & Contr Cr 172⁰/₁ To one Years Boarding of Mary & Johanna Addis 14, 5s 2d By Creditt ye 24th March 1719/20 71, 19 To Ballance being ye Clear Estate£63, 4s 7d By 1 Bull Sold 5, 5 £77, 4s 7 £77, 4 Remaining in live Stock viz: 1 Bull 6 Cows 5 Bullocks 1 Heifer 1 Stear & 5 Calves Neat Cattle 2 of the old Stock dead & 4 Since Increased which are likewise dead remain. But 19 Head. The Said Mr Greentree brought the following Acco: of the Estate due to Richard Hardings two Orphans (Vizt) Margin Notes: Reasons for being Reduced Since last Year. Addis: Orph: Acco: | The reason the account of Charles Steward's orphans was reduced so much below what it appeared to be the previous year was that his eldest son Francis Steward, in India, had his dividend paid to Mr Reith his attorney, as appears in the consultation of 28 June 1720. Another dividend had since been paid and delivered to Charles Steward the second son on his marriage, according to that appraisement. Mr James Greentree and Mr Joshua Johnson brought in and delivered an account of the stock and estate of Robert Addes's orphans as follows. Robert Addes's orphans, debtor and creditor. Debtor, owed to: To one year's boarding of Mary and Johanna Addes £14 5s 0d To balance, being the clear estate £63 4s 7d £77 9s 7d Creditor, owed by: By credit, 24 March 1720 £71 19s 0d By 1 bullock sold £5 5s 0d £77 4s 0d Remaining in livestock 1 bull 6 cows 5 bullocks 1 heifer 1 steer 5 calves 19 head of neat cattle, 2 of the old stock dead and 4 since increased, which are likewise dead, remaining cut The said Mr Greentree brought in the following account of the estate due to Richard Harding's two orphans. Interpretations The fall in the value of the Steward orphans' estate is explained by the payment of two of the children's dividends rather than by any loss or waste. The eldest son Francis Steward, settled in India, had drawn his share through his attorney Mr Reith under the order of 28 June 1720, and the second son had received his on marrying. The reduction marks the orderly discharge of the estate to the heirs as each came into a position to claim, the account shrinking as the portions passed out of the executors' hands to the children entitled to them. The Addes orphans' account shows the same structure of an estate held in trust and reckoned as debtor and creditor, the boarding of the two girls Mary and Johanna set against the clear value of the property. The estate's worth lay chiefly in its livestock, the bull, cows, bullocks and young beasts forming the herd that maintained the orphans, the cost of their keep charged against the estate so the executors could account for both the maintenance and the capital. The sale of a bullock to raise cash marks the conversion of stock to money as the estate required it. The orphans' court reckoned each estate by the same method of balancing what was owed to the estate against what it held, the boarding charges, the credits and the stock all entered so the children's property could be seen whole. The recurrence of James Greentree and Joshua Johnson as the men rendering these accounts marks the standing role of trusted planters as appraisers and accountants in the island's oversight of orphan estates, the same persons returning across the court's business to value and report the property of the fatherless. | |
37 | 1721. The Ballance due to them in 1719 7, 10s Paid to John Young for his Dividend 2, 10s Clear Estate is but 5, - - Mr Jonathan Doveton, & the Said Mr Greenhee brought and deliver'd the following Acco: of Robert Leeches Orphans Estate (Vizt) March ye 25th 1721 To Mr Doveton 13s By Batt: due last year 66: 19½ Clear Estate 77, 18s 5½ By Mr Powell fine 12: 9: 8 £78, 11s 5½ £78: 11: 5½ Mem That Rich: Leech now Apprentice to Robt Gurling hath nothing left him by his fathers Will Except ten Acres of Land and a House at the Decease of his Mother in law. Samuel Jessey Guardian to Jane Flushus Orphan brought the followd Acco: of Her Stock of Cattle (Vizt) 1 Bull 2 Cows 2 Heifers & 1 Calf 6 The following Acco: of Richard Alexanders Orphans Stock of Cattle was delivered by Capt Jno Alexander (Vizt) 4 Cows 1 Steer & 4 Calves 9 2 Cows & 2 Calves dyd since last years Acco: Another Acco: by him & Mr Jno Coles was delivered of the Stock and Estate belonging to Gilbert Colgraves Orphans. (Vizt) Margin Notes: Hardings Orph: Acco: Leech Orph: Acco: Mem Jane Flushus: Acco: Rd Alexanders Orph: Acco: | The balance due to Richard Harding's orphans in 1719 was £7 10s 0d. Paid to John Young for his dividend £2 10s 0d. Clear estate is but £5 0s 0d. Mr Jonathan Doveton and Mr Greentree brought in and delivered the following account of Robert Leech's orphans' estate, 25 March 1721. Debtor, owed to: To Mr Doveton £0 13s 0d To clear estate £77 18s 5½d £78 11s 5½d Creditor, owed by: By balance due last year £66 1s 9d By Mr Powell's fine £12 9s 8d £78 11s 5½d A note that Richard Leech, now apprentice to Robert Gurling, has nothing left him by his father's will except ten acres of land and a house at the death of his mother-in-law. Samuel Jessey, guardian to Jane Flurkus's orphan, brought in the following account of her stock of cattle. 1 bull 2 cows 2 heifers 1 calf 6 head The following account of Richard Alexander's orphans' stock of cattle was delivered by Captain John Alexander. 4 cows, being 2 cows and 2 calves 1 steer 4 calves, died since last year's account 9 head Another account by him and Mr John Coles was delivered of the stock and estate belonging to Gilbert Colgrave's orphans. Interpretations The Harding orphans' account shows an estate reduced almost to nothing by the payment of a single dividend. The balance of £7 10s 0d standing the previous year was cut to a clear estate of just £5 0s 0d once John Young's share was paid out, the small sum marking how slight some of these orphan estates were once the heirs' portions were drawn. The court's reckoning of so modest a balance shows its oversight extending to every fatherless estate on the island regardless of its size. The note on Richard Leech, set against the petition heard at the consultation of 28 March 1721, fixes the limit of his inheritance under his father's will. He was left only ten acres and a house, and that not until his mother-in-law's death, the remainder of his expectation lying in the absent uncle's dividend the kin had sought to divide. His present standing as apprentice to Robert Gurling marks the placing of a fatherless boy to a trade, the council's guardianship providing for his maintenance and instruction while his slender inheritance waited on a future death. The run of orphan accounts shows the island's leading planters serving as the appointed guardians and accountants of the fatherless children. Samuel Jessey for Jane Flurkus's orphan, Captain John Alexander for Richard Alexander's orphans and John Coles for the Colgrave orphans each rendered the stock in their charge, the cattle reckoned head by head with the deaths since the last account noted against the herd. The structure marks the court's method of holding each guardian to a yearly reckoning, the stock counted and the losses recorded so that the children's property could be tracked from year to year until they came of age. | |
38 | March Sundry Drs to the Said Estate £45, 4s 5d Remaining in live Stock 5 Cows 3 Bullocks 1 Steer & 6 Calves 15 Head Decreased Since last year 1 Cow & Calf rem: now Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 4th day of Aprill 1721. at Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. On Thursday the 30 March last Arrived a Small Portugueze Ship from Brazile bound to Angola for Slaves, they touch'd here Purposely for Water having as they Sayd but three Casks full on Board, they took our Island for Main Land. Yesterday the 3 Inst: Arrived the Ships Cardigan Capt Glegg & the Craggs Capt Blakesho Succeeded Capt Wynn) both from Bengall and brought us from Margin Notes: Gilbt Colgraves Orph: Acco: Portugueze Ship Arrived. Cardigan & Craggs arrival. | Sundry persons, debtor to the estate £45 4s 5d. Remaining in livestock: 5 cows 3 bullocks 1 steer 6 calves 15 head, decreased since last year, 1 cow and 1 calf remaining now Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 April 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. On Thursday 30 March last a small Portuguese ship arrived from Brazil, bound to Angola for slaves. She put in only for water, having as they said but three casks full on board, and had taken the island for the mainland. Yesterday, the 3rd of this month, the ships Cardigan, Captain Glegg, and the Craggs, Captain Blake, who had succeeded Captain Wynn, both arrived from Bengal and brought [...]. Interpretations The Portuguese ship's arrival shows St Helena serving as an unintended landfall for vessels of other nations crossing the South Atlantic. The ship was running the slave trade from Brazil to Angola and put in only for water, having mistaken the island for the African mainland, a sign of how the island lay athwart the ocean routes and drew in ships of every flag in want of refreshment. The council recorded her passage and her purpose, marking the watch it kept on all shipping that touched the road. The mistaking of the island for the mainland marks the navigational difficulty of finding so small a point in the open ocean. A vessel short of water and uncertain of its position might raise St Helena and take it for the coast of Africa, the island's isolation cutting both ways, hard to find for those who sought it and a surprise to those who did not. The Portuguese ship's plight, down to three casks of water, illustrates the margin on which such voyages ran and the island's value as a watering place to any ship that chanced upon it. The arrival of the Cardigan and the Craggs from Bengal under a changed command shows the homeward fleet putting in for the island's news and refreshment. Captain Blake had succeeded Captain Wynn in the Craggs, the same vessel that had brought Governor Johnson and the chaplain Jones to the island in June 1719, the change of commander recorded so the council knew under whose charge the ship now sailed. The two ships' coming together marks the regular passage of the Bengal trade through the road on its way home. | |
39 | 1721. from thence for the use of this Island the following Goods (Vizt) Recd by the Cardigan. 4 half Legars of Batavia Arrack qt 2 C 120, 1s 8 Baggs Tresinda Sug: qt 16 is 11, 2, 20 78, - 35 Baggs Rice qt 70 is 56, 1, 9 30, 12s 9 Shirts 150 95 4 Stockings 100 pr (Bales 62, 8s 157, 12s Charges Merchandize 386, 8s 9 32, 15s 9 419, 8s 6 Recd by the Craggs Vizt Rups 3 half Legars of Batavia arrack qt 189 Gall 90, 7 Baggs Tresinda Sug: qt 10, 1, 2 C 68, 4s 30 Baggs fine Rice qt Co: is 44 - - 26, 6s 6 150 Shirts C 95 4 100 pr Stockings C 62, 8s 157, 12s 1 Bale fine Dungaree qt 100 pr C Co Rups ⅌ Co 300, - Charges Merchandize 642, 6s 6 27, 2s 6 669, 9 And by the Severall General Letters now recd We find there are Goods on Board the Mary Capt Holden to the amount of Rups 700, 15s 9 and on the Duke of Cambridge Capt Daniel Small, Goods to the amount of Rups 320, 10s which are not Yet Arrivd, nor have We any Bills of Lading or Invoice for them by these Ships. The Govr Reports that in affirewates Letter from Govr Pyke to him dated the 3 of Nov: last from Batavia Margin Notes: Goods ⅌ Cardigan. Ditto ⅌ Craggs. more on ye other Ships. | The two ships brought from Bengal for the use of the island the following goods. Received by the Cardigan: 4 half leaguers of Batavia arrack at 30 rupees each 120 rupees 1 anna 8 bags of Trisinda sugar of 16 maunds, being 11 maunds 2 [...] 20 [...], at 7 rupees each 78 rupees 1 anna 35 bags of rice of 70 maunds, being 51 maunds 1 [...] 9 [...], at half a rupee each 30 rupees 12 annas 9 pies 150 shirts 95 rupees 4 annas 100 pairs of stockings 62 rupees 8 annas bales, 157 rupees 12 annas Charges of merchandise 386 rupees 8 annas 9 pies 32 rupees 15 annas 9 pies 419 rupees 8 annas 6 pies Received by the Craggs: 3 half leaguers of Batavia arrack of 189 gallons 90 rupees 7 bags of Trisinda sugar of 16 maunds 1 [...] 2 [...] 68 rupees 4 annas 30 bags of fine rice of 70 maunds, being 44 maunds 4 [...] 26 rupees 6 annas 6 pies 150 shirts 95 rupees 4 annas 100 pairs of stockings 62 rupees 8 annas 157 rupees 12 annas 1 bale of fine dungaree of 100 pieces at 6 rupees each piece 300 rupees Charges of merchandise 642 rupees 6 annas 6 pies 27 rupees 2 annas 6 pies 669 rupees 9 annas By the several general letters now received, there are goods on board the Mary, Captain Holden, to the amount of 700 rupees 15 annas 9 pies, and on the Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small, goods to the amount of 320 rupees 10 annas, which had not yet arrived, nor had the council any bills of lading or invoice for them by these ships. Governor Johnson reported that in a former letter from Governor Pyke to him, dated 3 November last from Batavia [...]. Interpretations The cargo accounts were kept in Bengal money of account, the rupee divided into annas and pies, the goods reckoned at the Calcutta rates rather than converted to sterling. The two ships from Bengal brought the staples the island drew from the East, the Batavia arrack, the Trisinda sugar and the rice that fed the slaves, together with the shirts, stockings and dungaree for clothing. The pricing by the maund for the bulk goods fixed each commodity against the Indian weight, the whole entered so the council could account for what each ship delivered. The maund was the standard Indian weight for bulk goods, and the sugar and rice were reckoned by it, the bags counted and their weight given in maunds and the smaller fractional units. The dungaree was a coarse cotton cloth of the Indian trade, a hundred pieces to the bale, used for hard-wearing clothing of the kind the island gave its slaves and labourers. The Trisinda sugar took its name from its place of origin in Bengal, the produce shipped through Calcutta as part of the homeward lading. The note of goods still expected on the Mary and the Duke of Cambridge shows the difficulty of reckoning a cargo before the ship arrived. The general letters advised the council of goods consigned on vessels not yet come in, but without the bills of lading or invoices the council could not enter or value them, the paper of the consignment running ahead of the goods themselves. The island depended on these documents to know what it was owed, the cargo on the water remaining a figure in a letter until the ship made the road and the papers came ashore. | |
40 | Aprill Batavia, wherein he Writes that he had Shipt on Board the Craggs Capt John Wynn Comander Eight Legars of Arrack on the Honble Compa: Acco: But Sent no Bills of Lading. Upon the Arrivall of the Ships, the Govr Enquird of the Capt: & Purser for the Said Arrack they Say there was none Shipt on Board, nor doe they know any thing relating thereto. At the desire of Gabriel Powell & Rich: Gurling Execulr to Charles Stewards Orphans, Severall Persons were Sumond to appear here this day to Shew Cause why they did not Pay the Said Orphans what they Stood Indebted to them. (Vizt) John Nichols the Sume of £8, 19s 6 John Bagley Senr 4, 18s 6 Edmd Nihols 3, 14s 1 Walter Morris 40, - - Mary Shrewe wid: 15, 5s 6 John Long 19, 4s 6 Joshua Johnson 8, 9s 3½ Francis Funge 22, 17s 9 Mary Cottaway 4, 15s Thombs free 4, 3s Mary Swallow Wid: 4, 13s 7 They all gave Satisfaction to the Executors. Mr Byfeld brought in his Book Containing the monthly Acco: of the Honble Compa: live Stock & Expences for the month of March last, which was Examind, approvd, and Signd by Us. Margin Notes: Reported 8 Legrs Arrack Sayd to be put on board ye Craggs Persons Indebted to Stewards Orph: Sumond. their Sevl debts. Acco: for March | In that letter Governor Pyke wrote that he had shipped on board the Craggs, Captain John Wynn commander, eight leaguers of arrack on the Company's account, but had sent no bills of lading. When the ship arrived, the Governor asked the captain and purser for the arrack, but they said there was none on board and knew nothing about it. At the request of Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, executors to Charles Steward's orphans, several persons were summoned to appear this day to show cause why they had not paid the orphans what they owed them. John Nichols owed the sum of £8 19s 6d. John Bagley senior owed £4 18s 6d. Edmund Nichols owed £3 14s 1d. Walter Morris owed £40 0s 0d. Mary Shrewe, widow, owed £15 5s 6d. John Long owed £19 4s 6d. Joshua Johnson owed £8 9s 3½d. Francis Funge owed £22 17s 9d. Mary Conaway owed £1 15s 0d. Thomas Free owed £1 3s 0d. Mary Swallow, widow, owed £1 13s 7d. They all gave satisfaction to the executors. Mr Byfield brought in his book containing the monthly account of the Company's livestock and expenses for the month of March, which was examined, approved and signed. Interpretations The missing arrack exposes a gap between the consignment recorded in a governor's letter and the goods actually carried. Governor Pyke had advised that eight leaguers of arrack were shipped on the Craggs under Captain Wynn, but sent no bills of lading, and when the ship reached the island under its new commander the arrack could not be found and the officers disclaimed all knowledge of it. The episode shows the risk run when goods went unsupported by the documents that proved their lading, the Company's property liable to vanish on the voyage with no paper to fix responsibility for it. The summoning of the Steward orphans' debtors marks the orphans' court enforcing the estate's credits for the children's benefit. The executors brought the debtors before the council to compel payment of the sums owed to the orphans, the same debts entered in the estate account rendered at the court of 29 March 1721. The court lent its authority to the recovery, the threat of appearance bringing the debtors to satisfy the executors, the children's property secured by the council's power to call defaulters to account. The debtors named here recur across these consultations in their own affairs, John Long, Francis Funge, Joshua Johnson and the two Nichols among them, the same men who appeared as debtors to the wider Steward estate and in their dealings over land and credit. The web of obligation bound the island's leading and middling householders to one another and to the estates held in trust, the recovery of these debts for the orphans drawing on the same network of credit that ran through every account in the settlement. | |
41 | 1721. Mr Slaughter brought in the following Acco: of Gunners Stores Expended from the 8th of March to the 25 follow Mar: 8 8th For the Guards Mount: Dismount: & Exerciseing 16 For answering the Mountague 2 40 45 Do 3 Day 3 An Alarme 2 2 16 2 horns of Powder Expended 2 Do 4 ye 4 An Alarme 4 4 Do Arrived the Essex 9 9 Do 7 An Alarme made upon the Line 2 2 16 fired a Steerr the Mountague at a light Sun 2 Cwt: 10 At the Sailing of the Mountague & Essex 30 30 17 for Scaleing 2 Sacers 2 Cwt 4 C 8 29 Match 4 4 fathom Signd Willm Slaughter 4, 4s 15 - 4 2 87 146 Orderd That Mr Slaughter take a General Acco: of Gunners Stores and deliver the Same to Us this day Sevennight. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Gunrs Stores Expended Mar: Mar: 8 Genll Acco to be taken. | Mr Slaughter brought in the following account of gunner's stores expended from the 3rd of March to the 25th following. 3 March 1721 For the guards mounting, dismounting and exercising 16 pounds of powder [3 March 1721] For answering the Montague 2 culverins, 40 falcons, 45 pounds of powder 3 March 1721 An alarm 2 falcons, 16 pounds of powder [3 March 1721] 2 horns of powder expended 2 pounds of powder 4 March 1721 An alarm 4 falcons, 4 pounds of powder [4 March 1721] Arrived the Essex 9 falcons, 9 pounds of powder 7 March 1721 An alarm made upon the line 2 culverins, 16 pounds of powder [7 March 1721] Fired astern the Montague at eight sail 2 culverins, 2 [...] of shot 10 March 1721 At the sailing of the Montague and Essex 30 falcons, 30 pounds of powder 17 March 1721 For scaling 2 sakers 2 culverins, 8 [...] of shot 25 March 1721 Match 4 quires Signed William Slaughter 4 culverins, 4 falcons, 15 [...], 4 [...], 2 [...], 87 falcons, 146 pounds of powder The council ordered that Mr Slaughter take a general account of gunner's stores and deliver it a week from this day. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The gunner's account records the powder spent in the busy passage of the China ships through the road, the Montague and Essex both answered, saluted and sped on their way. The heaviest single charge fell on 10 March 1721 at the sailing of the two ships together, thirty falcon rounds marking the honours given as they left, the same vessels whose arrival and lading had filled the consultations of late February and early March. The run of alarms across the month shows the watch turned out repeatedly as the homeward traffic crossed the road. The note of firing astern the Montague at eight sail marks a signal made to the ship to warn or recall her when other vessels came in sight. The shot fired astern was not a salute but a working signal across the water, alerting the ship to shipping the island had sighted, the guns serving the practical communication of the road as much as its ceremony. The scaling of the sakers, the clearing of the smaller guns by firing a charge through them, kept the pieces in serviceable order. The order for a general account of the gunner's stores set in train the same stocktaking the council had directed for the Company's stores at the consultation of 21 March 1721. The periodic reckoning of the powder, shot and gun furniture gave the council a true measure of the ordnance stores against the expenditure recorded month by month, the general account forming part of the accounting discipline pursued under Governor Johnson to keep the island's holdings under regular review. | |
42 | Aprill Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Thursday the 13 day of Aprill 1721 at Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. The Widdow Swallow was Sumoned to Shew cause why She did not give an Account last Orphans Court of the Stock and Estate belonging to the Orphans of Richard Swallow her Deceased Husband. She appeared and Sey'd She did not know what belong'd to them, She was therefore Ordered To bring in an Inventory of her Said deceased Husband Estate in a fortnights time, and was told by the Govr that he Expected her to pay the debt She owed the Honble Company. Docter Scrimshire being often Complaining that there were not realy Necessary Medicines in the Shop, brought in an Acco: of a Box of Medicines belonging to Capt Glegg (that has not been opened) and Some other Medicines in the Ships Chest; which will be of Infinite Service till the Arrivall of the Store Ship, the amount of the Prime Cost is £6, 13s, none which the Capt Demands 25 ⅌ Cent. Orderd Margin Notes: Wid: Swallows Sumoned. & Ordd to bring in an Inventory of Hon: Decd's Estate & Cautiond to pay Hon: debt. Medicines to be bought of Capt Glegg | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Thursday 13 April 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. The widow Swallow was summoned to show cause why she had not given an account at the last orphans' court of the stock and estate belonging to the orphans of her deceased husband Richard Swallow. She appeared and said she did not know what belonged to them. She was therefore ordered to bring in an inventory of her deceased husband's estate within a fortnight, and was told by the Governor that he expected her to pay the debt she owed the Company. Doctor Scrimshire, often complaining that there were no really necessary medicines in the shop, brought in an account of a box of medicines belonging to Captain Glegg, which had not been opened, and some other medicines in the ship's chest, which would be of great service until the arrival of the store ship. The prime cost was £6 13s 0d, on which the captain demanded twenty-five per cent. The council ordered [...]. Interpretations The summoning of the widow Swallow shows the orphans' court compelling a guardian to account for the property of fatherless children. As widow of Richard Swallow she held the estate that fell to his orphans, and her failure to render it at the last court brought her before the council to answer. Her plea that she did not know what belonged to them did not excuse the duty, the council ordering an inventory and the Governor pressing the debt she owed the Company, the two obligations marking her standing as both guardian of the estate and debtor to the masters. The purchase of Captain Glegg's medicines reveals the island's dependence on passing ships to supply wants the store could not meet. Doctor Scrimshire had complained the shop lacked necessary medicines, and the unopened box aboard the Cardigan, which Glegg commanded, offered a stock to serve until the store ship came. The captain's demand of twenty-five per cent above the prime cost marks the premium a ship's commander could exact for goods sold to a settlement in need, the island paying for the convenience of a supply on the spot rather than waiting on the home shipment. The recurrence of Doctor Scrimshire pressing for proper medicines marks the standing difficulty of maintaining the island's medical stores. The chief surgeon depended on the yearly indent sent home and on what passing ships could spare, the gap between the two leaving the shop short of necessaries. His readiness to buy from Captain Glegg shows the surgeon making shift to keep his supply against the interval before the store ship arrived, the medical establishment held together by purchase from the road when the home supply fell short. | |
43 | 1721. Orderd That they be Receiv'd on Shoar accordingly for the Honble Compa: use. On Sunday the 9th Inst: Arrived the Ship Duke of Cambridge Capt Daniel Small Comander from Bengall and Maddras, and brought Us the following Goods. Recd from Bengall Viz: Gallt 4 half Legars of Batavia arrack qt 258 ⅌ 60 Rups 120, - 150 Shirts C 63, 8s ⅌ 100 95 4 100 pr Stockings C 1 Bale 12, 8s ⅌ Horge 62, 8s 157, 12s 35 Baggs fine Rice qt 70lb Bur: oz qt 1: 9 ⅌ 2: 20 64 C Thirts ⅌ md: Rups 28 - Batt: 10 ⅌ Cwt 2, 12s 9 30, 12s 9 Charges Merchandize 308, 8s 9 12, 1s 3 Rupees 320, 10s The Governr Reported That Thomas Crew one of the Gunners Crew made a Complaint to him on Sunday evening Last that he was Affraid that Garret Johnson a Dutch man who was Sent hither from Bombay in the Fordwich for Murder, might Some time or other do him Some Mischeif for he lookd on him as a very Malicious & Dangerous fellow, by what he had Sayd to him the night before for he Sayd he was Sent hither for the Murder of One Man, and that he would do Something to be Sent off from hence, that he did not care to quarrel but if he was provoked with abundance of other Revengfull Expressions, which he could not Remember; Whereupon he had Confined him Margin Notes: Duke of Cambridge Arrivall. Goods bro: ⅌ her ⅌ Bengall To: the Crews Jno fearfull a fairwell of Garret Johnson. | The council ordered that the medicines be received ashore accordingly for the Company's use. On Sunday the 9th of this month the ship Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small commander, arrived from Bengal and Madras and brought the following goods. Received from Bengal: 4 half leaguers of Batavia arrack of 258 gallons 120 rupees 150 shirts at 63 rupees 8 annas per 100 95 rupees 4 annas 100 pairs of stockings at 12 rupees 8 annas per [...] 62 rupees 8 annas 1 bale, 157 rupees 12 annas 35 bags of fine rice of 70 maunds, being [...] maunds, at half a rupee each 28 rupees ground rupees 30 rupees 12 annas 9 pies batta at 10 per cent 2 rupees 12 annas 9 pies Charges of merchandise 308 rupees 8 annas 9 pies 12 rupees 1 anna 3 pies 320 rupees 10 annas Governor Johnson reported that Thomas Acew, one of the gunner's crew, complained to him on Sunday evening last that he was afraid Garret Johnson, a Dutchman sent to the island from Bombay in the Fordwich for murder, might at some time do him some mischief. Acew looked on him as a malicious and dangerous fellow from what he had said the night before. Garret Johnson had said he was sent to the island for the murder of one man and that he would do something to be sent away from it, that he did not care to quarrel but would act if provoked, with many other revengeful expressions Acew could not recall. The Governor had therefore confined him. Interpretations The cargo of the Duke of Cambridge repeats the Bengal lading of the Cardigan and the Craggs, the arrack, rice, shirts and stockings reckoned in rupees, annas and pies at the Calcutta rates. The batta charged at ten per cent was the allowance or premium on the exchange and assay of the coin, added to the account to cover the difference between the nominal and the current value of the money. The goods reached the island as part of the same homeward flow from the East that supplied its liquor, food and clothing, the cargo entered so the council could reckon what each ship delivered. The confinement of Garret Johnson shows the island serving as a place of custody for a man sent from another of the Company's settlements to answer for a capital crime. He had been shipped from Bombay in the Fordwich on a charge of murder, and his threatening talk on the island brought a complaint that led the Governor to confine him. The case marks the movement of prisoners between the Company's stations, St Helena holding a man whose offence was committed elsewhere, the Governor's power of confinement reaching to one placed in the island's charge from abroad. The complaint of Thomas Acew illustrates how the council acted on the fear of violence before any harm was done. Acew reported Garret Johnson's revengeful words and his declared wish to do something that would see him sent off the island, and the Governor confined him on the strength of the threat alone. The action shows the council treating a man's dangerous talk, coupled with his standing as an accused murderer, as ground enough for confinement, the safety of the gunner's crew weighed against the liberty of a prisoner already under a capital charge. | |
44 | Aprill him to be Sent away by the Store Ship. Some of the Lemons out of the Garden belonging to the Castle and Some of the Honble Compa: Rice was found in his Barrack. Mr Slaughter According to the Order of the 4th Instant brought in and deliverd the following Acco: of Gunners Stores now remaining in his Custody 142 Iron Ordinance 6970 Iron Round Shott 540 Double Headed Shott 195 Barrills of Corne Powder 397 of Match 3 Rheam of Cartridge Paper 440 Cartridges for the Service of the Line & Castle 186 ditto for Mundens point 220 Spunge Heads 125 Cartridge Cases 100 Powder Hornes 25 Pole Axes 20 Wormes 30 Ladles 87 Spunge Staves 70 Sheep Skins 390 Scouring Rodds 43 Hand Spikes 105 Bedds 155 Quines 77 Cartouch Boxes 280 Trucks 85 Axeltrees 26 Blunder Busses 4 Pistols 600 Musquet Shott 360 Buckanier & Fuzee Shott | Garret Johnson was to be sent away by the store ship. Some of the lemons out of the garden belonging to the castle, and some of the Company's rice, were found in his barrack. Mr Slaughter, following the order of the 4th of this month, brought in and delivered the following account of gunner's stores now remaining in his custody. 142 iron ordnance 6,970 iron round shot 540 double-headed shot 195 barrels of corn powder 397 pounds of match 3 reams of cartridge paper 440 cartridges for the service of the line and castle 186 cartridges for Munden's Point 220 sponge heads 125 cartridge cases 100 powder horns 25 pole axes 20 worms 30 ladles 87 sponge staves 70 sheep skins 390 scouring rods 43 hand spikes 105 beds 155 quoins 77 cartouche boxes 280 trucks 85 axletrees 26 blunderbusses 14 pistols 600 musket shot 360 buccaneer and fusee shot Interpretations The general account sets out the whole standing stock of the island's ordnance and its stores, the count the council had ordered the gunner to render at the consultation of 4 April 1721. The 142 iron guns and the great quantities of round and double-headed shot, powder and cartridges show the scale of the island's armament, the defence of the road resting on a heavy battery served from a large reserve of ammunition. The inventory gave the council a true measure of the gunner's charge, the stores reckoned piece by piece against the monthly expenditure recorded through the year. Several of the listed stores served the working and laying of the great guns. The bed and the quoin together fixed the elevation of a cannon, the bed the timber base on which the breech rested and the quoin the wooden wedge driven under it to raise or lower the muzzle. The worm was a spiral iron drawn down the bore to clear out the remains of a charge, and the ladle the long-handled scoop that carried powder into the gun before cartridges came into use. The buccaneer and fusee shot were the smaller balls for the lighter firearms, the blunderbusses, pistols and muskets also held in the gunner's store. The discovery of the castle's lemons and the Company's rice in Garret Johnson's barrack marks the petty theft that attended his confinement and hastened his removal. The decision to send him away by the store ship rid the island of a man both dangerous in his talk and given to pilfering, his offence against the garden and the store added to the threat that had first brought him before the Governor. The lemons of the castle garden were grown against the scurvy that afflicted ships and settlements alike, their theft a loss to the island's health as well as its provision. | |
45 | 1721. 120 Swan Shott 100 Link Shott 430 Pistoll Shott 2 Bouge Barrells 2 Guns & one Block 73 Handgranades 2 Union flaggs 13 Linstocks 1 Barrell of flints 2 Lanthornes Signd ⅌ Willm Slaughter Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | 120 pounds of swan shot 100 pounds of link shot 430 pistol shot 2 budge barrels 2 guns and one block 73 hand grenades 2 union flags 13 linstocks 1 barrel of flints 2 lanterns Signed William Slaughter Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The close of the gunner's inventory completes the count of the smaller stores and the lighter ammunition, the swan and link shot, the pistol shot and the hand grenades held against close defence. The swan shot was a large size of pellet between buck and ball, and the link shot was bar or chain shot whose joined balls spun in flight to cut rigging and men, a charge for use against an enemy at close range. The hand grenades were small filled shells thrown by hand, the whole marking the island's provision for a fight at the walls as well as the heavy fire of the great guns at the road. The two union flags mark the standing need to display the king's colours over the island's forts. The flag asserted the sovereignty under which the Company held the island and was renewed from the gunner's store as the old ones wore out, the bunting ordered in the indent supplying the cloth from which fresh colours were made. The flags' place in the ordnance account shows the display of sovereignty reckoned among the munitions of the garrison rather than apart from them. The signing of the inventory by the gunner Slaughter and its approval by Governor Johnson and the council closed the stocktaking the council had ordered, the whole charge of the ordnance now set down and attested. The general account gave the council a fixed record of the gunner's stores against which his future returns could be measured, the periodic reckoning forming part of the accounting discipline pursued under the Governor to hold each officer to a true account of the property in his charge. | |
46 | Aprill Island St Helena At a Sessions Held on ffry =day the 14th day of Aprill 1721. At the Sessions House in James valley near Union Castle. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr & Judge Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin of Council & Justices Then the Court was opend According to the usuall manner and those Persons appointed for Jurors are as follows. 1 Orlando Bagley foreman 2 Jonathan Doveton 3 Francis Wrangham 4 James Greentree 5 Gabriel Powell 6 Thomas Dutch 7 John Young 8 Richard Beale 9 James Vesey 10 Francis Funge 11 John Hanson 12 Samuel Jessey who were all Sworne Then the following Indictment was read Island St Helena fs Sultan You Margin Notes: Jury for ye Tryal of Sultan | Island of St Helena At a sessions held on Friday 14 April 1721 at the Sessions House in James Valley near Union Castle. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor and Judge Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin, of council and Justices The court was opened in the usual manner, and the persons appointed for jurors are as follows. 1: Orlando Bagley, foreman 2: Jonathan Doveton 3: Francis Wrangham 4: James Greentree 5: Gabriel Powell 6: Thomas Dutch 7: John Young 8: Richard Beale 9: James Vesey 10: Francis Funge 11: John Hanson 12: Samuel Jessey They were all sworn. Then the following indictment was read. Island of St Helena. Garret Johnson, [...]. Interpretations The sessions show the same men who sat as the council now constituting the criminal court, the Governor presiding as judge and the councillors as justices. The island's government combined its executive, administrative and judicial powers in the same small body, the consultation and the sessions drawing on one set of officers for the whole conduct of affairs. The opening of the court in the usual manner marks the formal procedure observed even in so remote a place, the trial of a capital charge conducted with the empanelling of a sworn jury as at home. The jury of twelve was drawn from the island's leading and middling planters, the same names that recur across the consultations as petitioners, debtors, guardians and officers. Orlando Bagley as foreman, with Jonathan Doveton, James Greentree, Gabriel Powell and the rest, marks the narrow circle from which the island filled every public role, the men who held its land and traded its goods also serving as its jurors. The smallness of the settlement meant the same persons appeared in every capacity, judging one another in the court as they dealt with one another in their affairs. The indictment of Garret Johnson brought before the court the Dutchman confined for his threatening talk, sent from Bombay in the Fordwich on a charge of murder. The matter reported at the consultation of 13 April 1721 now proceeded to a formal trial, the council's executive confinement giving way to the judicial process of indictment and jury. The empanelling of the court to try him shows the island exercising a criminal jurisdiction over a capital charge, the prisoner placed before a sworn jury of the settlement's planters to answer the indictment read against him. | |
47 | 1721. You Stand Indicted by the name of Sultan formerly a Negro Slave of John Coles late of this Island planter deceased now belonging to Bridgett Coles wid: of the Said Jno Coles: for the Crime of wilfull Murder, for that You the Said Sultan on the 9th day of this present Month of Aprill in the year of our Lord 1721. between the Hours of 6 & 7 in the evening of the Same day in a Hollow place under the Side of one part of the Main Ridge, near to a place called, or known by the name of Feather Bed Hill on this Island, then & there did asault, and in a most Barbarous, and wicked manner Committ Murder on the Body of the Said John Coles your then Master, by throakling him with Peices of Rope Yarns Severall times doubled, and tying him by the throat to the Root of a Tree with the Peices of the Said Rope Yarns, and then made your Escape, Contrary to the Peace of our Soveraigne King George, his crowne & Dignity, and is in high Contempt & Violation of the wholsome Laws & Ordinances made by the Honble Lords Proprietors of this Island for the good Governe =ment thereof. To which He pleaded Guilty. The Judge Proceeded to give Sentence which was. You are to be Conveyed hence to the Gallows now Erected in the Valley, thereon to Hang by the Neck untill you be Dead, from thence to be Cutt downe and Carryed back to the Prison from whence you was Margin Notes: The Indictmt pleaded Guilty. Sentence | The indictment charged the prisoner under the name of Sultan, formerly a slave of John Coles, late of the island, planter, deceased, and now belonging to Bridget Coles, widow of John Coles. The charge was wilful murder. Sultan, on the 9th of this present month of April 1721, between the hours of six and seven in the evening of the same day, in a hollow place under the side of one part of the main ridge near a place known by the name of Feather Bed Hill on the island, did then and there assault and in a most barbarous and wicked manner commit murder on the body of John Coles, his then master. He did so by throttling him with pieces of rope yarn several times doubled, and tying him by the throat to the root of a tree with the pieces of rope yarn, and then made his escape. This was against the peace of the sovereign King George, his crown and dignity, and in high contempt and violation of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors of the island for its good government. The prisoner pleaded guilty. The judge proceeded to give sentence, which was that he be conveyed from there to the gallows now erected in the valley, there to hang by the neck until dead, then to be cut down and carried back to the prison from where he was [...]. Interpretations The indictment reveals the dual identity under which the prisoner stood, named Sultan as a slave but earlier called Garret Johnson, the Dutchman sent from Bombay. The charge fixed him as the property of Bridget Coles, widow of his late master John Coles, and laid the murder as the killing of that master. The man confined for threatening talk at the consultation of 13 April 1721 was thus an absconded slave who had killed the planter who owned him, the capital trial proceeding against him both as a murderer and as a slave who had risen against his master. The detail of the killing marks the use of the materials at hand as the instrument of murder. Sultan strangled John Coles with doubled rope yarn and bound him by the throat to a tree root, the cordage of the island's daily work turned to the killing of his master in a hollow under the main ridge. The choice of a remote spot near Feather Bed Hill and the binding of the body show a deliberate act done out of sight, the slave making his escape after fixing the corpse where it would not at once be found. The plea of guilty and the immediate sentence of death by hanging mark the swift and certain course of the law against a slave who killed his master. The killing of a master by a slave struck at the foundation of the island's order, and the sentence was the gravest the court could pass, the gallows already erected in the valley before the trial. The direction that the body be cut down and carried back to the prison points to a further disposal beyond the hanging, the law reaching past death in the punishment of so grave an offence against the settlement's government. | |
48 | Aprill was brought there your Body to be bound about with Iron bands from thence to be Conveyed to the Top of the Fort Hill to be hung on a Gibbit there Erected, to remain a Publick Spectacle of Justice to So Inhumane and barberous a Murder God have Mercy on your Soule Proclamation was made for all Persons that had any business to draw in. Then the Court broke up. Memorandm This far hath been Coppyd & Sent Home ⅌ Ship Dk: of Cambridge Capt Dan: Small, ye 18 Aprill 1721. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Immured. | The prisoner was brought there, his body to be bound about with iron bands, then to be conveyed to the top of the Fort Hill to be hung on a gibbet erected there, to remain a public spectacle of justice for so inhumane and barbarous a murder. God have mercy on your soul. Proclamation was made for all persons who had any business to come forward. Then the court broke up. A memorandum recorded that this much had been copied and sent home by the ship Duke of Cambridge, Captain Daniel Small, on 18 April 1721. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The sentence to gibbet the body marks the law's use of the corpse as a lasting warning beyond the death itself. After hanging, the body was to be bound in iron bands and hung on a gibbet at the top of Fort Hill, left there to rot in public view as a spectacle of justice. The hanging punished the murderer, but the gibbeting addressed the wider population, the slow display of the ironbound corpse on the height above the valley holding up the fate of a slave who killed his master as a deterrent to all who saw it. The choice of Fort Hill for the gibbet set the warning where it would be seen by the island and by the ships in the road. The height commanded the valley and the anchorage, so the gibbeted body served as a sign to the settlement's slaves and to the vessels that touched the island alike. The placing marks the deliberate use of the landscape to broadcast the law's severity, the corpse raised on the most visible point as a standing assertion of the order the murder had broken. The despatch of the trial record home by the Duke of Cambridge shows the council reporting its exercise of capital justice to the Company's masters. The fair copy sent to London under Captain Small, whose ship had lately brought the Bengal cargo entered at the consultation of 13 April 1721, placed the trial and sentence on the record the directors would read. The transmission marks the island's accountability to the Company for its gravest acts, the execution of a slave for the murder of his master set before the masters whose government the court administered. | |
49 | 1721. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Monday the 17th day of Aprill 1721. at Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read and approvd of. Capt Goodwin brought in his Book Containing the monthly Acco: with that for the Month of March last which was Examind approvd & Signd by Us. Docter Scrimshire having desired leave to goe off the Island in one of the Ships now in the Road: and Severall Persons Standing Indebted to him, Desired they might be Sumoned to Appear this day in Order to be Oblig'd to make him Satisfaction. Which they Accordingly did. Capt Goodwin Reports that of the Goods recivd from Bengall by these three Ships there is wanting. Viz: Of those by the Craggs 336 of Rice and recd but two half Legars and one quarter Cask of Arrack, which if full would Contain but 153 Gall: One of the half Legars wanted Six Inches, the other Seven, & the quarter Cask three Inches. Of those by the Cardigan there wanted of the Rice 70 C the 4 half Legars of Arrack wanted of being full one 4 Inches two 4½ & one 5½ Inches. Of those by the Duke of Cambridge. there Margin Notes: Storeland for March Persons Indebted to Docter Scrimshire Sumond. Goods short ⅌ Craggs ⅌ Cardigan. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Monday 17 April 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Captain Goodwin brought in his book containing the monthly account, together with that for the month of March, which was examined, approved and signed. Doctor Scrimshire, having asked leave to go off the island in one of the ships now in the road, and several persons standing indebted to him, asked that they be summoned to appear this day to be obliged to make him satisfaction. They accordingly did so. Captain Goodwin reported that of the goods received from Bengal by the three ships there was a shortfall, as follows. Of those by the Craggs, 336 pounds of rice. The arrack was received but two half leaguers and one quarter cask of arrack, which if full would contain but 153 gallons. One of the half leaguers wanted six inches, the other seven, and the quarter cask three inches. Of those by the Cardigan, the rice wanted 704 pounds. The 4 half leaguers of arrack wanted of being full one 4 inches, two 4½ and one 5½ inches. Of those by the Duke of Cambridge, there [...]. Interpretations The reckoning of the shortfall by inches reveals how the arrack casks were gauged to measure what each lacked of its full content. The depth of the empty space at the head of the cask, measured in inches, gave the quantity short, the half leaguers and quarter cask each found wanting by so many inches of liquor. The method let the council fix the deficiency in the lading against the quantity the bills declared, the want of arrack reckoned cask by cask so the loss could be charged and accounted. The shortfalls in the rice and arrack mark the wastage and shrinkage that attended the long carriage of bulk goods from Bengal. The three ships' cargoes all fell short of their declared weights and measures, the rice wanting hundreds of pounds and the arrack inches in every cask, the difference lost to leakage, evaporation and the imprecision of the original gauging. The council's careful tally of the deficiency shows its concern to hold the account true, the goods received measured against the goods consigned so the Company's loss could be known. Doctor Scrimshire's seeking to leave the island marks the end of his service as chief surgeon and his pursuit of his private debts before departure. Having lately pressed for medicines and bought a stock from Captain Glegg at the consultation of 13 April 1721, he now sought passage home and called in what was owed him, the council summoning his debtors to satisfy him before he sailed. The surgeon's departure left the island's medical establishment to a successor, his recovery of his credits the ordinary settling of affairs by a man quitting the settlement. | |
50 | Aprill there wanted of the Rice 355 and of the Arrack 64 Gall: all Excepted against on the Backs of the Severall bills of Lading The following Petitions were Presented (Vizt The Petition of Elizabeth Stocknald and Frances Stocknald Spinsters both of this Island, Setting forth That they had recived a kind Invitation by their Brother belonging to the Craggs from Relations at Bengall to come over to them on the first Opportunity that Presented, and believing it to be more for their Intrest to goe for England first, their Said Brother have =ing Promised to asist towards Defraying their Charges besides the Prospect they have of Promoting their fortunes in India preferable to any thing that can offer here; Humbly Prays leave may be Granted them to take Passage in one of the Ships now in the Road Accordingly in Order to gett into India as Soone as Posible. And &c Granted according to their desire The Petition of Margarett Vesey wife of James Vesey plant Setting forth That her Deceased Mother Margarett Rich bequeathed to her at the time of her death the Sume of Thirty Pounds which She having Present Occasion of towards the fitting her two daughters now designing to goe off the Island with Some Necessarys for their voyage Humbly Prays the Execulr to her Pd Deceased Mothers last Will & Testam: may be Ordered to pay her the Said Sume it being Mentioned in the Said Will to be for her only use & Disposall. And &c Her Husband Vesey Standing indebted to the Honble Compa: and She having Contracted part of the debt with Margin Notes: Eliz: & Frances Stocknald both to goe off. Granted. Mrs Vesey desires for 30li to be ⅌d Stovy rejected. | There the rice wanted 355 pounds and the arrack 6 gallons, all noted on the backs of the several bills of lading. The following petitions were presented. The petition of Elizabeth Stacknald and Frances Stacknald, spinsters of the island, set out that they had received an invitation from their brother, belonging to the Craggs, and from relations at Bengal, to come over to them on the first opportunity. They believed it more to their interest to go to England first, their brother having promised to help defray their charges, and they saw a better prospect of bettering their fortunes in India than anything offered on the island. They asked leave to take passage in one of the ships now in the road, so as to get to India as soon as possible. The council granted the request. The petition of Margaret Vesey, wife of James Vesey, planter, set out that her deceased mother Margaret Rich had left her at her death the sum of thirty pounds. Having present need of it towards fitting out her two daughters, who intended to leave the island with several necessaries for their voyage, she asked that the executors of her deceased mother's last will and testament be ordered to pay her the sum, it being left to her in the will for her own use and disposal. The council rejected the request. Her husband Vesey stood indebted to the Company, and she had contracted part of the debt with [...]. Interpretations The Stacknald petition shows the island as a way station from which inhabitants sought to move on to the greater opportunities of the East. The two sisters, invited by a brother aboard the Craggs and by relations in Bengal, judged their prospects better in India than on the island and sought passage to join their kin. The council's grant marks its readiness to let free inhabitants depart for the Company's eastern settlements, the island serving as a point of passage in the wider movement of people through the Company's stations rather than a place that held its people fast. The rejection of Margaret Vesey's petition turned on her husband's debt to the Company rather than on the justice of her claim to the legacy. The thirty pounds left her by her mother Margaret Rich was hers by the will for her own use, but the council refused to order its payment because her husband Vesey owed the Company and she had taken on part of that debt. The decision shows the council subordinating a wife's separate legacy to the recovery of her husband's debt, the Company's interest in the money owed prevailing over the woman's title to her inheritance. The treatment of the two petitions together marks the opposite ways the council's authority bore on those seeking to leave or to claim. The Stacknald sisters, free of debt and seeking only passage, were let go, while Margaret Vesey, whose household owed the Company, was refused the legacy she needed to fit out her own daughters for their voyage. The contrast shows debt to the Company as the decisive constraint on an inhabitant's freedom to dispose of property, the masters' claim reaching into a private inheritance to hold it against what was owed. | |
51 | 1721. with him, It is thought but reasonable this thirty Pounds Should be paid in towards Lessening the Said debt, And that the Executors to Mrs Rich: Will be Ac= =quainted therewith Accordingly. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednsday the 19th day of Aprill 1721. At Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read and Approvd of. This morning at Six a Clock the Ships Duke of Cambr Cardigan, and Craggs Saild hence for England. We Settled their Severall Accounts with Us, in the Journall as usuall. Orderd That the Arrack, Sugar, and Rice We bought of them be Sold out of the Stores at the usuall Price. And also that brought Us from India on the Honble Companys own Account. Margin Notes: the bess of ye Craggs Ships Departure. Goods bought of India ⅌ ye ships to be Sold at usuall Price. | Since she had contracted part of the debt with her husband, the council judged it reasonable that the thirty pounds be paid in towards reducing that debt, and that the executors to Margaret Rich's will be informed accordingly. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Wednesday 19 April 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. This morning at six o'clock the ships Duke of Cambridge, Cardigan and Craggs sailed from the island for England. The council settled their several accounts in the journal as usual. The council ordered that the arrack, sugar and rice bought from these ships be sold out of the stores at the usual price, together with that brought from India on the Company's own account. Interpretations The disposal of Margaret Vesey's legacy towards her husband's debt completes the matter left open at the consultation of 17 April 1721, the council directing the thirty pounds to the reduction of what the household owed. The order that the executors of Margaret Rich's will be informed shows the council reaching into the administration of a private estate to redirect a legacy to the Company's use, the sum the dead woman left her daughter applied instead to the debt the daughter had taken on with her husband. The legacy passed not to the legatee but to the creditor she was bound to. The sale of the arrack, sugar and rice out of the stores marks the island's function as a market for the goods the Company's ships brought from the East. The cargoes drawn from the Bengal ships, together with the goods consigned on the Company's own account, were sold to the inhabitants at the fixed store price, the settlement victualled and supplied through the Company's monopoly of the trade. The arrack in particular, the spirit of the eastern trade, passed into the island's consumption through this controlled sale at the usual rate. The departure of the three ships together for England marks the close of the Bengal fleet's stay and the settling of its accounts before sailing. The Duke of Cambridge, Cardigan and Craggs, whose cargoes and shortfalls had filled the consultations of April, left the road at one tide, their several accounts squared in the journal as the council's standing practice required. The simultaneous sailing shows the homeward ships keeping company for the long passage, the island's business with them concluded as they weighed. | |
52 | Aprill Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednsday the 26 day of Aprill 1721. At Union Castle in James valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. Yesterday the 25th Instant Arrived the four following Ships Vizt the Mary Capt Holden the Derby Capt Fitzhugh, the Sarum Capt George Newton, and the Cardonnell Capt Willm Mawson all last from the Cape. Mr Edward Byfeld having paid In to the Honble Compa: Account Currant, the Sume of Sixty five Pounds, advanced to him in England thought it Proper to mention the Same here for their further Notice and Satisfaction. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: 4 Ships Arrivd £65 ⅌d In ⅌ Mr Byfeld paid. This far hath been Coppyd and Sent Home ⅌ Ship Mary Capt Rd Holden Comander May ye 2 1721. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Wednesday 26 April 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Yesterday, the 25th of this month, the following four ships arrived, all last from the Cape: the Mary, Captain Holden, the Derby, Captain Fitzhugh, the Sarum, Captain George Newton, and the Cardonnell, Captain William Mawson. Mr Edward Byfield, having paid into the Company's account current the sum of sixty-five pounds advanced to him in England, thought it proper to mention the same here for the Company's further notice and satisfaction. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin A memorandum recorded that this much had been copied and sent home by the ship Mary, Captain Richard Holden commander, on 2 May 1721. Interpretations The arrival of the four ships from the Cape marks the regular passage of the homeward East India fleet through the island on the last leg from the Cape of Good Hope. The Mary, Derby, Sarum and Cardonnell, having watered and refreshed at the Cape, put in at St Helena as the final station before the long Atlantic run to England. The island lay on the established track of the returning ships, drawing in the fleet for news, refreshment and the settling of any business before the last stage home. The Mary under Captain Holden had been among the ships whose goods the council awaited at the consultation of 4 April 1721, the cargo then advised by general letter as consigned but not yet arrived. Her coming in now allowed the goods on the Company's account to be reckoned and the bills of lading at last received, the vessel that had been a figure in a letter now made the road. Her selection to carry the council's despatches home shows the homeward ship serving as the channel by which the island's records reached London. Byfield's recording of his repayment marks the care taken to set private dealings with the Company on the public record. As second of the council he had been advanced sixty-five pounds in England, and his entering the repayment in the consultation placed it before the masters so his account should be seen clear. The note shows the council's practice of minuting such transactions for the Company's satisfaction, the officer's debt and its discharge set down where the directors would read it rather than left to a private reckoning. | |
53 | 1721. Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Thursday the 4 day of May 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. On Tuesday morning last about Six a Clock Sailed hence for England the four following Ships Vizt the Mary Capt: Holden, the Derby Capt: Fitzhugh, the Sarum Capt: Newton, the Cardonnell Capt: Mawson and a Small Sloop nam'd the friend Ship from the Coast of Guinea bound for Antego, She was forced in here being very Leaky, and under great Necessity for Water. We finding that Docter Scrimshire triffled and did not Seem to intend to goe off by these Ships (Notwithstanding the uneasiness he frequently used to Express his being Confined to Stay here caused him, and his Earnest desire to be Dismissed hence) We Pursuant thereto, deliverd an Order to Capt: William Mawson Comander of the Cardonell to receive him on Board & to carry him to England to Prevent Such Disorders as was Occasiond the last Year (by ye Civill the Surgeon, who Desired to be Dismist the Honble Compa: Employ and afterwards remaind to Practice on the Island, and to make use of their Honble Stores wch he gaind by Indirect means as appears by his Tryall Margin Notes: 5 Ships Departure. their Names a Sloop wth them. Dr Scrimshire unwilling to goe off. Ordd to Capt Mawson. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Thursday 4 May 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. On Tuesday morning last about six o'clock the following four ships sailed from the island for England: the Mary, Captain Holden, the Derby, Captain Fitzhugh, the Sarum, Captain Newton, and the Cardonnell, Captain Mawson. With them sailed a small sloop named the Friendship from the coast of Guinea bound for Antigua. She had been forced in, being very leaky and in great need of water. Finding that Doctor Scrimshire trifled and did not seem to intend to go off by these ships, despite the uneasiness he frequently expressed at being confined to stay on the island and his earnest wish to be dismissed, the council delivered an order to Captain William Mawson, commander of the Cardonnell, to receive him on board and carry him to England. This was to prevent such disorders as had occurred the previous year, when the surgeon, who wished to be dismissed from the Company's employ, was afterwards allowed to practise on the island and to make use of the Company's stores, which he gained by indirect means, as appears by his trial. Interpretations The order to carry Doctor Scrimshire away by force shows the council overriding the surgeon's delay to remove a man it judged a source of disorder. He had pressed to be dismissed and complained of his confinement to the island, yet when the ships came he hung back, and the council put him aboard the Cardonnell against his trifling. The action marks the council's determination to be rid of him on its own terms, the surgeon's reluctance to go when passage was at hand met by a direct order to the captain to take him. The reference to the previous year's disorders fixes the council's reason in past experience of a surgeon left on the island after quitting the Company's service. The earlier man had sought dismissal and then practised privately while drawing on the Company's stores by indirect means, a matter that had come to a trial. The council acted now to prevent the same course, removing Scrimshire outright rather than allowing him to linger as a private practitioner who might tap the Company's medical stores as his predecessor had done. The sloop Friendship forced in from the Guinea coast marks the island's standing service to the distressed shipping of the wider Atlantic trade. Bound from Guinea to Antigua on the slaving run, leaky and short of water, she put in for relief as the Portuguese slaver had done at the consultation of 4 April 1721. The island drew in the vessels of every trade and flag in want of water and repair, its place on the ocean routes making it a refuge for ships of the Guinea and West India traffic as much as for the Company's own. | |
54 | May. Sent home by the Susanna and is a manifest Discour= =agemt: to any Person Employd by the Honble Compa: and a hinderance to his Interest which Order Captain Mawson refused (Notwithstanding the clause in Charterparty to obey, and threatend the Marshall if he offered to lay hold on any rope or touch the Ships Side. Whereupon he was brought back and is forced to remaine here. Mr Byfeld brought in his Book containing the Monthly Accounts, for the Month of Aprill last, which was Examind approvd and by us Signd. Capt Goodwin Reports that he could not bring in his Monthly Acco: because he is now and has been for Some time Past fully Employd in takeing an Inventory of all the Stores, which is not Yet Compleated, having been very much hindered by the Buisness of the last Shiping, but Promises to gett it Ready by Tuesday come Sevennight. Mr Jonathan Doveton the present Church Warden (Mr John Coles the other church Warden being lately Deceasd) brought in the following Acco: of the Severall Persons Chosen on Easter Monday last by Majority of Votes of the Inhabitants to Succeed them and the present Overseers of the high ways. (Vizt) for the East William Seale John French Church Wardens Gabriel Powell John Bagley Senr Overseers for ye East Thomas Leech John Purling Wd Edm: Nichols Ralph Orme so Rich: Mason Jno Harding In Order of our makeing Choice of two Persons out of Margin Notes: he refuses it wth Threats Aprill Acco: for Mr Byfeld Capt Goodwins reasons for not bringing in his Acco: Church Wardens & Overseers Chosen | The order was sent home by the Susanna and was a clear discouragement to any person employed by the Company and a hindrance to its interest. Captain Mawson refused to obey the order, despite the clause in the charterparty, and threatened the marshal if he offered to lay hold on any rope or touch the ship's side. Scrimshire was therefore brought back and forced to remain on the island. Mr Byfield brought in his book containing the monthly accounts for the month of April, which was examined, approved and signed. Captain Goodwin reported that he could not bring in his monthly account, being now and for some time past fully employed in taking an inventory of all the stores. The inventory was not yet complete, having been much hindered by the business of the last shipping, but he promised to have it ready by a week from Tuesday. Mr Jonathan Doveton, the present churchwarden, John Coles the other churchwarden being lately deceased, brought in the following account of the several persons chosen on Easter Monday last by a majority of votes of the inhabitants to succeed them and the present overseers of the highways. Churchwardens for the East: William Seale John French Churchwardens for the West: Gabriel Powell John Bagley senior Overseers for the East: Thomas Leech John Gurling Edmund Nichols Ralph Orme Overseers for the West: Richard Mason John Harding The council was to make choice of two persons out [...]. Interpretations The captain's refusal to take Scrimshire exposes the limit of the council's authority over a ship's commander who would not comply. The order rested on a clause in the charterparty binding the ship to the Company's service, yet Mawson defied it and threatened the marshal with violence if he laid a hand on the ship, leaving the council unable to enforce its will. The surgeon was brought back ashore, the council's plan to remove him defeated by a commander who held his own deck against the island's officers, the charterparty notwithstanding. The charterparty was the contract under which the Company hired a ship and bound her to its orders, and the council invoked its clause to require Mawson to carry Scrimshire home. The captain's refusal in the face of that clause marks the gap between the Company's contractual right and its power to compel a master at a distant station. The council recorded the defiance and sent the order home by the Susanna, leaving the masters to deal with a commander who had set the charterparty at naught. The election of churchwardens and overseers on Easter Monday marks the regular parish government of the island conducted by the vote of the inhabitants. The churchwardens administered the parish and its poor relief, and the overseers of the highways kept the roads, the offices filled by majority vote and divided between the eastern and western parts of the settlement. The reporting of the choice to the council, which was itself to add two persons, shows the parish offices settled by popular election under the council's oversight, the inhabitants choosing their own officers within the frame the government set. | |
55 | 1721. of the four for Church Wardens, and three of the Six Persons for Overseers of the high ways Wherefore Orderd That Messrs Gabriel Powell and John ffrench be Appointed Church Wardens for the Ensuing Year (who were Sworne Accordingly & their Instructions deliverd to them as usuall. Mr Doveton having past his Acco: with us for all Payments and Disbursements the year past. James Ryder, William Worrall & Richard Beale, the Old Overseers appeared with the Acco: of those Persons who had, and who had not workt at the high ways the Year past, and finding that all Persons had not workt. Orderd That they cause all those Persons to worke between this and Next Consultation day, and then to attend with the new Overseers. Whereas Mr William Slaughter did this day Petition Us Setting forth that as Ensigne his Sallary was thirty Pounds ⅌ annum, and now as Gunner & Ensigne his Sallary is but forty Pound ⅌ annum which was the Sallary of the Gunner alone, He hopes We will take it into our Consideration and advance the aforesaid Sallary (as it re= =quires Constant Attendance) as to Us shall Seem Meet. Orderd That as his Sallary in Consideration he do's the Duty of both Gunner & Ensigne, be Advanced to fifty Pounds ⅌ annum to Commence from Lady day last. Mr Slaughter brought in an Acco: of Gunners Stores Expended from the 25 of March to the 24 of Aprill last, which was Examind and Approvd of Us as follows Margin Notes: New Church Wardens Appointed. Overseers Continued telltale who workt. Mr Slaughter Prays more Sallary. Advanced to £50 ⅌ Annum. Gunrs Stores Expended | The council was to choose two of the four for churchwardens and three of the six persons for overseers of the highways. The council therefore ordered that Gabriel Powell and John French be appointed churchwardens for the ensuing year. They were sworn accordingly and their instructions delivered to them as usual. Mr Doveton had settled his account for all payments and disbursements of the year past. James Ryder, William Worrall and Richard Beale, the old overseers, appeared with the account of those persons who had, and who had not, worked at the highways the year past. The council, finding that not everyone had worked, ordered that they make all those persons work between now and the next consultation day, and then attend with the new overseers. William Slaughter petitioned the council, setting out that as ensign his salary was thirty pounds a year, and now as gunner and ensign his salary was but forty pounds a year, which was the salary of the gunner alone. He hoped the council would consider this and advance the salary, as the gunner's office required constant attendance, as it should see fit. The council ordered that, in consideration of his doing the duty of both gunner and ensign, his salary be advanced to fifty pounds a year, to begin from Lady Day last. Mr Slaughter brought in an account of gunner's stores expended from the 25th of March to the 24th of April last, which was examined and approved, as follows. Interpretations The Slaughter petition turned on the joining of two offices in one man without a matching joining of their pay. As ensign he had earned thirty pounds, but holding both the gunner's and the ensign's posts he received only the forty pounds of the gunner alone, the second office added without reward. The council's advance to fifty pounds recognised that he discharged the duties of both, the gunner's place in particular requiring constant attendance, the raised salary fixed to begin from Lady Day so it ran from the start of the accounting year. The overseers' report on who had and had not worked at the highways reveals the obligation of labour on the roads that fell on the island's inhabitants. The highways were kept by the work of the people under the overseers' direction, and the failure of some to do their share brought the council's order to compel them before the new overseers took charge. The mechanism shows the upkeep of the roads resting on a duty of labour enforced by the parish officers, the defaulters made to work off their obligation under the threat of the council's authority. The appointment of the churchwardens from the persons chosen by the inhabitants completes the parish election reported earlier, the council selecting two of the four put forward and adding its own choice of overseers. The swearing of the new churchwardens and the delivery of their instructions mark the formal investiture of the parish officers, the popular vote and the council's selection together filling the offices. Doveton's settling of his account on leaving shows the outgoing officer held to a reckoning of his year's payments and disbursements before the new men took over. | |
56 | May. 1721 March 28 28th An Alarme 4 4 Do 30 Arrived a Portuguez Ship 5 5 Apr: 4 8 A double Alarme 26 26 Do Arrived the Cardigan & Craggs 2 Expended 2 Hornes of Powder 3 3 Do 8 At the Departure of the Portuguez Ship 4 4 Do 9 An Alarme 13 13 Do Arrived the Duke of Cambridge 1 Expended one Horne of Powder For Answering the Duke of Cambridge Cardigan & Craggs 3 Gun Sacr 4 2 26 48 Expended one Horne of powder 1 Do 23 For the Guards Mount: & Dismounting 9 Muskett Balls Expended 6 Spunge Staves 1 Cartdedge Paper Do 2 Axeltrees Flints 12 Match 6 fathom Hand Spikes 2 2 6 12 2 1 2 1 6 4 2 99 144 Signd Wm Slaughter The Widdow Swallow According to an Order of Councill of the 13 Aprill last brought this day an Inventory of her Deceased Husband Rich: Swallows Estate, which being not Compleated as it ought to be She was Ordered to Attend againe next Consultation day with the Said Inventory perfected. Upon Margin Notes: Wid: Swallows Inventory not perfected. | An account of gunner's stores expended from the 25th of March to the 24th of April 1721. 28 March 1721 An alarm 4 falcons, 4 pounds of powder 30 March 1721 Arrived a Portuguese ship 5 falcons, 5 pounds of powder 3 April 1721 A double alarm 26 falcons, 26 pounds of powder [3 April 1721] Arrived the Cardigan and Craggs 2 pounds of powder [3 April 1721] Expended 2 horns of powder 3 falcons, 3 pounds of powder 8 April 1721 At the departure of the Portuguese ship 4 falcons, 4 pounds of powder 9 April 1721 An alarm 13 falcons, 13 pounds of powder [9 April 1721] Arrived the Duke of Cambridge 1 pound of powder [9 April 1721] Expended one horn of powder, for answering the Duke of Cambridge, Cardigan and Craggs 4 culverins, 2 sakers, 26 falcons, 48 pounds of powder [9 April 1721] Expended one horn of powder 1 pound of powder 23 April 1721 For the guards mounting and dismounting 9 pounds of powder [23 April 1721] 6 musket balls 1 sponge stave 2 quires of cartridge paper 1 axletree 12 flints 6 quires of match 2 hand spikes 6 musket balls, 12 flints, 1 sponge stave, 2 quires of cartridge paper, 1 axletree, 6 quires of match, 4 culverins, 2 sakers, 2 hand spikes, 99 falcons, 144 pounds of powder Signed William Slaughter The widow Swallow, following the council's order of 13 April last, brought in this day an inventory of her deceased husband Richard Swallow's estate. The inventory not being completed as it ought to be, she was ordered to attend again at the next consultation day with it perfected. Interpretations The gunner's account records the heavy traffic of the homeward season, the powder spent on alarms and salutes as ship after ship made the road. The largest single charge fell on 9 April 1721 in answering the Duke of Cambridge, Cardigan and Craggs together, the falcons, sakers and culverins fired in salute to the three ships at once, the same vessels whose Bengal cargoes had filled the April consultations. The run of alarms across the month shows the watch turned out repeatedly as the fleet and the chance vessels crossed the road. The repeated noting of horns of powder expended marks the powder horn as the small measure by which loose powder was issued for priming and minor uses. The account distinguishes these small charges from the pound measures of the salute and alarm rounds, the gunner setting down every issue however slight so the whole expenditure could be reckoned against the stores. The careful tally of horns, balls, flints and match alongside the great charges shows the strictness with which the powder was accounted in a place dependent on the home supply for its replenishment. The widow Swallow's failure to perfect the inventory continues the matter from the consultation of 13 April 1721, when she first pleaded ignorance of what belonged to her husband's orphans. Ordered then to bring in an account within a fortnight, she now produced one incomplete and was sent away to perfect it. The council's persistence marks its determination to hold the guardian to a full reckoning of the orphans' estate, the repeated orders pressing a reluctant widow towards the accounting the court required for the children's protection. | |
57 | 1721. Upon a Debate between William Seale, John Purling & Benjamin Pledger relateing to a Drift way, which the Said Seale refused to let them drive their Cattle thro' Orderd That the Said Seale do allow them a drift way at the upper End of the Land he Hires of the Honble Compa: next to Mr Woods Pashure Land next to Sextens Ground And that he also Allow & keep Barrs up for another drift way thro' the other part of his Land, that is now made use of from and towards Woody ridge Samuel Jessey desires his Bond for One hundred Pounds which he borrowed of the Honble Company may be Continued another Year, he haveing paid the Interest for the Year past. Orderd That his request be Granted. Invoices of Goods recd from India by the four following Ships Recd ⅌ Sarum from China viz: 1 Chest of Bohea Tea qt 100 Catty at 30 tale ⅌ Sterl: and 5 Catty of Green at 20 ta after 31, - 1 Chest Green tea qt 105 Catty at 20 ta afterwd with Charge for the Tea Potts 27, 3s 1 Box of Sewing Silk qt 20 Catty at tale 1, 6 ⅌ Catty 32, 1 Sterl: 90, 4s Recivd Margin Notes: Seal Ordd to leave open a Drift way. Jessey desires his Bond may be Continued. Granted. China Goods ⅌ Sarum | On a dispute between William Seale, John Gurling and Benjamin Pledger concerning a driftway, which Seale refused to let them use to drive their cattle through, the council ordered that Seale allow them a driftway at the upper end of the land he hired from the Company, next to Mr Wood's pasture land near Sexton's ground. He was also to allow and keep the bars up for another driftway through the other part of his land, that now in use, from and towards Woody Ridge. Samuel Jessey asked that his bond for one hundred pounds, which he had borrowed from the Company, be continued another year, he having paid the interest for the year past. The council ordered that his request be granted. Invoices of goods received from India by the four following ships. Received by the Sarum from China: 1 chest of bohea tea of 100 catties at 30 taels per hundred, and 5 catties of green at 20 taels each 31 taels 1 mace 1 chest of green tea of 105 catties at 20 taels each, with charges for the tea pots 27 taels 3 mace 1 box of sewing silk of 20 catties at 1 tael 6 mace per catty 32 taels 1 mace 90 taels 4 mace Interpretations The driftway dispute turned on the right to drive cattle across another man's land to reach pasture or water. Seale held land from the Company that lay across the route Gurling and Pledger needed, and his refusal to let their cattle pass brought the council to fix two defined driftways through his ground. The order shows the council settling a question of access by laying down the precise lines along which the passage was to run, the bars to be kept up so the way stayed open, the right of drift secured against the holder who would have closed it. The driftway was a track along which beasts were driven from one ground to another, and the bars were the removable rails that closed a gap in a fence or hedge. The council's direction that Seale keep the bars up marks the practical arrangement by which a driftway crossed enclosed land, the gaps barred against straying but opened for the passage of the cattle. The dispute illustrates the friction that arose where the grazing of several holders depended on routes across one another's ground. The Sarum, last reported among the four ships arrived from the Cape at the consultation of 26 April 1721, is here shown to have come from China with a lading of tea and silk reckoned in taels and mace. The chest of bohea, the chest of green tea and the box of sewing silk were entered at the Canton rates, the goods drawn for the island's store from a homeward China ship as the Montague and Essex cargoes had been earlier in the year. The green tea, a finer and dearer sort than the bohea, marks the range of the China trade the island tapped through these arrivals. | |
58 | May. Recd ⅌ Ship Mary from Bengall viz: 4 half Leg: of Batavia Arrack qt 240 Gall 120, - 40 Baggs fine Rice qt 58, 2: 19 ⅌ 2, 20 ⅌ Md: Rups & Batt: 10 ⅌ Cent 35, 3s 3 1 Bale qt 150 Shirts at 63, 8s ⅌ 100 95 4 100 pr Stocking at 12 3 ⅌ Horge 62, 8s 157, 12s 100 pr Doosutties at 60 ⅌ Corge 300, - 50 Quills at 1 each 50, - Charges Merchandize 39, - 6 Rupees 701, 15s 9 Recd ⅌ Ship Cardonnell from Maddrass 2 Bales fine White Long Cloth at 60 Pags ⅌ Corge 240, - Charges on ditto 7s 26s 247, 26s 1 Bale Chints qt 100 long & 2½ broad at 38 Pags ⅌ Corge with charges on ditto 381, 41s 1 Bale Shirts White at 3, 9 Corge ⅌ Charge 65, - Charges on ditto 34s 65, 34s 1 Bale Bleu Shirts at 3, 27 ⅌ Corge 75, - Charges on ditto 34s 75, 34s 1 Bale Alijar Shirts at 4, 18 ⅌ Corge 90, - Charges on ditto 34s 90, 34s 6 Bales amount to Cap: 861, 31s 3 half Leg: Batav: Arrack at 17 Pag: ⅌ Leg: 51, - Pag: 912, 31s Recivd Margin Notes: Bengall Goods ⅌ Mary. Maddrass Goods ⅌ Cardonnell. | Received by the ship Mary from Bengal: 4 half leaguers of Batavia arrack of 240 gallons 120 rupees 1 anna 40 bags of fine rice of 58 maunds 2 [...] 19 [...], being 2 maunds 2 [...] 20 [...] per maund, and batta at 10 per cent 35 rupees 3 annas 3 pies 1 bale of 150 shirts at 63 rupees per 100 95 rupees 4 annas 100 pairs of stockings at 12 rupees 3 annas per [...] 62 rupees 8 annas bale, 157 rupees 12 annas 100 pieces of doosuttees at 60 rupees per [...] 300 rupees 50 quills at 1 anna each 50 rupees Charges of merchandise 39 rupees 6 annas 701 rupees 15 annas 9 pies Received by the ship Cardonnell from Madras: 2 bales of fine white long cloth at 60 rupees per [...] 240 rupees 1 anna charges on the long cloth 7 rupees 26 [...] 247 rupees 26 [...] 1 bale of chintz of 11 covers, long, and 2½ broad, at 38 rupees per [...], with charges on it 381 rupees 11 annas 1 bale of white shirts at 3 rupees 9 [...] per cover, with charges on it 65 rupees, charges 34 [...], 65 rupees 34 [...] 1 bale of blue shirts at 3 rupees 27 [...] per [...], with charges on it 75 rupees, charges 34 [...], 75 rupees 34 [...] 1 bale of alejar shirts at 4 rupees 18 [...] per [...], with charges on it 90 rupees, charges 34 [...], 90 rupees 34 [...] 6 bales amounting to 10 [...] 861 rupees 31 [...] 3 half leaguers of Batavia arrack at 17 rupees per [...] per leaguer 51 rupees 912 rupees 31 [...] Interpretations The cargoes of the Mary and the Cardonnell mark the distinct trades of Bengal and Madras, the two ships drawing their ladings from the eastern settlements whose goods the council awaited. The Mary brought the Bengal staples of arrack, rice, shirts and stockings entered in rupees, annas and pies, while the Cardonnell from Madras carried the finer cottons of the Coromandel coast, the long cloth, chintz and coloured shirts. The two together show the range of the Indian trade the island tapped, the bulk provisions of Bengal set beside the worked cloths of Madras. Several of the named cloths belonged to the Indian cotton trade and would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. Doosuttees were a coarse calico made in two-thread weave, a plain stout cotton used for common clothing. Long cloth was a plain white calico woven in long pieces, a staple of the Madras trade. Chintz was a painted or printed cotton, the figured cloth measured here by its length and breadth in the bale. Alejar shirts were made of a striped cotton cloth of the Coromandel coast, the stripe distinguishing them from the plain white and blue sorts listed alongside. The doosuttees, long cloth and chintz reckoned by the corge expose the standard wholesale unit of the Indian cloth trade, the corge being a tally of twenty pieces. The cottons were bought and shipped by the score, the bales made up of so many corge of cloth, the pricing fixed per corge at the Indian rates. The whole lading of both ships, entered in the money and measures of the East, was set down so the council could reckon what each delivered against the goods the Company had consigned to the island's store. | |
59 | 1721. Recd ⅌ Ship Derby from Bengall viz: 6 half Leg: Batavia Arrack qt 370 at tale Rups ⅌ Leg: 180, 1s - 44 Baggs Rice qt 64, 2: 4 ⅌ 2: 20 ⅌ Md: Rups with ye Batavia 10 ⅌ C 38, 11s 6 1 Bale qt 150 Shirts at 63, 8s ⅌ 100 95 4 100 pr Stockings at 12, 8s ⅌ Corge 62, 8s 157, 12s 1 Bale Quills qt 50 at 1 each 50, - Charges on the Bales &c 426, 7s 6 37, 6 Rups 463, 13s 6 Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 9th day of May 1721. At the Plantation House. Pres: Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Jno Alexander absent being Sick. Jno Goodwin Do about finishg ye Inventory. The Last Consultation read & approvd of. The last Years Surveyers of the high ways viz James Ryder Richard Beale and William Worrall, this day attended, brought in their Acco: & were Discharged. Edmond Nichols John Harding & John Purling attended & were Sworne as overseers of the Said high ways for this Present Year. Benjamin Margin Notes: Bengall Goods ⅌ Derby. Old Overseers Discharged new ones Sworne | ||
60 | May. Benjamin Greentree Planter Presented a Petition desireing he and his wife might have leave to goe off the Island in the next outward bound Ship that Arrives here from England. Referd to further Consideration Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 16 day of May 1721. At the Planta =tion House. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. The Governr Reports that on Wednesday night last he had an Account brought him that one of the ffishing Boats was Staved, and that Titus one of the Honble Compas Blacks was Drowned, and that Brackett one other of their Blacks had his arme broke, & very much bruised, & is in a dangerous Con= =dition. The Widdow Swallow brought in this day an Inventory of her decd Husband Rich: Swallows Estate as it appeared now, which was Examind and Margin Notes: Benj: Greentree Petit: to goe off. Referd. Complt ffishing Boat Stavd & a Black drownd Inventory of Rd Swallows Estate Brot | Benjamin Greentree, planter, presented a petition asking that he and his wife be allowed to leave the island on the next outward-bound ship to arrive from England. The council referred the matter for further consideration. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 May 1721 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Governor Johnson reported that on Wednesday night last he had received an account that one of the fishing boats had been staved and that Titus, one of the Company's slaves, was drowned, and that Brackett, another of their slaves, had broken his arm, was much bruised and was in a dangerous condition. The widow Swallow brought in this day an inventory of her deceased husband Richard Swallow's estate as it appeared now, which was examined [...]. Interpretations The wreck of the fishing boat marks the recurring danger of the fishery on which the island's slave labour depended for food. A boat was staved, one slave drowned and another gravely hurt, the same hazard of the surf that had wrecked the boats and cut off the catch at the consultation of 14 February 1720. The loss fell on the Company both in the death of Titus and the injury of Brackett, the slaves who manned the boats exposed to the sea that fed the settlement, the fishery costing lives as well as gear. The naming of the drowned and injured slaves marks the Company's reckoning of them as valued property whose loss was set down with care. Titus drowned and Brackett broke his arm, the two named in the record as the casualties of the wreck, the death and injury entered as a loss to the Company's stock of labour. The notice taken of their fate reflects the worth of the slaves to the establishment, their lives accounted for in the same register that recorded the staving of the boat. The widow Swallow's bringing in of the perfected inventory completes the matter pressed across the consultations of 13 April and the preceding sitting, the guardian at last rendering the account of her husband's estate. Ordered repeatedly to perfect it for the protection of the orphans, she now produced the inventory in the form the council required. The persistence of the demand and its final satisfaction mark the court's method of holding a reluctant guardian to a full reckoning, the orphans' property at last set down so their interest could be secured. | |
61 | 1721. and approvd of. Upon the Oaths of the Appraisers James Vesey and Benjamin Greentree. The Said Benjamin Greentree her Eldest Son made Demand of a black man named Roger for a Seperate Stock of Cattle his father in law Rich: Swallow had of him before he went off the Island Some Years ago, being in all ten head, besides five head more that belongd to his Sister Elizabeth now wife of Saml Doveton; for which the Said Rich: Swallow did Promise Each of them a black and that this Roger by name was Promised him by the Said Swallow, and he always lookt on him as his owne In the Inventory now brought in this Roger with a black Wench named Rose is Appraised and Sett apart (as a memorandm) at the End thereof, and Wid: Swallow being now askt why they were not Appraised and Sett downe with the rest of the Blacks, could not give any reason at all, So that it Seems very plain to us that She knows her deceased Husband Rich: Swallow did Promise these two Blacks as aforesaid (tho' She wont own it) and the Said Benjamin Greentree Swearing to the truth of his Demand of the Black. Orderd That the Said Benjamin Greentree have the Said Roger at the Valluation in the Inventory And that Elizabeth the wife of Saml Doveton have the Pd Wench named Rose, in full Sattisfaction for the Cittle Richard Swallow had of them Margin Notes: Invy & approvd Benj: Greentrees Demand of a Black Ordd to have one Named Roger Saml Doveton a Wench | The inventory was approved on the oaths of the appraisers James Vesey and Benjamin Greentree. Benjamin Greentree, her eldest son, demanded a slave named Roger in return for a separate stock of cattle that his father-in-law Richard Swallow had received from him before leaving the island some years earlier. The stock came to ten head in all, besides five head more belonging to his sister Elizabeth, now wife of Samuel Doveton. Richard Swallow had promised each of them a slave in return, and the slave Roger had been promised to Greentree, who had always looked on him as his own. In the inventory now brought in, Roger and a slave woman named Rose were appraised and set apart as a memorandum at the end of it. The widow Swallow, asked why they were not appraised and set down with the rest of the slaves, could give no reason at all. It therefore seemed plain to the council that she knew her deceased husband Richard Swallow had promised these two slaves, though she would not own it, and Benjamin Greentree swore to the truth of his demand for the slave. The council ordered that Benjamin Greentree have the slave Roger at the valuation in the inventory, and that Elizabeth the wife of Samuel Doveton have the slave woman named Rose in full satisfaction for the cattle Richard Swallow had received from them. Interpretations The Greentree demand exposes the practice of bartering slaves for stock among the island's planters and the difficulty of enforcing such bargains after a party's death. Richard Swallow had taken cattle from Greentree and his sister and promised each a slave in return, but died with the exchange uncompleted, leaving the promised slaves among his estate. The council's award of Roger and Rose to the two claimants enforced the original bargain against the widow, treating the slaves as the agreed price of the cattle rather than as assets of the estate, the promise honoured though no writing fixed it. The setting apart of Roger and Rose in the inventory as a memorandum reveals the widow's knowledge of the promise she would not admit. The appraisers had entered the two slaves separately from the rest, a sign that their standing was known to differ, and the widow's inability to explain why convinced the council she understood they were owed elsewhere. The council read her silence as evidence against her, inferring from the separate entry and her want of an answer that the promise was real, the slaves rightly the claimants' though she withheld her acknowledgement. The valuation of slaves as the equivalent of a fixed number of cattle marks the place of both as the productive capital of the island's estates, exchangeable one for the other at an agreed reckoning. Greentree gave ten head and his sister five, and each was satisfied with a single slave, the beasts and the people alike counted as wealth that could be traded and set against one another. The award in full satisfaction for the cattle shows the slaves discharging the debt as a payment in kind, the human property answering the bargain struck in livestock. | |
62 | May. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 23 day of May 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. Yesterday Arrived three french Ships from Pondicherry who Say they are in very great want of Water and Provisions of all kinds. This day a List of all the Honble Compas Blacks to the 25th of March last, was Signed in Order to be Sent to their Honrs. Capt Goodwin brought in his Book Containing the Monthly Acco: for the month of Aprill last, which was Examind, approvd & by us Signd. And likewise the Inventory of all the Stores remain =ing, which was Ordered to be taken back to be reexamind before it be Sent home. The Docter brought in his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 28 day of March last, which was Examined and approvd of. Mary Swallow was Summond to appear here this day at the Complaint of Robert Wallington for refuseing to pay him the Sume of twenty five Pounds She owed him. She Margin Notes: ffrench Ships Arrd List of Blacks Sent home. Stores Acco: for Aprill Inventory of Stores taken. Wallington Complt agt Mr Swallow | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 May 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Yesterday three French ships arrived from Pondicherry, who said they were in great want of water and provisions of all kinds. This day a list of all the Company's slaves to the 25th of March last was signed to be sent home to the Company. Captain Goodwin brought in his book containing the monthly accounts for the month of April, which was examined, approved and signed. The council likewise examined the inventory of all the stores remaining, which it ordered to be taken back and re-examined before it was sent home. The doctor brought in his book of medicines dispensed since the 28th of March last, which was examined and approved. Mary Swallow was summoned to appear this day on the complaint of Robert Wallington for refusing to pay him the sum of twenty-five pounds she owed him. Interpretations The arrival of the three French ships from Pondicherry marks the island's service to the East India shipping of other nations as well as the Company's own. Pondicherry was the chief settlement of the French Company on the Coromandel coast, and its homeward ships put in at St Helena for water and provisions much as the English ships did. The island's place on the ocean route made it a watering station for the rival European companies, the council recording the French ships' wants as it had the Portuguese slaver and the Guinea sloop. The signing of the list of the Company's slaves to be sent home marks the regular accounting of the slave labour to the masters in London. The list rendered the Company's human property as of a fixed date, the 25th of March, the start of the accounting year, so the directors could know the number and standing of the slaves the island held. The slaves were reckoned as capital to be reported like the stores and the stock, their tally sent home as part of the island's yearly account of the Company's holdings. The order to take back and re-examine the inventory of stores before sending it home marks the council's care that its account to the masters be exact. The stocktaking that had occupied Captain Goodwin for weeks was not to go forward until checked again, the council unwilling to send an uncertain reckoning to London. The insistence on a re-examination shows the weight placed on the accuracy of the returns by which the island answered to the Company for the stores in its charge. | |
63 | 1721. She accordingly appeared and Says She owns the debt but cannot Yet pay it. The Said Wallington Says he is willing to give her a months time longer to make Payment in, but if She do's not pay it then She must Expect further trouble. Isaac Wood & James Draper Executors to the last Will & Testament of Simon Whaley free planter Deceded brought the Said Will in Order to have the Same Proved which was Accordingly done by the Oaths of the Witnesses thereto Josiah Joseph Bedloe, William Simson, & John De Fountaine Orderd That the Said Will be recd and Entered into a Book for that Purpose. The Said Executors brought likewise an Inventory of the Said Simon Whaleys Estate which being Sworne to was recd & approvd of accordingly. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Mary Swallow Gives Wallington Hope for Paymt. Simon Whaleys Will. Proved & Inventory Delivd | She appeared accordingly and admitted the debt, but said she could not yet pay it. Wallington said he was willing to give her a month longer to make payment, but if she did not pay it then she must expect further trouble. Isaac Wood and James Draper, executors to the last will and testament of the deceased free planter Simon Whaley, brought in the will to have it proved, which was done on the oaths of the witnesses Josiah Joseph Bedloe, William Simson and John de la Fountaine. The council ordered that the will be received and entered into a book kept for that purpose. The executors likewise brought in an inventory of Simon Whaley's estate, which was sworn to and received and approved. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The proving of Simon Whaley's will shows the council acting as the probate authority of the island, establishing a will by the sworn testimony of its witnesses. The executors brought the will and the witnesses Bedloe, Simson and de la Fountaine swore to it, the council then ordering it entered in the book kept for wills. The procedure marks the formal machinery by which the island validated the testaments of its inhabitants, the oaths of the witnesses fixing the will as genuine and the entry in the register preserving it as a record of record. The bringing in of the inventory alongside the will marks the executors' duty to account for the estate they administered. The inventory, sworn and received, set down the property Whaley left so the estate could be settled and his bequests answered, the appraisement giving the measure of what the executors held. The pairing of the proved will with the sworn inventory shows the two instruments by which the island governed the descent of property at death, the will declaring the intent and the inventory fixing the assets. The Wallington debt illustrates the council's handling of an admitted obligation that the debtor could not at once discharge. Mary Swallow owned the twenty-five pounds she owed but could not pay, and the creditor allowed a month's grace under threat of further trouble. The council's role was to bring the debtor to acknowledge the debt and to record the term agreed, the same enforcement of private credit it exercised across these consultations, the admission fixed and the indulgence noted so the matter could be pressed if she failed again. | |
64 | May. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 30 day of May 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. Yesterday Arrived the three following Ships viz: the Carnarvon Capt: Josiah Twaits, the Bridgwater Capt: Edward Williamson from China, and the Duke of York Capt: Robert Hyde from Bengall. but last from the Cape. The Same day in the Evening Departed hence the three french Ships. Mr Slaughter made Complaint to the Govr that Mrs Swallow did Send two of her Blacks into his Planta =tion and took thereout two Baggs of Yarns without his leave or knowledge. Whereupon She was Sumoned to appear before Us this day, and being now Present Says that John Harding her Son in law having had leave of Mr Slaughter to fetch and use one Bagg of Yarns at his Wedding, and having not Enough She Sent for two Baggs more, But ownes her Self in a fault. Orderd That the Said Mrs Swallow be find the Sume of ten Shillings, and to pay three times Margin Notes: 3 Ships Arrivd ffrench Ships Departure. Mr Slaughters Complt agt Mrs Swallow. a fine of 10s | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 30 May 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor Edward Byfield, second John Alexander, third John Goodwin The last consultation was read and approved. Yesterday three ships arrived: the Carnarvon, Captain Josiah Twaits, and the Bridgewater, Captain Edward Williamson, from China, and the Duke of York, Captain Robert Hyde, from Bengal, last from the Cape. The same day in the evening three French ships departed from the island. Mr Slaughter complained to the Governor that Mrs Swallow had sent two of her slaves into his plantation and taken two bags of yams without his leave or knowledge. She was therefore summoned to appear this day, and being now present said that John Harding her son-in-law, having had leave from Mr Slaughter to fetch and use one bag of yams at his wedding, and not having enough, had sent for two bags more. She admitted herself in a fault. The council ordered that Mrs Swallow be fined the sum of ten shillings, and to pay three [...]. Interpretations The yam dispute marks the value of the staple root crop on which the island's food largely rested and the readiness of the council to punish even a small taking without leave. Mrs Swallow's slaves had carried off two bags of yams beyond the one bag Slaughter had granted for the wedding, and the council fined her for the excess. The yam was the chief provision the island grew for itself, and the strictness over two bags shows the crop guarded as a thing of worth, the unauthorised taking treated as an offence to be answered in a fine. The arrival of the Carnarvon and Bridgewater from China and the Duke of York from Bengal marks another homeward convoy putting in for the island's refreshment, the China and Bengal trades arriving together by way of the Cape. The ships drew in for water and provisions and the settling of any business before the Atlantic passage, the island serving as the common station of the eastern fleets. The departure of the French ships the same evening shows the road in constant use, the vessels of several nations coming and going as the season carried them home. The grounding of the fine in a wedding illustrates how the ordinary occasions of the island's life drew on the provision the Company and the planters held. Harding had sought yams for his marriage feast and, falling short, took more than he was given, the celebration leading to the trespass. The council's fine, levied despite the innocent occasion, shows that need or festivity did not excuse the taking of another's provision without leave, the rule over the yam crop held firm even against the demands of a wedding. | |
65 | May. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 30 day of May 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley. Edw: Johnson Esqr Govr Edw: Byfeld 2d Pres: Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approvd of. Yesterday Arrived the three following Ships viz: the Carnarvon Capt: Josiah Twaits, the Bridgwater Capt: Edward Williamson from China, and the Duke of York Capt: Robert Hyde from Bengall. but last from the Cape. The Same day in the Evening Departed hence the three french Ships. Mr Slaughter made Complaint to the Govr that Mrs Swallow did Send two of her Blacks into his Planta =tion and took thereout two Baggs of Yarns without his leave or knowledge. Whereupon She was Sumoned to appear before Us this day, and being now Present Says that John Harding her Son in law having had leave of Mr Slaughter to fetch and use one Bagg of Yarns at his Wedding, and having not Enough She Sent for two Baggs more, But ownes her Self in a fault. Orderd That the Said Mrs Swallow be find the Sume of ten Shillings, and to pay three times Margin Notes: 3 Ships Arrivd ffrench Ships Departure. Mr Slaughters Complt agt Mrs Swallow. a fine of 10s | She was to pay three times the value of the two bags of yams to Mr Slaughter. The doctor brought in his book of medicines dispensed since the 23rd of this month, which was examined and approved. Invoices of goods received from India by the three ships named above. Received from Madras by the ship Bridgewater: 2 half leaguers of Batavia arrack 34 rupees 1 anna 13 bags of sugar, being 11 maunds 4 [...] 11 [...] at 12 rupees 18 annas per candy 50 pagodas 32 [...] 32 [...] 84 pagodas 32 [...] 32 [...] Received from Bengal by the ship Duke of York: 4 half leaguers of Batavia arrack of 246 gallons at 30 rupees per leaguer 120 rupees 1 anna 35 bags of fine rice of 70 maunds, being 51 maunds 1 [...] 9 [...], at 2 maunds 2 [...] 9 [...] per maund 32 rupees 15 annas batta at 10 per cent 3 rupees 4 annas 9 pies 36 rupees 3 annas 9 pies 1 bale of 100 pairs of stockings at 12 rupees 8 annas per corge 62 rupees 8 annas 150 chillaes shirts at 57 rupees per 100 85 rupees 14 annas 148 rupees 6 annas Charges of merchandise 324 rupees 2 annas 6 pies 337 rupees 12 annas 3 pies Received from China by the ship Carnarvon: 1 chest of china ware, being 2,280 coffee cups at 5 cash each, and 15 bowls blue and white 11 taels 4 annas, with 4 [...] 6 [...], 16 [...] deduct 2 per cent for breakage 13 taels 5 annas, less 2 [...] 6 [...] 12 taels 7 annas 8 [...] 9 [...] 1 box of sewing silk of 14 catties 20 catties at 1 tael 6 mace per catty 32 taels, 14 taels 7 annas 8 [...] 9 [...] 1 chest of bohea tea of 125 catties canisters, being 95 catties net at [...] per [...] 32 taels 1 mace 4 [...] 76 taels 8 mace 8 [...] 9 [...] Interpretations The three cargoes show the distinct moneys and measures of the eastern settlements through which the goods were bought. The Bridgewater's Madras sugar was reckoned in pagodas, the gold coin of the Coromandel coast, and priced by the candy, the large bulk weight of southern India. The Duke of York's Bengal lading was entered in rupees, annas and pies by the maund, and the Carnarvon's China goods in taels and mace by the catty. The single page thus carries three separate systems of account, each cargo set down in the money and weight of its place of origin. The candy and the pagoda belonged to the Madras trade and would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. The candy was a weight of about five hundred pounds used for bulk goods on the Coromandel coast, and the pagoda was the standard gold coin of southern India, worth several rupees. The chillaes shirts of the Bengal cargo were made of a checked or striped cotton cloth, the cash of the China account was the small copper coin of the lowest value, a great number going to the tael. The deduction of two per cent for breakage on the china ware marks the allowance made for the loss of brittle goods in carriage. The pricing of the china ware by counting its separate pieces repeats the method seen in the earlier China cargoes, the coffee cups and bowls tallied as distinct articles within the chest. The 2,280 coffee cups at five cash each show the scale on which the cheap porcelain of the China trade was shipped, the cups reckoned in the lowest Chinese coin and the whole chest valued by their number. The bohea tea, weighed net of its canisters, and the sewing silk by the catty complete the standard China lading the island drew from each homeward ship. | |
66 | May. Brought Over 76, 8s 8s 9 Singlo Tea 1 chest qt 105 C Cwt: Catt: Gross 203 Tare 95 Nett 108 at 20 ⅌ ⅌ Cwt: 21, 6s - 98, 4s 8s 9 Charges viz: 210 Tutenague Canisters at 4 ⅌ Cund: 8s 4s - Sume Totalle 106, 8s 8s 9 Island St Helena A List of families, Lands & Blacks at the Secretarys Office between the 15th & 23 do Under what heads. Whites Blacks Persons Names Whites: Men. Woman. Youths. Maidans. Boys. Girles. Totall. Free Blks. Blacks: Man. Women. Boys. Girles. Totall. Capt Jno Alexander 3 Co Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Girles 4. Totall 6. Blacks: Man 8. Women 3. Boys 4. Girles 3. Totall 18. Capt Jno Goodwin 4 do Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Blacks: Man 10. Women 1. Boys 3. Totall 15. Lieut: Thom: Cason Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1. Ens: Willm Slaughter Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Totall 4. Free Blks 1. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 2. Will: Beale Surgs assistt Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Boys 2. Totall 4. Free Blks 2. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Totall 4. Thom: Dutch Serjt Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Isaac Wood do & Apprentic Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Free Blks 5. Blacks: Man 2. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 10. Jno Young do Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jno Hanson do Whites: Maidans 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1. Robt Wallington do Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Will: Simpson do Whites: Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jno Swallow Corpl Whites: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Joseph Bates do Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Isaac Leech Gunrs mate Whites: Men 1. Maidans 1. Boys 3. Totall 5. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Giles Hairser do do Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Tho: Watts 2d Gunr Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Jno Orchard do & ⅌ Saw: Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Gilbt Sinsmick Monks Edm: Bodley do Sam: Thornbro: do Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Ebenezar Leech do Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 1. Francis Funge Whites: Men 1. Boys 4. Totall 5. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. James Leech Andrew Bergue Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Carried Over Whites: Men 17. Woman 1. Youths 4. Maidans 16. Boys 17. Totall 55. Free Blks 1. Blacks: Man 36. Women 9. Boys 17. Girles 5. Totall 68. | Brought over 76 taels 8 mace 8 [...] 9 [...] Single tea, 1 chest of 105 catties, gross 203, tare 95, net 108 at 20 [...] per [...] 21 taels 6 mace 1 anna 98 taels 4 mace 8 [...] 9 [...] Charges, being 210 tutenague canisters at 4 candareens each 8 taels 4 mace 1 anna Sum total 106 taels 8 mace 8 [...] 9 [...] Island of St Helena A list of families, lands and slaves taken at the Secretary's office between the 15th and 23rd of this month. The census set out each household under two heads, the whites and the blacks. The white columns ran across men, women, youths, maidens, boys to twelve years, girls to thirteen years, and the total. The black columns ran across men, women, boys, girls, and the total. Captain John Alexander, third of council, had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 4 white boys, totalling 6 white people, with 8 black men, 3 black women, 4 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 18 black people. Captain John Goodwin, fourth of council, had 2 white men, 1 white woman, 3 white maidens and 1 white boy, totalling 6 white people [at one reading 7], with 10 black men, 1 black woman and 3 black boys, totalling 15 black people [at one reading 14]. Lieutenant Thomas Cason had no white household entered, with 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person. Ensign William Slaughter had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. William Beale, surgeon's assistant, had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 4 black people. Thomas Dutch, sergeant, had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people, with no black household entered. Isaac Wood, [...] apprentice, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 3 white [children], totalling 3 white people [the line reads uncertainly], with 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. John Young had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 white [children], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. John Hanson had 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person. Robert Wallington had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. William Simpson had 1 white maiden, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. John Swallow, corporal, had 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. Joseph Bates had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 white [children], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. Isaac Leech, gunner's mate, had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 3 white [children], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. Giles Harvey had 1 white man and 2 white [children], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Thomas Watts, second gunner, had 1 white man and 1 white [child], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. John Orchard, [...] sawyer, had 1 white man and 1 white maiden, totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling [...] black people. Gilbert Sinsnick Monhoss had no household entered. Edmund Bodley had no household entered. Samuel Thornbrough had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Ebenezer Leech had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 white [children], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black boy, totalling 1 black person. Francis Funge had 1 white man and 4 white [children], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man, 2 black boys, totalling 3 black people. James Leech had no household entered. Andrew Bergue had 1 white man and 1 white [child], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. Carried over: 17 white men, 1 white woman, 4 white youths, 16 white maidens, 17 white boys, 55 white total, with 1 [...], 36 black men, 9 black women, 17 black boys, 5 black girls, 68 black total. Interpretations The census taken at the Secretary's office marks the regular enumeration by which the island reckoned its population of free inhabitants and slaves together. The list counted each household under the heads of whites and blacks, breaking the whites down by sex and age and the blacks by sex and youth, so the government could know the strength of the settlement in both its free and its enslaved people. The taking of the count over a fixed span of days, household by household, shows the methodical survey of families, lands and slaves that gave the council a true measure of the island's inhabitants. The list ranks the households by the standing of their heads, the councillors and officers first, then the soldiers, tradesmen and planters. Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin head it as third and fourth of council, their large holdings of slaves, eighteen and fifteen, marking the wealth of the island's leading men. The descent through the ensign, the surgeon's assistant, the sergeants and the apprentices to the ordinary planters shows the census ordered by rank, the size of each household's slave holding broadly tracking the standing of its head. The wide variation in slave holdings exposes the concentration of enslaved labour in the hands of the leading inhabitants. The two councillors held thirty-three slaves between them, while many households held one or two and some none at all, the human property gathered chiefly among the officers and substantial men. The count of the slaves alongside the free reflects their place as the productive capital of the island, their numbers reported to the Company as carefully as the stock and stores, the enumeration fixing the labour force on which the settlement's work depended. | |
67 | Cattle on the Said Island for the Year 1720. As given into the Secretarys Office between the 15 & 23 days of March 172⁰/₁. Black Cattle Acres of Land. Bulls. Cows. Bullocks. Heifers. Steers. Yearling. Calves. Totall. Free Land. Hir'd Land. Totall. Brought Over Black Cattle: Cows 10. Heifers 4. Steers 4. Yearling 1. Calves 6. Totall 25. Acres of Land: Free Land 14½. Hir'd Land 32. Totall 46½. Capt Jno Alexander Black Cattle: Cows 15. Bullocks 4. Heifers 4. Steers 2. Yearling 3. Calves 12. Totall 40. Acres of Land: Free Land 158. Hir'd Land 17½. Totall 175½. Capt Jno Goodwin Lieut: Thom: Cason Black Cattle: Cows 1. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Totall 3. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 3. Totall 3. Ens: Willm Slaughter Will: Beale Black Cattle: Cows 1. Heifers 1. Totall 2. Thom: Dutch Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 20. Bullocks 2. Heifers 5. Calves 10 20. Totall 58. Acres of Land: Free Land 83. Hir'd Land 30. Totall 113. Isaac Wood Jno Young Jno Hanson Black Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4. Robt Wallington Will: Simpson Black Cattle: Cows 3. Calves 3. Totall 6. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Totall 10. Jno Swallow Black Cattle: Cows 2 8. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 8. Totall 22. Acres of Land: Free Land 5. Hir'd Land 8. Totall 13. Joseph Bates Black Cattle: Cows 3. Yearling 1. Calves 1 2. Totall 7. Isaac Leech Giles Hairser Black Cattle: Cows 1. Yearling 1. Calves 1. Totall 3. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 8. Totall 8. Tho: Watts Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 5. Totall 5. Jno Orchard Black Cattle: Cows 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 16. Totall 16. Gilbt Sinsmick Edm: Bodley Black Cattle: Cows 1. Totall 1. Sam: Thornbro: Black Cattle: Cows 2. Yearling 1. Calves 1. Totall 4. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 15. Totall 15. Ebenezar Leech Black Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4. Francis Funge James Leech Andrew Bergue Black Cattle: Bulls 3. Cows 70. Bullocks 8. Heifers 16. Steers 11. Yearling 15. Calves 57. Totall 180. Acres of Land: Free Land 270½. Hir'd Land 134½. Totall 495. | Captain John Alexander, third of council, held 10 cows, 4 heifers, 4 steers, 1 yearling and 6 calves, totalling 25 head, with 14½ acres of free land and 32 acres of hired land, totalling 46½ acres. Captain John Goodwin, fourth of council, held 15 cows, 4 bullocks, 4 heifers, 2 steers, 3 yearlings and 12 calves, totalling 40 head, with 158 acres of free land and 17½ acres of hired land, totalling 175½ acres. Lieutenant Thomas Cason held no cattle and no land. Ensign William Slaughter held 1 cow, 1 heifer and 1 steer, totalling 3 head, with no free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 3 acres. William Beale, surgeon's assistant, held no cattle and no land. Thomas Dutch, sergeant, held 1 cow and 1 heifer, totalling 2 head, with no land entered. Isaac Wood, [...] apprentice, held 1 bull, 20 cows, 2 bullocks, 5 heifers, 10 yearlings and 20 calves, totalling 58 head, with 83 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 113 acres. John Young held no cattle and no land. John Hanson held no cattle and no land. Robert Wallington held no cattle and no land. William Simpson held 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, with no land entered. John Swallow, corporal, held 3 cows and 3 calves, totalling 6 head, with 10 acres of land, totalling 10 acres. Joseph Bates held 2 bulls, 8 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 8 calves, totalling 22 head, with 5 acres of free land and 8 acres of hired land, totalling 13 acres. Isaac Leech, gunner's mate, held 3 cows, 1 steer, 1 yearling and 2 calves, totalling 7 head, with no land entered. Giles Harvey held no cattle and no land. Thomas Watts, second gunner, held 1 cow, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, with 8 acres of land, totalling 8 acres. John Orchard, [...] sawyer, held no cattle, with 5 acres of land, totalling 5 acres. Gilbert Sinsnick Monhoss held 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 2 head, with 16 acres of land, totalling 16 acres. Edmund Bodley held no cattle and no land. Samuel Thornbrough held 1 cow, totalling 1 head, with no land entered. Ebenezer Leech held 2 cows, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 4 head, with 15 acres of land, totalling 15 acres. Francis Funge held 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, with no land entered. James Leech held no cattle and no land. Andrew Bergue held no cattle and no land. Carried over: 3 bulls, 70 cows, 8 bullocks, 16 heifers, 11 steers, 15 yearlings, 57 calves, 180 total head, with 270½ acres of free land, 134½ acres of hired land, 495 acres total. Interpretations The pairing of cattle and land against each household completes the picture of the island's wealth begun by the count of people and slaves. The same leading men who held the most slaves also held the most land and stock, Captain Goodwin with 175½ acres and Isaac Wood with 113, while many households held a few beasts and a handful of acres or none at all. The census thus measured each family's standing across three forms of property at once, the people, the cattle and the land set side by side so the council could reckon the whole substance of the settlement. The division of land into free and hired repeats the distinction that ran through the land grants of these consultations. The free land was the freehold the inhabitant owned outright, the hired the Company's waste he held on lease for rent, and the census recorded each separately so the Company could know how much of its own ground was let. Captain Goodwin's 158 acres of freehold against 17½ hired marks a substantial proprietor, while the smaller men held chiefly hired ground, the pattern showing the freehold concentrated among the leading inhabitants. The figures expose how thinly stocked many of the island's households were. A settlement of two dozen families on this strip held 180 head of cattle between them, the bulk gathered in the few large holdings of the officers and substantial planters, the rest scattered in ones and twos. The reckoning of the stock alongside the land and people gave the council the means to judge the productive capacity of each household, the cattle and acres together fixing the measure of what each family could raise toward the island's provision. | |
68 | Under what heads. Whites Blacks Persons Names (viz:) Whites: Men. Women. Youths. Maids. Boys. Girles. Totall. Free Blks. Blacks: Man. Women. Boys. Girles. Totall. Brought Over Whites: Men 17. Woman 1. Youths 4. Maids 16. Boys 17. Totall 55. Free Blks 1. Blacks: Man 36. Women 9. Boys 17. Girles 5. Totall 68. John Aldrick Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Stephen Audroard Willm Bunnum Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Thomas Clew Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Thom: Hayse Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 7. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jno Knipe & Mr Servt Whites: Men 1. Maids 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Free Blks 2. Blacks: Man 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Willm Punny Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Benjamin Pledger Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 2. Step: Praise Pledger Jno Purling & Sister Whites: Men 1. Maids 1. Totall 3. Free Blks 2. Blacks: Man 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Tho: Allis Planter Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 7. Free Blks 3. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 4. Rich: Alexanders Childn Robert Addis: Orphn Bridgett Bazett Wid: Whites: Maids 1. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 4. Free Blks 4. Blacks: Man 3. Women 3. Totall 10. Jno Bagley Senr & Servt Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Youths 1. Maids 2. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 10. Blacks: Man 2. Girles 1. Totall 3. Orlando Bagley & Son John Whites: Men 2. Woman 1. Maids 2. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 10. Blacks: Man 2. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Richard Beale Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 2. Totall 2. Robert Bell Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maids 1. Boys 2. Totall 5. Blacks: Man 2. Women 3. Boys 2. Totall 7. Arthur Bradley Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Youths 1. Boys 3. Totall 6. Blacks: Man 2. Women 1. Totall 3. John Bagley Junr John Coles Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Youths 1. Maids 2. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 9. Free Blks 5. Blacks: Man 2. Women 4. Girles 1. Totall 12. Joseph Coles Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. William Coales Whites: Men 1. Maids 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Benjamin Cleverlee Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Totall 4. Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. John Coulson Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Gilbert Colgraves Orphn Mary Cottaway Whites: Woman 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Mrs Francis Carne & Son Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maids 1. Boys 3. Girles 6. Totall 6. Blacks: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 14. Grace Coulson Whites: Woman 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Free Blks 1. Blacks: Women 3. Boys 2. Totall 8. Jonathan Doveton Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Youths 1. Maids 1. Boys 1. Girles 4. Totall 9. Free Blks 7. Blacks: Man 3. Women 5. Boys 2. Totall 17. James Draper & Mr Servt Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maids 2. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 10. Blacks: Man 3. Totall 3. Henry ffrancis Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 3. Free Blks 4. Blacks: Women 2. Boys 2. Totall 8. Thomas frees Estate Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Totall 2. Carried Over Whites: Men 18. Woman 38. Youths 5. Maids 17. Boys 45. Girles 47. Totall 161. Free Blks 7. Blacks: Man 88. Women 30. Boys 41. Girles 16. Totall 182. | Brought over: 17 white men, 1 white woman, 4 white youths, 16 white maidens, 17 white boys, 55 white total, with 1 free black, 36 black men, 9 black women, 17 black boys, 5 black girls, 68 black total. John Aldrick had 1 white man and 1 white boy, totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Stephen Audroard had no household entered. William Burnnum had no household entered. Thomas Clew had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Thomas Hayse had 1 white man, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 7 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. John Knipe and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 6 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people. William Penny had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Benjamin Pledger had 1 white man and 1 white girl, totalling 2 white people, with 2 black boys, totalling 2 black people. Stephen Praise Pledger had no household entered. John Pirling and his sister had 1 white man and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people [the line reads uncertainly], with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 4 black people. Thomas Allis, planter, had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 4 white boys, totalling 7 white people, with 3 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 4 black people. Richard Alexander's child had no household entered. Robert Addes's orphans had no household entered. Bridget Bazett, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 white girls, totalling 4 white people, with 4 black men, 3 black women and 3 black boys, totalling 10 black people. John Bagley senior and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens, 4 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 10 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black girl, totalling 3 black people. Orlando Bagley and his son John had 2 white men, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens, 4 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 10 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people. Richard Beale had 1 white man and 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people, with 2 black men, totalling 2 black people. Robert Bell had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 2 white boys, totalling 5 white people, with 2 black men, 3 black women and 2 black boys, totalling 7 black people. Arthur Bradley had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth and 3 white boys, totalling 6 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. John Bagley junior had no household entered. John Coles had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 9 white people, with 5 black men, 2 black women, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 12 black people. Joseph Coles had 1 white man and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person [the total reads uncertainly], with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. William Coales had 1 white man, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people, with no black household entered. Benjamin Cleverlee had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people, with 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. John Coulson had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Gilbert Colgrave's orphans had no household entered. Mary Conaway had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling [...] white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Mrs Francis Carne and her son had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 6 white girls, totalling 6 white people [the totals read uncertainly], with 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 14 black people [the black totals read uncertainly]. Grace Coulson had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, 3 black women and 2 black boys, totalling 8 black people. Jonathan Doveton had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 4 white girls, totalling 9 white people, with 7 black men, 3 black women, 5 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 17 black people. James Draper and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 10 white people, with 3 black men, totalling 3 black people. Henry Francis had 1 white man and 2 white boys, totalling 3 white people, with 4 black men and 2 black women, totalling 8 black people. Thomas Free's estate had 1 white man and 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Carried over: 18 white men, 38 white women [the figure reads uncertainly], 5 white youths, 17 white maidens, 45 white boys, 47 white girls, 161 white total, with 7 free blacks, 88 black men, 30 black women, 41 black boys, 16 black girls, 182 black total. Interpretations The continuation of the census carries the count through the bulk of the island's planter households, ranging from single inhabitants and empty estate lines down to large families with many slaves. The list includes the orphans' and children's estates as distinct entries, Richard Alexander's child, Robert Addes's orphans, Gilbert Colgrave's orphans and Thomas Free's estate appearing among the households, so that the property held in trust for minors was counted alongside the living families. The enumeration thus reckoned not only the present households but the estates standing in the names of the fatherless and the dead. The largest slave holdings in this stretch belonged to established planters rather than officers, John Coles with twelve slaves, Jonathan Doveton with seventeen and Bridget Bazett, a widow, with ten. The presence of a widow among the great slaveholders marks how property and the labour attached to it descended through inheritance regardless of the holder's sex or office, the dead husband's slaves passing to the widow who now headed the household. The spread of holdings, from these large establishments to families with none, repeats the concentration of enslaved labour seen on the earlier page. The entries grouping a head with a servant, a sister or a son reveal the composition of the island's households beyond the immediate family. John Knipe with his servant, John Pirling with his sister, John Bagley senior with his servant and James Draper with his servant show households extended by dependants and hired hands, the white servants counted within the family total. The census thus recorded the working household as a unit, the free dependants gathered under the head's name alongside his wife and children and his slaves. | |
69 | Black Cattle Acres of Land. Bulls. Cows. Bullocks. Heifers. Steers. Yearlings. Calves. Totall. Free Land. Hir'd Land. Totall. Brought Over Black Cattle: Bulls 3. Cows 70. Bullocks 8. Heifers 16. Steers 11. Yearlings 15. Calves 57. Totall 180. Acres of Land: Free Land 270½. Hir'd Land 134½. Totall 405. John Aldrick Stephen Audroard Black Cattle: Cows 1. Yearlings 1. Calves 1. Totall 3. Willm Bunnum Black Cattle: Cows 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5. Thomas Clew Thom: Hayse Black Cattle: Cows 5. Yearlings 1. Calves 6. Totall 12. Acres of Land: Free Land 30. Totall 30. Brayns Orphns Land. Jno Knipe & Mr Servt Black Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 4. Totall 11. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 29½. Totall 39½. Willm Punny Benjamin Pledger Black Cattle: Cows 6. Calves 6. Totall 12. Acres of Land: Free Land 5. Totall 5. Step: Praise Pledger Black Cattle: Cows 5. Bullocks 3. Calves 5. Totall 13. Jno Purling & Sister Black Cattle: Cows 7. Heifers 4. Yearlings 1. Calves 7. Totall 19. Acres of Land: Free Land 20. Hir'd Land 16. Totall 36. Tho: Allis Planter Black Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 8. Acres of Land: Free Land 18. Hir'd Land 30. Totall 48. Rich: Alexanders Childn Black Cattle: Cows 4. Yearlings 1. Calves 4. Totall 9. Robert Addis: Orphn Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 6. Bullocks 5. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 5. Totall 19. Orphns at Board. Bridgett Bazett Wid: Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Bullocks 4. Steers 2. Calves 7. Totall 21. Acres of Land: Free Land 35. Hir'd Land 28½. Totall 63½. Jno Bagley Senr & Servt Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Heifers 3. Calves 7. Totall 18. Acres of Land: Free Land 36. Hir'd Land 3. Totall 39. Orlando Bagley & Son John Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 9. Bullocks 3. Heifers 2. Yearlings 2. Calves 8. Totall 25. Acres of Land: Free Land 23. Hir'd Land 76. Totall 99. Richard Beale Black Cattle: Cows 14. Bullocks 4. Heifers 5. Steers 3. Calves 15. Totall 41. Acres of Land: Free Land 59. Hir'd Land 13. Totall 72. Robert Bell Black Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Calves 9. Totall 17. Acres of Land: Free Land 20. Hir'd Land 38. Totall 58. Arthur Bradley Black Cattle: Cows 4. Heifers 1. Steers 2. Calves 5. Totall 12. Acres of Land: Free Land 30. Totall 30. John Bagley Junr Black Cattle: Cows 3. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 8. John Coles Black Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 18. Bullocks 7. Heifers 6. Steers 5. Yearlings 5. Calves 14. Totall 57. Acres of Land: Free Land 30. Hir'd Land 51½. Totall 81½. Joseph Coles William Coales Black Cattle: Cows 3. Steers 1. Calves 4. Totall 8. Acres of Land: Free Land 15. Hir'd Land 5. Totall 20. Benjamin Cleverlee Black Cattle: Cows 4. Steers 1. Calves 2. Totall 7. John Coulson Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Bullocks 3. Steers 1. Calves 5. Totall 17. Acres of Land: Free Land 15. Totall 15. Gilbert Colgraves Orphn Black Cattle: Cows 5. Bullocks 3. Steers 1. Calves 6. Totall 15. Mary Cottaway Black Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4. Acres of Land: Free Land 5. Hir'd Land 30. Totall 35. Mrs Francis Carne & Son Black Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 14. Bullocks 3. Heifers 5. Steers 3. Yearlings 4. Calves 11. Totall 42. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 20. Totall 20. Grace Coulson Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 14. Bullocks 4. Steers 6. Calves 14. Totall 39. Acres of Land: Free Land 25. Hir'd Land 5. Totall 30. Jonathan Doveton Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 17. Bullocks 15. Heifers 7. Steers 7. Calves 17. Totall 64. Acres of Land: Free Land 142¼. Hir'd Land 17½. Totall 159¾. James Draper & Mr Servt Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 9. Bullocks 2. Heifers 2. Calves 8. Totall 22. Acres of Land: Free Land 23. Hir'd Land 5. Totall 28. Henry ffrancis Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 12. Bullocks 2. Yearlings 1. Steers 1. Calves 4. Totall 21. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Hir'd Land 27. Totall 67. Thomas frees Estate Acres of Land: Free Land 40½. Hir'd Land 23¾. Totall 64¼. Carried Over Black Cattle: Bulls 16. Cows 269. Bullocks 73. Heifers 95. Steers 45. Yearlings 28. Calves 241. Totall 729. Acres of Land: Free Land 892¼. Hir'd Land 553¼. Totall 1445½. | Brought over: 3 bulls, 70 cows, 8 bullocks, 16 heifers, 11 steers, 15 yearlings, 57 calves, 180 total head, with 270½ acres of free land, 134½ acres of hired land, 495 acres total. John Aldrick held no cattle and no land. Stephen Audroard held no cattle and no land. William Burnnum held 1 cow, 1 steer and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, with no land entered. Thomas Clew held 2 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, with no land entered. Thomas Hayse held 5 cows and 1 calf, totalling 6 head, with 12 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 30 acres. John Knipe held 4 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 yearling and 4 calves, totalling 11 head, with 10 acres of free land and 29½ acres of hired land, totalling 39½ acres. A margin note records this as Brayne's orphan's land. William Penny held 6 cows and 6 calves, totalling 12 head, with 5 acres of land, totalling 5 acres. Benjamin Pledger held 5 cows, 3 bullocks and 5 calves, totalling 13 head, with no land entered. Stephen Praise Pledger held 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 1 heifer and 7 calves, totalling 19 head, with 20 acres of free land and 16 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres. John Pirling held 4 cows, 1 heifer and 3 calves, totalling 8 head, with 18 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 48 acres. Thomas Allis held 4 cows, 1 steer and 4 calves, totalling 9 head, with no land entered. Richard Alexander's child held 1 bull, 6 cows, 5 bullocks, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 19 head, with no land entered. A margin note records this as orphans' land at Board. Robert Addes's orphans held 1 bull, 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 21 head, with 35 acres of free land and 28½ acres of hired land, totalling 63½ acres. Bridget Bazett, widow, held 1 bull, 7 cows, 3 steers and 7 calves, totalling 18 head, with 36 acres of free land and 3 acres of hired land, totalling 39 acres. John Bagley senior held 1 bull, 9 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 steers and 8 calves, totalling 25 head, with 23 acres of free land and 76 acres of hired land, totalling 99 acres. Orlando Bagley held 14 cows, 4 bullocks, 5 heifers, 3 steers and 15 calves, totalling 41 head, with 59 acres of free land and 13 acres of hired land, totalling 72 acres. Richard Beale held 6 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer and 9 calves, totalling 17 head, with 20 acres of free land and 38 acres of hired land, totalling 58 acres. Robert Bell held 4 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers and 5 calves, totalling 12 head, with 30 acres of land, totalling 30 acres. Arthur Bradley held 3 cows, 2 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 8 head, with no land entered. John Bagley junior held 2 bulls, 18 cows, 7 bullocks, 6 heifers, 5 steers, 5 yearlings and 14 calves, totalling 57 head, with 30 acres of free land and 51½ acres of hired land, totalling 81½ acres. John Coles held no cattle and no land. Joseph Coles held 3 cows, 1 heifer and 4 calves, totalling 8 head, with 15 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres. William Coales held 4 cows, 1 heifer and 2 calves, totalling 7 head, with no land entered. Benjamin Cleverlee held 1 bull, 7 cows, 3 bullocks, 1 heifer and 5 calves, totalling 17 head, with 15 acres of free land, totalling 15 acres. John Coulson held 5 cows, 3 bullocks, 1 heifer and 6 calves, totalling 15 head, with no land entered. Gilbert Colgrave's orphans held 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, with 5 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres. Mary Conaway held 2 bulls, 14 cows, 3 bullocks, 5 heifers, 3 steers, 4 yearlings and 11 calves, totalling 42 head, with 20 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres. Mrs Francis Carne held 1 bull, 14 cows, 4 bullocks, 6 steers and 14 calves, totalling 39 head, with 25 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 30 acres. Grace Coulson held 1 bull, 17 cows, 15 bullocks, 7 heifers, 7 steers and 17 calves, totalling 64 head, with 142¼ acres of free land and 17½ acres of hired land, totalling 159¾ acres. Jonathan Doveton held 1 bull, 9 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers and 8 calves, totalling 22 head, with 23 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 28 acres. James Draper held 1 bull, 12 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 4 calves, totalling 21 head, with 40 acres of free land and 27 acres of hired land, totalling 67 acres. Henry Francis held no cattle, with 40½ acres of free land and 23¾ acres of hired land, totalling 64¼ acres. Thomas Free's estate carried the line down to the foot. Carried over: 16 bulls, 269 cows, 73 bullocks [the figure reads uncertainly], 45 heifers, 28 steers, 24 yearlings [the figure reads uncertainly], 179 calves [the figure reads uncertainly], 729 total head, with 892¾ acres of free land [the figure reads uncertainly], 553¼ acres of hired land, 1,445½ acres total. Interpretations The cattle and land columns for this stretch reveal far larger holdings than the officers' page that opened the census, several planters keeping herds of forty head and more and farms running past a hundred acres. Grace Coulson with sixty-four head and nearly a hundred and sixty acres, John Bagley junior with fifty-seven head and Mary Conaway with forty-two stand among the substantial graziers of the island. The contrast with the small holdings of the soldiers and tradesmen marks the planters proper as the chief holders of stock and land, the productive ground of the settlement gathered in their hands. The margin notes fixing certain holdings as orphans' land expose the census recording property by the estate that owned it rather than the person who worked it. John Knipe's eleven head and forty acres were noted as Brayne's orphan's land, and Richard Alexander's child's nineteen head as orphans' land at Board, the stock and ground held in trust for minors entered under the name of whoever managed it. The notes mark the careful tracking of property that belonged to fatherless children, the herd and the acres preserved for the orphans even as another worked them. The grand totals carried forward, near 730 head of cattle and over 1,400 acres for the households counted so far, give the measure of the island's agricultural capacity. The reckoning of the stock and land together, broken down by kind of beast and by free and hired ground, gave the council a full survey of what the settlement could raise toward its own provision. The census thus served as more than a count of people, fixing the whole productive substance of the island, its herds, its fields and its labour, in a single return to the Company's masters. | |
70 | Under what heads. Whites Blacks Persons Names Whites: Men. Woman. Youths. Maidens. Boys. Girles. Totall. Free Blacks. Blacks: Man. Women. Boys. Girles. Totall. Brought Over Whites: Men 18. Woman 38. Youths 5. Maidens 17. Boys 45. Girles 47. Totall 161. Free Blacks 7. Blacks: Man 88. Women 30. Boys 41. Girles 16. Totall 182. John French Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 6. Free Blacks 4. Blacks: Man 1. Women 2. Boys 2. Totall 9. Jane Flushus Orphn Eliz: Fran: & Mary Stocknald Whites: Maidens 3. Totall 3. Blacks: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. James Greentree Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 4. Girles 4. Totall 11. Free Blacks 3. Blacks: Man 2. Women 3. Boys 2. Totall 10. Thomas Greentree Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Girles 2. Totall 2. Free Blacks 1. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Rich: Gurling Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 3. Free Blacks 4. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Boys 3. Totall 9. Robt Gurling & Servt Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Blacks: Man 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 5. Mr Griffiths Children Mary Harper Wid: Whites: Woman 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Dorothy Hayse Whites: Woman 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Thom: Hodgkinson Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 1. Jonath: Higham Senr Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jonath: Higham Junr Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jno Harding & Sistr Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1. Girles 2. Totall 2. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Sam: Jesey & 1 Orphn Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 8. Free Blacks 3. Blacks: Man 2. Boys 1. Girles 4. Totall 10. Joshua Johnson Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 5. Totall 5. Free Blacks 5. Blacks: Man 1. Women 2. Boys 2. Totall 10. Sutton Isaack Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Blacks: Man 1. Women 3. Boys 1. Totall 6. John Lacy Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 4. Free Blacks 4. Blacks: Man 3. Women 2. Totall 9. Thom: Leech Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Francis Leech Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Jno Long & Mr Servt Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 7. Blacks: Man 2. Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 7. Stephen Lifkin Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 2. Totall 2. Walter Morris Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Man 1. Totall 1. Jno Marshes Estate Eliz: Marsh Son Rich: & wife Whites: Men 1. Woman 2. Maidens 2. Girles 5. Totall 5. Free Blacks 4. Blacks: Man 1. Women 2. Boys 3. Totall 10. Rich: Mason Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. John Nichols Whites: Men 1. Maidens 2. Boys 2. Girles 5. Totall 5. Free Blacks 2. Blacks: Man 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Edm: Nichols Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 3. Blacks: Women 3. Boys 1. Totall 4. Martin Norman Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Joseph Ormston Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 3. Blacks: Man 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Ralph Orme Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Blacks: Man 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Carried Over Whites: Men 42. Woman 55. Youths 5. Maidens 31. Boys 66. Girles 77. Totall 267. Free Blacks 8. Blacks: Man 134. Women 49. Boys 70. Girles 37. Totall 299. | Brought over: 18 white men, 38 white women, 5 white youths, 17 white maidens, 45 white boys, 47 white girls, 161 white total, with 7 free blacks, 88 black men, 30 black women, 41 black boys, 16 black girls, 182 black total. John French had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 6 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 9 black people [the black total reads uncertainly]. Jane Flurkus's orphan had no household entered. Elizabeth, Frances and Mary Stacknald had 3 white maidens, totalling 3 white people, with 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. James Greentree had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 4 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 11 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Thomas Greentree had 1 white man and 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people. Richard Gurling had 1 white man, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 4 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 3 black girls, totalling 9 black people. Robert Gurling and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 8 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people. Mr Griffith's children had no household entered. Mary Harper, widow, had 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Dorothy Hayse had 1 white woman, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. Thomas Hodgkinson had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black boy, totalling 1 black person. Jonathan Higham senior had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Jonathan Higham junior had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person [the total reads uncertainly]. John Harding and his sister had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 white girls, totalling 2 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person. Samuel Jessey and an orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling 8 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 4 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Joshua Johnson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 white girls, totalling 5 white people, with 5 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Sutton Isaack had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 8 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. John Lacy had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 4 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 4 black men, 3 black women and 2 black boys, totalling 9 black people. Thomas Leech had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 1 white boy, totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Francis Leech had 1 white man and 1 white boy, totalling [...] white people, with no black household entered. John Long and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 7 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people. Stephen Lufkin had 1 white man and 1 white girl, totalling [...] white people, with 2 black men, totalling 2 black people. Walter Morris had 1 white man and 1 white girl, totalling [...] white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. John Marsh's estate had no household entered. Elizabeth Marsh, son Richard and wife, had 1 white man, 2 white women and 2 white maidens, totalling 5 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Richard Mason had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 6 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people. John Nichols had 1 white man, 2 white maidens and 2 white boys, totalling 5 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people. Edmund Nichols had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 3 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 4 black people. Martin Norman had 1 white man and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Joseph Ormiston had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 3 white girls, totalling 3 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 1 black man, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 3 black people. Ralph Orme had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 3 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 6 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. Carried over: 42 white men, 55 white women, 5 white youths, 31 white maidens, 66 white boys, 77 white girls, 267 white total, with 8 free blacks, 134 black men, 49 black women, 70 black boys [the figure reads uncertainly], 37 black girls, 299 black total. Interpretations The continuation carries the census through the remaining planter households and the estates held for the dead and the fatherless. Jane Flurkus's orphan, Mr Griffith's children and John Marsh's estate appear as distinct lines, the property of minors and deceased persons counted under the names of those who held it. The reckoning of these estates alongside the living families shows the census fixing every parcel of the island's people, stock and land to a name, whether of a present household or of an estate standing in trust until its heirs could claim it. The list gathers several households of the same family name, the Greentrees, the Gurlings, the Leeches and the Nicholses each appearing more than once. The recurrence marks the spread of established families across many separate households on the island, the sons and kin setting up their own establishments as they came of age and married. The same surnames that fill the consultations as petitioners, debtors and officers here appear as the heads of distinct families, the narrow circle of the island's inhabitants branching into the multiple households a long settlement produced. The grouping of heads with servants, sisters, sons and orphans continues the pattern of extended households seen earlier. Robert Gurling with his servant, John Harding with his sister, Samuel Jessey with an orphan and John Long with his servant show the working household stretched beyond the immediate family to take in dependants and hired hands. The census recorded each such household as a single unit under its head, the free dependants and the slaves alike counted within the family the head maintained. | |
71 | Black Cattle Acres of Land. Bulls. Cows. Bullocks. Heifers. Steers. Yearling. Calves. Totall. Free Land. Hir'd Land. Totall. Brought Over Black Cattle: Bulls 16. Cows 269. Bullocks 73. Heifers 95. Steers 45. Yearling 28. Calves 241. Totall 729. Acres of Land: Free Land 892¼. Hir'd Land 553¼. Totall 1445½. John French Black Cattle: Cows 8. Bullocks 2. Heifers 2. Yearling 4. Calves 4. Totall 20. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 26. Totall 36. Jane Flushus Orphn Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 2. Bullocks 2. Yearling 1. Totall 6. Eliz: Fran: & Mary Stocknald Black Cattle: Cows 10. Bullocks 5. Steers 2. Calves 7. Totall 24. James Greentree Black Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 20. Steers 9. Calves 16. Totall 47. Acres of Land: Free Land 79. Hir'd Land 83. Totall 162. Thomas Greentree Black Cattle: Cows 10. Heifers 1. Steers 1. Calves 10. Totall 22. Rich: Gurling Black Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 13. Bullocks 6. Heifers 5. Yearling 5. Calves 10. Totall 41. Acres of Land: Free Land 31. Hir'd Land 11. Totall 42. Robt Gurling & Servt Black Cattle: Cows 4. Calves 4. Totall 8. Acres of Land: Free Land 20. Hir'd Land 10½. Totall 30½. Mr Griffiths Children Black Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 2. Steers 2. Calves 2. Totall 9. Mary Harper Wid: Dorothy Hayse Black Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 15. Totall 25. Thom: Hodgkinson Black Cattle: Cows 3. Totall 3. Jonath: Higham Senr Black Cattle: Cows 1. Bullocks 5. Calves 1. Totall 2. Jonath: Higham Junr Black Cattle: Cows 3. Totall 3. Jno Harding & Sistr Black Cattle: Cows 5. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 5. Totall 17. Acres of Land: Free Land 19. Hir'd Land 12. Totall 31. Sam: Jesey & 1 Orphn Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 7. Bullocks 4. Heifers 4. Steers 4. Yearling 4. Calves 5. Totall 23. Acres of Land: Free Land 64½. Hir'd Land 20½. Totall 85. Joshua Johnson Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 13. Bullocks 1. Heifers 1. Steers 5. Yearling 2. Calves 7. Totall 30. Acres of Land: Free Land 94. Hir'd Land 33. Totall 127. Sutton Isaack Black Cattle: Cows 9. Bullocks 4. Yearling 2. Calves 8. Totall 23. Acres of Land: Free Land 24. Hir'd Land 5. Totall 29. John Lacy Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 8. Bullocks 3. Heifers 2. Calves 7. Totall 21. Acres of Land: Free Land 21. Hir'd Land 20. Totall 41. Thom: Leech Black Cattle: Cows 1. Bullocks 1. Yearling 1. Calves 2. Totall 5. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Totall 10. Francis Leech Black Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 1. Yearling 1. Calves 5. Totall 5. Jno Long & Mr Servt Black Cattle: Cows 5. Bullocks 2. Heifers 4. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 16. Acres of Land: Free Land 11. Hir'd Land 5. Totall 16. Stephen Lifkin Black Cattle: Cows 2. Bullocks 2. Yearling 1. Calves 5. Totall 10. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 1. Totall 11. Walter Morris Black Cattle: Cows 2. Yearling 1. Calves 3. Totall 3. Jno Marshes Estate Black Cattle: Cows 3. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 4. Eliz: Marsh Son Rich: & wife Black Cattle: Cows 13. Bullocks 5. Steers 2. Yearling 3. Calves 12. Totall 35. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Hir'd Land 9. Totall 49. Rich: Mason Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 6. Heifers 1. Calves 6. Totall 14. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 17. Totall 17. John Nichols Black Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 0. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 11. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Totall 40. Edm: Nichols Black Cattle: Cows 5. Heifers 1. Calves 6. Totall 12. Acres of Land: Free Land 12. Hir'd Land 21. Totall 33. Martin Norman Joseph Ormston Ralph Orme Black Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 3. Steers 2. Calves 8. Totall 8. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 10. Totall 20. Carried Over Black Cattle: Bulls 25. Cows 433. Bullocks 112. Heifers 94. Steers 66. Yearling 50. Calves 364. Totall 1144. Acres of Land: Free Land 1397⅜. Hir'd Land 852¼. Totall 2250. | Brought over: 16 bulls, 269 cows, 73 bullocks, 45 heifers, 28 steers, 24 yearlings, 179 calves, 729 total head, with 892¾ acres of free land, 553¼ acres of hired land, 1,445½ acres total. John French held 8 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 4 steers and 4 calves, totalling 20 head, with 10 acres of free land and 26 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres. Jane Flurkus's orphan held 1 bull, 2 cows, 2 bullocks and 1 calf, totalling 6 head, with no land entered. Elizabeth, Frances and Mary Stacknald held 10 cows, 5 bullocks, 2 steers and 7 calves, totalling 24 head, with no land entered. James Greentree held 2 bulls, 20 cows, 9 steers and 16 calves, totalling 47 head, with 79 acres of free land and 83 acres of hired land, totalling 162 acres. Thomas Greentree held 10 cows, 1 heifer, 1 steer and 10 calves, totalling 22 head, with no land entered. Richard Gurling held 2 bulls, 13 cows, 6 bullocks, 5 heifers and 10 calves, totalling 41 head [the figure reads uncertainly], with 31 acres of free land and 11 acres of hired land, totalling 42 acres. Robert Gurling held 4 cows and 4 calves, totalling 8 head, with 20 acres of free land and 10½ acres of hired land, totalling 30½ acres. Mr Griffith's children held 3 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers and 2 calves, totalling 9 head, with no land entered. Mary Harper, widow, held no cattle and no land. Dorothy Hayse held 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, with 10 acres of free land and 15 acres of hired land, totalling 25 acres. Thomas Hodgkinson held no cattle and no land. Jonathan Higham senior held 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 2 head, with no land entered. Jonathan Higham junior held no cattle and no land. John Harding held 5 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 4 steers and 5 calves, totalling 17 head, with 19 acres of free land and 12 acres of hired land, totalling 31 acres. Samuel Jessey held 1 bull, 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 4 heifers, 4 steers, 4 yearlings and 5 calves, totalling 23 head, with 64½ acres of free land and 20½ acres of hired land, totalling 85 acres. Joshua Johnson held 1 bull, 13 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer, 5 steers, 2 yearlings and 7 calves, totalling 30 head, with 94 acres of free land and 33 acres of hired land, totalling 127 acres. Sutton Isaack held 9 cows, 4 bullocks, 2 steers and 8 calves, totalling 23 head, with 24 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 29 acres. John Lacy held 1 bull, 8 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 heifers and 7 calves, totalling 21 head, with 21 acres of free land and 20 acres of hired land, totalling 41 acres. Thomas Leech held 1 cow, 1 bullock, 1 steer and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, with 10 acres of free land, totalling 10 acres. Francis Leech held 3 cows, 1 heifer and 1 calf, totalling 5 head, with no land entered. John Long held 5 cows, 2 bullocks, 4 heifers, 2 steers and 3 calves, totalling 16 head, with 11 acres of free land and 5 acres of hired land, totalling 16 acres. Stephen Lufkin held 2 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 steer and 5 calves, totalling 10 head, with 1 acre of hired land, totalling 11 acres [the figures read uncertainly]. Walter Morris held 2 cows and 1 calf, totalling 3 head, with no land entered. John Marsh's estate held 3 cows, 1 heifer and 4 calves, totalling 4 head [the figures read uncertainly], with no land entered. Elizabeth Marsh held 1 bull, 13 cows, 5 bullocks, 2 steers, 3 yearlings and 12 calves, totalling 35 head, with 40 acres of free land and 9 acres of hired land, totalling 49 acres. Richard Mason held 1 bull, 6 cows, 1 bullock and 6 calves, totalling 14 head, with 17 acres of hired land, totalling 17 acres. John Nichols held 6 cows, 2 heifers and 3 calves, totalling 11 head [the figures read uncertainly], with 40 acres of free land, totalling 40 acres. Edmund Nichols held 5 cows, 1 heifer and 6 calves, totalling 12 head, with 12 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 33 acres. Martin Norman held no cattle and no land. Joseph Ormiston held no cattle and no land. Ralph Orme held 3 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 steers and 8 calves [the line reads uncertainly], totalling 8 head, with 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land, totalling 20 acres. Carried over: 25 bulls, 433 cows, 112 bullocks, 94 heifers, 66 steers, 50 yearlings, 364 calves, 1,144 total head, with 1,397⅜ acres of free land [the figure reads uncertainly], 852¼ acres of hired land, 2,250 acres total. Interpretations The cattle and land figures for this stretch confirm the concentration of the island's wealth among its substantial planters. James Greentree with forty-seven head and a hundred and sixty-two acres, and Joshua Johnson with thirty head and a hundred and twenty-seven, stand among the largest holders, while widows, orphans and lesser men held a few beasts and little or no ground. The pairing of the stock with the land shows the same households heading both counts, the herds and the acres gathered together in the hands of the leading families. The estates of the dead and the fatherless again appear with their stock entered though no living family worked them as a household. Jane Flurkus's orphan held six head, John Marsh's estate a small herd, and Mr Griffith's children nine beasts, the cattle preserved for the minors under the names of those who managed the estates. The census thus tracked the productive property of the orphans separately, the herds held in trust counted alongside the living families' stock so the children's portions could be known and secured. The running totals carried forward, now past 1,140 head of cattle and 2,250 acres for the households counted, mark the steady accumulation of the island's reckoned substance. The survey gathered the whole settlement's stock and land into a single account, broken down by kind of beast and by free and hired ground, so the council could lay before the Company a full measure of what the island held. The careful tally of every household's herd and acres, down to the half-acre, shows the thoroughness with which the productive capacity of the settlement was set down. | |
72 | Under what heads Whites Blacks Persons Names (viz:) Whites: Men. Women. Youths. Maidens. Boys. Girles. Totall. Free Blacks. Blacks: Men. Women. Boys. Girles. Totall. Brought Over Whites: Men 42. Woman 55. Youths 5. Maidens 31. Boys 66. Girles 77. Totall 267. Free Blacks 8. Blacks: Men 134. Women 49. Boys 70. Girles 37. Totall 299. Gab: Powell & Jno Hodgkin Servt Whites: Men 2. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 9. Blacks: Men 8. Women 3. Boys 6. Girles 5. Totall 22. Samuel Price Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 3. Girles 5. Totall 5. Martha Robinson Whites: Woman 1. Boys 3. Girles 4. Totall 4. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6. James Ryder & 2 Orphn Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 4. Free Blacks 5. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 10. Sarah Southen Whites: Woman 1. Youths 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 5. Totall 9. Free Blacks 3. Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 5. Petr Sinsmick Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Mary Shewe & Grandaughtr Whites: Woman 1. Maidens 2. Girles 3. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Boys 1. Totall 3. William Seale Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 5. Totall 8. Free Blacks 4. Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 6. Giles Smith & Servt Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 3. Tho: Swallow & Grandaughtr Whites: Men 1. Woman 2. Maidens 2. Girles 1. Totall 6. Free Blacks 2. Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 8. Rich: Swallow Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Elizabeth Sich Orphn Whites: Girles 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Mary Swallow & Mrs Dwight Whites: Men 2. Youths 2. Maidens 1. Boys 4. Girles 9. Totall 9. Free Blacks 2. Blacks: Men 4. Women 3. Boys 4. Totall 13. Charles Steward Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Girles 2. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Chas Steward Senr Orphn Whites: Maidens 2. Girles 2. Totall 2. Free Blacks 3. Blacks: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 6. Mary Sinsmick Infant Margarett Tovey Whites: Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 4. Free Blacks 1. Blacks: Men 5. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 10. John Twaits Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 3. Girles 5. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. James Vesey Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Girles 4. Totall 4. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 8. Ripin Wills Tho: Colliar &c Whites: Men 2. Woman 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 5. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 5. Girles 1. Totall 9. Francis Wrangham Whites: Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 6. Women 1. Boys 7. Girles 2. Totall 16. John Worrall Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 8. Free Blacks 3. Blacks: Men 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8. William Worrall Whites: Men 1. Woman 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Totall 4. Mary Whaley Wid: Whites: Woman 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Totall Whites: Men 58. Woman 77. Youths 6. Maidens 41. Boys 92. Girles 117. Totall 391. Free Blacks 16. Blacks: Men 194. Women 65. Boys 110. Girles 58. Totall 443. This farr hath been Coppyd and Sent Home ⅌ Ship Carnarvon. Capt: Josiah Thwaits Comander June ye 5 1721. | Brought over: 42 white men, 55 white women, 5 white youths, 31 white maidens, 66 white boys, 77 white girls, 267 white total, with 8 free blacks, 134 black men, 49 black women, 70 black boys, 37 black girls, 299 black total. Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkin had 2 white men, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 9 white people, with 8 black men, 3 black women, 6 black boys and 5 black girls, totalling 22 black people. Samuel Price had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 3 white girls, totalling 5 white people, with no black household entered. Martha Robinson had 1 white woman and 3 white girls, totalling 4 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. James Ryder and two orphans had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 4 white people, with 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Sarah Southen had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 5 white girls, totalling 9 white people, with 3 black men and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people. Peter Sinsnick had 1 white man, totalling 1 white person, with 2 black men and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people. Mary Shrewe and her granddaughter had 1 white woman and 2 white girls, totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 6 black people [the black total reads uncertainly]. William Seale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 5 white girls, totalling 8 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. Giles Smith and his servant had 1 white man, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 7 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. Thomas Swallow and his granddaughter had 1 white man, 2 white women, 1 white boy and 6 white girls, totalling 6 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 2 black men, 3 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 8 black people. Richard Swallow had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. Elizabeth Rich's orphan had 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black boy, totalling 1 black person. Mary Swallow and Mrs Dwight had 2 white men, 2 white maidens, 1 white boy and 4 white girls, totalling 9 white people, with 2 black men, 4 black women, 3 black boys and 4 black girls, totalling 13 black people. Charles Steward had 1 white man and 1 white woman, totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Charles Steward senior's orphans had 2 white boys and 2 white girls, totalling 2 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 3 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 6 black people. Mary Sinsnick, infant, had no household entered. Margaret Tovey had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 4 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 5 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 10 black people. John Twaits had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 3 white boys and 5 white girls, totalling 5 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. James Vesey had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 4 white girls, totalling 4 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people. Ripin Wills, Thomas Collier and others had 2 white men, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy and 5 white girls, totalling 5 white people [the total reads uncertainly], with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 5 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people. Francis Wrangham had 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling 6 white people, with 6 black men, 1 black woman, 7 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 16 black people. John Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 4 white girls, totalling 8 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people. William Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 1 white girl, totalling 5 white people, with 3 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 4 black people. Mercy Whaley, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 1 white girl, totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Totals: 58 white men, 77 white women, 6 white youths, 41 white maidens, 92 white boys, 117 white girls, 391 white total, with 16 free blacks, 194 black men, 65 black women, 110 black boys, 58 black girls, 443 black total. A memorandum recorded that this much had been copied and sent home by the ship Carnarvon, Captain Josiah Twaits commander, on 5 June 1721. Interpretations The completed census fixes the whole population of the island at 391 white inhabitants and 443 slaves, the enslaved people thus outnumbering the free across the settlement as a whole. The balance marks the dependence of the island's economy on slave labour, the Company and the planters together holding more enslaved than free persons. The careful enumeration of both, broken down by sex and age, gave the masters in London a full reckoning of the settlement's people, the free families and the slaves who worked their land set down together in a single return. The closing households include several headed by widows and by women, Martha Robinson, Sarah Southen, Margaret Tovey, Mary Swallow and Mercy Whaley among them, some holding substantial numbers of slaves. The presence of women at the head of slaveholding households marks the descent of property through inheritance to widows and daughters, the dead husband's estate and its labour passing to the woman who survived him. The census recorded these female-headed households on the same footing as the rest, the property and the slaves counted under the woman's name as head. The despatch of the completed census home by the Carnarvon shows the council rendering its full survey of the island's people, stock and land to the Company. The fair copy sent under Captain Twaits, whose ship had lately brought the China cargo entered at the consultation of 30 May 1721, placed the whole reckoning before the directors. The census formed the most comprehensive of the island's returns, fixing in a single document the families, the slaves, the herds and the acres on which the Company's remote settlement rested, the labour of compiling it answered by its transmission to the masters who required it. | |
73 | Black Cattle Acres of Land. Bulls. Cows. Bullocks. Heifers. Steers. Yearling. Calves. Totall. Free Land. Hir'd Land. Totall. Brought Over Black Cattle: Bulls 25. Cows 433. Bullocks 112. Heifers 94. Steers 66. Yearling 50. Calves 364. Totall 1144. Acres of Land: Free Land 1397⅜. Hir'd Land 852¼. Totall 2250. Gab: Powell & Jno Hodgkin Servt Black Cattle: Bullocks 73. Heifers 28. Steers 16. Yearling 10. Calves 51. Totall 178. Acres of Land: Free Land 215½. Hir'd Land 40. Totall 255½. Samuel Price Martha Robinson Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 10. Bullocks 4. Steers 2. Yearling 2. Calves 8. Totall 27. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 25. Totall 35. James Ryder & 2 Orphn Black Cattle: Bulls 2. Cows 11. Bullocks 6. Yearling 1. Calves 8. Totall 28. Acres of Land: Free Land 31. Hir'd Land 2½. Totall 33½. Sarah Southen Black Cattle: Cows 4. Yearling 4. Calves 4. Totall 12. Acres of Land: Free Land 29. Totall 29. Petr Sinsmick Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 5. Totall 5. Mary Shewe & Grandaughtr Acres of Land: Free Land 6½. Totall 6½. William Seale Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 10. Steers 2. Yearling 7. Calves 10. Totall 30. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Hir'd Land 11½. Totall 51½. Giles Smith & Servt Black Cattle: Cows 6. Calves 7. Totall 13. Acres of Land: Free Land 11. Totall 11. Tho: Swallow & Grandaughtr Black Cattle: Bulls 1. Cows 9. Bullocks 2. Heifers 7. Steers 1. Calves 9. Totall 29. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Hir'd Land 31. Totall 71. Rich: Swallow Black Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 2. Heifers 4. Steers 1. Calves 3. Totall 13. Elizabeth Sich Orphn Black Cattle: Cows 2. Calves 2. Totall 4. Acres of Land: Free Land 70. Hir'd Land 8. Totall 78. Mary Swallow & Mrs Dwight Black Cattle: Cows 12. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Yearling 6. Calves 9. Totall 30. Acres of Land: Free Land 39. Hir'd Land 36. Totall 75. Charles Steward Black Cattle: Cows 8. Bullocks 1. Steers 2. Calves 7. Totall 18. Acres of Land: Free Land 20. Hir'd Land 21. Totall 41. Chas Steward Senr Orphn Black Cattle: Cows 14. Bullocks 3. Heifers 7. Yearling 5. Calves 14. Totall 43. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 20½. Totall 20½. Mary Sinsmick Infant Black Cattle: Cows 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Margarett Tovey Black Cattle: Cows 7. Steers 1. Yearling 2. Calves 5. Totall 15. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 36. Totall 36. John Twaits Black Cattle: Cows 3. Calves 2. Totall 5. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 12. Totall 12. James Vesey Black Cattle: Cows 6. Heifers 4. Yearling 4. Calves 14. Totall 20. Acres of Land: Free Land 20. Hir'd Land 4. Totall 24. Ripin Wills Tho: Colliar &c Black Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 1. Heifers 1. Calves 6. Totall 14. Acres of Land: Free Land 40. Totall 40. Francis Wrangham Black Cattle: Cows 18. Bullocks 6. Heifers 5. Yearling 5. Calves 18. Totall 52. Acres of Land: Free Land 75. Hir'd Land 30. Totall 105. John Worrall Black Cattle: Cows 6. Bullocks 3. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 13. Acres of Land: Free Land 17. Hir'd Land 20. Totall 37. William Worrall Black Cattle: Cows 2. Yearling 7. Calves 9. Totall 9. Acres of Land: Hir'd Land 40. Totall 40. Mary Whaley Wid: Black Cattle: Cows 3. Bullocks 1. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 8. Acres of Land: Free Land 10. Hir'd Land 13. Totall 23. Totall Black Cattle: Bulls 30. Cows 652. Bullocks 168. Heifers 156. Steers 87. Yearling 75. Calves 538. Totall 1711. Acres of Land: Free Land 2068¼. Hir'd Land 1211¼. Totall 3279½. Ed Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | Brought over: 25 bulls, 433 cows, 112 bullocks, 94 heifers, 66 steers, 50 yearlings, 364 calves, 1,144 total head, with 1,397⅜ acres of free land, 852¼ acres of hired land, 2,250 acres total. Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkin held 73 cows, 28 bullocks, 16 heifers, 10 steers and 51 calves, totalling 178 head, with 215½ acres of free land and 40 acres of hired land, totalling 255½ acres. Samuel Price held no cattle and no land. Martha Robinson held 1 bull, 10 cows, 4 bullocks, 2 heifers, 2 yearlings and 8 calves, totalling 27 head, with 10 acres of free land and 25 acres of hired land, totalling 35 acres. James Ryder held 2 bulls, 11 cows, 6 bullocks, 1 yearling and 8 calves, totalling 28 head, with 31 acres of free land and 2½ acres of hired land, totalling 33½ acres. Sarah Southen held 4 cows, 4 yearlings and 4 calves, totalling 12 head, with 29 acres of free land, totalling 29 acres. Peter Sinsnick held no cattle, with 5 acres of hired land, totalling 5 acres. Mary Shrewe held no cattle, with 6½ acres of hired land, totalling 6½ acres. William Seale held 1 bull, 10 cows, 2 heifers, 7 yearlings and 10 calves, totalling 30 head, with 40 acres of free land and 11½ acres of hired land, totalling 51½ acres. Giles Smith held 6 cows and 7 calves, totalling 13 head, with 11 acres of free land, totalling 11 acres. Thomas Swallow held 1 bull, 9 cows, 2 bullocks, 7 heifers, 1 steer and 9 calves, totalling 29 head, with 40 acres of free land and 31 acres of hired land, totalling 71 acres. Richard Swallow held 3 cows, 2 bullocks, 4 heifers, 1 steer and 3 calves, totalling 13 head, with no land entered. Elizabeth Rich's orphan held 2 cows and 2 calves, totalling 4 head, with 70 acres of free land and 8 acres of hired land, totalling 78 acres. Mary Swallow held 12 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 6 yearlings and 9 calves, totalling 30 head, with 39 acres of free land and 36 acres of hired land, totalling 75 acres. Charles Steward held 8 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers and 7 calves, totalling 18 head, with 20 acres of free land and 21 acres of hired land, totalling 41 acres. Charles Steward senior's orphans held 14 cows, 3 bullocks, 7 heifers, 5 yearlings and 14 calves, totalling 43 head, with 20½ acres of hired land, totalling 20½ acres. Mary Sinsnick, infant, held 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 2 head, with no land entered. Margaret Tovey held 7 cows, 1 heifer, 2 steers and 5 calves, totalling 15 head, with 36 acres of hired land, totalling 36 acres. John Twaits held 3 cows and 2 calves, totalling 5 head, with 12 acres of hired land, totalling 12 acres. James Vesey held 6 cows, 4 heifers and 4 calves, totalling 14 head, with 20 acres of free land and 4 acres of hired land, totalling 24 acres. Ripin Wills, Thomas Collier and others held 6 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer and 6 calves, totalling 14 head, with 40 acres of free land, totalling 40 acres. Francis Wrangham held 18 cows, 6 bullocks, 5 heifers, 5 yearlings and 18 calves, totalling 52 head, with 75 acres of free land and 30 acres of hired land, totalling 105 acres. John Worrall held 6 cows, 3 bullocks, 1 heifer and 3 calves, totalling 13 head, with 17 acres of free land and 20 acres of hired land, totalling 37 acres. William Worrall held 2 cows and 7 calves, totalling 9 head, with 40 acres of hired land, totalling 40 acres. Mercy Whaley, widow, held 3 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer and 3 calves, totalling 8 head, with 10 acres of free land and 10 acres of hired land [the figures read uncertainly], totalling 23 acres. Totals: 30 bulls, 652 cows, 168 bullocks, 156 heifers, 87 steers, 75 yearlings, 538 calves, 1,711 total head, with 2,068¼ acres of free land, 1,211¼ acres of hired land, 3,279½ acres total. Edward Johnson Edward Byfield John Alexander John Goodwin Interpretations The completed survey fixes the island's whole stock at 1,711 head of cattle and its occupied ground at 3,279½ acres, divided between 2,068¼ acres of freehold and 1,211¼ of the Company's hired waste. The figures give the full measure of the settlement's agricultural capacity, the herds and the fields on which its provision depended set down household by household and summed to a grand total. The reckoning of free against hired land shows how much of the Company's own waste had been let to the inhabitants, the leased ground forming over a third of the whole in cultivation. The largest single holding, the 178 head and 255½ acres of Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkin, marks the partnership as the foremost graziers on the island, their herd dwarfing every other. The concentration of so much stock and land in a single entry, set against the many households with a few beasts or none, shows the wide inequality in the island's wealth, the bulk of the cattle and ground gathered among a handful of substantial holders while the poorer families held little. The pattern confirms the division between the leading proprietors and the marginal planters that ran through the consultations. The orphans' and infants' estates again appear with their stock and land, Elizabeth Rich's orphan with seventy-eight acres, Charles Steward senior's orphans with forty-three head, and the infant Mary Sinsnick with a single cow and calf. The careful entry of even an infant's two beasts shows the thoroughness of the survey in fixing every parcel of property to its owner, the holdings of the youngest and most helpless counted alongside the great herds of the leading men. The signing of the whole by Governor Johnson and the council closed the census, the complete reckoning of the island's people, stock and land attested for transmission to the Company. | |
74 | Island St Helena Att a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 6th day of June 1721 Att Union Cast[...] in James Valley) Edwrd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Prsts Jno Alexander &c Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation reced & approovd of The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expended since ye 30th of May last which was Examind and approovd of Mr Byfeld brought in his Book Containing the Monthly Accots for the Month of May last which was Examind approovd & by us Signd The Governr Reports that Mr John French the late Gunner had been with him & Acknowledged his Remissness and faults for which he had been Discharged from the Honnble Compaes Imploym as and Humbly asked his Pardon and promised for the future if he might be Restored to use his Utmost Endeavours to Discharge himself with all Diligence in his Imploymt and with Respect towards him, On which and in Consideration of the Misery that must attend his Large ffamily if he remaind out of the Imploy The Governr had Restored him Margin Notes: Drs Book Exam[...] Plant Accts for May. Gunr French Restored upon his Submission | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 6 June 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 30 May, which the council examined and approved. Mr Byfield brought in his book of the monthly accounts for May, which the council examined and approved before signing it. Governor Johnson reported that the former gunner John French had come to him and admitted his negligence and his failings, for which he had earlier been dismissed from the Company's service. French asked the Governor's pardon and promised that, if restored to his place, he would do his utmost to carry out his duties carefully and to behave respectfully toward the Governor. Weighing this against the hardship his large family would suffer if he stayed out of work, the Governor had restored him. Interpretations The council opened each meeting with two standing accounting controls: the surgeon's daily book of medicines and the overseer's monthly book of stock and expenses, both laid before the council for examination and signature. These checks ran in routine operation under the Governor, the medicine book reflecting the control imposed after Cholmondley Cevill's theft from the medical stores on 29 August 1719, and the monthly stock book the regime Byfield brought in as chief overseer from 1 November 1720. The restoration of John French marked a reversal of his dismissal of 19 May 1720, when he had been turned out for neglecting his duty, conspiring with opponents of the government, and leaving the magazine keys while two ships lay in the road. He had been discharged and restored more than once before on similar promises of amendment, so the Governor's decision rested on the practical cost of replacing a skilled gunner with a dependent family rather than on confidence in his reform. | |
75 | Mr Slaughter brought in and Deliverd the following Acco of Gunnrs Stores Expended from the 25 Aprill 1721 to the 24 of May following D C Sho[...] Falls Powd[...] Aprl 25 A double Alarme 6 6 Do Arrived the Mary, Derby, Sarum, Cardounel & Sloope 58 58 3 Hornes of Powder Expended 3 Fired athwart the Cardonels foreshoot pr Mundey 2 2 9 Shott 24 May 2 Adouble Alarme for the Dutch fleet 6 6 Do At the Departure hence of the Mary, Derby, Sarum & Cardonnel 30 30 Do 6 To fill the Guards Pouches 11 Do 8 for Scaleing 1 1 9 Shott 7 Do 17 A double Alarme for 5 Ships past by 6 6 One Horne of Powder Expended 1 Do 22 A double Alarme 6 6 Do Arriv'd 3 ffrench Ships from India 11 11 Do 24 for the Guards mounting & Dismounting 10 Muskett Balls 12 Trucks 1 Axeltrees 1 Beds 2 3 Cartridge Paper 2 Quoins 4 Match 2 lb [...] 2 4 2 3 1 1 12 3 3 18 123 176 Signd Wm Slaughter Yesterday Departed hence the Carnervon, Bridgewater, & Duke of York for England ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Gunrs Expence for Aprl &c Ships Depart[...] | The close image now shows the small entries clearly. The figures sit against the named items on the left, and the totals line carries those headings in the same order. Here is the full corrected text. Mr Slaughter delivered his account of the gunner's stores expended from 25 April 1721 to 24 May following. The columns recorded the demi-cannon shot, the falcons and the pounds of powder. 25 April: A double alarm — 6 falcons, 6 [...] The same day, on the arrival of the Mary, Derby, Sarum and Cardonnell and a sloop — 58 falcons, 58 [...] 3 horns of powder expended — 3 pounds Fired athwart the Cardonnell's forefoot from Munden's — 2 demi-cannon, 2 [...], 9 pounds, with 21 shot 2 May: A double alarm for the Dutch fleet — 6 falcons, 6 [...] On the departure of the Mary, Derby, Sarum and Cardonnell — 30 falcons, 30 [...] 6 May: To fill the guards' pouches — 11 pounds 8 May: For scaling — 1 demi-cannon, 1 [...], 9 pounds, with 7 shot 17 May: A double alarm for 5 ships passing by — 6 falcons, 6 [...] One horn of powder expended — 1 pound 22 May: A double alarm — 6 falcons, 6 [...] The same day, on the arrival of 3 French ships from India — 11 falcons, 11 [...] 24 May: For the guards mounting and dismounting — 10 pounds Musket balls — 12 Trucks — 1 Axle trees — 1 Beds — 2 pairs, 3 Cartridge paper — 2 Quoins — 4 Match — 2 hundredweight The account was signed by William Slaughter, the columns totalling 2 musket balls, 4 trucks, 2 axle trees, 3 beds, 1 cartridge paper, 1 quoin, 12 [...], 3 [...], 3 [...], 18 [...], 123 falcons and 176 pounds of powder. The council recorded that the Carnarvon, Bridgewater and Duke of York had sailed for England the previous day. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The gunner's monthly stores account served as the standing audit of powder and shot, listing every charge fired so that consumption could be checked against the magazine's stock. Slaughter had been appointed gunner after the dismissal of John French, and this return reflects the regular accounting discipline the council required of the office, the powder being the island's most strictly controlled commodity. The firing athwart the Cardonnell's forefoot from Munden's Point records the use of the seaward battery's customary signal, a gun fired across a ship's bow to compel her to bring to. This was the standing means by which the Roberts platform at Munden's brought approaching vessels under the fort's command, and its appearance here against the Cardonnell fits the council's running difficulty with Captain Mawson of that ship, who had defied the order to carry the surgeon Scrimshire home. The heavy expenditure on double alarms through May reflects the island's defensive posture after the pirate reports of early 1720, every unidentified or passing sail drawing a powder charge as the guards turned out to their posts. The salutes on the arrival and departure of the homeward fleet, by contrast, were ceremonial, marking the Mary, Derby, Sarum and Cardonnell in and out of the road. | |
76 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 13th day of June 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of Capt Goodwin brought in his Book Containing the Monthly Accots for the Month of May last, which was Examind, approovd & by us Signd The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expnd since the 6th Instt which was Examind & approovd of To prevent & Remedy the many Inconveniencies both to the Publick as well as to Private Persons Occasioned by Runaway Blacks, the Number of them daily Encreasing Notwithstanding the Law for Punishing Such, lately Proposed by the Major part of the Most Substantiall Inhabitants and by them presented to us at their Request Consented unto by us on the 23 of ffebry 171 20 hath been fully put in Execution. The Governr being of Opinnion that the Runing away of the Blacks is in a great measure owing to the Neglect or Ill Managemt of the Master or owners of the Blacks and thinks Some Method ought to be found out to put the Masters or owners in mind of their Duty towards their Blacks and to take more Care of them. In order Margin Notes: Stes Acco for May. Drs Book Exam Relating to ye Run away Blacks | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 13 June 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Captain Goodwin brought in his book of the monthly accounts for May, which the council examined and approved before signing it. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 6 June, which the council examined and approved. Governor Johnson turned to the harm that runaway slaves were causing both to the public and to private owners. Their numbers were rising daily despite the law for punishing them, which most of the leading inhabitants had lately proposed and presented to the council at their own request. The council had agreed to that law on 23 February 1721, and it had since been fully carried into effect. The Governor held that the slaves' flight was largely caused by the neglect or poor management of their masters and owners. He thought some method should be found to remind those masters and owners of their duty toward their slaves and to take better care of them. Interpretations The council located the cause of the runaway problem in the conduct of slave-owners rather than the slaves themselves, a shift that turned a question of enforcement into one of management. By proposing to hold masters to account for the loss and disorder caused by their runaways, the Governor moved toward placing part of the burden of control on the owners, whose neglect the council blamed for driving slaves to flee. The reference to the law agreed on 23 February 1721 records the inhabitants' own initiative in framing the runaway penalty, the leading planters drafting the measure and presenting it to the council for assent. This pattern of the substantial inhabitants proposing a regulation that touched their collective interest, then seeking the council's authority to enforce it, mirrors the council's earlier practice of building consent among cattle-owners before fixing rules that bound them all. | |
78 | to which, he proposes that that part of the aforesaid Law which Relates to the Runing away be Repealed, and the Master or owner to Punish their own Blacks at their own Discretion for that Offence. But when & as often as the Runing away be Attended with any kind of Theft then that part of the aforesaid Law Relating to that Crime, to be and remain in full force & Vertue, and the Offending Black to Suffer Such Punishment or punishments as in the Said Law is therein Prescribed (Relation being thereunto had more fully & at large may appear) And for to oblige the Masters or owners of the Blacks to have the Greater Inspection and the more Watchfull Eye over them, and likewise for an Encouragemt to others to look out for and Apprehend Runaway Blacks the more Speedily The Person or Persons who shall Apprehend any Black who hath or hereafter shall Absent him, Her, or themselves from their Masters or Mistresses Service for the Space of three Nights shall receive of and from the Master or owner of Such Black or Blacks fourty Shillings for Each Black To which We readily Agreed. And Do hereby further Order That Warrants be Issued out to the Overseers of the high ways to give Notice to Each Planter in their District to meet them with their men Blacks (or Some white man in the planters Stead) on Sunday Evening next about Six a Clock in Order to make Diligent Search all that night and the next day for all Runaway Blacks. And for the further Encouragemt of Margin Notes: Conse[...] & put in Execution | Governor Johnson proposed that the part of the existing law dealing with slaves who ran away be repealed, leaving each master or owner to punish his own slaves for that offence at his own discretion. Where the flight was accompanied by any kind of theft, however, the part of the law dealing with that crime was to remain in full force, and the offending slave was to suffer the punishments laid down in it. To make masters and owners keep a closer watch over their slaves, and to encourage others to look out for and seize runaways more quickly, the council settled a reward. Any person who took up a slave who had absented himself or herself from a master's or mistress's service for three nights was to receive 40 shillings for each slave from that slave's master or owner. The council readily agreed to this. The council further ordered that warrants be issued to the overseers of the highways to give notice to every planter in their district. Each planter was to meet the overseers with his slaves, or with a white man in his place, on the following Sunday evening at about six o'clock, so that a thorough search could be made through that night and the next day for all runaway slaves. Interpretations The council split the offence of running away from the offence of theft and treated each differently. Flight alone was handed back to the master as a matter of private domestic discipline, while theft remained a public crime carried before the bench under the standing law. This division reflected the council's view, set out at the consultation of 13 June 1721, that simple flight stemmed from the owner's neglect and so belonged to the owner to correct, whereas theft threatened property at large and required the state's penalty. The 40-shilling reward placed on the recovery of a slave absent for three nights created a financial incentive charged directly to the negligent owner. By making the master pay the captor rather than drawing on the Company, the council both funded the catching of runaways and penalised the owner whose poor management it blamed for the problem, aligning the cost with the party held responsible. The general muster of planters and their slaves for a night-and-day search organised through the highway overseers turned the existing road-labour machinery to policing. The overseers already held warrants to summon every household and its slaves for roadwork, and the council reused that structure of compulsory district service to mount a coordinated sweep for runaways across the island. | |
79 | of Persons to Apprehend them, the Master or owners of Such Blacks which shall be Apprehended and have absconded from their Masters or owners Service three nights the Said Masters or owners shall be obliged to pay to the Person or persons So Apprehending him, Her, or them the aforesaid Sume of fforty Shillings Mr Slaughter brought in the following Acco of Gunnrs Stores Expended from the 25th of May 1721 to the 30th of the same Month, which was Examind & Approovd on 1721 May 7 28 Delivered to the Guards Do Discharged 11 4 31 18 48 54 four Hornes of Powdr Expended Do 29 Delivered to the Guards Do Discharged 10 5 16 22 95 49 Do A Double Alarme 6 Do Arrived the Carnarven Bridgwater and Duke of York 7 4 16 8 Do 30 Discharged 1 4 16 8 Match Expended 2 Skeyns 2 21 9 55 48 181 [...] Signd pr Wm Slaughter Mr French the Gunner brought in and Deliverd the following Acco of Gunners Stores remaining & taken into his charge on the 13 day of ffune 1721 Margin Notes: 40 lb to pa pr their owners Gunrs Accot for ye 9 of May. Govrs Acco of Gunrs Stores | Continuing the runaway order, the council provided that where any persons took up such slaves who had absented themselves from their masters' or owners' service for three nights, the masters or owners of those slaves were obliged to pay the captor the reward of 40 shillings for each one. Mr Slaughter delivered his account of the gunner's stores expended from 25 May 1721 to 30 May of the same month, which the council examined and approved. The columns recorded the demi-cannon shot, the half-culverin shot, the demi-culverin shot, the sakers, the falcons and the pounds of powder. 25 May, the 28th day: Delivered to the guards — 8 [pounds of powder] The same day, discharged — 11 demi-cannon, 4 half-culverin, 31 demi-culverin, 18 sakers, 48 falcons, 542 [...] Four horns of powder expended — 4 [pounds of powder] 29 May: Delivered to the guards — 3 [pounds of powder] The same day, discharged — 10 demi-cannon, 5 half-culverin, 16 demi-culverin, 22 sakers, 95 falcons, 49 [...] A double alarm — 6 falcons, 1 [...] The same day, on the arrival of the Carnarvon, Bridgewater and Duke of York — 7 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 8 [...] 30 May: Discharged — 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falcons, 3 [...] Match expended — 2 skeins The columns totalled 2 demi-cannon, 21 half-culverin, 9 demi-culverin, 55 sakers, 48 falcons, 181 pounds of powder, 19 [...] The account was signed by William Slaughter. Mr French the gunner delivered his account of the gunner's stores remaining, taken into his charge on 13 June 1721, beginning with the iron. Interpretations The reappearance of John French taking charge of the gunner's stores on 13 June 1721 confirms his restoration to the gunner's place reported at the consultation of 6 June 1721, when Governor Johnson had reinstated him after his earlier dismissal. The formal handover of the stores into his charge marks the moment the office passed back from Slaughter, who had kept it during the vacancy, and the inventory of stores remaining established French's accountability for them from that date. The salute on the arrival of the Carnarvon, Bridgewater and Duke of York records the same homeward fleet noted as sailing in Slaughter's previous account, the powder charged here marking the ships into the road shortly before their departure for England. | |
80 | 142 Iron Ordinance 6971 Iron round Shott 547 Double headed & Hamerd Shott 207 Barrells Corne Powder 362 of Match 6 4 of Cartridge Paper 330 Spunge Heads 120 Rammer Heads 123 Cartridge Cases 108 Powder Hornes 24 Pole Axes 7000 Flints 17 Wormes 30 Ladles 88 Tompkins 293 Cartridges filld 84 Spunge Staves 78 Sheep Skins 375 Scouring Rodds 46 Hand Spikes 123 Bedds 180 Quines 77 Cartouch Boxes 300 Trucks 86 Axeltrees 36 Blunder Busses 14 Pistolls 1510 lb Leaden Shott Bouge Barrills G 2 B 2 1 Gyns & Block 2 Union flaggs Signd pr Jno French ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | Mr French's account of the gunner's stores remaining in his charge listed the following. Iron ordnance — 142 Iron round shot — 6,971 Double-headed and chained shot — 547 Barrels of corn powder — 207 Match — 362 Cartridge paper — 64 Sponge heads — 330 Rammer heads — 120 Cartridge cases — 123 Powder horns — 108 Pole axes — 24 Flints — 7,000 Worms — 17 Ladles — 30 Tompions — 88 Cartridges filled — 293 Sponge staves — 84 Sheep skins — 78 Scouring rods — 375 Hand spikes — 46 Beds — 123 Quoins — 180 Cartouche boxes — 77 Trucks — 300 Axle trees — 86 Blunderbusses — 36 Pistols — 14 Leaden shot — 1,510 pounds Rouge barrels — [...] Gins and block — [...] Union flags — 2 The account was signed by John French. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The inventory establishes the full magazine and ordnance stock for which French became answerable on taking back the gunner's office on 13 June 1721. By recording every barrel of powder, round of shot and piece of equipment, the account fixed the baseline against which any later loss or embezzlement would be measured, the same accountability discipline that had governed the gunner's stores throughout and that bore directly on French given the conduct for which he had earlier been dismissed. The presence of two Union flags among the stores reflects the recent political settlement, the flag combining the crosses of England and Scotland in use since the union of 1707 and flown over the island's forts as the mark of crown authority. | |
81 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 20th day of June 1721 At Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd on Richard Beale planter, presented his Petition, Desiring therein, that He and his wife, might have leave to go off the Island in the Next outward bound Ship from hence to India, and that in the mean time he might Dispose of what Stock & Effects he is now possessd of Referrd to further Consideration John Harding & Benjamin Greentree planters, Ap peared this day before Us, and were Appointed Trustees to take care of the Dividends of the Orphans of Richd Swallow (deced) the Widdow Still persisting in her daily Neglecting & Embizling the Estate of the Said Orphans, and Harbouring one Bedloe, whereby She is put to very great Expence This day Van Posten was sent for in to know how forward the Books for 1720 were, they was Accord ingly Examind, and he has promised to use his Utmost Diligence to gett them ready by October Next Orderd That Tuesday next be appointed for the Transfering Bills for the present quarter Margin Notes: Beale Petitions leave to goe off ye Island Referrd Harding & Greentree App pointed Trustees of ye Swallows Orph Estate reasons for it Books of ye Examd Transfer day | A consultation was held at the Plantation House on Tuesday 20 June 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Richard Beale, planter, presented his petition asking that he and his wife be allowed to leave the island on the next ship sailing from here to India, and that in the meantime he might dispose of whatever stock and effects he now held. The council referred the matter for further consideration. John Harding and Benjamin Greentree, planters, appeared before the council and were appointed trustees to take care of the dividends of the orphans of Richard Swallow, deceased. The widow still persisted in daily neglecting and embezzling the orphans' estate and in harbouring one Bedloe, by which the orphans were put to very great expense. Van Oosten was called in to learn how far advanced the books for 1720 were, and they were examined accordingly. He promised to use his utmost diligence to have them ready by next October. The council ordered that the following Tuesday be appointed for transferring bills for the present quarter. Interpretations The appointment of Harding and Greentree as trustees over the Swallow orphans' dividends removed the management of the estate from the widow, whom the council charged with wasting and misappropriating it. This use of court-appointed trustees to displace a defaulting parent reflects the council's standing protective jurisdiction over fatherless children, exercised through the orphans' court that oversaw each estate by yearly reckoning. The examination of Van Oosten over the 1720 books continued the council's long struggle to keep the Company's accounts current, the same failure that had cost earlier accountants their places. Van Oosten had been taken into the accountant's office during the breakdown under Joseph Ormston, and his promise to finish the books by October marks the persistence of the backlog that had dogged successive administrations. | |
82 | The Governr Reports that John Young brought a Runaway Black to him belonging to John Hanson and had Ordered his Master to pay him fforty Shillings according to the Result in Consultation of the 13 Instant ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 27th day of June 1721. At Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd on According to the Order of Council of the 20 Instt the Council mett this day for the Transfering Bills for Diett the Quarter past, and to hear any other matters that may Offer Mrs Bridgett Coles Widdow presented her Petition Setting forth therein That to her daily Grief & Sorrow, Her Husband John Coles dyed Intestate on the 9th of Aprill last Being very Desireous to Settle all Affairs relating to his Estate and the better Enabled how to Act in Such a troublesome Matter, Humbly prayd We would Grant Margin Notes: Hanson to pay 40s to Jno Young Council Mett for ye Transfering 4 day Mrs Coles Petition for Lettrs of | Governor Johnson reported that John Young had brought him a runaway slave belonging to John Hanson, and had ordered the slave's master to pay Young 40 shillings under the decision taken at the consultation of 13 June 1721. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at the Plantation House on Tuesday 27 June 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Under the order of council of 20 June 1721, the council met this day to transfer the bills for diet for the past quarter and to hear any other matters that might arise. Mrs Bridget Coles, widow, presented her petition. It set out that her husband John Coles had died intestate on 9 April last, and that she was very anxious to settle all the affairs of his estate and to be the better enabled to act in so troublesome a matter. She asked the council to grant her [...] Interpretations The first payment of the 40-shilling runaway reward records the new rule of 13 June 1721 in immediate operation, John Young claiming the bounty for returning Hanson's slave and the council charging the sum directly to the owner. This shows the policy of making the master pay the captor moving at once from order to practice, the cost falling on the slaveholder as the council had intended. Bridget Coles's petition arose from the killing of her husband John Coles by his own slave Sultan near Feather Bed Hill on 9 April 1721, the murderer having been tried, hanged and gibbeted on Fort Hill. Her application to settle his intestate estate brought the matter before the council's orphans' and probate jurisdiction, the widow seeking the authority to administer an estate left without a will. | |
83 | Grant her a Letter of Administration on Her Said Decd Husbands Estate Ordered That Letters of Administration drawne and Deliverd to her Accordingly ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 4th day of July 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Pres Edwd Byfeld 2d Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of Mr Byfeld brought in his Monthly Acco for the mo of June last which was Examind, approovd, & by us Signd Capt Goodwin brought in likewise his Book Contain ing the monthly Accots for the Month of June last which was also Examind, approovd & by Us Signd The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expended since the 13 June last which was Examind & approovd Mr French the Gunner brought in an Acco of Gunnrs Stores Expended from the 3d of ffune 1721 to the 30 of the same Month, which was Examind & approovd & is as followst Margin Notes: Administrac[...] Granted Plant Acco for June Stos Acco for ye Drs Book Examd Gunrs Stores Ex pended in June | Bridget Coles asked the council to grant her letters of administration on her late husband's estate. The council ordered that the letters of administration be drawn up and delivered to her accordingly. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 4 July 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account for June, which the council examined and approved before signing it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his book of the monthly accounts for June, which the council also examined and approved before signing it. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 13 June, which the council examined and approved. Mr French the gunner delivered his account of the gunner's stores expended from 3 June 1721 to 30 June of the same month, which the council examined and approved as follows. Interpretations The grant of letters of administration to Bridget Coles gave her legal authority to gather in, manage and distribute her late husband's intestate estate, the council acting in its probate capacity to vest control of the property in the widow. This completed the application she had brought at the consultation of 27 June 1721, arising from the killing of John Coles by his slave Sultan on 9 April 1721. The parallel monthly accounts from Byfield and Goodwin reflect the two distinct charges each held, Byfield as chief overseer rendering the plantation and live-stock book and Goodwin presenting the separate monthly stores account, both laid before the council for examination and signature under the standing accounting discipline. | |
84 | D C Sho Falls Powd[...] 1721 June 3 5 Fired at the funerall of Mr Collett 4 16 32 Do 5 Departed the Carnarven Bridgewater & Dke of York 4 26 49 Do 7 At the Exercise of the Garrison 8 for the Several Guards Expence 8 Cartridge Paper Expended 2 6 Spunge Stowed Deliverd the Carpenter 3 Spunge Heads 33 Rammer Heads 12 Sheep Skins 12 Flints 24 Match 24 Totalls 24 24 12 12 33 3 6 4 4 42 97 Signd pr Jno French The following Petitions were presented Vizt The Petition of Joseph Coles, Margarett Coles, & Ann Coles Setting forth therein the Great Desire they had to goe of the Island in hopes of bettering their fortunes in India, Humbly praying they might have Leave to take passage in the next outward bound ships that Arrives here from England Granted Accordingly The Said Ann Coles presented another Petition, Humbly Praying Her Brother Joseph Coles might be Admitted her Guardian She being Desireous to have her Dividend of her Deceased fathers Estate in her own Possession being now about ffifteen years of Age The Said Joseph Coles was sent for in, and Declard his will ingness to accept of the Office of Guardian to his Sister Wherefore Margin Notes: Coles his Petition Granted Coles Guardian | Mr French's account of the gunner's stores expended from 3 June 1721 to 30 June of the same month recorded the following. The columns gave the demi-cannon shot, the sakers, the falcons and the pounds of powder. 3 June: Fired at the funeral of Mr Collett — 4 falcons, 16 [...], 32 pounds of powder 5 June: On the departure of the Carnarvon, Bridgewater and Duke of York — 1 demi-cannon, 26 falcons, 49 pounds of powder 7 June: At the exercise of the garrison — 8 pounds of powder For the several guards' expense — 8½ pounds of powder Cartridge paper expended — 2 quires, 6 Sponge staves delivered to the carpenters — 3 Sponge heads — 33 Rammer heads — 12 Sheep skins — 12 Flints — 24 Match — 24 The columns totalled 2 demi-cannon, 21 [...], 12 [...], 12 [...], 33 [...], 3 [...], 6 [...], 4 [...], 4 [...], 42 falcons, 97½ pounds of powder. The account was signed by John French. The following petitions were then presented. Joseph Coles, Margaret Coles and Ann Coles set out in their petition their strong wish to leave the island in the hope of bettering their fortunes in India, and asked leave to take passage on the next ship arriving here from England. The council granted this accordingly. Ann Coles presented a further petition asking that her brother Joseph Coles be admitted her guardian, since she wished to have her share of her late father's estate in her own possession, being now about fifteen years of age. Joseph Coles was called in and declared his willingness to accept the office of guardian to his sister. Interpretations The petitions of the Coles children followed directly from the settlement of their father's intestate estate, the killing of John Coles by his slave Sultan on 9 April 1721 having left them to divide his property and decide their futures. Ann Coles, being under twenty-one, could not hold her share without a guardian, so the appointment of her brother Joseph gave her a recognised legal protector through whom her dividend could be secured, the council exercising its standing oversight of the island's orphans. The salute fired at the funeral of Mr Collett records the use of the fort's guns to mark the burial of a person of standing, the powder charged to the Company as a ceremonial honour distinct from the defensive alarms and the salutes to shipping that fill the rest of the account. | |
85 | Wherefore Ordered That her request be Granted Accordingly Copy of a Letter of Administration Granted to Bridgett Coles Widdow Island St Helena We the Governr & Council of the Said Isla on behalf of the Honnble United Compa of Merchants of England Treading to the East Indies absolute Lords Proprietors of the Said Island. To Bridgett Coles Widdow and Relict of John Coles late free planter Decd on the 9th day of Aprill Dom 1721 Whereas the Said John Coles deced (as aforesaid) was in his life and at the time of his death, Seized & Possessed of Divers Goods, rights & Creditts within the Jurisdiction of the Said Island, and he dying Intestate. By vertue whereof the full Disposall & Grant of Administration of and Singular the Goods & Chattles of the Said Decd. Also the hearing of the Computation, Calculate or Accot of Such Administration, and the finall Release, or Discharge for the same are Notoriously known to belong Entirely & Solely to Us the Governr & Councill of this place. And We being Desireous that the Goods & Chattles of the Said Decd John Coles Should be well & faithfully Administred & ployed & Disposed of to fitt or proper Uses, Do by Vertue of these Presents grant to you full Power Entirely to Administer and faithfully to Dispose of the Goods & Chattles of the Said Decd Also to Demand, Collect, Levy, & cause Payment to be made of all debts, or dues whatsoever belonging to the Said Margin Notes: Her Petico in Co[...] approovd of Lre of Admin granted Mrs Coles | On the petition of Joseph Coles to be admitted guardian to his sister, the council ordered that her request be granted accordingly. A copy of the letter of administration granted to Bridget Coles, widow, followed. The Governor and Council of St Helena, acting for the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies as absolute Lords Proprietors of the island, addressed the grant to Bridget Coles, widow and relict of John Coles, late free planter, who had died on 9 April 1721. John Coles had in his life and at his death held various goods, rights and credits within the jurisdiction of the island, and had died intestate. The full power to dispose of and grant administration of all his goods and chattels, to hear the accounting of such administration and to give the final release or discharge for it, was acknowledged to belong entirely to the Governor and Council as Lords Proprietors of the island. Wishing that the goods and chattels of John Coles should be well and faithfully administered and disposed of to their proper uses, the Governor and Council granted Bridget Coles full power to administer and dispose of the goods and chattels of the deceased. She was further empowered to demand, collect, levy and recover payment of all debts and dues whatsoever belonging to [...] Interpretations The letter of administration set out the council's authority over intestate estates as flowing from the Company's position as Lords Proprietors of the island, not from any ecclesiastical or English probate court. By grounding the grant in the proprietorship, the council asserted that the whole jurisdiction over a dead islander's goods, the appointing of an administrator and the final discharge of the account, rested with the Governor and Council alone, a self-contained authority exercised on the Company's behalf. The grant gave Bridget Coles the standard powers of an administratrix: to gather in the estate, pay and recover debts, and account to the council for her dealings. This vested in the widow the legal capacity to act for the estate of a husband who had left no will, the killing of John Coles by his slave Sultan on 9 April 1721 having thrown the settlement of his affairs onto the council's probate machinery. | |
86 | Said Decd in his life and at the time of his death and to pay what debts were owing by the Said Decd at the same time, as far as Such his Goods & Chattles will Extend in Proportion According to their Valuation This Power We grant you having Assurance of your Fidelity, charging & You by the Oath you have taken in this behalf, That you do make, or Cause to be made, a full true, Entire and faithfull Inventory of all & Singular the Goods & premisses of the Said Decd John Coles, that hath been, is, or may be found on this Island to belong unto him at the time of his Decease and Deliver the same to Us on or before the first day of August next Ensuing the date hereof, And also that You Deliver an Acco of Your Administration here unto Us when you shall be thereunto required, And therefore to you & We do Committ, and You We do by these Presents Ordaine Constitute and appoint to be Sole Administratrix of all & Singular such Goods & Chattles as are before Mentioned Dated and Given under Our hands and the Honnble Compas Seal at Union Castle in James Valley this 4th day of July 1721 Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Upon the Complt of Joseph Bates Originall, Joseph Josiah Bedloe and John Swalloe was Sumond to Appear here this day for Denying to pay him what they Stood Indebted to him vizt Bedloe fforty Shillings & Jno Swalloe £4 4 They Margin Notes: Bates Complt agst Bedloe & Swalloe | The administration also covered the debts owing to John Coles in his life and at his death, and required Bridget Coles to pay whatever debts he had owed at the same time, so far as his goods and chattels would extend in proportion to their valuation. The Governor and Council granted this power on the assurance of her honesty, charging her by the oath she had taken to make, or cause to be made, a full, true and faithful inventory of all the goods and property of John Coles found on the island to belong to him at his death. She was to deliver that inventory to the council on or before 1 August next, and to render an account of her administration whenever the council required it. The council therefore ordained, constituted and appointed her sole administratrix of all the goods and chattels described. The grant was dated and given under the hands and the Company's seal at Union Castle in James Valley on this day of July 1721, signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. On the complaint of Joseph Bates, Orlando Bagley, Josiah Bedloe and John Swallow was summoned to appear this day for refusing to pay what they owed him, namely Bedloe 40 shillings and John Swallow [...] Interpretations The administration grant bound the widow by a fixed timetable and by oath, requiring a sworn inventory delivered to the council by 1 August 1721 and an account rendered on demand. These conditions gave the council the means to supervise her dealings with the estate and to call her to reckoning, the oath and the inventory together forming the standing safeguard against waste or concealment by an administrator. The proportional limit on the payment of debts, restricting the widow's liability to the value of the goods and chattels, shielded her from any personal charge beyond the estate's assets. This applied the ordinary rule that an administrator answers creditors only out of what the deceased left, the debts abating rateably where the estate could not meet them in full. | |
87 | They both Accordingly Appeared & oword their debts Bedloe promised to pay the Said Bates as Soone as pos ble he could John Swallow makeing Some frivilous Excuses was Ordced to make the Said Bates payment Immediatly which he promised to doe ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 11th day of July 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expended since the 4th Instant, which was Examind & approovd of Gilbert Sinnick brought and delivered his Brother Chr Sinnicks last Will & Testament, In Order to have the same proved, which was Accordingly done by the Oath of Walter Morris, John Long, & Richard Long Ordered That the Said Will be revievd and approovd of Accordingly, and Enterd into a Book for that Purpose The Margin Notes: Debts oword Swallow Ordd Drs Book Examd Petr Sinnicks Will Proved | Both Bedloe and Swallow appeared and acknowledged their debts. Bedloe promised to pay Bates as soon as he was able. John Swallow offered some trifling excuses, on which the council ordered him to pay Bates at once, which he promised to do. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 11 July 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 4 July, which the council examined and approved. Gilbert Sinsnick brought in and delivered the last will and testament of his brother Sinsnick, so that it might be proved. The will was proved accordingly on the oaths of Walter Morris, John Long and Richard Long. The council ordered that the will be reviewed and approved, and entered into a book kept for that purpose. Interpretations The proving of the Sinsnick will on the oaths of three witnesses records the council's standing probate procedure, by which a will took legal effect once the witnesses swore to its execution before the bench. The order to enter it into a dedicated register reflects the practice of keeping a permanent record of proved wills, so that title to the property passing under them could later be established. | |
88 | The following Petitions were Presented Vizt The Petition of William Beale Setting forth therein That being Destitute of any Lands, Humbly prayd to become Tennant to the Honnble Compa for about 12 Acres of their Waste Land knowne by the name of Taylors Ground lately in the Possession of Richard Beale And &c Gabriel Powell Petitiond Us for the same peice of Land Setting forth that He having agreed with the Petr Rich Beale for his fre Land which Joyns to that He Hired of the Honnble Compa It would be a great Preju dice to him if Lett to any other Person, and for which reason 'tis as formerly granted to ye Said Beale who Petitiond against by others, wherefore Prays He may have the same Previlidge & favour shewn him Orderd That both these Petitions be referrd to further Consideration ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Willm Beale Petr for Land Powell Sames Wt Beale died Referrd | The following petitions were then presented. William Beale set out in his petition that, having no land of his own, he wished to become tenant to the Company for about 12 acres of their waste land known as Taylor's Ground, lately held by Richard Beale. Gabriel Powell petitioned for the same piece of land. He set out that he had agreed with Richard Beale for his free land, which adjoined the Company's parcel that he held, so that granting the waste to anyone else would greatly prejudice him. He added that the land had earlier been granted to Richard Beale, though others had petitioned against that grant, and asked that the same favour be shown to him. The Governor ordered that both petitions be referred for further consideration. Interpretations The competing claims to Taylor's Ground turned on the difference between William Beale's need for land as a man with none and Gabriel Powell's interest as the holder of the adjoining parcel. Powell rested his case on the inconvenience of a divided holding, the council's grants of waste land often hinging on whether a parcel completed or fragmented an existing estate, while William Beale invoked the council's competing concern to settle the landless. The reference to the earlier grant to Richard Beale and the petitions against it places Taylor's Ground among the contested waste parcels whose disposal the council guarded carefully. This caution against engrossing reflects the standing policy of letting waste land in a way that maintained a white man on every holding and prevented the largest planters from absorbing ground the smaller settlers needed. | |
89 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 18th day of July 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of Capt Goodwin Storekeeper Acquainted Us that on takeing Inventory of all the Stores, there was Still in the Stores a Large Parcell of Gurhas, the remainder of a Cargoe brought by the Succefs Capt Clapham in the Yeare 1719 yet unsold vizt three Bales & fforty four Peices which was Occasioned by a Mistake in the Casting up the Prices of Each Peice for they were Sold out at twelve Shillings & Six pence as if the Prime Cost had been Eight Shillings & four pence Whereas by the Book of Invoices it appears they cost but four Shillings & Six pence, and he believes if that Mistake be Rectifyed they will be Soon Sold, for its a Sort of Cloth much in Demand but no body will give that Price becaus they can buy much Cheaper from the Shipping Therefore Orderd That they be Sold out at Six Shillings in Consideration they have layen by So Long altho that be not quite the ffifty pr Cent Advance The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expend ed since the 11th Instt which was Examind & approovd of Pursuant Margin Notes: a mistake found in a quantity of Gurhas to be sold at 6s p pe Drs Book Examd | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 18 July 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Captain Goodwin, storekeeper, reported that on taking an inventory of all the stores he had found a large quantity of gurrahs still in the stores. These were the remainder of a cargo brought by Captain Clatham in the Success in 1717, amounting to three bales and 44 pieces, which had gone unsold because of a mistake in casting up the price of each piece. They had been put on sale at 12 shillings 6 pence each, as though the prime cost had been 8 shillings 4 pence, whereas the book of invoices showed they had cost only 4 shillings 6 pence. Captain Goodwin believed that once this error was corrected they would soon sell, the cloth being much in demand, though no one would pay the higher price while the same goods could be bought far more cheaply from the shipping. The council therefore ordered that the gurrahs be sold at 6 shillings each, allowing for their having lain so long in store, even though this fell a little short of the usual 50 per cent advance on cost. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 11 July, which the council examined and approved. Interpretations The gurrahs were a coarse plain cotton cloth imported from India, used on the island chiefly for slave clothing and bought by the bale from the Company's stores. Their being undersold by the same goods carried on visiting ships shows the difficulty the Company's storehouse faced in pricing imported cloth against the cheaper private trade of the shipping in the road. The repricing exposed and corrected a long-standing accounting error, the original sale price of 12 shillings 6 pence having been struck on a false prime cost of 8 shillings 4 pence rather than the true 4 shillings 6 pence shown in the invoice book. This is one of the omissions and miscastings that the council's drive to bring the account books up to date had been uncovering, the corrected figure restoring the goods to a saleable price. The council fixed the new price at 6 shillings by balancing two considerations: the standard markup of 50 per cent on cost, which the storehouse normally applied, and the discount due on goods that had lain unsold since 1717. Setting the price slightly below the customary advance shows the council trading a part of its margin for the prospect of clearing dead stock that would otherwise remain unsold against the cheaper shipboard supply. | |
90 | Pursuant to the Petition of Richard Beale of the 20th of June last, He and his wife had leave granted them this day to goe off the Island in the Next outward bound Ships that touches here from England On Tuesday the 11th Instt in the Evening Arrived a Dutch Ship calld the Haalsburg from Batavia, without going in at the Cape which is the last of their last years Shipping and Cheifly Loaden with Tea The Petition of Jonathan Doveton planter was presented Setting forth that Understanding the Land lately in the Possession of Rich Beale knowne by the name of Taylors Ground was now to be Lett againe Humbly prayd he might become Tennant for the same it lying very Conve nient and Adjoyning to his Pasture Land thro which if this Land is Granted to any other Person must be a Comon Drift way and very Detrimentall to him & therefore prays a Grant of the abovesaid Land And &c This Petition, with that of Mr Powells to the same Purpose Enterd in Consultation of the 11th Instt were both Considered of, And for the Reasons Sett forth in Richard Beals Petition Enterd in Consultation of the ye 7 of Nov 1719 Orderd That the Said Land knowne by the name of Taylors Ground be Granted to Mr Powell he haveing Purchased the free Land of the Said Beale that Adjoyns to it, and that a Lease be accordingly drawn for the Term of 21 years ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Leave granted Beale to goe off Dutch Ships Arrivall Jonat Doveton Petition for ye Grant of ye Taylor Land Granted Powell Land granted to Mr Powell | On the petition of Richard Beale of 20 June last, the council granted him and his wife leave this day to leave the island on the next ship sailing from here to England. On Tuesday 11 July in the evening a Dutch ship called the Haarlem arrived from Batavia without calling at the Cape. She was the last of the previous year's Dutch shipping and was laden chiefly with tea. Jonathan Doveton, planter, presented his petition. He understood that the land lately held by Richard Beale, known as Taylor's Ground, was now to be let again. He asked to become tenant of it, since it lay very conveniently and adjoined his pasture, and any water passing through it would have to cross a common driftway should the land be granted to anyone else, to his great disadvantage. He therefore asked for a grant of the land. This petition, together with Mr Powell's to the same effect entered at the consultation of 11 July, was considered. For the reasons set out in Richard Beale's petition entered at the consultation of 17 November 1719, the council ordered that Taylor's Ground be granted to Mr Powell, he having purchased Richard Beale's free land that adjoined it, and that a lease be drawn for the term of 21 years. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The award of Taylor's Ground to Powell turned on the principle that waste land should go to the holder whose adjoining property it completed, rather than to a rival applicant. Powell had bought Richard Beale's free land bordering the parcel, so granting him the Company's waste consolidated a single holding, the same reasoning that defeated the competing claims of William Beale at the consultation of 11 July 1721 and of Doveton here. The driftway argument advanced by Doveton appealed to the practical difficulty of water and stock crossing a neighbour's ground, the standing concern over watercourses and rights of way between holders whose supply ran across another's land. The council nonetheless preferred the consolidation of Powell's estate, granting a 21-year lease on the usual term and so settling a parcel whose disposal had been contested since 1719. | |
91 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 25th day of July 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read and approovd of On fryday Evening last Saild hence the Dutch Shipp Mentiond in the last Consultation for Holland very well & Satisfied with our Useage The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 18th Instt which was Examined & approovd of John Harding planter, Appeared on behalf of his Mother in law Mary Swallow Widd and Complaind That Richd Tompson did Harber & Entertaine a Black Boy of Hers when Runaway from her Service The Said Richd Tompson being now present Says he never did Harber the Said Runeaway Boy, and that He has the Greatest cause to Complaine against the Said Mary Swallow for her ill useage, and not takeing that Due Care of his Son as She ought, in Consideration of which the Said Black Boy was Given to her for the bringing up and Maintaining his Said Son as appears by Articles between them which were now Produced, and Wherefore Desires She may give Security to Performe them Orderd Margin Notes: Dutch Ships Departured Drs Book Examd Jno Harding appeard agst Richd Tompson Tompsons Allegations | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 25 July 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. On Friday evening last the Dutch ship mentioned at the previous consultation sailed from here for Holland, well satisfied with the supplies she had taken on. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 18 July, which the council examined and approved. John Harding, planter, appeared on behalf of his mother-in-law Mary Swallow, widow, and complained that Richard Thompson had harboured and taken in a slave boy of hers when the boy ran away from her service. Richard Thompson, being present, denied that he had ever harboured the runaway boy. He said he had the greatest cause to complain against Mary Swallow herself, for her poor treatment of his son and her failure to take proper care of him. The slave boy had been given to her for bringing up and maintaining his son, as appeared by articles drawn between them, which were now produced. He therefore asked that she be required to give security to perform those articles. Interpretations The dispute exposed a private arrangement by which a slave boy had been transferred to Mary Swallow as consideration for her undertaking to raise and maintain Thompson's son, the terms fixed by written articles between the parties. The council was drawn in not over the running away itself but over the enforcement of this contract, Thompson seeking security that Swallow would carry out a bargain he said she had broken. The cross-complaints turned the runaway accusation into a contest over performance of the articles, Harding charging Thompson with harbouring the boy and Thompson charging Swallow with neglecting the child she was paid in slave labour to keep. By producing the articles and asking for security, Thompson moved the matter onto the ground of a binding agreement the council could compel, rather than the bare question of where the runaway had sheltered. | |
92 | Orderd That this matter lie in Suspence till further Consideration The Governr Acquainted Us that Mr Van Oosten had Informed him that severall of the Ballances of Store Goods that had been carried on from Year to Year in the Books, did not agree with the Inventory lately taken, Whereupon Orderd That the Storekeeper & he do Examine all Books, and make a report the next Consultation day Mrs Bridgett Coles Widd brought this day an Inventory of Her deceased Husband John Coles his Personall Estate which was Examind approovd, & receivd Accordingly Mrs Margarett Tovey Widd Presented a Petition this day Setting forth therein That her late Husband Antipas Tovey dying Intestate the Severall Creditors for Large Sums of money that he Contracted in his life time, has and do daily come upon her for Paymt, and because She is not able to make them Immediate Satisfaction they threaten to give her further trouble, and being likely to be Sued at Law Humbly prays to be Admitted Administratrix to what Estate her Said Husband dyed possessd of, that She may thereby be better Enabled to Act in So troublesome & Desire ous a matter And &c Orderd That her request be Granted, And that a Letter of Administration be drawn Accordingly Richard Sages fold being Dangerously Ill of a Fistula In Ano desired leave to goe off the Island it being Impossible to gett cured here that in Commisseration of his Deplorable Condition he is graunted him a Breif which was Accordingly Granted ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: to lie in Suspence Report abt ye Ballances not agreeing wth the Inventory Books to be Exam Inventory of Jno Coles Estate by his Widd Mrs Tovey presents her petition for Admin & a Breif Sages his leave to goe off | The council ordered that the matter of Mary Swallow and Richard Thompson lie in suspense until further consideration. The Governor reported that Van Oosten had informed him that several of the balances of store goods carried forward from year to year in the books did not agree with the inventory lately taken. The council therefore ordered that the storekeeper and Van Oosten examine all the books and report at the next consultation. Mrs Bridget Coles, widow, brought in this day an inventory of the personal estate of her late husband John Coles, which the council examined and approved and received accordingly. Mrs Margaret Tovey, widow, presented a petition. It set out that her late husband Antipas Tovey had died intestate, leaving several creditors to whom he had owed large sums of money contracted in his lifetime. These creditors came daily upon her for payment, and because she could not satisfy them at once they threatened to give her further trouble and were likely to sue her at law. She therefore asked to be admitted administratrix of whatever estate her husband had left, so that she might be better enabled to act in so troublesome and difficult a matter. The council ordered that her request be granted and that a letter of administration be drawn accordingly. Richard Sayer, being dangerously ill of a fistula, asked leave to leave the island, since it was impossible to cure him here. In consideration of his unfortunate condition the council granted him a passage accordingly. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The discrepancy between the carried-forward store balances and the new inventory continued to surface the failures of the Company's accounts, the same problem the council had been pursuing through Van Oosten over the 1720 books. Ordering the storekeeper and Van Oosten to examine every book and report shows the council treating the mismatch as evidence of accumulated miscasting in the records rather than physical loss, the audit of the books still incomplete. The grant of administration to Margaret Tovey placed the estate of the disgraced former secretary into his widow's hands, Antipas Tovey having died burdened with debt after his suspension from council for neglect of the books and misconduct. Her application, like Bridget Coles's, sought the legal authority to face creditors pressing on an intestate estate, the letter of administration giving her standing to deal with debts that would otherwise expose her to suit. The leave granted to Richard Sayer to seek a cure abroad reflects the limits of the island's medical provision, a fistula being beyond the surgeon's means on a remote station. The council's allowance of passage on grounds of his dangerous illness shows it treating departure as a humane necessity where treatment could not be had on the island. | |
93 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 8th day of August 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of The reason why no Consultation was held on the first of August, was Occasiond by the Govrn being laid up with the Gout On Thursday the 27th of July last Arrived the Ship Hartford Capt Francis Nelly from Maddras (Cut lass from the Cape) and brought Us the following Goods viz 2 Bales Long Cloth fine a 60 Pags p ploize 2 Ad Chargs for Washing ftack Boat & fooley hire 7 9 2 Ad 7 26 1 Bale Chints a 38 Pags p forge 380 4 Chargs for ftack Boat & fooley hire 1 11 381 11 3 Bales 14 Corge Amounting to 629 1 Batavia Arrack 2 half Leagers 34 4 Sugar 16 Baggs 6 9 5 2 15 a Pag 12 18 p Mandy 6 Ad 4 Ad Pag 727 5 Ad Capt Nelly Sent the Govr the following Letter To Margin Notes: reason for no Consult Hartfords Arrivl Goods from Maddras | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 8 August 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. No consultation had been held on 1 August because the Governor was laid up with the gout. On Thursday 27 July last the ship Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly, arrived from Madras, last from the Cape, and brought the following goods. 2 bales of fine long cloth at 60 pieces per bale, 2 [...] Charges for washing, flag, boat and coolie hire — 7 [...] This item summed to 247 [...], 26 [...] 1 bale of chints at 38 pieces per [...] — 380 [...] Charges for flag, boat and coolie hire — 1 [...] This item summed to 381 [...], 11 [...] 3 bales of corge amounting to — 629 [...], 1 [...] Batavia arrack, 2 half-leaguers — 34 [...] Sugar, 16 bags at [...], 5 [...], 2 [...], 15 a piece, 12 [...], 18 [...] — 64 [...], 4 [...] The whole came to 727 [...], 5 [...] Captain Nelly sent the Governor the following letter. Interpretations The arrival of the Hartford from Madras brought a consignment of Indian textiles and provisions to the Company's stores, the long cloth and chints being cotton goods used on the island chiefly for slave clothing and resale, and the corge a unit of twenty pieces in which Indian cloth was reckoned and shipped. The arrack and sugar rounded out the cargo with the consumable stores the island regularly drew from the Indian presidencies. The account separated the prime cost of each parcel of cloth from the charges for washing, flags, boat and coolie hire incurred in landing it, the loading costs added to the invoice value before the goods were priced for sale. This itemising of handling charges alongside the cost reflects the storehouse practice the council had been tightening, every element of a parcel's cost recorded so the sale price could be struck on a true figure, the same concern that had led to the repricing of the gurrahs at the consultation of 18 July 1721. The note explaining the missed consultation of 1 August by the Governor's gout records the practical dependence of the council's business on his presence, no meeting being held in his absence even for the routine transfer of the quarter's affairs. | |
94 | To the Worshpl Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr & Council This Serves to Advise you Worshpl &c that on Sattueday July the 29th I opend my Main Hatches in Order to See if my Cargoe had not Recd Damage, by the Prodigious bad weather We had in beating round the Cape, and there found Severall Goods (belonging to the East India Company) Damagd, I cannot as yet Acquaint you with the quantity the Search being not over, but for the Recovery of them, I desire Your Worshpl &c Permission for Landing them (as they come to hand) In Order to be Washd St Helena July 31 I am Worshpl &c Yr &c 1721 1721 Your very Humble Servant Francis Nelly Which was granted, and the Custom Master Ordered to take an Acco of the Import & Export thereof Capt Alexander was Ordered by the Govr to send Capt Nelly the following Letter Capt Francis Nelly I am Ordered by the Govr & Council to Acquaint You that In Pursuance to Our Honnble Mastershond to Us Directed in their Genll Letter by the Princess Amelia Par the 23 they desire to know of You how many Bales of Damagd Goods you have unpackt and causd now to be Washd in this Valley with the severall marks & Number of Each Bale, and Tomorrow being Our Consultation day We shall be ready to receive it or any thing Else you you Margin Notes: Capt Nellys Lettr abt Damagd Goods Custom to take Accot Capt Nelly desire Accot of ye Damagd Goods unpackt | Captain Nelly's letter to the Governor and Council reported that on Saturday 29 July he had opened his main hatches to see whether his cargo had suffered damage from the violent weather met in rounding the Cape. He had found several goods belonging to the East India Company damaged, though he could not yet state the quantity, the search being incomplete. To recover them he asked the council's permission to land the goods, as they came to hand, so that they might be washed. The letter was dated at St Helena on 31 July 1721 and signed by Francis Nelly. The council granted this, and ordered the customs officer to take an account of the import and export of the goods. Captain Alexander was directed by the Governor to send Captain Nelly the following letter. The letter to Captain Francis Nelly stated that the council, acting under the directors' instructions in their general letter by the Princess Amelia, wished to know how many bales of damaged goods he had unpacked and was now having washed in the valley, with the several marks and numbers of each bale. The following day being the council's meeting day, it would be ready to receive the account, or anything else he might offer. Interpretations The exchange shows the council managing the salvage of a sea-damaged Company cargo through its established customs control, the goods admitted ashore for washing only on a recorded account of import and export. By requiring the marks and numbers of each bale, the council tied the salvaged goods to the ship's manifest, guarding against loss or substitution while the cargo was out of the hold and exposed on the island. The reference to the directors' instructions carried by the Princess Amelia shows the council acting under a standing rule for handling damaged consignments, the home authority having laid down how such goods were to be inspected and accounted. This grounded the council's demand for a bale-by-bale return in the Company's own directions rather than in any discretion of the moment, the marks and numbers serving to reconcile the washed goods against the original lading. | |
95 | you have to offer. I am Sr Yor Very Humble Servant Union Castle St Helena Jno Alexander Secry August ye 7th 1721 Capt Nelly Likewise Sent In this day the following Letter with a Protest against the Seas To the Worshpl Edw Johnson Esqr Govr & Council At St Helena I wrote your Worshpl &c Councill the 31 July last in which Advisd you that by the Prodigious bad weather I had in beating about the Cape, have receivd Damage to the Honnble Companys Goods, and for the recovery of them desird (which you granted) to Land them as they came to hand and Since Haveing made diligent Search have found five Bales Damagd by the working of the Main Topsail Sheet bitts (Markt & Numberd as pr Margent) which I have overhauld and gott washt but before I savd my Passage by the working of my Bowlsprite, found a bale Damagd at the Butt head of the Powder room, this and the other Damage must be Attributed to the Prodigious Strains the Ship Un derwent in Such bad weather, for which have inclosd a Protest against the Seas desireing it may be registed, being the first Opportunity that has Offerd to make my Report & I am Worshpl Your very Humble Servt Frans Nelly Margin Notes: Capt Nellys Lettr an Acct of 5 Damagd Goods he washt 1 Bale 1 Mark & Number Unknowne Washt at Caye 7 ftt & 4ps 2 Do Washt at St Helena Mark 1 Wt unknown Do 9t 30 ps Each 1 Do al Ds SH No 9t 1 Do al Do No 2 SALMFD 30 ps 1 Do al Do FB No 1 LCFFD A0 9 ps 1 th Island St Helena Aug 8 1721 | The council's letter to Captain Nelly closed by offering to receive anything he had to put forward, signed by John Alexander on behalf of the council. It was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 7 August 1721. Captain Nelly likewise sent in this day the following letter, together with a protest against the seas. Captain Nelly wrote to the Governor and Council, recalling his letter of 31 July last, in which he had told them that the violent weather met in beating about the Cape had damaged the Company's goods. With the council's leave he had landed the goods as they came to hand, and on making a thorough search he had found five bales damaged through the straining of the main topsail sheet bitts. These were marked and numbered as in the margin. He had overhauled them and got them washed. Before he had taken his departure, the straining at his bowsprit had damaged a bale at the bulkhead of the powder room. This and the other damage had to be attributed to the violent strains the ship underwent in such bad weather. He had therefore entered a protest against the seas, and asked that it be registered, taking the first opportunity offered to make his report. The letter was signed by Francis Nelly. The damaged bales were listed as follows. 1 bale, mark and number unknown, washed at the Cape — 7 [...], 4 [...] 2 bales washed at St Helena, mark and number unknown — 9 [...], 30 [...] each 1 bale of long cloth — [...] 1 bale of [...], number 2, of salt — [...] 1 bale of fine [...], number 1 — [...] The account was dated at St Helena on 8 August 1721. Interpretations The protest against the seas was a formal declaration by the master, entered and registered before the council, that loss or damage to the cargo had been caused by the perils of the weather rather than by any fault of his own. By making this protest at the first port where it could be witnessed, Captain Nelly created a legal record to protect himself and the ship's owners against any claim by the Company for the damaged goods, the storm being laid as the sole cause. The detailed account of how each bale was damaged, through the straining of the topsail sheet bitts and the bowsprit, served to tie the loss to specific structural stresses of the voyage. This precision supported the protest by showing the damage flowed from the ship's hard usage in heavy seas, the marks and numbers of each bale linking the claim to identifiable items of the manifest the council had demanded. | |
96 | To the Worshpl Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr &c Council of St Helena Whereas the Ship Hartford Francis Nelly Comander was Dispatchd from Fort St George on the 20th of ffebry 1720 by the Honnble Francis Hastings Esq there Presidt & Govr &c Council with Orders to make the best of his way for the Port of London. In Pursuance to which the Said Frans Nelly usd his Utmost Endeavours to gett as Early round the Cape as Possible, But meeting with Violent Stormy Weather (the Worst We ever Saw before) which Oblig'd Us after beating in those Storms 30 days to bear away, the Ship Still Labouring very hard, & thumping much at Her Counter, which gave Us just reason to think it not Safe to withstand the Violence of Such Tempestuous weather any Longer, but after the end of two days the wind proving favourable to Proceed on Our Voyage, the Said Francis Nelly in Consideration of the Danger that might Accrue by Working at any of the Adjacent Islands, or runing the Risque of the Sailors (which was then notable to Stand the Deck) together with the Distance of a Port of Safety, He the Said Francis Nelly gave Orders to Ware the Ship, and with some Difficulties Savd Our Passage round the Cape, before we found a Bale of Cloth Damaged at the Bulkhead of the Powder Room Occasiond by the Working of the Bollsprite, & haveing no favourable Opportunity of Looking any feather into Our Cargoe till our Arrival at St Helena, and being very Apprehen sive there must of Necessity be more Such Damages Sustaind by the Prodigious Seas and Strains the Ship withstood The great Concern for which, and more Particular Instances being Margin Notes: Capt Nellys Protest agst ye Seas | Captain Nelly's protest to the Governor and Council recited that the Hartford, of which Francis Nelly was commander, had been dispatched from Fort St George on 20 February 1720 by Francis Hastings, the President, Governor and Council there, with orders to make the best of his way for the port of London. In carrying out those orders Captain Nelly used his utmost efforts to get round the Cape as early as possible. He met with violent stormy weather, the worst ever seen, which forced him after beating in those storms for 30 days to bear away, the ship still labouring very hard and pounding heavily at her counter. This gave him good reason to think it unsafe to withstand such tempestuous weather any longer. After two days the wind turned favourable for proceeding on the voyage. Weighing the danger of being wrecked on any of the neighbouring islands, the risk to the sailors who could scarcely stand the deck, and the distance from any port of safety, Captain Nelly gave orders to wear the ship. With some difficulty he saved his passage round the Cape. Before reaching the island he found a bale of cloth damaged at the bulkhead of the powder room, caused by the straining of the bowsprit. He had no fair opportunity of looking any further into his cargo until his arrival at St Helena. He was very apprehensive that more such damage must of necessity have been sustained through the violent seas and the strains the ship withstood. His great concern over this, and the more particular instances of it [...] Interpretations The protest grounded the master's defence in his orders from Fort St George, dated 20 February 1720, which bound him to sail directly for London. By reciting that he acted under those instructions and was driven off his course only by the worst weather he had known, Captain Nelly framed every decision, the bearing away, the wearing of the ship, the saving of the passage, as forced seamanship rather than negligence, building the legal case that the storm alone caused the loss. The reasoning set out for wearing the ship, the danger of wreck on nearby islands, the sailors unable to keep the deck and the distance from any harbour, recorded the master weighing identifiable hazards before taking the action that exposed the cargo. This careful account of the alternatives served the protest by showing that the manoeuvre causing the strain was the prudent choice among worse dangers, the damage flowing from a justified decision in extremity. | |
97 | being Minuted down in Our Journals (Relation being thereunto had) will and may at large more fully Appear On the 2 day after We Arrived here which was on the 27th of July last past, the Capt gave Orders to Open the Ships Hould and Diligent Search to be made to See what further Damage had or might have happend in the Stormy weather aforesaid, and haveing gone thro the Hatch ways, found all dry and Secure, but by the Working of the Maintopsail Sheat bitts We found the Water had Run along the Beam & Damagd five Bales of the Honnble Companys Goods Wherefore We the Comander & Officers of the Said Ship Hartford, Do for Our Selves, and on behalf of the Owners of the Said Ships hereby Protest against the Violence of the Seas, and do Declare that the Misfortune & Damage aforesd did no way Proceed from any Neglect of Ours, but must be Imputed to the Violent Storms We happend to Meet with as beforementiond. In Testimony whereof We the Subscribers our Names this 8 day of Augt AD 1721 Frans Nelly John Pyle John Pake Thos Deere Stephen Smith Thomas Seaton The Governr made Report That on the 27th of July last at the Alarm Ensigne Slaughter made Complaint of the Saucy and Insolent behaviour of Thomas Greentree towards him on the Line when he was calling the Roll over Margin Notes: Report abt ye Quarrell wth Langua[...] & Mr Slaughter | Captain Nelly's protest closed by noting that the details had been entered in the ship's journals, to which reference could be made for a fuller account. On the second day after arriving here, which was 27 July last, the captain ordered the ship's hold opened and a thorough search made to see what further damage had happened or might have happened in the storms described. On going through the hatch he found it dry and secure. The straining of the main topsail sheet bitts, however, had let water run along the beam and damage five bales of the Company's goods. The commander and officers of the Hartford therefore protested, for themselves and on behalf of the ship's owners, against the violence of the seas. They declared that the misfortune and damage had in no way arisen from any neglect of the crew, but had to be attributed to the violent storms they met, as described. In testimony of this they subscribed their names on 8 August 1721: Francis Nelly, John Pix, John Pake, Thomas Deere, Stephen Smith and Thomas Seaton. Governor Johnson reported that at the alarm of 27 July last Ensign Slaughter had complained of the rude and insolent behaviour of Thomas Greentree toward him on the line, when he was calling the roll [...] Interpretations The protest closed by adding the officers' joint signatures to the master's declaration, six men of the Hartford subscribing the formal statement that the storm, not the crew, had caused the loss. By having the officers attest alongside the commander, the protest gained the corroboration of the whole afterguard, strengthening the legal record the owners could rely on against any claim by the Company for the five damaged bales. The reference back to the ship's journals tied the protest to the contemporaneous log of the voyage, the daily record serving as the underlying evidence for the events the declaration summarised. This linkage gave the protest its evidential weight, the journals standing as the primary account against which the master's narrative of storm and damage could be tested. The complaint of Greentree's conduct toward Ensign Slaughter on the line during the alarm of 27 July 1721 raised a question of military discipline at the muster, the calling of the roll being the point at which the armed inhabitants answered for their attendance. This continued the council's standing enforcement of alarm duty, insolence to the officer taking the muster threatening the order on which the island's defence depended. | |
98 | over. Whereupon the Governr Ordered the Marshall to fetch him, when he was brought the Ensigne Deposed on Oath That in Order of the Role he calld James Greentree plant but no body answering he Ordered the Corporall to call out for Mr James Greentree. John Bagley Sen thereon Answerd his Son is here who use to answer for him, or Else I would have When the Ensigne calld Thomas Greentree as next in turn, on his Answering for himself, the Ensigne Sayd he thought Duty would have Obligd him to have Answered for his father when he heard his name Calld, Yet he truly answerd the Said Greentree for you know as well as I that he is Sick but the Ensigne Replyed as he found his name there he was Obligd to call him, To which Greentree replyd I know no business his name has there it ought to be Scratch out there, For which the Governr fined him fforty Shillings, and told him he thought himself with the Gentlemen of the Council Sufficient to know who ought to be Continued or Scratch out without adviseing with him, and that he was after Saucy Becomes Boy, if he found this did not teach him manners he would Punish him more Severely the next Complaint from his Officer The Governr also Reported that on the 30 of July last Ensigne Slaughter Acquainted him that Joseph Josiah Bedloe Told, was Married to Mary Swallow Widdow in the Evening before by one of the Gentlemen belonging to the Ship Serjeant Dutch was sent for, and Sayed he was not Present but his Son in Law Samuel Duston who Married the Widdows Daughter told him of it and that the Widd calld his wife in to be a Witness of the Consummation thereof Margin Notes: Greentree & his Son on ye Line Greentree fined 40s Greentrees Insolence to the Govr & Council Report abt Bedloe being Marryed Dutch Examd | Governor Johnson ordered the marshal to fetch Greentree. When he was brought in, Ensign Slaughter deposed on oath that, in calling the roll, he had called for James Greentree, but no one answering, he ordered the corporal to call out for Mr James Greentree. John Bagley senior then answered that his son was present and usually answered for him, or else he would have done so himself. When the ensign called Thomas Greentree as next on the line, Thomas answering for himself said he thought duty should have obliged him to answer for his father when he heard the name called. Thomas Greentree replied that he had answered for his father, since the ensign knew as well as he did that the father was sick. The ensign answered that, finding the name on the list, he was bound to call it. Greentree retorted that he knew of no reason for his name being there and that it ought to be struck out. For this the Governor fined Greentree 40 shillings, and told him that he did not think himself or the rest of the council at liberty to decide who should be kept on the list or struck off without consulting him. He warned Greentree that he was a saucy, conceited boy, and that if this did not teach him manners he would punish him more severely on the next complaint from his officers. Governor Johnson also reported that on 30 July last Ensign Slaughter had informed him that Joseph Bedloe had been married to Mary Swallow, widow, on the evening before, by one of the gentlemen belonging to the ship. Sergeant Dutch was sent for, and said he had not been present, but that his son-in-law Samuel Duffton, who had married the widow's daughter, had told him of it, and that the widow had called his wife in to be a witness of the consummation. Interpretations The dispute over the roll fixed the question of who held authority to alter the muster list, the Governor reserving to himself the decision to keep a name on or strike it off. Greentree's claim that his sick father's name ought simply to be removed challenged the integrity of the attendance record, the ensign insisting he was bound to call every name as it stood, and the Governor backing the officer to preserve the muster's discipline. The marriage of Joseph Bedloe to Mary Swallow performed by one of the ship's gentlemen reflects the island's reliance on visiting clergy or qualified persons aboard ship to solemnise marriages, the small remote settlement often lacking a resident minister able or willing to officiate. The council's note of how the marriage came to be reported, and the irregular witnessing of its consummation, shows the bench tracking the validity and circumstances of a union contracted outside the ordinary parish form. | |
99 | thereof by Her Seeing her abed with Bedloe Samuel Duston Sayed he did not See them Marrid but was in the next Room, and that he heard the Office read by a Person belonging to the Ship whom they calld Doctor, and they answering Bedloe and the Widdow Swallow was sent for by the Marshall, Bedloe led her downe the Valley, and Introduced Her into the Hall at the Castle by the Hand as his wife, they both owned the Fact before the Govr & Bedloe Offerd to Shew the Certificate The Govr Ordred Bedloe to be Whipt and to receive fifty Lashes on his bare Back at the flaggstaff, and to be Confind in Prison till the Departure of the next Stoze Ship, for his Insolent Violation of the Known Laws of this Island And the Said Widdow Swallow was Ordered to receive twenty Lashes on her Naked Back but when She was Affixed to the flaggstaff, the Governr Orderd the Whiping to be Remitted hopeing the Shame of being So Publickly Exposed would have the same Effect on Her as the Smart had on Some After Dinner the Governr Wrote the following Letter, and sent it by the Marshall to Capt Nelly Capt Nelly pr I hereby Acquaint You that the Doctor belonging to your Ship now in the Road did Presume Yesterday in the Evening to Marry Josiah Joseph Be a Souldier of this Garrison to Mary Swallow of this Margin Notes: Saml Dustons Examinac[...] They both appeared Bedloe whipt Mrs Swallow Excusd Her Punishmt remitted Govr Lre to Capt Nelly | The widow's wife had witnessed the consummation by seeing her in bed with Bedloe. Samuel Duffton said he had not seen them married, but was in the next room and heard the office read by a person belonging to the ship whom they called doctor, and heard them make their responses. Bedloe and the widow Swallow were sent for by the marshal. Bedloe led her down the valley and brought her into the hall at the castle by the hand, as his wife. Both owned the fact before the Governor, and Bedloe offered to show the certificate. The Governor ordered Bedloe to be whipped, to receive 50 lashes on his bare back at the flagstaff, and to be confined in prison until the departure of the next store ship, for his insolent breach of the known laws of the island. The widow Swallow was ordered to receive 20 lashes on her naked back. When she was tied to the flagstaff, the Governor ordered the whipping remitted, judging that the shame of being so publicly exposed would have the same effect on her as the smart had on some. After dinner the Governor wrote the following letter and sent it by the marshal to Captain Nelly. The letter to Captain Nelly informed him that the doctor belonging to his ship, now in the road, had yesterday evening presumed to marry Josiah Joseph Bedloe, a soldier of the garrison, to Mary Swallow of the [...] Interpretations The punishment of Bedloe and the widow rested on their having married without the council's authority, the ceremony performed by a ship's doctor outside the island's recognised forms. The Governor treated this as an insolent breach of the known laws, the bench guarding its control over who might solemnise marriages on the island and against unions contracted by transient persons aboard visiting ships beyond the parish's oversight. The remission of the widow's whipping at the flagstaff shows the Governor weighing the deterrent value of public shame against physical punishment, judging exposure alone sufficient for her. By staying the lash once she was bound and displayed, he applied the humiliation of the flagstaff as the penalty itself, reserving the heavier corporal punishment for the soldier whose breach of garrison discipline he treated as the graver offence. The Governor's immediate letter to Captain Nelly turned the matter from the islanders to the ship, the doctor who performed the ceremony being answerable to his commander. By addressing the master directly, the Governor pressed the irregularity of the marriage onto the vessel responsible, holding the ship to account for an act its officer had performed ashore against the island's laws. | |
100 | this Island Widdow, without my Consent which is Contra ry to, and an open Violation of all Law as well as that of this Island, he is Since Escaped on board your Ship. I inform you Sr hereof not Doubting your Delivering him up to Justice on the receipt of this from Your Humble Servt St Helena July ye 30th Edwd Johnson 1721 In answer to the Lettr the Marshall Sayed the Capt gave his Service to the Govr and that he would Send on Board for him to come on Shore presently When Middleton the Doctor was brought before the Governr he made some trifling Excuses as that he was Drunk and Designd no Harme, but could not Deny the fact The Widdow alledgd that She was Prevaild on by their Perswading her that, that Mahimony was the only way to Intitle her to claim him as her Husband in any part of India hereafter in case the Said Bedloe was Sent Off The Governr Ordered the Doctor to be Whipt by receiving twenty Lashes at the flaggstaff, for his Disordrly behaviour in open Violation of all Law as well as those of this Island, After that desired the Capt to send him on Board and not to permitt him to come on Shoar Dure ing the Stay of the Ship here The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 25th of July last, which was Examind and approovd of At Margin Notes: the Capt Message Middleton Excuses Widd alledges her many reasons Doctr Whipt Doctrs Medi cines examd | The Governor's letter continued, noting that the marriage had been performed without his consent, contrary both to general law and to the law of the island. The doctor had since escaped on board the ship. The Governor informed Captain Nelly that he did not doubt he would deliver the man up to justice on receipt of the letter. It was dated at St Helena on 30 July 1721 and signed by Governor Edward Johnson. In answer to the letter, the marshal reported that the captain had given his word to the Governor and would send the doctor ashore at once. When Middleton the doctor was brought before the Governor, he made some trifling excuses, saying that he had been drunk and intended no harm, but could not deny the fact. The widow alleged that she had been persuaded into it on the doctor's assurance that marriage was the only way to enable her to claim Bedloe as her husband anywhere in India hereafter, should he be sent off the island. The Governor ordered the doctor to be whipped, receiving 20 lashes at the flagstaff for his disorderly conduct in open breach of all law and the laws of the island. He then directed the captain to take him aboard and not to permit him ashore again during the ship's stay. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 25 July last, which the council examined and approved. Interpretations The Governor's demand that the ship's master deliver the doctor to justice, and the master's compliance, shows the council's reach over a transient offender extending only through the cooperation of the ship's commander. The doctor having fled aboard, the Governor could not seize him directly but relied on Captain Nelly to surrender him, the master's word securing the man's return to face punishment ashore. The widow's account of why she married exposed the practical purpose behind the union, the doctor having told her that only marriage would let her follow Bedloe to India and claim him should he be transported. This reveals the marriage as a calculated step to secure her position against Bedloe's possible removal, the ceremony sought less for itself than for the legal standing it would give her in a distant jurisdiction. The doctor's punishment followed by his return to the ship, with a bar on coming ashore again, shows the Governor disposing of an offender he could not hold. By whipping him for the breach and then handing him back to his commander with orders to keep him aboard, the bench both vindicated the island's law and removed a troublesome visitor whose continued presence could cause further disorder. | |
101 | At the Same time made Return of the Breif We Granted Richard Sages Sold the Amount of which is £21 18 6 Pursuant to the Order of Council of the 25th July last Capt Goodwin Reports, That he with Van Oosten made a reexamination of all Invoices and other Bks but could not Reconcile it any otherwise than that I[...] must have been Mistakes of many Years Standing for it doth not Appear that any of Some Sort of Goods has been Either Sold out or brought into the Stores many Years Yet Ballances remaine on the Books, Large Dua byes of Some Sorts have been Stolen out as Severall times he has Discoverd and Acquainted the Governr & found but could never Charge the Particular Quantityes but that the Store Room for Severall Years has Layn So Ex posed that he has Sayd and thought it was no Difficult matter to gett into the Stores, and out again Undiscovrd Nay he hath Severall times, and at Severall places belonging to the Stores Discovered Boards to have been Sliped where any Person might gett in, whither it was done wilfully or by Decay he could not Adjudge. But that Such Discoveries he hath taken the Carpenters to repair them Other Goods for want of Place Proper to lock them up have been thrown in heaps in the Garden and Store House Yards which may have been taken without his knowledge to charge them So that he cannot Say any more but from this time he promises there shall be a due Method Usd at Margin Notes: the Same Breif Sold Capt Goodwin Report abt ye Ballances not agreeing wth ye Inventory & Declareing ye badnefs of ye Storeroom and Losses yt might be by meanes happen but will lo lose in yt | At the same time Captain Nelly made return of his protest. The council granted Richard Sayer his bill, the amount of which was £21 18s 6d. Under the order of council of 25 July last, Captain Goodwin reported that he and Van Oosten had re-examined all the invoices and other books, but could not reconcile them otherwise than by supposing mistakes of many years' standing. It did not appear that any sort of goods had been either sold out of or brought into the stores for many years, yet large balances remained on the books. Large quantities of several sorts had been stolen at various times. He had discovered and reported this to the Governor, but could never charge the particular amounts. The store room had for several years lain so exposed that, as he had said before, he thought it no difficult matter to get into the stores and out again undiscovered. He had several times and in several places found boards belonging to the stores sliced through where a person might get in, though whether this was done deliberately or through decay he could not judge. On making such discoveries he had the carpenters repair them. Other goods, for want of proper places to lock them up, had been thrown in heaps in the garden and store house yards, where they might have been taken without his knowledge, so that he could not charge them. He could say no more for the present, but promised that a better method would be used. Interpretations The storekeeper's report attributed the irreconcilable book balances to long-accumulated error and theft rather than to any single failure, the records showing stock standing on the books that had neither been sold nor replaced for years. This located the discrepancy in the structural weakness of the storehouse and the accounts together, the audit ordered on 25 July 1721 confirming that the figures could not be brought into agreement without assuming mistakes of long standing. The account of the store room's exposure, the sliced boards and the goods heaped in unsecured yards, identified the physical insecurity of the storehouse as the means by which goods had been lost. By describing how easily the stores could be entered and how poorly the surplus was kept, the storekeeper shifted the blame from his own accounting to the want of a secure building, the same concern over an unprotected magazine and storehouse that had recurred through the period. The storekeeper's inability to charge the missing quantities to any account meant the losses could not be recovered or fixed on any person, the goods having vanished without record. His promise of a better method points toward the only remedy available, tighter custody and a secure store, since the past losses were beyond proof and could not be carried to anyone's debt. | |
102 | at all times to prevent the Like for the future. Since by their Building of those new Store Houses any thing will be Secured and under his Eye. Whereas before all places to lay up the Stores were at Such a Distance one from the other that it was Impossible to be Exact or to Secure them as they ought to be Mr Byfeld brought In his Book Containing the Monthly Acco for the Month of July last which was Examined approovd & by Us Signd Capt Goodwin Likewise brought in his Book Con taining his Monthly Accots for the month of July last which was also Examind, approovd & by Us Signd Mr Gabriel Powell & Mr Joshua Johnson planters, brought this day the Last Will & Tesiam of Jno Nichols Sen late planter Decd In Order to have the same Proovd, Which was Accordingly done by the Oaths of the Witnesses thereto Vizt Robt Gurling Stephen Lufkin & Walter Morris Orderd That the Said Will be recd & approovd of accord ingly & Enterd into a Book for that Purpose The Gunner brought In & deliverd an Accot of his Expences for the Month of July last, which was Examined approovd, and is as follows Gunr Falls Powd[...] 1721 Do July ye 5 Expended at a Genll review of the Garrison 7 Do July 11 An Alarme 4 4 4 Do Arrived a Dutch Ship from India 13 13 13 Do July 21 Departed ditto Ship for Holland 11 11 11 Do July 27 An Alarme 4 4 4 Do Arrived the Hartford from India 9 9 9 Carried Over 41 41 48 Margin Notes: new Store Houses Plant Acco for July Storeketrs Acco for do Nichols late his Will Proovd Gunrs Acco for ye Month of July | The storekeeper added that the new storehouses would secure everything under his eye and prevent the like in future. Before, the places for storing goods had lain so far apart from one another that it was impossible to keep an exact account or to secure them properly. Mr Byfield brought in his book of the monthly accounts for July, which the council examined and approved before signing it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his book of the monthly accounts for July, which the council also examined and approved before signing it. Mr Gabriel Powell and Mr Joshua Johnson, planters, brought in this day the last will and testament of John Nichols senior, late planter, deceased, so that it might be proved. The will was proved accordingly on the oaths of the witnesses Robert Gurling, Stephen Lufkin and Walter Morris. The council ordered that the will be reviewed and approved, and entered into a book kept for that purpose. The gunner brought in and delivered his account of his expenses for July, which the council examined and approved. The columns gave the guns, the falcons and the pounds of powder. 5 July: Expended at a general review of the garrison — 7 [...] 11 July: An alarm — 4 guns, 4 falcons, 4 [...] The same day, on the arrival of a Dutch ship from India — 13 guns, 13 falcons, 13 [...] 25 July: On the departure of the same ship for Holland — 11 guns, 11 falcons, 11 [...] The same day, an alarm — 4 guns, 4 falcons, 4 [...] 27 July: On the arrival of the Hartford from India — 9 guns, 9 falcons, 9 [...] Carried over — 41 guns, 41 falcons, 48 [...] Interpretations The storekeeper's case for the new storehouses rested on consolidating the scattered stores under a single watch, the dispersal of goods across distant places having made both accurate accounting and security impossible. This connected the building project directly to the losses and book discrepancies just reported, the new houses offered as the structural remedy for a problem the audit had shown could not be solved by the records alone. The proving of John Nichols senior's will on three witnesses' oaths and its entry into the register continued the council's standing probate procedure, the same form applied to the Sinsnick will at the consultation of 11 July 1721. The permanent record secured the title passing under the will, allowing the descent of the deceased planter's property to be established later. The salutes recorded in the gunner's account mark the same Dutch ship and the Hartford whose arrivals fill the month's business, the powder charged on their coming and going being ceremonial honours to shipping distinct from the alarms fired when the guards turned out to their posts. | |
103 | Brought Over 41 41 1721 July Expended for the Guards 2 Muskett Balls 36 Flints 2 Cartridge Paper 3 Copper Ladles 2 Trucks 4 Axeltrees 2 Bedds 1 Spunge & Ramer Heads 2 Spunge Staves 1 Match 35 Totall 35 1 2 1 2 4 2 3 36 41 41 48 Signd pr Jno French Thus far hath been Copyd out and Sent home pr Ship Hartford Capt Nelly Comandr Augst ye 10th 1721 ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | The gunner's account for July continued, the figures brought over standing at 41 guns, 41 falcons and 48 pounds of powder. The columns gave the guns, the falcons and the pounds of powder. Expended for the guards — 6 [...] Musket balls — 36 Flints — 2 Cartridge paper — 3 Copper ladles — 2 Trucks — 4 Axle trees — 2 Beds — 1 Sponge and rammer heads — 2 Sponge staves — 1 Match — 35 The columns totalled 35 match, 1 sponge stave, 2 sponge and rammer heads, 1 bed, 2 axle trees, 4 trucks, 2 copper ladles, 3 cartridge paper, 36 musket balls, 6 [...], 41 guns, 41 falcons, 48 pounds of powder. The account was signed by John French. This far the consultation book had been copied out and sent home by the ship Hartford, Captain Nelly commander, on 4 August 1721. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The note that the book had been copied out and sent home by the Hartford records the routine despatch of the consultation record to the directors, a duplicate of the council's proceedings carried to London by the next homeward ship. This kept the home authority informed of the island's business and provided the directors with the continuous account on which their oversight of the administration depended. | |
104 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 15th day of Aug 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read & approovd of On Thursday the 10th Instant Departed hence for England the Ship Hartford Capt Francis Nelly Camander The Governr Reported that Mr Shrebes Peter James Rydars Tom, Mr Lacys Boy Jack, & Capt Goodwins Harry haveing been Run away and brought to him, He Ordered the owners to pay the Persons that took them fforty Shillings for Each Black Pursuant to the Law lately made And Likewise that on the 6th Instt Peter ye Negro man slave of the Widds Shrews a Notorious Runaway Villainous fellow who has this last time been Runaway about Eight months was brought to him, who he Ordered to be put into the Dungeon and Chained to the Ring Bolts But on Sunday night last made his Escape by working the Ring Bolt out of the Wall and makeing a Hole bigg Enough for him to Creep out at Orderd That an Advertizemt be this day Issued out with the promise of five pounds reward to Encourage the Margin Notes: Hartfords Departure Runaway Blacks taken an Acct of Mrs Shrews Petr Confinemt & Escape Reward for | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 15 August 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. On Thursday 10 August the ship Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander, sailed from here for England. The Governor reported that Mr Shreeve's slave Peter, James Rhydas's slave Tom, Mr Lacy's slave boy Jack and Captain Goodwin's slave Harry had run away and been brought to him. He ordered the owners to pay the persons who took them up 40 shillings for each slave, under the law lately made. The Governor further reported that on 6 August the widow Shreeve's slave Peter, a notorious runaway and a thoroughly bad fellow who this last time had been gone about eight months, was brought to him. He ordered the man put into the dungeon and chained to the ring bolts. On Sunday night, however, Peter made his escape by levering the ring bolt out of the wall and making a hole big enough to creep out at. The council ordered that an advertisement be issued this day, offering a reward of 5 pounds to encourage [...] Interpretations The first payments of the runaway reward under the law lately made show the policy of 13 June 1721 in full operation, four owners charged 40 shillings each for the recovery of their slaves. This confirms the council's mechanism of placing the cost of recapture on the negligent master, the bounty drawing forward the persons who took up the runaways and the charge falling on the slaveholder as intended. The escape of the widow Shreeve's slave Peter from the dungeon exposed the same insecurity of the island's buildings that the storekeeper had reported of the storehouse, the prison no more able to hold a determined man than the stores to keep their goods. The council's response, a 5-pound reward far above the ordinary 40 shillings, marks the man as a persistent and serious offender whose long absences and bold escape warranted a special effort to retake him. | |
105 | the retakeing him Dead or alive, and to be paid out of the Account of fines The Doctor brought In this day his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 8 Instant which was Examined and approovd of Edmund Nichols planter, presented a Petition Setting forth therein That being in very great Need of a Conveni ent peice of ground to make a Milk pound on and to Separate his Cows from their Calves Humbly Prayd to become Tennant to the Honnble Compa for about One Acre & a half of their Waste Land Adjoyning to one Corner of his Decd fathers free Land at the head of Old Womans Valley And &c Capt Alexander & Capt Goodwin were Desired to goe on Monday next (if the weather permitt & no Ship in the Road) to view the Land now Petitiond for, and to make their Report the next Consultation day ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: for retakeing him Drs Book Examd Edd Nichols Petr for a smale peice of ground Land to be viewd | The advertisement offered the reward of 5 pounds for retaking the runaway Peter, dead or alive, the sum to be paid out of the account of fines. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 8 August, which the council examined and approved. Edmund Nichols, planter, presented his petition. He set out that he was in very great need of a convenient piece of ground to make a milk pound on, and to separate his cows from their calves. He asked to become tenant to the Company for about 1½ acres of their waste land adjoining one corner of his late father's free land at the head of Old Woman's Valley. Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin were directed to go on Monday next, if the weather permitted and no ship was in the road, to view the land now petitioned for, and to make their report at the next consultation. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The funding of Peter's recapture reward from the account of fines shows the council drawing on the pool of penalty money to meet a public charge, rather than the Company's general stores. By setting the 5-pound bounty against the fines collected for various offences, the council met the cost of policing a dangerous runaway from a fund built up by the island's own penalties, keeping the burden off the Company's accounts. Edmund Nichols's request for waste land adjoining his late father's holding at Old Woman's Valley followed the council's standing practice of referring such petitions for a survey before any grant. By sending Alexander and Goodwin to view the ground, the council applied its usual caution in letting waste land, ensuring the parcel and its bounds were inspected before a lease was drawn, a parcel near his father's land having been the subject of earlier Nichols petitions in the same valley. | |
106 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 22 day of Aug 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of Capt Alexander & Capt Goodwin Report that they have been and viewed the Peice of Land Petitiond for by Edmund Nichols on the last Consultation day, And Says that Mr Powell & Mr Johnson Executors to the Last Will & Testa ment of Jno Nichols Sen lately Deceased made an Objection on the behalf of the Orphans, against the Letting that Land and Say it will be very Prejudiciall to their free Land. And We are of the same Opinion But if the Said Edmd Nichols had a small Peice of Land at the Upper end of what he Rents of the Honnble Compa next to Swanley Valley head it would be as Convenient for him and no Prejudice to any body, with which the Said Edmd Nichols would be Contented Granted Accordingly The Governr Reported That Peter Mrs Shrews Black Man slave Mentioned in the last Consultation was retaken and brought to him on Sunday last the 20th Instt by four of the Honnble Companys hands And Margin Notes: Report abt ye Land Peticond by Edd Nichols Granted in lieu Shrews Petr retaken | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 22 August 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin reported that they had viewed the piece of land petitioned for by Edmund Nichols at the previous consultation. They stated that Mr Powell and Mr Johnson, executors of the last will and testament of John Nichols senior, lately deceased, had objected on behalf of the orphans to the letting of that land, saying it would be very prejudicial to their free land. The two viewers were of the same opinion. They added that if Edmund Nichols had instead a small piece of land at the upper end of the parcel he rented from the Company, next to Swanley Valley head, it would be just as convenient for him and prejudicial to no one. Edmund Nichols was content with this. The council granted it accordingly. The Governor reported that the widow Shreeve's slave Peter, mentioned at the previous consultation, had been retaken and brought to him on Sunday 20 August by four of the Company's slaves. Interpretations The viewers' substitution of a different parcel for the one Nichols sought shows the council resolving a conflict between two claims to the same ground by finding alternative land that satisfied the applicant without harming the orphans. The executors' objection that the original parcel would prejudice the orphans' free land carried weight under the council's protective duty toward fatherless children, so the bench redirected Nichols to ground near Swanley Valley head where his need could be met without that harm. The recapture of Peter by four of the Company's own slaves records the use of the Company's labour force to retake a dangerous runaway, the 5-pound reward offered dead or alive at the consultation of 15 August 1721 drawing the effort. That the recapture fell to the Company's slaves rather than to private inhabitants meant the bounty, charged to the account of fines, would be paid for a result achieved by the Company's own hands. | |
107 | And that this day Mr Byfelds Juniper & Dan one of the Compas fellows brought Mingo to him a Black of James Ryders who had Absented himself about four teen days, for which the Said Ryder was Ordered to them fforty Shillings Whereas Thomas Easton of this Island Orphan & Infant was bound Apprentice to Richard Swallow Car penter Deceased, till he came to the Age of 21 Years But the Said Swallow being Dead and his Estate not Sufficient to bring him up and to Maintaine him as an Apprentice It is now agreed by & with the Consent of the Said Easton That he Save the Remainder of his time to Orlando Bagley Sen He the Said Orlando Bagley to find him with all Necessaries dureing the Said time fitting for Such an Apprentice as well in Sickness as Health, which the Said Orlando Bagley Sen did Volun tary Consent and agree to For the Preservation of the Game of this Island Orderd That an Advertizemt be this day Issued forbiding all Persons Destroying the Same or to a a Gun without a Lycence from the Govr in Writeing upon the Penalty of being fined the Sume of five Shillings for the first offence besides Corporall Pu nishment To prevent the Severall Inconveniencyes that Attend the frequent draweing of Bills on the Stockee by Some Persons that are and may be Creditted in the Stores Margin Notes: Rydiers Mingo taken Agreemt wth Orl Bagley to take Tho Easton his Apprentice Game to be Preserved Bills on the Stockeep to be Refused | The Governor further reported that this day Mr Byfield's slaves Jumper and Dan, two of the Company's slaves, had brought him Mingo, a slave of James Rhyder who had been absent about fourteen days. He ordered Rhyder to pay them 40 shillings. Thomas Easton, an orphan and infant of the island, had been bound apprentice to Richard Swallow, carpenter, deceased, until he reached the age of 21. Since Swallow was now dead and his estate insufficient to bring Easton up and maintain him as an apprentice, it was agreed by and with the consent of Easton that the remainder of his term be transferred to Orlando Bagley senior. Orlando Bagley was to find him all necessaries during the term, suitable for such an apprentice in sickness as well as health, which he freely consented and agreed to. For the preservation of the island's game, the council ordered that an advertisement be issued this day forbidding all persons to destroy the game or to fire a gun without a licence from the Governor in writing, on penalty of a fine of 5 shillings for the first offence besides corporal punishment. To prevent the several inconveniences arising from the frequent drawing of bills on the stores by persons who were or might be credited in the stores [...] Interpretations The transfer of Thomas Easton's apprenticeship preserved the boy's training and maintenance after the death of his master left the original indenture unsupported. The council, acting in its protective role over the island's orphans, moved the remaining term to a new master able to keep him, the consent of the apprentice recorded to give the substituted arrangement its binding force in place of the broken contract with Swallow's insolvent estate. The recurring 40-shilling payments for returned runaways show the runaway reward of 13 June 1721 settling into routine practice, owner after owner charged the fixed sum for the recovery of an absent slave. The repeated use of the Company's slaves as the captors places the bounty in a steady cycle, the charge falling on private owners for work done by the Company's hands. The game advertisement combined conservation of the island's wild stock with control over the firing of guns, requiring the Governor's written licence to shoot. By tying the right to hunt to a personal warrant and backing it with both fine and corporal punishment, the council both protected a limited resource and kept a check on the discharge of firearms, the same concern over uncontrolled shooting that had drawn earlier penalties. | |
108 | Stores to Supply others that Stands Indebted to the Honnble Compa in Large Sumes of money whereby the Honnble Compa are defrauded and Disappointed of their Debts for the money which Should be to Discharge the Said Honnble Compa is Converted to repay those Creditts Wherefore the Governr Proposes That the Store keeper Should Accept of or Answer no Bills drawn on him without they be first Allowed by the Governr by which means the Honnble Compa may be the Soonex Paid. And That the day Book after every Serveing out of Goods be brought to the Governr on the Monday following Such Serveing dayes Which We Agreed to Orderd That the Gentlemen of the Council be be Desired to goe and take a Survey of the Honnble Compas Plantations, and an Acco of all their Live Stock between this and next Consultation day, and then to make their Report ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Reasons for an Acct of ye Compas Live Stock to be takn | The council noted that some persons used their store credit to supply others who already owed the Company large sums, so that the Company was cheated and kept out of its debts, the money that should have repaid the Company being diverted to settle those credits. The Governor therefore proposed that the storekeeper accept or answer no bills drawn on him without the Governor's prior allowance. By this means the Company might be paid the sooner. He further proposed that the day book be brought to the Governor on the Monday following each serving out of goods. The council agreed to this. The council ordered that the councillors be directed to go and take a survey of the Company's plantations, and an account of all the live stock, between this consultation and the next, and then to make their report. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The requirement that no bill be drawn on the stores without the Governor's prior allowance closed a route by which indebted planters had used store credit to pay each other, diverting money owed to the Company. By making every bill pass through the Governor before the storekeeper honoured it, the council applied the credit discipline it had been tightening, ensuring that store credit served the Company's recovery of its debts rather than the private dealings of its debtors. The order to bring the day book to the Governor after each serving out of goods extended his oversight to the daily running of the stores, the record of every issue laid before him. This gave the Governor a continuous check on what left the storehouse, reinforcing the control over credit and the security of the stores that the recent audit and the storekeeper's report of losses had shown to be wanting. The fresh survey of the plantations and live stock continued the council's standing practice of periodic stocktaking of the Company's estate, the councillors sent out together to count the herds and inspect the ground. This regular reckoning, the same exercise ordered on Byfield's taking the overseership, kept the bench informed of the state of the plantations against which the overseer's monthly accounts were measured. | |
109 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 29th day of Aug 1721 At Plan Plant Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read and approovd of According to the Order of last Consultation the Gentlemen of the Council Report they have been Surveyd the Honnble Compas Plantations & taken an Acco of all their live Stock, which was Examind approovd & Signd by Us in Mr Byfelds Book Containing the Companys Stock & monthly Accounts Mr Byfeld Acquainted Us that the Honnble Compas time they had in the Land & Plantation calld Pearce was Expired last July, and desird to know what was to be done with the Suckers of the Yams to be Dugg of that Plantation Ordered That next monday be Appointed for Us to goe and view what places are most Convenient & Properest to make a new Plantation to put those Suckers in And that We desire Capt Cason to give Us his Assistance herein The Margin Notes: Report of ye Survey of ye Compas Plant & Accot of their Live Stock ye time in Pearce his Plant Expired a new plant to be made Capt Cason to assist | A consultation was held at the Plantation House on Tuesday 29 August 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Under the order of the previous consultation, the councillors reported that they had surveyed the Company's plantations and taken an account of all the live stock. The council examined and approved the account, which was signed in Mr Byfield's book containing the Company's stock and monthly accounts. Mr Byfield reported that the Company's term in the land and plantation called Perkins's had expired in July, and wished to know what should be done with the suckers of the yams to be dug from that plantation. The council ordered that the following Monday be appointed for the councillors to go and view what places were most convenient and suitable for making a new plantation to plant those suckers in. The council further directed that Captain Cason be asked to give his assistance in the matter. Interpretations The expiry of the Company's term in Perkins's plantation forced a decision over the yam suckers growing there, the council needing to move the planting stock to ground the Company still held. By resolving to view sites for a new plantation, the bench sought to preserve the value of the suckers rather than lose them with the land, the yams being the island's staple provision and the basis of its food supply for the slaves and the garrison. The request for Captain Cason's assistance drew on his long experience as the former overseer of the consolidated plantation estate, his knowledge of the ground and of yam cultivation making him valuable to the survey. Although he had wound up his affairs and sought to leave the island, his familiarity with the plantations fitted him to advise on where the suckers could best be replanted, the council turning to his expertise for a practical judgement on the land. | |
110 | The Governr Reports that Mrs Shrews Black man slave named Peter, made his Escape on Satteday night last out of the Dungeon Notwithstanding he was Chaind to a ring Bolt fast in the Wall with a half Hundr wought to his Sheckles, his hands fastnd betwixt his leggs with hand Cuffs. On Sunday evening was Retaken again, by John Bagley jun in Powles Valley and brought down to the Castle and is again Confind & loaded with Irons vizt with an Iron Coller about his Neck with a Chain from it to his hand Cuffs, from thence the Chain was fastned to a ring Bolt in the Wall and his Sheckles Rivetted with an Iron band & Swivell fasned to an Andvill of about two Hundred Weight ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 5th day of Septr 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of Mr Byfeld brought in his Book Containing the Monthly Accots for the month of August last, which was Examined approovd and by Us Signd Capt Margin Notes: the Govrs Report abt Mr Shrews Blacks his Escape out of ye Dungeon Retaken by Jno Bagley & more Iron load Irons laid on him Plant Acco for Augt | The Governor reported that Mr Shreeve's slave Peter had made his escape on Saturday night from the dungeon, even though he was chained to a ring bolt fast in the wall with a half-hundredweight wrought to his shackles and his hands fastened across his legs with handcuffs. On Sunday evening he was retaken by John Bagley senior in Powell's Valley and brought down to the castle. He was again confined and loaded with irons, an iron collar about his neck with a chain from it to his handcuffs, the chain then fastened to a ring bolt in the wall, and his shackles riveted with an iron band and swivel fastened to an anvil of about two hundredweight. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 5 September 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Mr Byfield brought in his book of the monthly accounts for August, which the council examined and approved before signing it. Interpretations The extreme measures taken to secure Peter after his recapture, the iron collar, the riveted band and swivel, and the two-hundredweight anvil, reflect the council's response to a runaway who had already broken out of the dungeon despite being chained. His repeated escapes, set against the insecurity of the prison the storekeeper had complained could not hold its contents, drove the bench to physical restraint heavy enough to make further flight impossible, the man treated as the most determined of the island's runaways. His recapture by a private inhabitant, John Bagley senior, rather than the Company's slaves who had taken him before, would have entitled the captor to the 5-pound reward offered dead or alive at the consultation of 15 August 1721, the sum payable from the account of fines for retaking this persistent offender. | |
111 | Capt Goodwin Likewise brought In his Book Con taining the Monthly Accots of Store Goods, for the Month of August last, which was Examind, approovd, and by Us Signd The Governr Acquainted Us that he hearing that the Wiedow Bazett had all the Writings belonging to Mr Perkins Relating to his Plantation Mentioned in the fore ing Consultation, and a Lettre of Attorney from the Said Perkins to her Deceased Husband, He had sent for her to the Writings which she has shewn him, Whereby it did appear that Perkins had a Lease for twenty one years for thirty Acres of Land, and that about Eleven Years & a half thereof were yet to come, for which he has Offerd to Allow her as much as it shall be Vallued at by two Indifferent Persons In Consideration & towards makeing her Satisfaction for the Debt due from the Said Perkins; As to the 30 Acres of free Land another part of the Said Plantation, Her Tile is not Clear, the Heir being of Age, dureing whose Minority Perkins was in Possession as Gaurdian, and he not being on the Island It will be time Enot to Consider of that when any Demand is made, for which reason the view Appointed in the foregoing Consultation was Omitted The Overseers of the High ways for the present Year were Sumond to Attend this day and had each his Warrt Deliverd to him containing a List of all Persons to work at the same the Said year Joseph Bates Margin Notes: Relating to ye Petr Perkins Wr[...] for ye yt Bazett seeing all ye Writeings his Plantac[...] belonging to ye Hon Compa Lessd was found in ye Yeare 1721 by Some body yt came into his House to Drink, as is Commonly Done in his as well as other ffrench Houses & Regarding [...] thereto is adjorning to him for his future Ordced that Prosecution be Stopt & that Capt Goodwin do Search into his Books for the price & that Joseph Bates be fined three times ye Vallue of the Said Dish Joseph Bates presented his Petition Humbly praying Prosecution might be Stopt & not Determind in Sessions agst him for the Oval Dish belonging to the Honnble Compa which was found in his House it being left there by Some body yt came into his House to drink as is Commonly Done in his as well as other ffrench Houses & Submitts himself to His & Promises it shall be a warning to him for the future Ordced that Prosecution be Stopt & that Capt Goodwin do Search into his Books for the price & that Joseph Bates be fined three times ye Vallue of the Said Dish | Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his book of the monthly accounts of store goods for August, which the council examined and approved before signing it. The Governor reported that, hearing the widow Bazett held all the writings belonging to Mr Perkins concerning his plantation mentioned at the previous consultation, and a letter of attorney from Perkins to her late husband, he had sent for her to bring the writings, which she had shown him. They showed that Perkins held a lease for 21 years on 30 acres of land, of which about 11½ years were still to run. The widow had offered to give up the lease for whatever two indifferent persons valued it at, in consideration of and toward making her satisfaction for the debt due from Perkins. As to the 30 acres of free land, another part of the plantation, her title was not clear, the heir being of age during whose minority Perkins had held possession as guardian. Since the heir was not on the island, there would be time enough to consider that when any demand was made, and for that reason the view appointed at the previous consultation had been omitted. The overseers of the highways for the present year were summoned to attend this day, and each delivered his warrant containing a list of all the persons who were to work the same year. Joseph Bates presented his petition asking that the prosecution against him for the oval dish belonging to the Company, found in his house, be stopped and not determined in sessions. He set out that the dish had been left there by somebody who came into his house to drink, as was commonly done in his house and other public houses. He submitted himself to the council and promised it would be a warning to him for the future. The council ordered that the prosecution be stopped, that Captain Goodwin search his books for the price of the dish, and that Joseph Bates be fined three times the value of the dish. Interpretations The widow Bazett's offer to surrender the Perkins lease for an independent valuation, set against the debt she owed in her late husband's right, provided a means of settling the obligation by transferring an asset rather than paying cash. By referring the lease's worth to two indifferent valuers, the council and the widow fixed a fair price for the unexpired term, applying the standing method of neutral appraisal to convert the leasehold into satisfaction of the debt. The unclear title to the 30 acres of free land turned on the difference between Perkins's possession as guardian and the ownership of the heir whose minority he had managed. The council deferred the question because the heir was off the island and no demand had been made, treating the matter as one to be resolved when the absent owner or his representative came forward, rather than acting on a title that was not the Company's to dispose of. The compromise of the prosecution against Joseph Bates substituted a fixed monetary penalty for a public trial, the fine set at three times the dish's value sparing him the sessions while still marking the offence. By having the storekeeper find the dish's price in the books and charging treble, the council fixed a proportionate penalty grounded in the recorded value of the Company's lost property, treating the recovery of public goods from a publican's house as a matter for composition rather than criminal judgement. | |
112 | Mrs Margarett Tovey According to the Tenor of Her Letter of Administration brought this day an Inventory of her Deceased Husband Antipas Tovey his Estate Orderd that the same be recd and Registerd in a Book for that Purpose Accordingly John French Gunr brought In & Deliverd his Accot of Gunrs Stores Expended in the Month of Augt last which was Examind, approovd, & is as follows Guns fired D Cau Windr D Falls Steaks faults minit Powdr 1721 Aug ye 5 Being King Georges Proclaimnation day 142 9 6 24 26 75 2 546 Do for the Small Armes 7 Do 2 Deliverd to John ffrench Jun Do ye 10 Departed for England the Hartford Capt Nelly 9 9 9 Deliverd to the Guards 151 9 6 24 26 84 2 562 Musquett Balls 10 Cartridge Paper 3 Spunge Heads 6 Rammer Heads 8 Musqt Rodds 6 Flints 50 Match 14 14 50 6 8 6 3 10 Signd pr Jno French Adjournd to the Sessions House ExptJohnson Edward Byfld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Inventory of Antpas Toveys Estate recd & approovd Gunrs Acco for ye Month of Augt | Mrs Margaret Tovey, under the terms of her letter of administration, brought in this day an inventory of the estate of her late husband Antipas Tovey. The council ordered that it be received and registered in a book kept for that purpose accordingly. John French, gunner, brought in and delivered his account of the gunner's stores expended in August, which the council examined and approved. The columns gave the guns fired, the demi-cannon, the half-culverin, the demi-culverin, the sakers, the falcons, the minions and the pounds of powder. 1 August, being King George's proclamation day — 142 guns, 9 demi-cannon, 6 half-culverin, 24 demi-culverin, 26 sakers, 75 falcons, 2 minions, 546 [...] The same day, for the small arms — 7 [...] 2 August: Delivered to John French junior — [...] 10 August: On the departure of the Hartford, Captain Nelly, for England — 9 guns, 9 falcons, 9 [...] Delivered to the guards — [...] The running total carried forward stood at 151 guns, 9 demi-cannon, 6 half-culverin, 24 demi-culverin, 26 sakers, 84 falcons, 2 minions, [...] Musket balls — 10 Cartridge paper — 3 Sponge heads — 6 Rammer heads — 8 Musket rods — 6 Flints — 50 Match — 14 The columns totalled 14 match, 50 flints, 6 musket rods, 8 rammer heads, 6 sponge heads, 3 cartridge paper, 10 musket balls. The account was signed by John French. The council adjourned to the Sessions House. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The very heavy expenditure of 142 guns on King George's proclamation day records the annual ceremonial salute marking the accession, by far the largest powder charge of the month and a deliberate display of the crown's authority over the island. The firing of the great guns by class, from demi-cannon down to minions, together with the small arms, made the proclamation the year's principal occasion of state, distinct from the routine alarms and the salutes to shipping. The registration of Antipas Tovey's inventory completed the administration granted to his widow, the sworn list of the disgraced former secretary's estate entered in the probate register against the creditors pressing upon it. This fixed the assets available to meet his debts and gave the council a record of what the estate contained, the same procedure followed for the Coles estate. The adjournment to the Sessions House marks the council moving from its administrative business to its judicial capacity, the bench shifting to the venue used for trials and the general sessions. This separation of the meeting place reflects the distinct functions the same body exercised, the Sessions House being where criminal and civil causes were heard before a jury. | |
113 | Island St Helena At a Sessions held for this Island on Tuesday the 5th day of Septemb 1721 At the Sessions House in James Valley near Union Castle Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr & Judge Pres Edwd Byfeld 2d Jno Alexander 3 & Jno Goodwin 4 Justices of Quorum Then the Court was Opend According to the Usuall manner, and those Persons Appointed for Jurors are as follows Vizt Orlando Bagley foreman 1 Gabriel Powell 2 Francis Wrangham 3 Joshua Johnson 4 John ffrench 5 Jonathan Doveton 6 Richard Gurling 7 Thomas Dutch 8 Isaac Wood 9 James Vesey 10 John Young 11 Richard Beale 12 Who were all Sworne Then the following Indictment was read against William Rooksby Soldier Margin Notes: Sessions The Jury | A sessions was held for the island at the Sessions House in James Valley, near Union Castle, on Tuesday 5 September 1721. Governor Edward Johnson sat as judge, with Edward Byfield as second, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth. The court was opened in the usual manner, and the persons appointed as jurors were as follows. Orlando Bagley, foreman — 1 Gabriel Powell — 2 Francis Wrangham — 3 Joshua Johnson — 4 John French — 5 Jonathan Doveton — 6 Richard Gurling — 7 Thomas Dutch — 8 Isaac Wood — 9 James Vesey — 10 John Young — 11 Richard Beale — 12 The jurors were all sworn. The following indictment was then read against William Rooksby, soldier. Interpretations The sessions records the council sitting in its judicial capacity, the same four members who governed the island acting as the bench of a criminal court with a sworn jury of twelve inhabitants. This shows the concentration of legislative, administrative and judicial authority in the one body of the Governor and Council, the leading planters who served as jurors being drawn from the same small community over which the bench presided. The jury panel was composed of the island's principal men, several of them large landholders and former or sitting officers, the foreman Orlando Bagley and members such as Powell, Gurling and Doveton being among the established families. This reliance on the substantial inhabitants to try criminal causes reflects the narrow pool from which a competent jury could be drawn on a small remote island, the same men recurring across the council's juries and surveys. | |
114 | Island St Helena ss William Rooksby You Stand Indicted by the name of William Rooksby of this Island Soldier for Fellony, For that You the Said William, on or about the first day of May last past in the evening You being at the Dwelling House of Richard Gurling of this Island planter Scituate in Union Valley, Did thence felloniously Steal take, and bear away One Silk Druggett Coat the Goods of John Whaly Sold, not only Intending thereby to wrong & defraud the Said Whaly, But have Sett an Evill Example to all other well Disposed persons by Endeavouring to make your Escape from of this Island Contrary to the Contract you Voluntarely Enterd into with the Honnble Compa when you Listed your Self to Serve them for the Terme of five Years, Contrary to the Peace of Our Soveraign Lord King George his Crowne & Dignity, and is in high Con tempt of the Wholsom Laws & Ordinances of this Island made by the Honnble Lords Proprietors for the good Goven ment thereof To which Indictment He pleaded not Guilty Then John Whaly was called and Sworne who Deposes that Mingo a Black man of Samuel Jeseys comeing off the Line He mett him as He was going downwards, and Seeing him have a Bundle under his Arme He Examind the Bundle, and found a Silk Druggett Coat in it of his (and which is the same now Produced) and asking the Petr Mingo how he came by it told him he Saw Rooksby Hide the Bundle Margin Notes: Rooksby Indictmt Whalys Deposition | The indictment charged William Rooksby, soldier of the island, with felony. It set out that on or about 1 May last, in the evening, while at the dwelling house of Richard Gurling, planter, in Union Valley, he had feloniously stolen and carried away one silk drugget coat, the goods of John Whaly. He had done so not only intending to wrong and defraud Whaly, but also setting a bad example to all other well-disposed persons by trying to make his escape from the island. This was contrary to the contract he had voluntarily entered into with the Company when he engaged himself to serve them for five years, contrary to the peace of the sovereign Lord King George, and in high contempt of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island. To this indictment Rooksby pleaded not guilty. John Whaly was then called and sworn. He deposed that Mingo, a slave of Samuel Jessey, coming off the line, had met him as he was going downwards. Seeing Mingo carry a bundle under his arm, Whaly examined it and found in it a silk drugget coat of his, the same now produced. On asking Mingo how he came by it, Mingo told him he had seen Rooksby hide the bundle [...] Interpretations The indictment treated the attempted escape from the island as an aggravating element of the felony, joining the theft of the coat to the breach of Rooksby's five-year covenant with the Company. By framing the offence as both a wrong to the owner and a desertion of contracted service, the bench underlined the dual character of the crime, the soldier bound to the island by his engagement and the theft serving as the means of financing his flight. The grounding of the charge in the laws made by the Lords Proprietors, alongside the king's peace, asserted the island's distinct legal order under the Company's authority. The indictment placed the offence against both the crown and the proprietary ordinances, marking the Company's power to make and enforce its own law for the government of the island as the basis on which the soldier was tried. The chain of evidence ran through the slave Mingo's possession of the bundle and his account of seeing Rooksby hide it, the slave's testimony forming a link in the prosecution. This admission of a slave's evidence in tracing the stolen coat shows the practical reliance of the court on whatever witnesses could establish the theft, the bundle's discovery and Mingo's statement together pointing to the accused. | |
115 | Bundle on the Line under one of the Guns The Said Mingo Says that he comeing from the Lower ffentery mett Rooksby on the Line with a bundle, who bid him Run to the two Sailors that were before him and tell them if they did not come and fetch the bundle he would Carry it no further Mingo went a little way after them & lookd Back Saw Rooksby put the bundle under a Gun and went back again whereupon he did not Proceed to the two Men but went to the Gun and there he took up the bundle, & on the Parade he mett John Whaley who Stoped him, and askt him what he had in that bundle he answerd he took it up from under one of the Guns on the Line, and that he did See Rooksby put it there and John Whaley owning the Coat Sayd he might take them Upon this Rooksby owned he Endeavoured to make his Escape off the Island, and Pretended that a Sailor at the Ld of[...] (who had been with him a day or two at his Lodgings) coud up Staires and Unhung his Cloaths and bundled them up and John Whalys Coat being in the same room, he bundled it up with his The Jury withdrew and brought in their Verdict That the Said William Rooksby was not Guilty of the first part of his Indictmt But they found him Guilty of the Latter part in Endeavouring to make his Escape off the Island The Judge then pronounced the following Sentence That Margin Notes: Mingos Exam Rooksbys full Defence Jury Verdict | Mingo had hidden the bundle on the line under one of the guns. On his examination, Mingo said that as he came from the lower fence he met Rooksby on the line with a bundle. Rooksby asked him to run to the two sailors ahead and tell them that if they did not come and fetch the bundle, he would carry it no further. Mingo went a little way after them and, looking back, saw Rooksby put the bundle under a gun. He turned back, and so did not go on to the two men, but went to the gun and there took up the bundle. On the parade he met John Whaly, who stopped him and asked what he had in the bundle. He answered that he had taken it up from under one of the guns on the line, and that he had seen Rooksby put it there. John Whaly, recognising the coat as his own, said Mingo might keep it. On this, Rooksby admitted that he had tried to make his escape off the island. He alleged that a sailor named Ezell, who had been with him a day or two at his lodgings, had come upstairs and taken down his clothes and bundled them up, and that John Whaly's coat, being in the same room, had been bundled up with his. The jury withdrew and brought in their verdict. They found William Rooksby not guilty of the first part of the indictment, but guilty of the latter part in trying to make his escape off the island. The judge then pronounced the following sentence. Interpretations The jury's split verdict separated the theft of the coat from the attempt to escape, acquitting Rooksby of the felony while convicting him of the desertion of his contracted service. Rooksby's explanation that the coat had been bundled in with his own clothes by the sailor Ezell evidently raised enough doubt on the theft, the jury declining to find him guilty of stealing while still holding him liable for the flight he had admitted. The conviction resting on the breach of the five-year covenant rather than the theft shows the court treating the abandonment of contracted service as a punishable offence in its own right. This reflects the Company's reliance on bound labour and soldiers engaged for fixed terms, the law made by the Lords Proprietors making desertion of that engagement a crime against the island's government, not merely a private default. | |
116 | That Whereas you did Runaway and Stay upon this Island, from the Ship Craggs when you was Ordred for Bencoolen and now Endeavouring to make your Escape from hence, You are to be whipt from the Store House Steps to the Prison Door, and to be Confined untill the next out ward bound Ship her Departure in Order to Carry you off for Bencoolen, for which place you first Listed your self in England Then the three following Indictments were read against Peter a Negroe Slave belonging to Mary Shrewe of this Island Widdow Island St Helena ss Peter You Stand Indicted by the name of Peter a Negroe Slave now belonging to Mary Shrewe of this Island Widde for the Crimes of Burglary and Fellony, for that You the Said Peter Did on or about the 20th day of Janry 1719 being at that time Runaway and absconded from your then Master Nicholas Shrewe (Since Decd) his Service, In the night time by force and Arms break thro and Enter the Dwelling House of Mr Gabriel Powell of this Island Planter, Scituate in Union Valley, and did thence in a fellonious maner Steal, take and bear away, Eleven new Shirts, Eighteen Neckcloths ten new Handkerchiefs, two Pallampores, half a Pound of Shoe thread, & half a Pound of Coarce Brown thread, two Pentnives, One fan, two pound of Tobacco, Eighteen Pipes one Margin Notes: Sentence Peters Indictmt 1st | The sentence on Rooksby recited that he had run away and stayed on the island after being ordered to Bencoolen on the ship Craggs, and was now trying to escape from here. He was sentenced to be whipped from the storehouse steps to the prison door, and to be confined until the departure of the next ship sailing from here, to carry him off to Bencoolen, the place for which he had first engaged himself in England. The three following indictments were then read against Peter, a slave belonging to Mary Shreeve, widow, of the island. The first indictment charged Peter, a slave now belonging to Mary Shreeve, widow, with burglary and felony. It set out that on or about 20 January 1719, being at that time a runaway absconded from the service of his then master Nicholas Shreeve, since deceased, he had in the night by force and arms broken through and entered the dwelling house of Gabriel Powell, planter, in Union Valley. There he had feloniously stolen and carried away the following goods. Eleven new shirts, eighteen neckcloths, ten new handkerchiefs, two palampores, half a pound of shoe thread, half a pound of coarse brown thread, two penknives, one fan, two pounds of tobacco, eighteen pipes, one [...] Interpretations The sentence on Rooksby fulfilled the original purpose of his service by returning him to Bencoolen, the destination he had engaged for in England and evaded by remaining on the island. By combining a public whipping with confinement until the next ship and forced removal to the settlement he had deserted, the court both punished the breach and enforced the contract, sending the soldier to the post his covenant required while marking his flight with corporal punishment. The palampores named among Peter's stolen goods were large painted or printed cotton bed coverings made in India, valuable decorative textiles imported through the Company's trade and prized in households. Their presence in Gabriel Powell's house, alongside the shirts, neckcloths and small wares, reflects the range of fine and everyday goods that came to the island through the Indian trade and made a planter's dwelling worth breaking into. The indictment placed Peter's burglary in January 1719, during an earlier absence under his late master Nicholas Shreeve, the same slave whose repeated escapes and recaptures had occupied the council through August and September 1721. This shows the charge reaching back to an old offence now brought to trial, the persistent runaway answering for a breaking-and-entering committed more than two years before while at large from his former owner. | |
117 | one Cane, a small Box with twenty two Silver Buttons in it, two Skyns of Mohair, one Small Speritt Case, one quart of Beef, A puie of Pork, a New Milk Cheese Sd up in a Hand kercheif, One Hatt, a Jackett & Breeches & one Rasor The Goods & Provisions of Richard Ray of this Island Sold to a considerable Vallue (and who Lodged at that time in the Said Gabriel Powels House) which Burglary & Fellony is Contrary to the Peace of Our Soveraign Lord King George his Crowne and Dignity, and is in high Contempt & an Open Violation of the Wholsome Laws and Ordinances of this Island made by the Honnble Lords Proprietors for the Good Goven ment thereof Island St Helena ss Peter You Stand Indicted in this 2 Judictment and by the name of Peter a Negroe Slave now belonging to Mary Shrewe of this Island Widd for the Crimes of Burglary and Fellony, for that You the Said Peter Did on or about the latter end of Decemb or the begining of Janry last past, You being at that time absconded & Runaway from your Mistress Her Service In the Dead time of the night by force & Arms, break & Enter the Dwelling House of John Coles late free planter Decd Scituate in Union Valley by breaking thro the thatch & Roof thereof, and Opening a Trap Door in the Cealing of the Said House, and did thence felloniously Steal take and bear away two Callico Shirts, the Goods of Isaac Leech of this Island Gun Make, who Lodged at that time in the Said House, which Burglary Margin Notes: Peters Indictmt 2d | The first indictment continued its list of the goods stolen from Gabriel Powell's house: one cane, a small box with twenty-two silver buttons in it, two skeins of mohair, one small spirit case, one quarter of beef, a piece of pork, a new milk cheese laid up in a handkerchief, one hat, a jacket, breeches and one razor. These were the goods and provisions of Richard Ray, of considerable value, lodged at that time in Gabriel Powell's house. The burglary and felony were contrary to the peace of the sovereign Lord King George, his crown and dignity, and in high contempt and open breach of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island. The second indictment charged Peter, a slave now belonging to Mary Shreeve, widow, with burglary and felony. It set out that on or about the latter end of December or the beginning of January last, being at that time absconded and run away from his mistress's service, he had in the dead of night by force and arms broken through and entered the dwelling house of John Coles, late free planter, deceased, in Union Valley. He had broken through the thatch and roof and opened a trapdoor in the ceiling of the house, and had there feloniously stolen and carried away two callico shirts, the goods of Isaac Leech, who lodged at that time in the house. Interpretations The two indictments together show Peter charged with a pattern of housebreaking carried out during his successive absences as a runaway, the burglaries spread across different houses and owners over more than two years. By trying him on separate counts for the Powell and Coles dwellings, the court built a cumulative record of his offences, the man's long history of flight and theft brought to a single reckoning before the bench. The method of entry into the Coles house, breaking through the thatch and roof and opening a trapdoor in the ceiling, records the practical insecurity of the island's dwellings against a determined intruder. This vulnerability of the roof rather than the door reflects the light construction of the houses, the same structural weakness that the storekeeper had reported of the storehouse and that the prison had shown in failing to hold this very runaway. The detailed valuation of the stolen goods, from silver buttons and imported textiles down to provisions of beef, pork and cheese, marks the range of property a planter's house held and the care with which the indictment specified each item. This precision served the legal requirement to identify the goods and their owners exactly, the theft of named articles from named persons forming the substance of the felony charge. | |
118 | Burglary and fellony is Contrary to the Peace of Our Soveraign Lord King George his Crowne and Dignity, and is in high Con tempt & open Violation of the Wholsome Laws & Ordinances of this Island made by the Honnble Lords Proprietors for the Good Government thereof Island St Helena ss Peter You Stand Indicted in this 3 Judictment by the name of Peter a Negro Slave now belonging to Mary Shrewe of this Island Widd for the Crimes of Burglary & Fellony, For that You the Said Peter, on or about the 26 day of August last past in the Dead time of the night after You had made Your Escape out of Prison, Did by force & Arms break thro and Enter the Dwelling House of Bridgett Coles of the Said Island Widd Scituate in Union Valley, and did thence Wickedly & felloniously Steal, take and bear away a Handkercheif the Goods of Isaac Leech of the Said Island Gunners Make, Contrary to the Peace of Our Soveraign Lord King George his Crowne and Dignity, and is in high Contempt & Violation of the Wholsome Laws and Ordinances of this Island made by the Honnble Lords Proprietors for the Good Government thereof To which three Indictments He pleaded Guilty The Jury then presented a Petition which was read and is as follows Island Margin Notes: Peters 3d Judictmt He pleaded to ye 3 Guilty to all | The second indictment closed by reciting that the burglary and felony were contrary to the peace of the sovereign Lord King George, his crown and dignity, and in high contempt and open breach of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island. The third indictment charged Peter, a slave now belonging to Mary Shreeve, widow, with burglary and felony. It set out that on or about 26 August last, in the dead of night after he had made his escape out of prison, he had by force and arms broken through and entered the dwelling house of Bridget Coles, widow, in Union Valley. There he had wickedly and feloniously stolen and carried away a handkerchief, the goods of Isaac Leech, gunner's mate. This was contrary to the peace of the sovereign Lord King George, his crown and dignity, and in high contempt and breach of the wholesome laws and ordinances made by the Lords Proprietors for the good government of the island. To all three indictments Peter pleaded guilty. The jury then presented a petition, which was read as follows. Interpretations The third indictment fixed Peter's latest burglary to 26 August, the night following his escape from prison recorded at the consultation of 22 August 1721, showing the man returning to housebreaking immediately on regaining his liberty. This tied the criminal charge directly to the escape the council had already noted, the burglary of the Coles house committed in the brief interval before his recapture and confirming the bench's treatment of him as an incorrigible offender. Peter's guilty plea to all three counts removed the need for a jury trial on the facts, the slave admitting the burglaries spread across more than two years. The jury's immediate presentation of a petition, rather than a verdict, indicates that the panel turned from finding guilt, which the plea had settled, to making some representation to the court on the disposal of the case. | |
119 | Island St Helena To the Worshipfl Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr & Council of the Said Island now Assem bled At a Sessions Held this 5th day of Septr 1721 The Most Humble Petition of Us the Jury & others In the behalf of Our Selves & the Rest of the Inhabitants & planters of the Said Island, Humbly Sheweth To Ye Worshpl ye Council That Whereas Peter a black Slave now belonging to the Widd Shrewe hath for many Years last past been a Notorious Runaway Villain, and hath Committed frequently, Robberies of all Sorts, As Sheep, Goats, Kidds, Poultery, Hoggs & Yams whereby Our flocks have greatly Suffered, All manner of Punishmt have been Inflicted on him According to Our Laws, and he is become Incorrigible, and Likewise all Methods have been usd by fair means (his late Master Shrewe We all know to have usd him with all the Indulgence possible) and the fair Promisses he made to your Worship as We are informd (when he came to you to Complain of his Mistress) if your Worsp coould Enter taine him in the Honnble Compas works, Yet in a very short Space of time not a Month, he runaway and hath Absconded himself above Eight Months, Manifestly Evidences the Notoriety of the Villain, He hath Committed Such Plunder on Our flocks as is not to be Immagind for We are Margin Notes: A Petition of ye Inhabitants agst Peter 1st | The jury and others, on behalf of themselves and the rest of the inhabitants and planters of the island, addressed their petition to the Governor and Council, then sitting at the sessions held on 5 September 1721. The petition set out that Peter, a slave now belonging to the widow Shreeve, had for many years been a notorious runaway and a thoroughly bad fellow, and had frequently committed robberies of all kinds, taking sheep, goats, kids, poultry, hogs and yams, so that the inhabitants' stocks had greatly suffered. Every kind of punishment had been inflicted on him under the island's laws, yet he had become incorrigible. Every method of fair means had also been tried. His late master Shreeve was known to have treated him with every possible indulgence, and Peter had made fair promises to the council when, as the petitioners understood, he came to complain of his mistress, asking that the council retain him in the Company's stores. Yet within a very short time, not a month, he had run away again, and had this last time absconded for above eight months. This plainly showed the man's notorious character. He had committed such plunder on the inhabitants' stocks as could not be imagined. Interpretations The petition gathered the inhabitants' collective grievance against a single runaway whose repeated thefts had fallen on the whole community's livestock, the jury speaking not as triers of one case but as representatives of every planter whose stock Peter had plundered. By reciting his long history of flight and the failure of both punishment and lenient treatment, the petitioners built the case that ordinary measures had been exhausted, preparing the ground for an exceptional disposal. The catalogue of Peter's depredations on sheep, goats, poultry, hogs and yams identified him as a persistent threat to the island's food supply and the planters' property, the staple provisions and stock on which the small settlement depended. This framing of his crimes as a public injury to the common stock, rather than isolated thefts, gave the inhabitants a shared interest in his removal and lent weight to their joint application to the bench. The reference to Peter's earlier complaint against his mistress and his request to be taken into the Company's stores records an attempt at a managed solution that had failed, the council having tried to resolve his discontent by changing his employment. His swift return to flight after that accommodation, and his eight-month absence, were cited to show that no arrangement could hold him, the petitioners pressing that the man was beyond reform. | |
120 | are informd, that in the time when he was Runaway, he usd to frequent Lemon Valley and Sell all manner of Provisions to the Sailors as they usd to fetch Weder there, and that he had money hid in the Rocks. All which with the Crimes he now Stands Charged before this Honnble Court will We Humbly Conceive & Hope make Apparent to Your Worshpl & the Court, the Dan gerous Consequences that may Attend by the Example and Inticements of Such a Villian both to the Honnble Compas Stock & Number of their Blacks, as well as to Our own, and Justify any Precident of the Rigor of the Law Inflicted on Such a Notorious Offender. Therefore We Humbly begg that he may be made an Example of the Utmost Severity in Order to Prevent and Deter other Blacks whose Numbers are So great on this Island, that if they be not kept in Awe will Soon be too many for, & Ruin Us their Masters. This Honnble Court knows how Difficult (if not Impossible) it is to keep him Under Confinemt by the Severall Escapes he has made Since he was first Confind in the the Dungeon when he was So Loaded & Chaind down, that Either time it was thought Impracticable. We are all willing & Desireous to Contribute to make Such Satisfaction to his Mistress as hath been heretofore made on the Execution of a Black. The Honnble Courts Consideration of these Premisses will Demonstrate your Concern for Our Security & Prosperity. And Engage Us (as in duly bound) Ever to Pray Japath Doveton Orlando Bagley Joshua Johnson Gabriel Powell Isaac Frans Wrangham | The petitioners were further informed that during the time Peter was a runaway he used to frequent Lemon Valley and sell all kinds of provisions to the sailors who came there to fetch water, and that he had hidden the money in the rocks. They submitted that all these crimes, now charged before the court, made plain the dangerous consequences that might follow from the example and encouragement of such a villain, both to the Company's stock and number of slaves and to the inhabitants' own, and would justify any precedent of the rigour of the law inflicted on so notorious an offender. They therefore asked that Peter be made an example of the utmost severity, to prevent and deter other slaves, whose numbers were so great on the island that if they were not kept in awe they would soon be too many for, and ruin, their masters. The court knew how difficult, if not impossible, it was to keep him under confinement, given the several escapes he had made, having first been confined in the dungeon so loaded and chained down that each time it was thought impossible for him to break out. The petitioners declared themselves willing to contribute toward making satisfaction to his mistress, as had previously been done on the execution of a slave. They closed by asking the council to consider these matters and so demonstrate its concern for the inhabitants' security and prosperity. The petition was signed by Jonathan Doveton, Joshua Johnson, Isaac [...], Orlando Bagley, Gabriel Powell and Francis Wrangham. Interpretations The petitioners' demand that Peter be made an example of the utmost severity rested explicitly on deterrence, the punishment sought less for his own crimes than for its effect on the island's large slave population. By arguing that the slaves would overwhelm their masters if not kept in awe, the inhabitants framed the case as a question of collective control, the execution of one notorious offender intended as a warning to the many on whom the planters' security depended. The offer to contribute toward compensating the widow Shreeve for the loss of her slave addressed the practical obstacle to executing valuable property, the owner standing to lose the man's worth if he were put to death. By citing the precedent of a previous execution where the inhabitants had made such satisfaction, the petitioners showed a recognised mechanism for spreading the cost of removing a dangerous slave across the community that benefited from his removal, reconciling the demand for severity with the owner's property interest. The account of Peter's clandestine trade with sailors at Lemon Valley, selling stolen provisions for money hidden in the rocks, revealed an organised pattern behind his thefts rather than mere pilfering. This showed the runaway sustaining himself by a covert commerce with visiting ships, the same illicit dealing between slaves and outsiders that the council had moved against by general proclamation, here cited to mark the man as a calculating and persistent threat. | |
121 | John Young Isaac Wood John ffrench James Vesey Joseph Bates James Pyse Richd Long Richd Gurling Joseph Cole Willm Beale Charles Steward Edmd Nichols Cha Long Sutton Isaack Frans Wrange Richd Beale Thoms Dutch John Harding The Judge then Pronounced the following Sentence Peter The long Course & train of your Villainyes Deserved Death many Years agoe, In hopes of Amendmt, Lesser Punish ments have been Inflicted on you from time to time by your Continuance you have Shewn your Self Incorrigible & art become an Insupportable burthen on every Inhabitant on this Island (as Appears by the Petition now deliverd unto Court & read against you) As well as a Discouragemt to Industry (No man being Secure for what time he may Enjoy the fruits of his Labour, or how long what he raises may Escape Your Destructive hand) We can have no Dependance on your Confinement Witness your late Escapes when it was thought you was Secured as fast as Iron and Stone were Capable To put a Stop to your Roguryes, and to Shew all others when a fatal Misery their Continuance in Such evil Practices will at last bring them to. You Peter Stand Charged here, by three Severall Indictments for Fellony & Burglary, To all which Margin Notes: His Sentence | The petition carried further signatures: John Young, John French, Joseph Bates, Richard Long, Joseph Cole, Charles Steward, [...] Long and Francis Funge, together with Isaac Wood, James Vesey, James Spree, Richard Gurling, William Beale, Edmund Nichols, Sutton Isaack, Richard Beale, Thomas Dutch and John Harding. The judge then pronounced the following sentence on Peter. The sentence recited that the long course of his villainies had deserved death many years ago. In the hope of his amendment, lesser punishments had been inflicted on him from time to time, but by his persistence he had shown himself incorrigible and had become an unbearable burden on every inhabitant of the island, as appeared by the petition just read against him. He was also a discouragement to industry, since no man could be secure of enjoying the fruits of his labour, or of how long what he raised would escape Peter's destructive hand. No reliance could be placed on his confinement, his recent escapes proving the point, since he had broken out even when secured as fast as iron and stone could hold him. To put a stop to his thieving, and to show all others whose continuance in such practices would at last bring them to a fatal end, Peter stood charged here on three separate indictments for felony and burglary. To all [...] Interpretations The judge grounded the death sentence not only in Peter's crimes but in the impossibility of holding him, his repeated escapes from confinement secured by iron and stone making execution the only effective means of stopping him. This reasoning, that no prison could contain the man, turned the practical failure of the island's gaol into the justification for capital punishment, the bench treating death as the sole remaining remedy where confinement had demonstrably failed. The sentence echoed the petitioners' argument that Peter discouraged industry by making property insecure, the planters unable to be sure of keeping what they raised. By adopting this rationale, the court framed the execution as a defence of the island's productive economy, the punishment justified by the threat the runaway posed to the security of labour and stock on which the settlement depended. | |
122 | which You have pleaded Guilty, for which with the Accumulated Crimes of your past life I am Obliged to Pronounce the Sentence of the Law against You, which is That you be from hence Retaken to the Dungeon from whence you was brought, and from thence tomorrow morning to be put on a Cart to be Drawn (by all those Blacks who (tho in a less Degree) have been formerly Guilty thereby to Strike an Immidiate Horror & Terror in them by the Part they are to Act at your Execution, and if Possible to reclaim them,) To the place of Execution there You are to hang by the Neck untill you be Dead, and So the Lord have Mercy on your Soul Proclamation was made for all Persons who had any Cusiness at this Sessions to come into Court Then the Court Broke up ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: the Manner of his death | The sentence continued, noting that Peter had pleaded guilty to the three indictments, and that for these, together with the accumulated crimes of his past life, the judge was obliged to pronounce the sentence of the law against him. He was to be taken from there back to the dungeon from which he had been brought, and the next morning put on a cart and drawn to the place of execution by all thirteen slaves who, though in a lesser degree, had previously been found guilty. The intention was to strike an immediate horror and terror in those slaves by the part they were to act at his execution, and if possible to reclaim them. At the place of execution he was to be hanged by the neck until dead, and so the Lord have mercy on his soul. Proclamation was made for all persons who had any business at the sessions to come into court. The court then broke up. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The order that thirteen previously convicted slaves draw the cart to the gallows turned the execution into a calculated instrument of deterrence aimed at the slave population. By compelling other offenders to take an active part in the death of the worst among them, the court sought to impress the consequences of crime directly on those most likely to repeat it, the spectacle designed both to terrify and, as the sentence put it, to reclaim them. The procession from dungeon to gallows, the public drawing on a cart and the hanging before an assembled audience, followed the established form of a public execution as a display of the law's ultimate force. On a small island wholly dependent on a controlled slave labour force, the bench staged the punishment as a warning to the many, the visibility of the death serving the planters' shared concern for keeping their slaves in awe. | |
123 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 12th day of Septr 1721 At Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin & Sessions The last Consultation read and approovd on The Governr Reported that Van Oosten had brought In the Books of Accots to him on Wensday Last for the Year 1720 ready Ballanced Orderd That Mr Byfeld & Mr Houldwich be Desired to Examine them and make Report by this day fortnight The Governr further Reported that He had De sired Mr Powell & Mr Doveton to Vallue the thirty Acres of Leased Land Mentioned in Consultation of the 5th Instant The Petition of Joseph Coles planter, was Presented Setting forth That he haveing had leave to goe off the Island in the first outward bound Ship that Arrives here, and haveing five Acres of the Honnble Compas Land now in Possession Humbly Prays He may have leave to Sell the time of his Lease and Provisions that is Growing in the Said Land, which he bought of Margin Notes: Bks for 1720 Ballanced ye Same to be Exd Mess Powell & Doveton desired to Vallue Perkins Land Jos Coles desires leave to dispose of ye Land lately Granted him | A consultation was held at the Plantation House on Tuesday 12 September 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and sessions and approved them. The Governor reported that Van Oosten had brought him the books of account for 1720 on Wednesday last, ready balanced. The council ordered that Mr Byfield and Mr Goodwin be asked to examine them and report this day fortnight. The Governor further reported that he had directed Mr Powell and Mr Doveton to value the 30 acres of leased land mentioned at the consultation of 5 September. Joseph Coles, planter, presented his petition. He set out that, having had leave to leave the island on the first ship sailing from here, and holding five acres of the Company's land, he asked leave to sell the remaining term of his lease and the provisions growing on the land, which he had bought [...] Interpretations The delivery of the balanced 1720 books marked a step toward clearing the long arrears of the Company's accounts, the work Van Oosten had promised to finish by October. By referring the books to Byfield and Goodwin for examination, the council applied its standing practice of having the accounts independently checked before acceptance, the same scrutiny that had earlier exposed the false claims of a balanced ledger and that the recurring failure of the accounts had made necessary. Joseph Coles's request to sell his unexpired lease and growing provisions reflects the recognised value of a leasehold and its crops as transferable property, a departing planter realising his interest in the land before leaving. The reference of the parallel 30-acre valuation to Powell and Doveton shows the council using independent appraisers to fix the worth of leased land, the same neutral valuation it applied whenever a leasehold interest had to be priced for sale or settlement. | |
124 | of Petr Sinnick Since Deceased Rejected, because We will not Encourage the Engroseing of Lands ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 19th day of Septr 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd on The Governr Reported that on Wedinsday the 15th of Septr 1721 Ensigne Slaughter Acquainted him that Sarah Southin had raised a Seditious Report Vizt That Capt Bond Comander of the Hannover gott home before the Saileing of the Store Ship and had Stopt Her, and that there was a New Governr and Severall new faces comeing, and that for those two Doggs Cason & Slaughter, Shee had rather See the Devil than See Either of them But their Reign was not long Neither Whereupon Margin Notes: Petn Rejected a Scandalous Report raised by Sarah Southin Report | Joseph Coles's land had belonged to Peter Sinsnick, since deceased. The council rejected the petition, because it would not encourage the engrossing of lands. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 19 September 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that on Wednesday 15 September Ensign Slaughter had informed him that Sarah Southen had spread a seditious report. She had said that Captain Bound, commander of the Hanover, had got home before the sailing of the store ship and had stopped her, that there was a new Governor and several new faces coming, and that as for those two dogs Cason and Slaughter she would rather see the Devil than see either of them, but their reign would not be long either. Interpretations The rejection of Joseph Coles's petition to sell his lease, on the ground that it would encourage the engrossing of lands, applied the council's standing policy against the concentration of holdings in few hands. By refusing to let the parcel pass in a way that might enlarge another's estate, the bench protected its concern that land be spread among many settlers rather than absorbed by the largest planters, the same caution that had governed its grants of waste land. Sarah Southen's report touched the recurring rumour of a change of government, the report of a new Governor and new faces being the kind of talk the council treated as seditious for unsettling the administration. Her naming of the rumour as carried by Captain Bound of the Hanover, and her open contempt for the officers Cason and Slaughter, marked the report as a direct challenge to the standing authority, the bench having long regarded such talk of an incoming government as a danger to be suppressed. Sarah Southen had earlier been convicted as the contriver of the seditious papers against the chaplain at the general sessions of 28 January 1720, placing her among the persistent troublemakers the council watched. | |
125 | Whereupon, he sent the Marshall to bring her before him, Mr Slaughter on Oath Deposed that Corporall Swallow told him he heard the Said Southen Say the words before Written as he the Said Slaughter, and the Said Swallow were walking in the Castle yard a Munday night after the Drum had beat, and the Castle Gates were Shutt, and that he Repeated the same to him a Tuesday night following when he went downe to See the Castle Gates Lockt John Swallow on Oath first Sayed that Mrs Southin did Say that there were New faces Comeing in the Store Ship, but did not know whether She Sayd a new Govr But afterwards did owne that She did Say as Mr Slaughter had Sayd, and that she called both Capt Cason and Mr Slaughter Doggs and that he had heard her Severall other times Call Capt Cason Names Whereupon the Governr Ordered her to be Whipt for her Spreading Such a Report (for which She could have no Grounds) to Disturb the minds of the People and for Her Language about Capt Cason & Mr Slaughter as well as for her Turbulent & Disorderly behaviour on Several other Occasions which he had not taken Notice of to her before, for no Disorders or Uneasiness hath happened Since his Arrivall but what She has been the formenter & Encouragir of Notwithstanding his Clemency towards her when She was Indicted & found Guilty of Spreading Libels & Encourageing the People against the Governmt about Parson Jones and Margin Notes: Mr Slaughter Deposeth Jno Swallows deposeth Mrs Southen punished | The Governor sent the marshal to bring Sarah Southen before him. Mr Slaughter deposed on oath that Corporal Swallow had told him he heard Southen speak the words written above, and that he and Slaughter had been walking in the castle yard on the Monday night after the drum had beaten and the castle gates were shut. Swallow had repeated the same to him on the Tuesday night following, when he went down to see the castle gates locked. John Swallow, on oath, first said that Southen had said new faces were coming in the store ship, but that he did not know whether she had said a new Governor. Afterwards he admitted that she had said what Mr Slaughter had reported, that she called both Captain Cason and Mr Slaughter dogs, and that he had heard her call Captain Cason names several other times. The Governor ordered Southen to be whipped for spreading such a report, for which she could have no grounds, to disturb the minds of the people, for her language about Captain Cason and Mr Slaughter, and for her turbulent and disorderly conduct on several other occasions which he had not taken notice of before. No disorders or uneasiness had happened since his arrival but what she had been the promoter and encourager of, notwithstanding his clemency toward her when she was indicted and found guilty of spreading libels and encouraging the people against the Governor over the matter of Parson Jones [...] Interpretations The Governor treated Sarah Southen's words as a public order offence rather than a private slander, the whipping imposed for disturbing the minds of the people and not merely for insulting the officers. By grounding the punishment in the unsettling effect of a groundless report about a change of government, the bench asserted its concern to suppress talk that threatened confidence in the administration, the rumour of new faces and a new Governor being the kind of report it had long regarded as seditious. The reference to her earlier conviction for spreading libels against the Governor over the chaplain Jones placed Southen among the island's persistent troublemakers, the Governor citing his past clemency to justify the present severity. This recital of her record at the general sessions of 28 January 1720, when she was found guilty as the contriver of the seditious papers, showed the bench treating the new offence as a relapse by a known agitator whose continued disorder had exhausted its forbearance. The reliance on the sworn testimony of a corporal and a soldier to establish the words spoken shows the council building a documentary case even for an offence of speech, the witnesses examined on oath and their accounts compared. John Swallow's initial hesitation over whether she had named a new Governor, followed by his fuller admission, records the court testing the evidence to fix exactly what had been said before the Governor pronounced the punishment. | |
126 | and now Endeavouring the same by Spreeding Such a Report The Governr Ordered the Corporal to be whipt also, for Prevaricating in his Evidence on Oath and that he Should be broke The Govr Likewise Reported That on Thursday last He called for Mr Johnson belonging to the Accomp tants Office, and told him to Provide for himself in a Month, for that the Honnble Compa had no further Occasion for him in the Office there being no business to Employ him about Mr Wrangham had this day a Lease Signd & Deliverd to him for two Parcells of Land Containing Seventeen Acres Scituate in Speak Gutt, for the teerm of twenty One Years Commenceing from the 25th of March last Pursuant to his Petition for the same in Consultation of the 6 Septr 1719 The Governr Reports that the Blacks House at the Hutts is So much gone to Decay (and has been So for Some time) that it is not worth any further Repairing Wherefore It is now agreed with Giles Hayse, and John Purling Stone Layers to Build a Blacks House at the Hutts at the same Rate as Govr Pyke agreed with Thomas Burnnum for that on the two Gun Ridge in Proportion, and that they Sett about & finish it as Soone as Possible The Margin Notes: Corpl Swallows Punishmt Mr Johnson Discharg'd from ye Office Mr Wranghams Lease Delivd for certaine Land Blacks House gone to Decay a New one to be Built | Sarah Southen was now trying to do the same by spreading such a report. The Governor ordered the corporal to be whipped as well, for prevaricating in his evidence on oath, and that he should be broken. The Governor also reported that on Thursday last he had called for Mr Johnson of the accountant's office and told him to provide for himself within a month, since the Company had no further use for him there, there being no business to employ him about. Mr Wrangham was this day granted a lease, signed and delivered to him, for two parcels of land containing 17 acres in Peak Gut, for the term of 21 years commencing from 25 March last. This was under his petition for the same at the consultation of 5 September 1719. The Governor reported that the slaves' house at the Hutts had so far gone to decay, and had been so for some time, that it was not worth any further repair. The council therefore agreed with Giles Hause and John Purling, stone layers, to build a slaves' house at the Hutts at the same rate Governor Pyke had agreed with Thomas Burnham for the house on Two Gun Ridge in proportion, and that they set about it and finish it as soon as possible. Interpretations The breaking of the corporal for prevaricating in his sworn evidence enforced the integrity of testimony under oath, the council punishing the witness who shifted his account as severely as the offender he testified against. By stripping Swallow of his rank as well as whipping him, the Governor marked the false or evasive evidence as a serious military and judicial fault, the reliability of sworn testimony being essential to the court's proceedings. The dismissal of Mr Johnson from the accountant's office for want of business reflects the winding down of the clearance effort once the long-overdue books had been brought up to date. With the arrears largely discharged and the 1720 books delivered balanced, the extra hands taken on to clear the backlog were no longer needed, the council reducing the office to its ordinary establishment. The decision to rebuild the decayed slaves' house at the Hutts, pricing the contract against Governor Pyke's earlier agreement with Thomas Burnham for the Two Gun Ridge house, continued the standing concern to shelter the Company's labour force. By setting the new house's cost in proportion to a known prior contract, the council fixed a fair rate for the stone layers' work, applying an established benchmark to a recurring building need that the decay of the slaves' housing had again made pressing. | |
127 | The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 22 August last, which was Ex amind and approovd on And the reason why he did not bring in his Book for Several Consultations past According to Order, was Occasiond by his Indis position It is agreed & Concluded on That Peter Mrs Shrews Black Slave who was Executed on Wednesday the 6th Instt be Vallued at twenty Pounds, and that Every planter Pay for him as Usual in Proportion to their Blacks which they were Possessed of at the time of his death. And That a Warrant be Issued out Accordingly, and that the payment be paid in to her Acco in Our Books to Lessen her debt to the Honnble Company Orderd That Tuesday Next be Appointed to Transfer Bills for the Present quarter, and that the Books ly open till that day Sennight, that every body may Account for the last half Year ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Petr Mrs Shrews Black Vallued at 20l & Warrt to Collect ye Same Transfeer day | The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 22 August last, which the council examined and approved. He explained that he had not brought in his book at several past consultations, as ordered, because of his indisposition. The council agreed and concluded that Peter, the widow Shreeve's slave who was executed on Wednesday 6 September, be valued at £20 0s 0d, and that every planter pay toward him as usual, in proportion to the slaves they held at the time of his death. A warrant was to be issued accordingly, and the payment to be entered in the books to the widow's account, to reduce her debt to the Company. The council ordered that the following Tuesday be appointed for transferring bills for the present quarter, and that the books lie open until that day seven-night, so that everyone might account for the past half-year. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The valuation of the executed slave at £20 0s 0d and the levy on every planter in proportion to their own slaves put into effect the compensation mechanism the inhabitants had offered in their petition. By spreading the cost of the widow's lost property across all slaveholders according to the number each held, the council distributed the burden of removing a public menace among those who benefited from his execution, the precedent of contributing toward such a loss now formally applied. The crediting of the levy to the widow Shreeve's account to reduce her debt to the Company shows the compensation channelled through the books rather than paid in cash, the value of the executed slave set against what she already owed. This used the Company's existing creditor relationship with the owner to settle the satisfaction, the planters' contributions reducing her liability rather than passing to her directly. The instruction to keep the books open for a week so that everyone might account for the half-year marks the regular quarterly reckoning, the transfer of bills and the settlement of accounts being the routine financial business by which the Company's credits and debts with the inhabitants were periodically brought up to date. | |
128 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 26 day of Septr 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd on According to the Order in last Consultation The Councill mett this day to Transfer Bills for the Quarter past, And to hear any other matters that might Offer The Doctor brought In his Book of medicines Expended Since the 19th Instt which was Examined and approovd on The Governr Reported that upon makeing up of the Accots of the Widdow Swallow, and Swallows Or phans, he demanded the Payment of a Bond which he had of Richard Swallows her Deceased Husband dated the 13 of Aprill 1715 for the Sume of fifty four Pounds Payable to the Honnble Compa, which she Says was paid and that there was an Order in Con sultation for the Delivery of the Bond up, which upon Reference Appears in Consultation of the 10 of Decr 1717 But by the Books of Accots from the year 1715 to this time, no Notice is taken of it, nor doth any thing appear Either of any Such Sume of mony Margin Notes: Transfeer Govr Report abt Mrs Swallows Bond of 54l pretended to have been [...] paid | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 26 September 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Under the order of the previous consultation, the council met this day to transfer bills for the past quarter and to hear any other matters that might arise. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 19 September, which the council examined and approved. The Governor reported that, on making up the accounts of the widow Swallow and the Swallow orphans, he had demanded payment of a bond he held from Richard Swallow, her late husband, dated 13 April 1715 for £54 0s 0d payable to the Company. The widow said the bond had been paid, and that there was an order in council for the delivery up of the bond, which on reference appeared at the consultation of 10 December 1717. Yet the books of account from 1715 to this time took no notice of it, nor did any such sum of money appear [...] Interpretations The dispute over the Swallow bond exposed a gap between the council's own records, the order for the bond's delivery appearing in the consultation book of 10 December 1717 while the account books showed no trace of the payment. This discrepancy illustrates the unreliability of the Company's accounts that the recent audit had been addressing, an obligation recorded as discharged in one set of records leaving no corresponding entry in another. The Governor's demand for payment on a bond the widow claimed was already settled arose in the course of making up the insolvent Swallow estate, the same estate whose mismanagement had led the council to appoint trustees over the orphans' dividends. By pressing the bond against records that neither confirmed nor cleared it, the bench confronted the difficulty of settling an estate whose dealings with the Company could not be reconciled against the books. | |
129 | Mony being Paid from the Compa or to the Compa but in Governr Pykes Acco in the Yeare 171 6 7 there Appears to be Enterd in the Transfer Journal the Sume of fifty four Pound to Capt Mackett for Richard Swallow, and nothing Else Appearing He desires to know what must be done in this Case For which reasons We think it Proper, the Bond should be kept, and So much Stopt out of the Said Swallows & Orphans Estate in the Honnble Compas hands till their further Order thereon, And that a Letter be Writt to Govr Pyke, to desire him to give Us what Account of it he can, because Upon Her being calld in now Says that Mr Tovey told her a Little before he Dyed that no body upon the Island then, but himself knew how the Said Sume of fifty four pound was paid because Mr Bazett was Dead & Governr Pyke gone off, but that it was paid and that he would Satisfye the Governr of it, but by his Death he was Prevented Pursuant to the Governrs Report in Consultation on of the 12th Instt Mr Powell and Mr Doveton brought In this day an Acco of their Valluation of the thirty Acres of Leasd Land formerly Graunted to Thomas Perkins (as in Consultation of the 5th Instt will more fully Appear) at the Sume of Seventy five pounds for the Eleven Years and a half Yet to come Orderd Sha Margin Notes: Bond to be still kept & ye money Stoned till furthr Ordr Vallue of Perkins Land yet yet to come for ye reim teerme | No money appeared to have been paid from the Company or to the Company in Governor Pyke's account in the year 1717. There appeared to be entered in the transfer journal the sum of £54 0s 0d to Captain Mackett for Richard Swallow, but nothing else appeared. The Governor wished to know what should be done in this case. For these reasons the council thought it proper that the bond be kept, and that the sum of £54 0s 0d be stopped out of the Swallow estate and orphans' share in the Company's hands until further order. A letter was to be written to Governor Pyke asking him to give whatever account of it he could. The widow now said that Mr Tovey had told her, a little before he died, that no one on the island but himself then knew how the £54 0s 0d had been paid, since Mr Bazett was dead and Governor Pyke gone off, but that it had been paid, and that he would satisfy the Governor about it, but was prevented by his death. Under the Governor's report at the consultation of 12 September, Mr Powell and Mr Doveton this day brought in their account of the valuation of the 30 acres of leased land formerly granted to Thomas Perkins, as appears more fully at the consultation of 5 September. They valued it at £75 0s 0d for the 11½ years still to run. Interpretations The council's resolution to hold the bond and stop the disputed sum from the Swallow estate until further order shows the bench protecting the Company's interest where the records could neither confirm nor disprove payment. By retaining the security and withholding the amount from the orphans' share, the council preserved its claim against an estate it could not safely release, the want of any clear entry leaving the obligation open. The widow's account, resting on the dead Tovey's word that only he knew how the sum had been paid, left the matter dependent on the testimony of men no longer available, Tovey dead, Bazett dead and Pyke gone from the island. This concentration of the relevant knowledge in absent or deceased persons explains the council's recourse to writing home to Governor Pyke, the only surviving party who might shed light on a payment the books did not record. The valuation of the Perkins leasehold at £75 0s 0d for its unexpired term applied the council's standing use of independent appraisers to fix the worth of leased land. By having Powell and Doveton value the remaining 11½ years, the bench established a price on which the widow Bazett's offer to surrender the lease against the Perkins debt could be settled, the neutral valuation converting the leasehold interest into a definite sum. | |
130 | That Mrs Bazett be Sent to for the Said Lease and to assigne the same to the Use of the Honnble Compa on the Back Part thereof Mr Byfeld Reports that he has with Mr Houldwich Examined the Books of Accots for the Year 1720 and finds the fair Books are not Al together So clean as they might have been kept with Care (and fears there will not be time before the Arrivall of a Ship to recopy them for to goe home) But that they are true, And that the foul Books are So Obliterated and Erased that it will be very Proper that they be recopyd to be kept upon the Island Van Oosten was called In and Ordered to take more Care for the future and told Such Negligence Should never be passed by So any more, and that he Immediatly Sett about to recopy the foul Books over again very fair, to remaine in the Office Capt Goodwin Reports that their is a Cask of Bread now Open So very much worm Eaton that the People will not buy it at the Usual Price of 3 2 Orderd That it be Sold out at 2 9 Also that there's an Iron Pott that is Crackt about Six Inches downe that no body will buy at the Price, But Edmund Badley has Offerd him Prime Cost for it Orderd That he have it Likewise Margin Notes: Mrs Bazett to assigne ye Lease Mr Byfelds Report abt ye Books of Acco ye Bread Eaton wth wormes ye potts Crackt Bread to be Sold at 2 9 pr ye Crackt Pott Sold | The council ordered that the widow Bazett be sent for to deliver up the lease and to assign it to the use of the Company on the back of it. Mr Byfield reported that he and Mr Houldwich had examined the books of account for 1720 and found the fair books were not quite as clean as they might have been kept with care. He feared there would not be time to recopy them before the arrival of a ship to carry them home. The figures were nonetheless true. The foul books were so obliterated and erased that it would be very proper to have them recopied to be kept upon the island. Van Oosten was called in and ordered to take more care for the future. He was told that such negligence should never be passed over again, and that he was to set about recopying the foul books fairly at once, to remain in the office. Captain Goodwin reported that there was a cask of bread now open, so badly worm-eaten that the people would not buy it at the usual price of 3 shillings 2 pence. The council ordered that it be sold at 2 shillings. He also reported that there was an iron pot cracked about six inches down that no one would buy at the price, but that Edmund Badley had offered him prime cost for it. The council ordered that he have it. Interpretations The order for the widow Bazett to assign the lease to the Company by endorsement on the back of the deed completed the conversion of the Perkins leasehold into satisfaction of the debt, the valuation at £75 0s 0d having fixed its worth. By taking the assignment directly onto the instrument, the council secured the transfer in legal form, the endorsed lease passing the unexpired term to the Company against the sum due. The state of the 1720 books, true in their figures but the foul originals so erased as to need recopying, shows the council distinguishing between the accuracy of the accounts and the durability of the record. By ordering fair copies kept on the island while the examined books went home, the bench preserved a permanent and legible version against the loss or decay of the working drafts, the recurring failure to keep the accounts in order making such safeguards necessary. The repricing of the worm-eaten bread and the cracked iron pot below their usual rates shows the storekeeper clearing damaged or unsaleable goods at whatever they would fetch rather than holding them at a price no one would pay. By selling the spoiled bread at a reduced figure and letting the broken pot go at prime cost, the council recovered some value from goods that would otherwise be a total loss, the same practical disposal applied to the unsold gurrahs earlier in the period. | |
131 | Likewise that there is a Large Quantity of China Silk both of Stitching & Sewing, and the People Complain of the Price as it has been hitherto Sold at, being half a Crown an ounce, the same price of English Silk, for they can buy it out of the Ships at twelve pence p ounce By the Invoice We find it Cost Six pence half peny p ounce, therefore We Adjudge twelve pence p ounce to be a Sufficient Advance, as it is part of Necessary use and not Altogether Ornamentall Expence Adjournd till the afternoon The Council Accordingly mett and went on with Transfeers ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Continued on Wednsday the 27th of Septr 1721 at Union Castle The Council all Present Transfeers were Continued, And all the work that were finished The Govr Reported that looking over Doctr Thomlinsons Accounts he finds there 922 of Tea Deliverd into the Companys Stores on Account of Margin Notes: Price of Silk Compl of Compl[...] to be hand Manfac[...] China Silk to Sold at 12d p Tea left on hand by Dr Thomlinson | Captain Goodwin further reported that there was a large quantity of China silk, both for stitching and sewing, and that the people complained of the price at which it had been sold, half a crown an ounce, the same price as English silk, since they could buy it out of the ships at twelve pence an ounce. By the invoice the council found it had cost six pence halfpenny an ounce, and therefore judged twelve pence an ounce to be a sufficient advance, the silk being partly a necessary and not altogether an ornamental expense. The council ordered it sold at twelve pence an ounce. The council adjourned till the afternoon. It met again accordingly and went on with the transfers. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was continued on Wednesday 27 September 1721 at Union Castle, with all the council present. The transfers were continued, and all the work was finished. The Governor reported that, looking over the chaplain Thomlinson's accounts, he found there were 922 [...] of tea delivered into the Company's stores on account of [...] Interpretations The repricing of the China silk repeated the council's correction of an overpriced commodity undersold by the cheaper trade of the shipping, the storehouse rate of half a crown an ounce standing far above the twelve pence at which the same goods could be had from visiting ships. By striking a new price of twelve pence on a prime cost of six pence halfpenny, the council applied a markup of roughly half while bringing the figure into line with the competing supply, the same exercise it had carried out on the gurrahs and the China silk's quality as a near-necessity weighing in favour of the lower price. The reappearance of the chaplain Thomlinson's accounts continued the council's long pursuit of the obligations left by the departed minister, whose dealings with the Company's stores had been examined since his supersession. The discovery of tea delivered on his account marks the further unravelling of his affairs, the bench tracing the items standing to his credit or debit as part of settling the accounts he had left behind. | |
132 | of Capt Charles Newton in the year 1719 for which he has had no Creditt Therefore Ordered That he have Creditt Accordingly for the Amount thereof being the Sume of twenty Seven Pounds fifteen Shill ings A Warrant was this day Signd & deliverd to Levy a Pole Tax on Blacks for twenty Pounds To make Satisfaction to the Widdow Shrewe for her Black Slave Peter that was Executed ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Capt Newton to have Cr for ye Same | The tea had been delivered on account of Captain Charles Newton in 1719, for which he had received no credit. The council therefore ordered that he be credited accordingly for the amount, being £27 15s 0d. A warrant was this day signed and delivered to levy a poll tax on the slaves for £20 0s 0d, to make satisfaction to the widow Shreeve for her slave Peter, who had been executed. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The crediting of Captain Newton for tea delivered in 1719 but never entered to his account is a further instance of the omissions the council had been uncovering in the Company's books, an obligation owed for two years before it was identified and settled. By granting the credit on the strength of the invoice, the bench corrected an unrecorded liability, the same kind of lapse that the drive to bring the accounts up to date had repeatedly brought to light. The warrant to levy a poll tax of £20 0s 0d on the slaves to compensate the widow Shreeve put into final effect the funding mechanism agreed for Peter's execution. By assessing the sum on the island's slaveholders in proportion to the slaves they held, the council distributed the cost of the owner's lost property across those who shared the benefit of his removal, completing the arrangement the inhabitants had proposed and the bench had adopted to reconcile capital punishment with the destruction of valuable property. | |
133 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 3 day of Octobr 1721. At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The Last Consultation read & approovd of The Governr Reported that on fryday the 29th of Septr last John Martin Van Oosten was taken in the Fact with Mercy a Black Wench of the Honnble Compas wife of Jacob one of the Compas Blacks, on Wednsday Evening last about Eight a Clock, for which He had Ordered them both to be whipt at the Flagstaff together 24 lashes each to be given Alternatively, and that He had Severall times before Admonished & Severely Reproved the Said Van Oosten for keeping Her Com pany, Warneing him of Smithermans fate whose throat Jacob is Suspected to have Cutt for his being So familiar with his wife the Said Mercy Mr Byfeld brought In his Book Containing the Monthly Accots for the Month of Septr last, which was Examind, approovd & by Us Signd Capt Goodwin likewise brought In his Book Containing the Monthly Accots for Goods Sold & Deliverd out of the Stores in the Month of Septr last which was also Examind, approovd, & by Us Signd The Margin Notes: Govr Report abt Van Oosten & Mercy their Punishmt Monthly Acco brought in for Septr | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 3 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The Governor reported that on Friday 29 September last John Martin Van Oosten had been caught in the act with Mercy, a slave woman of the Company and wife of Jacob, one of the Company's slaves, on Wednesday evening last about eight o'clock. He had ordered them both to be whipped at the flagstaff together, 21 lashes each to be given alternately. He had several times before warned and reproved Van Oosten for keeping her company, cautioning him of the fate of Smitherman, whose throat Jacob was suspected to have cut for being so familiar with his wife Mercy. Mr Byfield brought in his book of the monthly accounts for September, which the council examined and approved before signing it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his book of the monthly accounts for goods sold and delivered out of the stores in September, which the council also examined and approved before signing it. Interpretations The punishment of Van Oosten alongside the slave woman shows the Governor applying the same corporal penalty to a Company servant and a slave for the same offence, the lashes given alternately at the flagstaff marking both as equally answerable. This even-handed punishment of a free man and a slave for illicit conduct reflects the council's concern to enforce order across the whole community, Van Oosten having been repeatedly warned and his persistence treated as defiance. The reference to Smitherman, whose throat the slave Jacob was suspected of cutting for the same familiarity with his wife, framed the Governor's warnings as a caution against a real and violent danger. By recalling a suspected killing arising from the same situation, the bench underlined that Van Oosten's conduct risked provoking lethal retaliation, the husband's jealousy presented as a threat the Governor had tried to forestall before resorting to punishment. Van Oosten had earlier been pilloried for slandering Ann Hodgkinson on 7 December 1720, marking him as a man already known to the council for sexual misconduct. | |
134 | The Gunner brought In his Acco of Gunrs Stores Expended in the Month of Septr last which was Examind and approovd on The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Ex pended Since the 26 Septr last which was Examined & approovd on This day a Lease for Eight Acres of Gumwood Land Scituate in Sandy Bay, was Signd & Deliverd to John Orchard for the Term of twenty one Years Commenc ing from the 25th of March last past The Gentlemen of the Council Reports That they went Yesterday to Perkins Plantation In Order to measure and Divide the thirty Acres of Lease Land, from the twenty Acres of free Land that was formerly in the Possession of the Said Perkins & Mentioned in Consulta tions of the 29th Augt & 12 of Septr last. But could not finish the Measureing, the Old Plott by which they Expected More Directions to Measure by being Wrong Plotted Where fore Orderd That the whole fifty Acres be New Measured on Monday next if the weather permitt Joseph Bates Corporal Acquainted the Governr That Mr Free behaved himself very Insolently at the Castle Gate on Saturday last, Upon which Free was Sent for, And Joseph Bates on Oath Deposed That on Saturday when he was on Duty, Free came downe to the Castle Gate, and askt him where Van Oostin was, and Sayo he did not come to See his own Account, but another Mans, for that his owne Acco Margin Notes: Gunrs Acco for Septr Drs Booke Examd Lease Signd to Jno Orchard for ye 8 Acres Land ye Survey of Perkins Land ye whole to be new Measured Bates Inform abt Free wch information agst Free Bates Deposi tion | The gunner brought in his account of the gunner's stores expended in September, which the council examined and approved. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 26 September, which the council examined and approved. This day a lease for eight acres of gumwood land in Sandy Bay was signed and delivered to John Orchard for the term of 21 years, commencing from 25 March last. The councillors reported that they had gone yesterday to Perkins's plantation to measure and divide the 30 acres of leased land from the 20 acres of free land formerly held by Perkins, mentioned at the consultations of 29 August and 12 September last. They could not finish the measuring, the old plot they expected to take their directions from being wrongly drawn. The council therefore ordered that the whole 50 acres be measured afresh on Monday next, if the weather permitted. Joseph Bates, corporal, reported to the Governor that Mr Free had behaved very rudely at the castle gate on Saturday last. Free was sent for, and Joseph Bates deposed on oath that on Saturday, while he was on duty, Free came down to the castle gate and asked him where Van Oosten was. He said he had not come to see Van Oosten on his own account, but on another man's, for [...] Interpretations The failure to complete the survey of Perkins's plantation because the old plot was wrongly drawn shows the council's dependence on accurate prior records for fixing boundaries, a faulty earlier plan forcing a fresh measurement of the whole 50 acres. This reflects the practical importance of reliable surveys in distinguishing the Company's leased land from the free land of the heir, the division of the two requiring a correct base plan that the existing one failed to supply. The complaint against Free for rude conduct at the castle gate touched the discipline of the fort's entrance, the gate being a guarded point where the sentry's authority had to be respected. Free's inquiry after Van Oosten on another man's behalf, raised at the same consultation as Van Oosten's punishment for his conduct with the slave woman, suggests the matter was connected to that affair, the bench taking the soldier's sworn account of the encounter to establish what had passed. Thomas Free was already a man of long-standing trouble with the council, having been convicted at the general sessions of 28 January 1720 and stripped of the Griffith orphans' estate. | |
135 | Accots Should ly open, for that he owed the Company but One hundred and Odd Pounds, and that his Estate was Vallued at between five & Six Hundred Pounds That he Offerd Bond for it, but that would not be taken and that they had Seizd it & Sold it for two Hundred Pounds and had Robed him of his Estate. Whereas in truth his debt was about Seven hundred & five Pounds, That a Warrant of Seizure was Issued out for the Payment of that debt severall months before Sale was made to give him time to Offer Security, but None was Offerd, He was Sumoned to attend an Orphens Court to give an Account of the Estate of Griffiths Orphan which he put off from time to time, and at last Refused to do. Whereupon an Order was made to Seize the Remainder of his Estate thereby to Secure the Said Orphans For his Insolent behaviour, and Reporting Such Reflecting falsityes on the Government, He was Ordered to receive 24 lashes on his Bare Back at the flagstaffe The two following Petitions were Presented Vizt The Petition of John Harding planter Setting forth That he haveing lately Purchased Seventeen Acres of free Land, and the Lease of fifteen Acres more of the Honnble Compas Land of the Widdow Swallow, and Matthew Mudge Soldier being lately Married and Destitute of any Lands, has been treating with him the Petr Petitioner for part of his Said Purchase wherefore Margin Notes: Frees Case in part to be punished Jno Hardings Petion abt Land he bought | Free's account with the Company should lie open, since he owed the Company over one hundred odd pounds, and his estate was valued at between five and six hundred pounds. He had offered a bond for the debt, but it would not be taken, and the Company had seized and sold it for two hundred pounds, robbing him of his estate, although his debt was only about £305 0s 0d. A warrant of seizure had been issued for the payment of that debt several months before the sale was made, to give him time to offer security, but none was offered. He had been summoned to attend an orphans' court to account for the estate of the Griffith orphans, which he had put off from time to time and at last refused to do. The council had therefore ordered the remainder of his estate seized, to secure the orphans' share. For his insolent conduct, and for spreading such reports reflecting falsehoods on the government, Free was ordered to receive 21 lashes on his bare back at the flagstaff. The following two petitions were then presented. John Harding, planter, set out in his petition that, having lately bought 17 acres of free land and the lease of 17 acres more of the Company's land from the widow Swallow, and Matthew Mudge, soldier, being lately married and having no land of his own, had been in treaty with him for part of his purchase [...] Interpretations The punishment of Free for insolent conduct and spreading falsehoods against the government placed him alongside Sarah Southen as an offender punished for words that challenged the administration's authority. His complaint that the Company had robbed him by seizing and selling his estate for less than his debt was treated as a slander on the government, the bench answering the grievance with corporal punishment rather than addressing its substance, the seizure for the Griffith orphans and his own debt having already been resolved against him. The recital of the seizure and sale of Free's estate records the council's enforcement of its protective jurisdiction over the Griffith orphans, whose share it secured by taking the estate Free had refused to account for. The two-hundred-pound sale against a debt of about £305 0s 0d, and the warrant issued months before to allow him time to find security, show the bench following a deliberate procedure before realising the estate, the orphans' interest and the Company's debt together justifying the seizure he protested. John Harding's wish to sublet part of his newly bought land to the landless soldier Matthew Mudge reflects the council's recurring concern to settle men without land while keeping a white man on every holding. The transfer of a portion of Harding's purchase to a married soldier in need of ground fitted the policy of spreading settlement, the petition brought for the council's approval as the disposal of land required its sanction. | |
136 | Wherefore prays leave may be granted him to let the Said Matthew Mudge have about 13 or 14 Acres of the Said Lease Land, or to Sell his right in the same for the terme Mentiond in the Said Lease as to Us shall seem most meet And &c Not granted Unless Matthew Mudge give other Security than his own, to performe the Covenants in the Lease and to pay the Annual Rent The Petition of Joseph Bates Corporal Setting forth therein that He haveing had leave to Purchase about One Acre of the Honnble Compas Lease Land of Richard Beale Scituate at a place Calld Climb Spring at foot of Pursley Bed Hill, Humbly prays to have the same Measurd & a Lease Graunted him for the usual usual teerme of Years And &c Granted, and Accordingly Ordered That a Warrant be Issued out for the Surveyor to Measure the Same ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Hardings to part wth Some Not granted in generall Termly Bates Petico for ye lease of Beales Land Granted | John Harding therefore asked leave to let Matthew Mudge have about 13 or 14 acres of the leased land, or to sell his right in it for the term mentioned in the lease, as the council thought best. The council granted this, but not unless Matthew Mudge gave other security than his own to perform the covenants in the lease and to pay the annual rent. Joseph Bates, corporal, set out in his petition that, having had leave to buy about one acre of the Company's leased land from Richard Beale at a place called Lemon Spring at the foot of Pursley Bed Hill, he asked to have it measured and a lease granted him for the usual term of years. The council granted this, and ordered accordingly that a warrant be issued for the surveyor to measure it. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The condition that Matthew Mudge provide security beyond his own before taking the sublet land shows the council guarding the performance of the lease covenants and the payment of rent where the new tenant had no estate of his own to answer for them. By requiring a surety, the bench protected the Company's interest in a holding passed to a landless soldier, ensuring that the obligations of the lease would be met even though the tenant himself offered no security. The grant to Joseph Bates of the small parcel at Lemon Spring continued the council's practice of confirming purchases of leased land by survey and a fresh lease, the measurement fixing the bounds before the term was granted. This reflects the standing requirement that every transfer of the Company's land be regularised through the surveyor and a recorded lease, the council sanctioning the dealing between Bates and Richard Beale once the formal steps were set in train. | |
137 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Monday the 9th day of Octobr 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Pres Jno Alexander & Jno Goodwin The last Consultation read and approovd of Yesterday the 8th Instt Arrived the Ship Drake Capt Wm Westerban Comander (who Succeeded Capt Whitaker) from England with a Cargoe of Goods & Merchandize Consignd for this place by the Honnble Compa and a Generall Letter dated the 31st of May 1721 with all the other Papers Containd in the Packet, As also a Letter & Invoice for 10 Pipes of Wine from Madera We proceeded in reading the Said Generall Letter and finding therein Mr Ormston to be Restored to his former post in Council and Accomptant, He was thereupon Sent for, and took his place Accordingly And in Paragra the 70 Relating to Capt Cason He was also Sent for in and Acquainted therewith Orderd That Mr Ormston do Examine the Said Capt Casons Acco and make his Report next Consultation day The Governr readily Delivered his two Black Wenches Mentioned in the 66 Para of Said Letter, for the Margin Notes: Ship Drakes Arrivall fm England Proceedings Govr & Councd Govr Slabs | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Monday 9 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The ship Drake, Captain William Westerban commander, who had succeeded Captain Whitaker, arrived yesterday, 8 October, from England with a cargo of goods and merchandise consigned for the island by the Company. She brought a general letter dated 31 May 1721, with all the other papers contained in the packet, and a letter and invoice for 10 pipes of wine from Madeira. The council proceeded to read the general letter. Finding that Mr Ormston was to be restored to his former post in council and as accountant, the council sent for him, and he took his place accordingly. As to paragraph 70, concerning Captain Cason, he was also sent for and acquainted with it. The council ordered that Mr Ormston examine Captain Cason's account and make his report at the next consultation. The Governor readily delivered up his two slave women mentioned in paragraph 66 of the letter, for [...] Interpretations The restoration of Ormston to the council and the accountant's office reversed his suspension of 24 May 1720, the directors overriding the council's local action by their general letter. This shows the home authority's power to reinstate an officer the island had removed, the directors' instructions carried by the Drake settling the dispute over the accounts in Ormston's favour and returning him to the post from which the council had barred him. The arrival of the general letter set the council's agenda for the session, each paragraph directing a particular action, from Ormston's restoration to the examination of Cason's account and the delivery of the Governor's slave women. This paragraph-by-paragraph response shows the directors' letter functioning as the binding instruction by which the home authority governed the island's affairs, the council carrying out its terms point by point as the Company's standing direction required. | |
138 | the use and Service of the Honnble Compa Vizt Ellin at at twenty Pounds, and Sarah & her two Children at twenty one pounds, for which he is to have Creditt in his Acco Accordingly Ordered That a Letter be Wrote & Sent Capt Westebanto desire him to send Us on Shore the Cargoe of Goods as Soon as possible And likewise that a Copy of the two Para relating to Mr Free be sent him ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 10 day of Octobr 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Pres Edwd Byfeld 2d Jno Alexander 3 & Joseph Ormston 5 in Coun The Last Consultation read & Approovd of The Custom Master brought Us this day an Acco of what Goods came on Shore Yesterday from on Board the Drake, which was only a Present to Joseph Bates Corpl of Necessaryes for his family sent him by his Brother from England, not amounting in the whole to above £3 which We dont think to be within the Intent of Our Honnble Masters, to pay Custom for Necessaries or small trifling Presents Mr Ormston According to the Order of last Con sultation brought In Capt Casons Acco and finds the Margin Notes: of his Blacks Ordr to send ye Cargo a Shore Jno Goodwin 4 abt being onboard the Ship looking aftr the Madera Wine Custom Mastr Acco of ye ye Custom freed for Necessarys | The Governor delivered up his two slave women for the use and service of the Company: Ellen at £20 0s 0d, and Sarah and her two children at £21 0s 0d, for which he was to have credit in his account accordingly. The council ordered that a letter be written and sent to Captain Westerban, asking him to send the cargo of goods ashore as soon as possible, and likewise that a copy of the two paragraphs concerning Mr Free be sent to him. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 10 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and Joseph Ormston as fifth in council. John Goodwin, the fourth, was absent, being aboard the Drake attending to the Madeira wine. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The customs officer brought in this day an account of the goods that had come ashore yesterday from the Drake, which was only a present to Joseph Bates, corporal, of necessaries for his family sent him by his brother from England, not amounting in the whole to above £3 0s 0d. The council did not think this within the directors' intention, to pay customs for necessaries or small trifling presents. Mr Ormston, under the order of the previous consultation, brought in Captain Cason's account and found [...] Interpretations The Governor's surrender of his slave women to the Company at a fixed valuation, taken in credit against his account, shows the transfer of human property settled through the books at appraised values, Ellen and Sarah priced separately with her children. This conversion of slaves into a credit on the Governor's account, made under the directors' instruction in their letter, reflects the routine treatment of slaves as valued assets that could be moved between owner and Company and reckoned in the accounts. The council's exemption of Bates's small parcel of family necessaries from customs shows the bench reading the directors' intention purposively rather than literally, judging that the duty was not meant to fall on trifling personal presents. By distinguishing a genuine consignment of trade goods from a private gift of necessaries, the council exercised a discretion grounded in the spirit of the Company's customs policy, sparing a minor personal import the charge designed for commercial cargo. Ormston's immediate employment to examine Cason's account, on the day after his restoration, marks his return to the accountant's duties under the directors' instruction. The reference of the account to the newly reinstated accountant shows the council resuming the ordinary business of the office through the officer the home authority had restored, the examination of Cason's affairs proceeding under his hand. | |
139 | the Ballance due to him to be Eight Hundred Seventy five Pounds Seven Shillings & three farthings, but no Transfeers to his Credit Since May or 1719 The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Expend ed Since the 3 Instt which was Examind & Approovd of The following Petitions were Presented vizt The Petition of Joseph Coles planter Setting forth that he haveing had leave Some him Since to goe off the Island for India in the first Outward bound Ship which being now Arrived Intends to Pursue his Resolution But haveing five Acres of the Honnble Compas Waste Land and a Plantation therein which Cost him fifty Pounds, did Petition for leave to Dispose off & Sell the same, which being not then granted makes now his Second request to the same Purpose & beggs our Consideration of the Premisses, & Loss he is likely to Suffer if not Allowed to Sell his Lease & Provisions The Petitioner is Answered That he haveing once before Petitiond to the same Purpose which was Rejected for the reason We give in Consultation of the 12 Septr last, We think it very Proper, and Accordingly Order That no Petition be deliverd into Council a Second time After this, that Relates to the same thing or matter before layd before Us and Determined The Petition of Richard Beale planter Setting forth that at his Voluntary & Earnest request to Us he did Obtain leave for him & his wife to goe off the Island for India in the first outward bound Ship that Margin Notes: Ballce of Capt Casons acco Jos Coles Peti tion to Sell the Surr Coms Plantac tion & Leafe Rejected for form reasons ye petition to be Dele Etterm before Determind Rd Beals Petition to | Mr Ormston found the balance due to Captain Cason to be £875 7s 3¾d, with no transfers entered to his credit since 30 March 1719. The doctor delivered his book of medicines dispensed since 3 October, which the council examined and approved. The following petitions were then presented. Joseph Coles, planter, set out in his petition that, having had leave some time before to leave the island for India on the first ship sailing from here, and that ship having now arrived, he intended to carry out his plan. Holding five acres of the Company's waste land and a plantation on it which had cost him £50 0s 0d, he had petitioned for leave to sell or dispose of it, which not having then been granted, he now made his second request to the same purpose. He asked the council to consider the matter, and the loss he was likely to suffer if not allowed to sell his lease and provisions. The council answered that, he having petitioned once before to the same purpose, which was rejected for the reasons given at the consultation of 12 September last, it thought it very proper, and ordered accordingly, that no petition be delivered into council a second time after this that related to the same matter already laid before the council and determined. Richard Beale, planter, set out in his petition that, at his own voluntary and earnest request, he had obtained leave for himself and his wife to leave the island for India on the first ship sailing from here [...] Interpretations The council's refusal to hear Joseph Coles's renewed petition, and its order that no matter once determined be brought a second time, asserted the finality of its decisions against repeated application. By making a general rule of the particular case, the bench protected its proceedings from being reopened by persistent petitioners, the rejection of the same request on the same ground at the consultation of 12 September 1721 settling the question against further appeal. The large credit balance of £875 7s 3¾d found due to Captain Cason, with nothing entered since March 1719, is a further instance of the unrecorded obligations the audit had been uncovering, a substantial sum standing unsettled for more than two years. This connects to Cason's long-standing wish to have the Company hold his credit at interest rather than leave it idle on the island, the account now examined showing the scale of what was owed to a departing servant the Company served as banker. | |
140 | that Should Arrive here, But he haveing Since Con sidered the Inconveniencys that might Attend him & that it would (in all Probability) be more for his Interest to Desist Such his Unadvised Resolution Doth now Humbly pray he may Continue on the Island as an Inhabitant thereof, it being his & his wives Native Country, assuring Us he will at all future times readily Submit to and obey all the Laws & Constitutions thereof And &c Granted The following is Copy of a Letter Sent Yesterday to Capt Westerbane Comandr of the Drake Capt Westerbane You are hereby Desired In pursu ance to your Charterparty & Bill of Loading To Send on Shore the Severall Parcells and quantityes of Goods and Merchandize Consignd to Us by the Honnble Court of Directors, and Desire You'l be as Expeditious in the Landing them as Possible and if you want any Assistance We are ready to Supply You We are Your Humble Servts Union Castle St Helena Octr the 9th 1721 Capt Cason at present Desired that ye Sume of 875 be the Sume at Interest ExptJohnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Margin Notes: Continue on the Island Ordr to Capt Westerbane to Send on Shore the Cargoes of Capt Cason desire ye Sume Casons had at Interest | Richard Beale, having since considered the difficulties that might attend him and that it would in all probability be more to his advantage to give up his ill-advised plan, now asked to remain on the island as an inhabitant, it being his and his wife's native country. He assured the council that he would at all future times readily submit to and obey all its laws and constitutions. The council granted this. The following is a copy of a letter sent yesterday to Captain Westerban, commander of the Drake. The letter to Captain Westerban asked him, under his charter party and bill of lading, to send ashore the several parcels and quantities of goods and merchandise consigned to the council by the directors. It desired him to be as quick in landing them as possible, and offered him any assistance he needed. It was dated at Union Castle, St Helena, on 9 October 1721. Captain Cason, being present, asked that the sum of £875 0s 0d, the amount of his account, be held at interest. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield and John Alexander. Interpretations Richard Beale's reversal of his decision to leave, and his request to remain with a promise of obedience to the island's laws, shows the council requiring a returning inhabitant to renew his submission to its authority. By granting his continuance on his undertaking to obey, the bench treated the right to settle as conditional on acceptance of its government, the promise recorded as the basis on which the leave to depart was set aside. Captain Cason's request to leave his balance of £875 0s 0d with the Company at interest records the island's want of any safe place to invest a departing servant's money, leaving the Company to act as banker. This continued the arrangement Cason had sought earlier, the absence of any other secure investment on the remote island making the Company the only keeper of his capital, his large credit held at interest rather than carried away or left idle. The letter to Captain Westerban shows the council enforcing the master's contractual duty to land the consigned cargo, the charter party and bill of lading binding him to deliver the goods to the island. By pressing for quick discharge and offering assistance, the bench sought to get the Company's merchandise ashore without delay, the commander held to the terms on which his ship carried the consignment. | |
141 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 17th of October 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Capt Willm Westerbane John Alexander Comander of the Drake Pres John Goodwin Joseph Ormston The last Consultation read and approved of The Gentlemen of the Council report they have been according to the Order of Consultation of the 3 Instant and measured the 20 acres of free land formerly Perkins and had made a Distinction between that and the 30 Acres of Leased Land Orderd That the plott of the 20 acres be lodgd in the Secretarys office Capt Goodwin Reports that according to Consultation of the 5th of Septr last He had Examined the Invoice to find the price of the Pewter Dishes Joseph Bates had Detaind of the Honnble Companys and that the price of each Oval Dish was nine Shillings and five pence farthing so that he is to be charged with three times the Vallue at which we therein in the afore said Consultation Mr Byfeld desird that a warrant may be granted against John Lacy of this Island for £166 7 11 he having triffled with him along while, Granted Orderd that a warrant be Issued out to Secure the Honnble Compas Debt due from the said Lacy Margin Notes: Report of ye Per kins Land measured & Divided Plott lodgd in the Office Price of ye Oval Dishes in ye Stores Jo Bates fined Wart agt Lacy for Money Compas Debt of Lacy to be Secured | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 17 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. The councillors reported that, under the order of the consultation of 3 October, they had measured the 20 acres of free land formerly Perkins's and made a distinction between it and the 30 acres of leased land. The council ordered that the plot of the 20 acres be lodged in the Secretary's office. Captain Goodwin reported that, under the order of the consultation of 5 September last, he had examined the invoice to find the price of the pewter dishes Joseph Bates had detained of the Company's, and that the price of each oval dish was 9 shillings 5¼ pence, so that Bates was to be charged with three times the value, as found at that consultation. Mr Byfield asked that a warrant be granted against John Lacy of the island for £166 7s 11½d, Lacy having trifled with him a long while. The council granted it, and ordered that a warrant be issued to secure the Company's debt due from Lacy. Interpretations The completion of the Perkins survey and the lodging of the plot in the Secretary's office fixed the boundary between the Company's leased land and the heir's free land in a permanent record. By depositing the corrected plan with the secretary, the council established an authoritative document for the division, replacing the faulty earlier plot that had forced the resurvey and securing the demarcation against future dispute over which ground was the Company's. The charging of Joseph Bates with three times the value of the oval dish, fixed at 9 shillings 5¼ pence each, carried out the composition agreed at the consultation of 5 September 1721 in place of his prosecution. By setting the penalty at treble the recorded invoice price, the council applied a proportionate charge grounded in the dish's documented cost, completing the substitution of a fixed monetary penalty for a criminal trial. The warrant against John Lacy to secure a debt of £166 7s 11½d shows the council moving to enforce recovery against a debtor who had delayed settlement, the same Lacy earlier discharged from the accountant's office for negligence. By issuing a warrant to secure the Company's claim, the bench applied its standing practice of pursuing outstanding debts through legal process, the long trifling over payment exhausting its patience. | |
142 | Mr Benjamin Hawkes was this day calld in, on that Part in ye Genral Letter relating to Mr Hawkes, we have appointed him Clerk of ye Council The Governour reports that Thomas Hoshinson made Complaint to him against John Long for refusing to pay him a Just Debt of £0 10 and giving him abusive language when he demanded it he had orderd him to be Summond to appear before the Council this day Thomas Hoshinson appeard and says John Long had since been with him and made him Satisfaction Capt Alexander reports that Pursuant to the order of the last Consul tation he had diliverd a Coppy of the Para in the General Letter (Relating to Mr Free) on Tuesday last to Mr Free and that on the Eleventh being wensday following he put out an advertizement by order of the Governour Island St Helena By the Worshipfl Edwd Johnson Esqr Governour An Advertizement Whereas Thomas Free of this Island Planter hath taken upon him to make Divers Complaints to the Honnble Court of Directors against the Government of the said Island, and for the clearing the same and Examining into the truth thereof They have orderd in their General Letter by the Ship Drake Para 44 that the said Free be allowed to make good his allegations if he can, Where fore we have at his request appointed Tuesday next for that pur pose and Intend to sitt publickly in the hall within Union Castle Margin Notes: Mr Hawkes Appointed Clerk of ye Council Tho Hoshinson Compl agt Jno Long Report of ye Frees had a Coppy of ye Paragr deld to him Advertizemt abt Frees Affaire | Mr Benjamin Hawkes was this day called in, on that part of the general letter relating to him. The council appointed him clerk of the council. The Governor reported that Thomas Hoskinson had complained to him against John Long for refusing to pay a just debt of £10 0s 0d and giving him abusive language when he demanded it. He had ordered Long to be summoned to appear before the council this day. Thomas Hoskinson appeared and said that John Long had since come to him and made him satisfaction. Captain Alexander reported that, under the order of the previous consultation, he had delivered a copy of the paragraph in the general letter concerning Mr Free on Tuesday last, and that on the eleventh, being the Wednesday following, he had put out an advertisement by order of the Governor. The advertisement, issued by Governor Edward Johnson, set out that Thomas Free, planter of the island, had made various complaints to the directors against the government of the island. For clearing the matter and examining the truth of it, the directors had ordered in their general letter by the Drake, paragraph 44, that Free be allowed to make good his allegations if he could. The council had therefore at his request appointed the following Tuesday for that purpose, and intended to sit publicly in the hall within Union Castle. Interpretations The directors' order that Free be allowed to make good his allegations against the government shows the home authority requiring the council to give a public hearing to a complaint made against itself. By directing the bench to examine the charges and let Free prove them if he could, the directors imposed a check on the island's administration, the council bound to sit publicly on accusations brought to London against its own conduct rather than dismissing them. The council's appointment of a public sitting in the hall to hear Free's allegations reflects the formal procedure required to clear the government of the charges, the openness of the proceeding serving to demonstrate that the matter was fairly examined. By advertising the hearing and sitting in public, the bench sought to vindicate its conduct in the manner the directors had prescribed, the transparency of the inquiry being part of its answer to the complaint. The swift settlement of the Hoskinson debt once Long was summoned shows the council's summons operating as effective pressure for payment, the threat of appearance before the bench bringing satisfaction without a hearing. This illustrates the practical force of the council's authority in private debt disputes, the mere prospect of being called to account inducing a reluctant debtor to settle. | |
143 | Castle where & when all persons whatsoever are at free Liberty to come and be witnesses to the whole affaire Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 14 day of Octobr 1721 & Signid pr Jno Alexander The Governeour Reports That Thomas Free was with him on ye 11 instant for a summons for Gabriell Powell, James Grantree, Richd Gurling, James Rider, John Bagley Sevtr & Isaac Leach as evidences for him to appear here on this day The marshall returnd the 2 Summons above said and request ed us he had served them The marshall made Proclamation that all persons were at Liberty to come in to hear Mr Free make good his complaints all the morning was spent therein & from 3 to past 7 in the evening by which ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on the 24th of Octobr 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Capt Willm Westerbane Edwd Byfeld 2 Comandr of the Drake Pres John Alexander John Goodwin Joseph Ormston The Consultation read and approovd of This being the first Consultation Since the delivery of the Goods Capt Margin Notes: Frees desird Sevll Evidences to be Sumond Proclamacion abt Frees Case | The advertisement closed by stating that all persons whatsoever were at free liberty to come and witness the whole affair. It was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 14 October 1721 and signed by John Alexander. The Governor reported that Thomas Free had been with him on the eleventh for a summons for Gabriel Powell, James Greentree, Richard Gurling, James Rider, John Bagley senior and Isaac Leech, as witnesses to appear here this day. The marshal returned the two summonses above and reported that he had served them. The marshal made proclamation that all persons were at liberty to come in to hear Mr Free make good his complaints. The whole morning was spent in this, and from three to seven in the evening. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 24 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. This was the first consultation since the delivery of the goods [...] Interpretations The summoning of Free's own witnesses at his request, and the day-long public hearing of his complaints, show the council giving him full opportunity to prove his allegations as the directors had required. By compelling the attendance of the men he named and devoting the whole day to hearing him, the bench conducted the inquiry in the open and even-handed manner prescribed, allowing the complainant to call evidence in support of charges made against the government itself. The proclamation inviting all persons to attend marked the hearing as a public proceeding, the openness intended to demonstrate that Free's case against the administration was fairly and fully examined. This transparency answered the directors' direction to clear the matter, the council's willingness to sit publicly on accusations brought to London serving as its vindication before both the home authority and the island. | |
144 | Capt Goodwin Reported he had received all the Goods according to the bill of lading within the Ten worhing dayes The Petition of Mary Bedloe was presented To the Worshipl Edward Johnson Esqr Govr & Compa and Council The Humble Petition of Mary Bedloe (alter Mary Swallow) Humbly Sheweth That your poor Petitioner being reduced to want a necisary main tainance do most Humbly request I may be permitted to go off this Island elsewher to seek my bread, in this ship now in the road my Children being all provided for I do most Humbly conceive my stay cannot be anyway serviceable Hopeing your Worship will take my sad case into your consideration and grant my request and your Petio shall as in duty bound for your worships health for ever Pray Mary Bedloe Island St Helena Octobr 26 1721 Not granted untill she makes proposals for her maintenance in India Upon the Arisal of the Para of the Honnble Lord Companys Letter by this present ship relating to transfeers and Cash we resolve that there be in every quarter a reserve of one quarters diett in the Companys hands to make Satisfaction to the planters for the diet of each soldier this order to commence from xmas next and that publick notice be given before that time, and that remainer of their pay be given out in Cash every month, the further consideration of the Para be referd to ane other oppertunity Then we went on with our Remarks in Mr Frees Evidences and publick notice was given by the marshall that all persons were at liberty to come into the Hall as before, all the morning was spent therein and from three to six in the Evening Adjornd till next morning ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Goods of ye Cargo recd Mary Bedloes Petn to goe Off Not granted yet a reserve of one qua diett in ye Compas hands to ye diet of planters Remarks on Frees Evidces | Captain Goodwin reported that he had received all the goods according to the bill of lading within the ten charter-party days. Mary Bedloe, formerly Mary Swallow, presented her petition to the Governor and Council. She set out that, being reduced to want of a necessary maintenance, she asked leave to leave the island and seek her living elsewhere, on the ship now in the road. Her children were all provided for, and she believed her stay could be of no service. She asked the council to consider her sad case and grant her request. The petition was dated at St Helena on 26 October 1721. The council would not grant it until she made proposals for her maintenance in India. On the arrival of the paragraph of the Company's letter by the present ship concerning transfers and cash, the council resolved that there be in every quarter a reserve of one quarter's diet in the Company's hands to make satisfaction to the planters for the diet of each soldier. Public notice was to be given before that time so it might commence from Christmas, and the remainder of their pay given out in cash every month. The council deferred further consideration of the paragraph to another opportunity. The council went on with its remarks on Free's evidence, public notice being given by the marshal that all persons were at liberty to come into the hall as before. The whole morning was spent in this, and from three to six in the evening. The matter was adjourned to the next morning. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The council's refusal to let Mary Bedloe depart until she settled provision for her maintenance in India shows the bench guarding against the abandonment of a person who might become a charge elsewhere. By requiring proposals for her support before granting leave, the council applied the same caution it exercised over departures generally, ensuring that those it allowed to go would not be left destitute or thrown back on a parish abroad. The reserve of a quarter's diet money in the Company's hands to pay the planters for soldiers' victualling set up a standing fund to secure those who fed the garrison, the planters guaranteed satisfaction for the diet they provided. By holding back a quarter's worth as security and giving the soldiers the rest of their pay monthly in cash, the council under the directors' instruction balanced the planters' need for assured payment against the soldiers' need for ready money, structuring the arrangement to protect both. The continued public examination of Free's evidence over a second full day shows the council pursuing the directors' direction to clear the charges through a thorough and open inquiry. The careful recording of the time spent and the adjournment to the next morning marks the deliberate manner in which the bench worked through the complaint, the transparency and persistence serving its vindication before the home authority. | |
145 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednesday the 25 Octobr 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres John Alexander John Goodwin Joseph Ormston The last consultation read and approovd of Mr Hawkes did this morning desire the Governours Liberty to go on Board in order to Settle some affairs with some Gentlemen who were going into the country wherefore we mett this afternoon Adjr till tomorrow morning Because Mr Johnson cannot be found whose last deposition is to be Reexmind at Mr Ormstons request, Mr French to be examind also ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Thursday Capt Wm Westerbane the 26 of Octobr 1721 at Union Castle Comand of the Drake In James Valley Pres Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin Joseph Ormston The last Consultation read and Approovd of Mr French appeard and upon Recollecting himself since his former Deposition he has recollected some perticular in stances relating to Mr Frees haveing another wife and deposes That Margin Notes: Adjr Consultacion Adjd & adjornd for reasons | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Wednesday 25 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Mr Hawkes this morning asked the Governor's leave to go aboard to settle some affairs with some gentlemen who were going into the country. The council therefore met this afternoon, and adjourned to the next morning, because Mr Johnson could not be found, whose last deposition was to be re-examined at Mr Ormston's request, and Mr French was also to be examined. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Thursday 26 October 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Start of crossed out section Mr French appeared and, on recollecting himself since his former deposition, had remembered some particulars about Mr Free having another wife, and deposed that End of crossed out section Interpretations The adjournment of the council because a witness could not be found, and the re-examination of depositions at the accountant's request, show the bench taking care to test the evidence in Free's matter thoroughly before reaching any conclusion. This attention to securing every witness and reviewing prior testimony reflects the deliberate manner in which the council pursued the directors' direction to examine the truth of Free's complaints, the inquiry not closed while material evidence remained to be heard. The cancellation of the passage recording French's evidence about Free's other wife shows the clerk striking out testimony the council chose not to let stand on the record. The deliberate removal of an allegation of bigamy, once entered, marks the bench controlling what was preserved in its formal proceedings, the struck passage indicating that the matter was either withdrawn, found unsupported or reserved from the official account. | |
146 | That one Mr Sanderson formerly an Ensigne here was in Ireland at the same time as Mr Free was as he has heard him say, and used to hitt Mr Free in the teeth very often of a wife he had in Ireland and has heard him ask Mr Free if he did not remember a Gentleman that went up Staires in the house where he took Lodgings or did live and whether he did not find the said Gentleman in a room either on or in ye bed with a gentlewoman that Mr Sanderson Sayd was his ye said Frees wife and the Gentleman seeing the Said Free returning down Staires did Imediatly gett up and draw his sword and cutt the Said Free on the back part of his neck and that this deponent has seen the mark where the sword did cutt him severall times and that the Said Sanderson has twitted the said Free in a Jockeing manor that he had a Ring with a Sypher hit hand in hand from the Same Gentlewoman to which Mr Free swore and Sayd he Gave it her Henry Johnson being now sworn Deposes that sometime since on a consultation day the Governour deliverd a Bill to him and bid him go and ask Mr Ormston who was to have the Credit for that bill he went up Staires to Mr Ormston and Shewed him the Bill open and asking him who was to have the Credit he replyed Mr Free was and when he was gott to the outward door comeing down Mr Ormston called to him to see the Bill again and after a Second Sight of it told him Mr Free was in the hall and bid him go and ask him thus far he says he is positive and to the best of his Remembrance when he did speak to Mr Free in the Hall he told him Mr Ormston was to have the Credit Mr French & Mr Johnson appeard and gave in their deposition on oath, we went through the whole Resolved and accordingly Orderd that the whole proceedings be drawn up into a proper method and a Copy thereof Deliverd to him sometime Tomorrow ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Evidences Examd & on oath | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Thursday 26 October 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Start of crossed out section Mr French appeared and, on recollecting himself since his former deposition, had remembered some particulars about Mr Free having another wife, and deposed that one Mr Sanderson, formerly an ensign here, had been in Ireland at the same time as Mr Free, as he had heard him say, and used to taunt Mr Free very often about a wife he had in Ireland. He had heard Sanderson ask Free whether he did not remember a gentleman who went upstairs in the house where he lodged, and whether he had not found that gentleman in a room either on or in a bed with a gentlewoman, Sanderson saying it was Free's wife. Seeing Free coming back down the stairs, the gentleman had immediately got up and drawn his sword and cut Free on the back. The deponent had seen the mark where the sword cut him several times. Sanderson had also taunted Free in a mocking manner that he had a ring with a cipher on it in his hand from the same gentlewoman, which Free admitted, saying he had given it to her. Henry Johnson, being sworn, deposed that some time before, on a consultation day, the Governor had given him a bill and told him to ask Mr Ormston who was to have the credit for it. He went up to Mr Ormston and showed him the bill open, and asked who was to have the credit. Ormston replied that Mr Free was. As he reached the outer door coming down, Ormston called to him to see the bill again, and after a second look told him Mr Free was in the hall. To the best of his remembrance, when he spoke to Mr Free in the hall, he told him Mr Ormston was to have the credit. End of crossed out section Mr French and Mr Johnson appeared and gave in their depositions on oath, and the council went through the whole. The council resolved and ordered that the whole proceedings be drawn up into a proper form and a copy delivered to Free some time the next day. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The cancellation of the depositions of French and Johnson shows the clerk striking from the record the very evidence that had just been entered, the council choosing not to let this testimony stand in its formal proceedings. The removal of both the bigamy allegation against Free and the confused account of the disputed bill marks the bench controlling what was preserved, the struck passages indicating the matter was withdrawn, superseded by the sworn versions taken afterwards, or reserved from the official account. The order to draw the whole proceedings into proper form and deliver a copy to Free completed the council's public examination of his allegations, giving him the record of the inquiry the directors had required. By furnishing him with a copy, the bench ensured he had the documented result of the hearing, the formal account serving both his right to the proceedings and the council's answer to the charges he had carried to London. | |
147 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Fryday Capt Wm Westerbane the 27 of October 1721 at Union Castle Comd of the Ship Drake Pres In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin Jos Ormston The Secretary brought in the proceedings relating to Mr Free but is afraid that the Severall depositions being taken so Irregularly it will be imposable to enter the same in the fair Council Book in the Same order without a copy be feist taken of the whole Wherefore ordered that ye Said proceedings be Copyd over and then to be deliverd to Mr Free Mr Ormston brought in and delivered the following Remonstrance Island St Helena To the Worship & Edward Johnson Esqr Govr &c Council The Remonstrance of Jos Ormston Worshipfule Sr and Gentlemen The Satisfaction I receive in the Favour lately conferred on me by my Honnble Masters would be compleat, if that my farmer circum stances had not so entangled me, that I cannot propose nor have pro posed any better view than my removal from this Island, to which I have wrote that it might Humbly be moved to the Consideration of the Honorable the Court of Directors at London, but through the Margin Notes: the Proceedings in Frees Case to be Copyd & ye Dela him Mr Ormstons Remonstrance | A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Friday 27 October 1721. Governor Edward Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The secretary brought in the proceedings concerning Mr Free, but feared that, the several depositions having been taken so irregularly, it would be impossible to enter them in the fair council book in the same order without a copy of the whole being first taken. The council therefore ordered that the proceedings be copied over and then delivered to Mr Free. Mr Ormston brought in and delivered the following remonstrance to the Governor and Council. Ormston's remonstrance set out that the satisfaction he felt at the favour lately conferred on him by the directors would be complete were it not that his former circumstances had so entangled him that he could propose no better course than his removal from the island. He had written that this might be put before the directors at London, but through [...] Interpretations The secretary's concern that the irregularly taken depositions could not be entered in proper order without first being copied shows the importance attached to the formal council book as the authoritative record. By ordering a fair copy made before the entry and the delivery to Free, the bench ensured that its official register preserved the proceedings in correct form, the rough and out-of-order testimony reduced to a proper account for both the record and the complainant. Ormston's remonstrance, brought immediately after his restoration to office, shows the reinstated accountant pressing his own wish to leave the island despite the favour the directors had shown him. His entangled circumstances and his request to be removed reflect the personal difficulties that had marked his earlier breakdown in the office, the home authority's decision to restore him not having resolved the situation that made him want to depart. | |
148 | Death of some and the unfreseen misfortunes of others to whom I had confided the management thereof. I do persume it hath not been attempted Wherefore it being obvious to each one that I can reap nothing but un easiness and Grief by my stay here (under the circumstances of the present Veiws) I do Worshipfull Sr and Gentm humbly lay this before you that (if it is thought proper) I may Obtain liberty to go hence after having settled my Accompt for Sallary &c According to former Usages I Earnestly crave that I may not hereby be even suspected of an Indifference for the favours of The Honnble Company for nothing can be more Acceptable to me than to Merit and obtain them but that I may be understood, rightly my only aim herein being to pursue Their Interests to my lifes end with clearness and Serenity of mind, and beleiving I may be more capable thereof in other Their Honours settlements than here I submit the premisses to your Consideration and am Worshipl Sr & Gentn October 27th 1721 Your most obedient Humbl Servant Joseph Ormston And Debateing upon the 39 Para Relating to Mr Ormston Occa sioned by that part of his Remonstrance relating to his Sallary &c Upon Enquiry and finding that those Gentlemen who had been Sus pended upon their Readmission have been allowed both Sallary and gratuity dureing the time of their suspencion We are of opinion that the words in the Sd Para are meant only to Encourage his future diligence and not designed to prevent his having Sallary for the time past Orderd that he have Credit for the same accordingly and leave according Margin Notes: Enquayrie made into former Suspentions Opinions in this Affaire & Cr Allowd ye | Ormston's remonstrance continued, noting that the death of some persons and the unforeseen misfortunes of others to whom he had entrusted the management of his affairs meant his plan had probably not been carried out. Since it was plain to everyone that he could reap nothing but unease and grief by his stay, he asked the council, if it thought proper, to grant him leave to depart, after settling his account for salary and the like according to former practice. He earnestly asked that he not be suspected of any indifference toward the directors' favours, for nothing could be more welcome to him than to merit and obtain them. His only aim was to pursue their interests to the end of his life with clearness and serenity of mind, and believing he might be better able to do so in another of their settlements than here, he submitted the matter to the council. The remonstrance was dated 27 October 1721 and signed by Joseph Ormston. The council then debated paragraph 39 of the general letter concerning Mr Ormston, raised by that part of his remonstrance about his salary. On enquiry, finding that those officers who had been suspended and then readmitted had been allowed both salary and gratuity during the time of their suspension, the council was of opinion that the words in the paragraph were meant only to encourage Ormston's future diligence, and not to prevent his having salary for the time past. It ordered that he be credited for the same accordingly. Interpretations The council's interpretation of paragraph 39 in Ormston's favour, allowing him salary for the period of his suspension, rested on the precedent of other readmitted officers who had received both salary and gratuity for their suspended time. By reading the directors' words as an encouragement to future diligence rather than a forfeiture of past pay, the bench resolved an ambiguity in the general letter by reference to established practice, granting the reinstated accountant the back salary that consistency required. Ormston's plea to be allowed to serve the Company in another of its settlements, while professing his devotion to the directors' interest, frames his request to leave not as ingratitude but as a search for a posting where he could be more effective. This shows the reinstated officer seeking to reconcile his personal need to depart the island with his obligation to the Company, the entanglement of his affairs here making a fresh start elsewhere his proposed course. | |
149 | According to his desire to go off for India ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 31 of Octr 1721 at Union Castle In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin Joseph Ormston Mr Hawkes acquainted us that he had sent a Letter to Mr Free by the Marshall which is as Follows Mr Thos Free Sr Pursuant to an Order of Council of yesterday I send you a Copy of the Governour and council their Remarks on your evi dence a Copy of the Severall orders of Council from time to time made Relating to your affairs a Copy of the Inventory and apraisment by Messrs Powell and Greentree a Copy of the account of Sale I hereby also acquaint you by the same order you are requird to make reply if you have any to make on Tuesday morning next at a Consultation to be held for the dispatch of your affairs hereof fail not Your Humbl Servt Union Castle Octr 22 1721 Ben Hawkes clk Council Margin Notes: Hawkes goe Off Mr Hawkes Lettr to ye Free abt Reply to his Affaire | The council granted Ormston leave according to his wish to go to India. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 31 October 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third, John Goodwin as fourth and Joseph Ormston as fifth. Mr Hawkes reported that he had sent a letter to Mr Free by the marshal, which was as follows. The letter to Thomas Free stated that, under the order of council of the previous day, the clerk was sending him a copy of the Governor and Council's remarks on his evidence, a copy of the several orders of council made from time to time concerning his affairs, a copy of the inventory and appraisement by Powell and Greentree, and a copy of the account of sale. By the same order, Free was required to make his reply, if he had any, on Tuesday morning next, at a consultation to be held for the despatch of his affairs. It was dated at Union Castle on 28 October 1721 and signed by Benjamin Hawkes, clerk of the council. Interpretations The delivery to Free of copies of the remarks on his evidence, the orders of council, the inventory and the account of sale gave him the full documentary record on which the council had acted in his affairs. By furnishing him with every relevant paper and inviting his reply, the bench observed the procedure the directors had required for examining his complaints, ensuring he had the materials to answer and that the proceeding was conducted in the open and regular manner prescribed. The grant of Ormston's leave to go to India completed the council's response to his remonstrance, the reinstated accountant allowed to depart for another of the Company's settlements after his salary was settled. This shows the bench accommodating the officer's wish to leave even as it credited him his back pay, the directors' restoration of him to office not standing in the way of his removal to a posting where he judged he could better serve. | |
150 | Mr Byfeld Reported that he had inquir'd of Capt Wm Westerbane how many Blacks he could carry to the west Coast peunsuant to the Honorable Companys Directions in their Letter to us his answer was that he could not conveniently take more then twenty according thereunto Mr Byfeld brought in a list of twenty which the docter Says were all well the names are as follows to Vizt Men years women gentlewomen years Marcus aged 24 Eve aged 19 Sambo 23 Nate 22 George 18 Blacks Sent to Margaret 20 Chatham 22 Bencoolen pr Drake Senhy 20 Drake 25 anneco 19 Hague 30 winny 20 Tom 25 Lucy 22 Mataua 20 Doll 20 Salvadore 21 Mercy 17 Tom Low 28 10 In all 20 10 Merey 30 Mr Free brought in a paper which is all the reply he has to make to the remarks as he told the Governour when he delivord it into Consultation ExptJohnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Fryday the 3 of Novr 1721 at Union Castle Capt Westerbane In James Valley Comd of the Drake Pres Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Aprooved of Margin Notes: a List of ye Blacks to be Sold Bencoolen According to ye Order We have this Day (the Ship Drake) sent ye Blacks to ye Number of 20 to be Sold pr ye Hon Compa at ye Wt Coast that are Sent to Bencoolen According to Mr Smiths Desire this Day (ye Surgeon of the Ship Drake) we ordd 1 Bagg of Rice & one Bagg of Sugar to be Delivered to him for ye Use of the Honnble Companys Blacks that are Sent to Bencolen | Mr Byfield reported that he had asked Captain William Westerban how many slaves he could carry to the west coast under the directors' instructions in their letter. Westerban answered that he could not conveniently take more than twenty. Mr Byfield brought in a list of twenty, whom the doctor reported all sound. The names were as follows. The men, with their ages: Marcus, aged 24; Sambo, 23; George, 18; Chatham, 22; Drake, 25; Hague, 30; Tom, 25; Malaua, 20; Salvadore, 21; and Tom Low, 28. Ten men in all. The women and youths, with their ages: Eve, aged 19; Nate, 22; Margaret, 20; Jenny, 20; Anneco, 19; Winny, 20; Lucy, 22; Doll, 20; Mercy, 17; and another Mercy, 30. Ten in all. These made twenty in all, marked as the slaves sent to Bencoolen on the Drake. Under Mr Smith's request, being surgeon of the Drake, the council this day ordered one bag of rice and one bag of sugar to be delivered to him for the use of the Company's slaves sent to Bencoolen. Mr Free brought in a paper, which was all the reply he had to make to the council's remarks, as he told the Governor when he delivered it into the consultation. The record was signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A consultation was held at Union Castle in James Valley on Friday 3 November 1721. The Governor presided, with Edward Byfield as second in council, John Alexander as third and John Goodwin as fourth. Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, was also present. The council read the record of its previous meeting and approved it. Interpretations The transfer of twenty slaves to Bencoolen on the Drake, the number fixed by what the ship could conveniently carry and the persons certified sound by the doctor, shows the island serving as a staging point in the Company's movement of slave labour between its settlements. The careful listing of each slave by name and age, with the surgeon's certificate of health, reflects the treatment of the slaves as valued cargo whose fitness and identity were recorded for the receiving settlement. The provision of rice and sugar for the slaves' subsistence on the voyage to Bencoolen records the Company's responsibility for victualling the human cargo it shipped, the surgeon drawing the necessary stores from the island for the passage. This shows the practical arrangements attending the transfer, the food supplied from the Company's own stores to sustain the slaves on the long voyage to the west coast of Sumatra. Free's delivery of a single paper as his entire reply to the council's remarks brought the inquiry into his complaints toward its close, the complainant having had the full record and the opportunity to answer. His brief response, set against the lengthy proceedings and the volume of documents furnished him, marks the limit of what he could offer against the council's account, the matter now resting on his paper and the bench's remarks for transmission to the directors. | |
151 | Orderd that the whole proceedings relating to Mr Free be enterd in this Consultation This day we signd all the Letters for India to be sent in the ship Drake Mr Ormston sent in the following Letter Worshipfull Sr & Gentn I delivord to you on the 27th past a Remonstrance setting forth the being intangled by my former circumstances and haveing no pros pect but of uneasiness and Grief under the circumstances of the present Veiws) I did desire (after having settled my account accor ding to former Usages) liberty to go hence which was granted me But having since more maturely weigh'd my obligations to my Honnble Masters and fearing Their Honnrs displeasure if I should remove my self without Their Honnr consent, I being in Their Honnr employ and covenanted to them) I do therefore hereby retract that part of my request being ready to undergo what may happen rather than their Honours Interest should Suffer by my absence or that I should appear ungratefull for Their Honnr favours, my firm Zeal for Their Honnr Interest is indeed the Cheif and Orriginal cause why I proceed not untill I can obtain Their Honnr Permision but there are also Obstacles of no small Importance before removing of the which I neither did desire nor design to leave the Island Vizt an Impossibility to settle my account and that I may be rightly understood I must inform you that immediatly after the beforementiond Remonstrance was granted I sent for my wife Margin Notes: Mr Frees Proceed to be Enterd Mr Ormstons Letter Reasons relating why he is not now willing to goe off &c | The council ordered that the whole proceedings concerning Mr Free be entered in this consultation. This day the council signed all the letters for India to be sent in the Drake. Mr Ormston sent in the following letter. Ormston's letter recalled that on 27 October last he had delivered a remonstrance setting out that, being entangled by his former circumstances and having no prospect but unease and grief in his present situation, he had asked leave to depart after settling his account according to former practice, which had been granted him. Having since weighed his obligations to the directors more carefully, and fearing their displeasure if he removed himself without their consent, being in their employ and covenanted to them, he now retracted that part of his request. He was ready to undergo whatever might happen rather than that the directors' interest should suffer by his absence, or that he should appear ungrateful for their favours. His firm devotion to their interest was indeed the chief and original reason why he would not proceed until he obtained their permission. There were also obstacles of no small importance to be cleared before he could remove, without which he neither wished nor intended to leave the island, namely the impossibility of settling his account. To be rightly understood, he had to inform the council that immediately after the remonstrance was granted he had sent for his [...] Interpretations Ormston's retraction of his request to leave, made on reflection of his covenant to the directors, shows the binding force of a Company servant's engagement and the risk of their displeasure for departing without leave. Having first sought permission to go and obtained the council's consent, he reversed himself on weighing that the home authority had not sanctioned his removal, the obligation of his covenant outweighing his personal wish to depart once he considered it more fully. The acknowledgement that his account could not be settled formed a practical bar to his departure independent of his obligations, the unfinished reckoning of his affairs preventing his removal whatever his wishes. This shows the settlement of accounts operating as a precondition of leave, the officer unable to quit the Company's service while his books remained open, the entanglement of his finances tying him to the island as much as his covenant. | |
152 | wife who (being I suppose evily counseled) plainly told me she would not go, whereupon I proposed to return her what fortune I had with her and she to procure me a Security that I should not hereafter be charged with any Debt she might contract which is not yet done & although I formerly desired she might not be trusted on my account nevertheless as the Govr tells me she hath had of him above Forty pounds which Justly allarms me, There are likewise several parcells of money and effects due to me from Mr Francis which he cannot possi at present discharge himself of) Wherefore the foundation of my design failing I take this Method to acquaint Their Honnr with my causes both for giving in and retracting that part of my said Remonstrance desiring this may be Entered in the Consultation Book I am Worshipl Sr & Gentn Novr ye 2 1721 Your Most obedt Servt Mr Ormstons Remonstrance in Consultation Joseph Ormston ye 27 of last Octobr mentioned should have been Enterd before Who being Sent for in to prove the contents of it and present The Govr says Mr Byfeld came to him on the 26 of October last and acquainted him that Mr Ormston had desired him to Interceed with him that he would not oppose Mr Ormstons going off for that he did design the next day to mention it in Council, To which he made answer that he thought it was not proper for Mr Ormston as then sitting in Council to offer any thing in his own case, But as in other Publick societies when any Gentleman has any thing to move on his own behalf It is either done by a paper Deliverd to the Chair man to be read at ye Board or else to get some other Member to move it on his behalf and then he should give an answer Mr Byfeld says that Mr Ormston sent for him and desired him to Interceed with the Govr that he might have leave to goe off Capt Margin Notes: Ormston had a Demd on Mr Francis N B Governrs reply Mr Ormston Discoursd Mr Byfeld | Ormston's letter continued, explaining that his wife, being he supposed badly advised, had plainly told him she would not go. He had therefore proposed to return to her whatever fortune he had received with her, and that she should give him security that he would not afterwards be charged with any debt she might contract, which was not yet done, although he had earlier asked that she not be trusted on his account. The Governor told him that she had had above £40 0s 0d from him, which justly alarmed him. There were also several parcels of money and effects due to him from Mr Francis which Mr Francis could not at present discharge. The foundation of his plan therefore failing, he took this method to acquaint the directors with his reasons both for making and retracting that part of his remonstrance, asking that the letter be entered in the consultation book. It was dated 2 November 1721 and signed by Joseph Ormston. Ormston was sent for to prove the contents of the letter and was present. The Governor said that Mr Byfield had come to him on 26 October last and told him Ormston had asked him to intercede so the Governor would not oppose Ormston's going off, since he meant to mention it in council the next day. He had answered that he thought it proper for Ormston, then sitting in council, to offer anything in his own case himself, but that in other public bodies, when a gentleman had anything to move on his own behalf, it was either done by a paper delivered to the chair to be read at the board, or else by getting another member to move it for him, and then he should give an answer. Mr Byfield said that Ormston had sent for him and asked him to intercede with the Governor so that he might have leave to go [...] Interpretations Ormston's account of his wife's refusal to leave and the entanglement of money due to him exposed the personal and financial obstacles that had first prompted and then defeated his plan to depart. His wish to return her marriage portion and secure himself against her future debts, combined with the sums owed him by Mr Francis that could not be paid, shows the practical impossibility of settling his affairs, the foundation of his design failing as he put it and forcing the retraction of his request. The Governor's explanation of the proper way to move a personal matter in council, by a paper to the chair or through another member, records the procedural form by which a sitting councillor was to raise his own case. By declining to act on Ormston's informal approach through Byfield and insisting on the regular method, the Governor maintained the propriety of the council's proceedings, an officer's private business required to come before the board in due form rather than by private solicitation. | |
153 | Captain Goodwin says Mr Ormston spoke to him not to be ung[...] his going off for he intended to move it in Consultation the next day and that he did at the same time ask him the sd Ormston wh[...] he Intended to do with his wife he answered to leave all that he now had or was to have hereafter with her. All which the Govr says Captn Goodwin told him before Consulta[...] Captn Alexander says that on the 27 of Octobr last early in the morn ning Mr Ormston came to him at his house in the Valley (after sending his Black to see if I was within (and after some words he told him he Intended to go off and desired he would give his vo[...] to it for he sayd he could not be easy here, he ithe sd Alexander answered him he thought he had better consider on it a little Longer and that he thought the Honble Company would not be pleasd with it But think He slighted their Service here to which he made ready reply that lies on me to answer or words very much to this affect. In Consultation after Reading his the Said Mr Ormstons Remonstrance the Govr asht him what he designd to do about his wife his answer was easy hir with me that he told him what Captain Goodwin had told him in relation to his wife which Captn Goodwin attested Mr Ormston made answer if she would not go with him he would give her all he had with her. Upon which the Order was made. Mr Ormston made reply that the whole Materiall of what is sd in this Consultation is given in under his hand and therefore needed no dispute except that latter part of Captain Alex= anders which he does not Rememeber. Margin Notes: Whats Deposd Said by Captn Goodwin Also by Captn Alexander Govr Question puts to Mr Ormston Mr Ormstons Reply. | Captain Goodwin reported that Joseph Ormston had told him not to oppose his departure, since he meant to raise the matter himself in council the next day. Goodwin added that Ormston had asked him at the same time what he intended to do with his wife, and that he had answered he would leave to her everything he now held or might come to hold afterwards. Governor Johnson confirmed that Goodwin had told him this before the council. Captain Alexander gave his own account. On 27 October last, early in the morning, Ormston had come to his house in the valley after sending his slave ahead to see whether Alexander was at home. After some words Ormston told him he meant to leave the island and asked him to support it, saying he could find no peace here. Alexander answered that he thought Ormston should weigh the matter a little longer, and that the directors would perhaps be displeased and judge that he slighted their service. Ormston replied at once that the burden of answering lay on him, or words much to that effect. The council then read Ormston's remonstrance and considered it. Governor Johnson asked Ormston what he intended to do about his wife. Ormston answered that matters stood easy between them, repeating what Goodwin had reported concerning her. Goodwin confirmed that Ormston had said he would give his wife everything he had if she would go with him. The order was made on this. Ormston replied that the whole substance of what was at issue stood entered in this consultation under his own hand and so needed no dispute, apart from the latter part of Captain Alexander's account, which he did not recall. Interpretations The exchange forms part of the long contest between Joseph Ormston and Governor Johnson, the accountant having sought leave to depart and then retracted it, his remonstrance of 27 October 1721 answered across the consultations to 3 November 1721. The councillors Goodwin and Alexander were called to give sworn accounts of private conversations, the bench treating a councillor's wish to leave as a matter for the whole board rather than for the man alone. Alexander's warning that the directors would judge Ormston to slight their service reflected the covenanted bond that held a Company servant to his post. Ormston could not simply depart, being tied to the directors, the same constraint that had earlier defeated his requests to go for England across 1720. The repeated point that Ormston would give his wife everything if she went with him, and otherwise leave her all the same, touches the marital quarrel that had run through the records since his letter of 15 February 1720 seeking her discharge as the Company's housekeeper. His wife had refused to go, and his plan to return her marriage portion of above £40 0s 0d and secure himself against her future debts had collapsed, as the consultation of 3 November 1721 recorded. | |
154 | Mrs Tovey being sent for In says that the day Mr Ormston came out of the Countrey Mr Ormston came to her and asht her if she would go off she answered no she did not design to goe He then asht her how she designed to get her living she replyd she did not fear getting her living any where He told her thereupon that per= haps she might have learnt a Trade she sayd she did not know any Trade she had The next day Mr Ormston came to her again and told her to provide to goe off, and desired him to take care of and she told him she would not goe maintaine the Child, He answer'd he would leave all with her that he had of her father, and heard him talk something about security several words more passed between them but she cannot radily recollect what the words were. The Govr says furthur that on Sunday last before dinner time being in his Room not well his servants brought him word Mr Ormston desird to speak with him he ordered them to desire him to walk up, as soon as he entred the room he told him he wanted him to find out some Expedient to secure him from what his wife should Run him in Debt He answer'd him he had nothing to do with him nor his wife, He then asht him for an advertizement forbiding any body trusting her He answer'd him he should write no Advertizmt he might apply to the Secretary whose buisiness it was and he should not hinder the publishing it, and he talkt of a Security he sayd he did not know who would be Security for her The next mor= ning Captn Goodwin came to him and asht him how he did he then spoke to Captain Goodwin and asht him if Mr Ormston had sayd any thing to him about security Captn Goodwin answerd him eyes Mr Ormston did ask Mr Wrangham at his house in the afternoon and likewise him but they both had denyed Margin Notes: Mrs Toveys Declaration Govrs Report of Mr Ormstons request Discourse between him & Captn Goodwin | Mrs Tovey, sent for to give her account, deposed that on the day Joseph Ormston came down from the country he came to her and asked whether she would leave the island. She answered no, she did not intend to go. He then asked how she meant to support herself, and she replied that she did not fear getting her living anywhere. He told her that perhaps she might, if she had learned a trade. She said she knew no trade she had. The next day Ormston came to her again and told her to make ready to go, and asked her to take care of and maintain the child. He answered that he would leave her everything he had of her father's, and she heard him talk something about security. Several more words passed between them, but she could not readily recall what they were. Governor Johnson reported further that on the Sunday before, about dinner time, being in his room unwell, his servants brought him word that Ormston wished to speak with him. He ordered them to ask Ormston to come up. As soon as Ormston entered the room he told the Governor he wanted him to find some means of securing himself against any debt his wife might run him into. The Governor answered that he had nothing to do with him or his wife. Ormston then asked him for an advertisement forbidding anyone to give her credit. The Governor answered that he would write no advertisement, that Ormston might apply to the secretary, whose business it was, and that he would not hinder its publishing. Ormston also spoke of a security, saying he did not know who would stand surety for her. The next morning Captain Goodwin came to the Governor, who asked him how he then stood with Ormston and whether Ormston had said anything to him about security. Goodwin answered that Ormston had asked Mr Wrangham at his house in the afternoon, and had likewise asked him, but that both had refused him. Interpretations The depositions continue the inquiry into Joseph Ormston's marital quarrel and his attempt to leave the island, the matter running across the consultations to 3 November 1721, when his retraction of the request to depart was recorded. The bench gathered sworn accounts from Mrs Tovey, the councillors and the Governor of private conversations, building a documentary record of Ormston's conduct toward his wife and the council. Ormston's request for an advertisement forbidding anyone to give his wife credit was a recognised device by which a husband publicly disclaimed liability for his wife's debts. Under the law of the period a wife could bind her husband for necessaries, so a man estranged from his wife gave public notice to cut off her power to charge him. The Governor declined to issue it himself but allowed that the secretary might, the office then held by Joseph Ormston as accountant and secretary, the post he had been restored to by the general letter of 31 May 1721. Ormston's search for someone to stand surety for his wife, refused by both Wrangham and Goodwin, marks his failure to find any way of settling his liability before departure. This connects to his collapsed plan of returning her marriage portion of above £40 0s 0d and taking security against her future debts, set out at the consultation of 3 November 1721. | |
155 | Him that Captain Goodwin had seen him that morning and being talking about it Capen Goodwin telling him what an unreasonable a thing he Insisted upon Yesterday about the secur[...] which was imposible he answered Captn Goodwin he did not Insist upon it and that it was only an air to hir what hir wd would say. Captn Goodwin says he does not know whether Mr Ormston made use of the word air But it was to that effect. Captn Cason says he was in the Govrs Room when the Govrs servant brought him word that Mr Ormston Desired to speak with him He was Ordered to desire Mr Ormston to come in and he heard him ask the Govr for an Advertizt to be published yt no body might Trust his wife, The Govr told him he would not Deny him he might go to the Secratary. Mr Slaughter says that after the Govr had Orderd Mr Orm ston might come up, he desird there Might be some Expedient that his wife might not Run him in Debt The Govr told him he had no Buisness to find any if he could he might and then ask the Govr that he might put out an Advertizt forbiding any body Trusting her The Govr replyd he would put out none But if he could he might and bid him go to the Secratary & urged he might have Security for his wife. Mr Wrangham Says that what Mr Slaughter has declared he Likewise heard. Mr Ormston Says he did come up to the Governeur and told him he was uneasy for want of Security for his wife and also Desird to know if he could think of any Expedient to make him Secure The Govr Sayd he did beleive no body would be bound for her he then desired an Advertizmt to Fore= warne any trusting her on his account which the Govr Margin Notes: relateing to his wife Repeated what Captn Cason knows Also what Mr Slaughter heard Mr Wrangham Says & affirms Mr Ormstons reply. | The Governor reported that Captain Goodwin had seen Ormston that morning, talking about Goodwin and telling him what an unreasonable thing he had pressed the day before about the security, which was impossible. Ormston answered that he had not pressed Goodwin on it, and that it was only a way of testing what Goodwin would say. Goodwin replied that he did not know whether Ormston had used the word test, or words to that effect. Captain Cason deposed that he was in the Governor's room when the servants brought word that Ormston wished to speak with the Governor. He was ordered to ask Ormston to come in, and heard him ask the Governor for an advertisement to be published forbidding anyone to give his wife credit. The Governor told him he would not refuse him, and that he might go to the secretary. Ensign Slaughter deposed that after the Governor had ordered Ormston up, Ormston asked that some means be found to keep his wife from running him into debt. The Governor told him he had no business to find any, but that if Ormston could, he might, and that he might ask the Governor to put out an advertisement forbidding anyone to give her credit. The Governor replied that he would put out none, but that if Ormston could he might, and directed him to go to the secretary. Ormston pressed that he might have surety for his wife. Mr Wrangham deposed that he had likewise heard what Slaughter had described. Ormston, in reply, said that he did come up to the Governor and told him he was uneasy for want of surety for his wife, and wished to know whether the Governor could think of any means to secure him. The Governor said he believed no one would stand bound for her. Ormston then asked for an advertisement to warn anyone against giving her credit on his account. Interpretations These depositions close the inquiry into Joseph Ormston's attempt to disclaim liability for his wife's debts, the whole matter running across the consultations to 3 November 1721 when his retraction of his request to leave the island was recorded. Cason, Slaughter and Wrangham each confirmed the Governor's account, the bench assembling corroborating testimony from several witnesses to fix Ormston's conduct on the record. The repeated request for an advertisement forbidding anyone to trust the wife was the standard public disclaimer by which a husband cut off his wife's power to charge him for necessaries. Governor Johnson refused to issue it under his own hand but allowed that Ormston might apply to the secretary, the office Ormston himself held under the general letter of 31 May 1721, so that the husband seeking the notice and the officer who would publish it were the same man. Ormston's gloss that his pressing Goodwin for security was only a way of testing his answer suggests an attempt to soften the awkwardness of his conduct once the councillors gave their accounts. The bench recorded Goodwin's doubt that Ormston had even used the word, leaving the discrepancy on the page rather than resolving it. | |
156 | Govr sayd he might go to the Secratary for but that it would Signifie nothing as he had often before told him. Upon Considering of what has been sayd and what Mr Ormston has answered and that there is no reasons offered in the paper by him deliverd In to day butt what he might have obiected before his Remonstrance and therefore as he has desird to be discharged of the Honble Companys employ here we think it ought to be Gratified and he not to be concerned in the Honble Companys affairs any more here and therefore to be accordingly dischargd from Council and Accomptant and we Expect he will proceed in sd ship now in the Road. To the Honble Nathaniel Elwich Esqr Presidt &Ca Council At Fort St George Our last to you was by the Hartford Captn Francis Nelly Comander under date of the 5th of Septer 1720 who saild hence for Maderass the 1st following, By the Inclosed List of Shipping that have toucht here you'l find those dispatcht from you which have brought your Severall Letters and Invoices of Goods consigned to us, So that it will be needless to particularize their severill dates nor the Ships names by which they came We observe the contents of your said Letters we must desire you to desist sending us any more Goods untill furthur advice for our Stores are at present over stockt with all sort of India Goods, But that you'l please to to continue sending the full one per cent in Good Sugar and fine Rice which is very usefull here many wayes, we likewise Likewise Margin Notes: Mr Ormston Discharged at his request Copy Ordered Affr he sd Mr Ormston was Calld in & acquainted with this forgoeing Resoln & Question he Replyed he submitted & sd he would give him a Copy of the Resolution he would give off by this Ship which was Accordingly Ordered. Letter Ship Drake | The Governor said Ormston might go to the secretary, but that it would mean nothing, as he had often told him before. The council, considering everything that had been said and Ormston's answers, found that the paper he had delivered that day offered no reasons he could not have raised before his remonstrance. Since he had asked to be discharged from the Company's service here, the council thought it best to grant his wish and to release him from any further part in the Company's affairs on the island. The council accordingly discharged him from his place in council and from the office of accountant, and expected him to take passage on the ship now in the road. At the foot of this, Ormston was called in and acquainted with the council's decision concerning his removal. Governor Johnson directed that he be given a copy of the resolution, which he asked might be sent home by this ship. The council ordered it accordingly. A copy was ordered. The council addressed a letter to the Honourable Nathaniel Elwick Esquire, President, and the Council at Fort St George. The council's last letter went by the Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander, dated 5 September 1720, which sailed from here for Madras on the 6th of that month. The enclosed list of shipping that had touched at the island would show those despatched from Fort St George which had brought the President's several letters and invoices of goods consigned to the island. It would therefore be needless to set out their dates or the names of the ships by which they came. The council noted the contents of those letters and asked the President to stop sending any more goods until further notice, the island's stores being at present overstocked with all sorts of India goods. The council asked instead that the President continue to send the full one per cent in good sugar and fine rice, which was very useful here in many ways. Interpretations The closing minute discharges Joseph Ormston from council and from the accountant's office, the long quarrel over his marriage and his attempt to leave the island ending in his removal, the matter carried across the consultations to 3 November 1721. The council's judgement that his paper offered nothing he could not have raised earlier marks its conclusion that further delay served no purpose, the grant of his own request used to close the affair cleanly. This discharge sits against the general letter of 31 May 1721, which had restored Ormston to council and the accountant's office only months before. Ormston's request for a copy of the resolution to send home reflects the standing practice by which a removed officer secured the record for the directors, the council acting as the directors' agents at a remote station whose decisions awaited confirmation from London. The address to Nathaniel Elwick as President at Fort St George opens the India correspondence, Fort St George being the Company's settlement at Madras on the Coromandel coast. The reference to the full one per cent concerns the customary allowance the presidency sent the island, here directed toward sugar and rice rather than the piece goods that had overstocked the stores. The Hartford under Captain Francis Nelly, named as carrying the previous letter, had arrived earlier with its Madras cargo and the master's protest against the seas. | |
157 | Likewise desire you'l continue your Instructions to the Carpenter as to the Seeds and plants but not to exceed if 5 ₶ Vallue when brough[...] here as formerly Intimated to you and answered by the Bridge water, we beg the favour you'l inform the Commanders of the Honble Companys ships that we are so over stockt with arrack that we cannot take any to prevent their furnishing themselves to dispose of here and then be disapointed We congratulate your new Govr and wish you health and prosperity and are Honble Sr & Gentlemen Your Humble Servants R John Sm Edward Buffeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin To the Honble Saml Feake Esqr Presidt &Ca Council At Bengall Our last to you was by the Hartford Captn Francis Nelly Comander under date of the 9th of Septemb 1720 who saild hence on the 16 following for Madarass by the Inclosed List of Ships that have touched here you'l observe those from your Port and we have recd by each Ship your Severall Letters and Invoices of Goods Consignd to us So that we need not trouble you in Par= =ticularizing here their Severall dates nor the Ships names by which they came, we must desire you'l desist sending us any more Goods of any sort for we are overstockt with all manner of India Goods, be pleasd to continue the full one pr Cent in only fine Sugar and Rice and also a quantity of wax for candles, we beg the favr you'l Inform the Comanders of the Honble Companys ships that we cannot buy any arrack of them to prevent their furnishing Margin Notes: Letter Ship Drake | The council also asked the President to continue his instructions to the supercargoes concerning the seeds and plants, but not to exceed five pounds in value when brought here, as formerly noted to him and answered by the Bridgewater. The council asked the favour that he inform the commanders of the Company's ships that the island was so overstocked with arrack that it could take none, to prevent their bringing a supply to sell here and then being disappointed. The council congratulated the President on his new Governor and wished him health and prosperity. The letter closed as from the council, subscribing themselves the President's humble servants, signed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The council addressed a further letter to the Honourable Samuel Feake Esquire, President, and the Council at Bengal. The council's last letter went by the Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander, dated 9 September 1720, which sailed from here on the 16th of that month for Madras. The enclosed list of ships that had touched at the island would show those from Bengal, and the council had received by each ship the President's several letters and invoices of goods consigned to the island. It would therefore be needless to trouble the President with their several dates or the names of the ships by which they came. The council asked him to stop sending any more goods of any sort, the stores being overstocked with all manner of India goods. The council asked instead that he continue to send the full one per cent in only fine sugar and rice, and also a quantity of wax for candles. The council further asked him to inform the commanders of the Company's ships that it could buy no arrack of them, to prevent their bringing a supply. Interpretations These two letters continue the India correspondence carried home by the Drake, the council writing in near-identical terms to the presidencies at Fort St George and Bengal, the whole run of India letters signed by the Drake recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The repeated instruction to halt all India goods marks a deliberate management of the island's overstocked stores, the council redirecting the customary one per cent allowance away from piece goods and arrack toward sugar, rice and wax that the settlement could actually use. The warning to the ships' commanders that the island would buy no arrack served to protect them from carrying a supply they could not sell, the council acting to spare the masters a wasted venture rather than face their disappointment on arrival. This reflects the standing position that the island took goods only to the balance of a ship's store account, the stores being already full. The cap of five pounds in value on seeds and plants, noted as earlier answered by the Bridgewater, kept a small experimental supply running for the island's own cultivation while holding its cost down. The reference to Samuel Feake as President at Bengal and the congratulation to Fort St George on its new Governor reflect the island's place within the Company's eastern network, the bench keeping its correspondence current with each presidency whose ships called on the homeward passage. | |
158 | Themselves therewith in expectation of Disposing of it here, we are very much overstockt by the quantitys the last ships put upon us. we hope you will continue your Instructions to the Captains in Regard to Garden Seed and as we requested of you in our last by the Hartford, We wish you health and prosperity and that our Honble Masters affairs may Flourish under you and are Postscript; Mr Collet Dyed on Board if Dr of York and was Buried here if 1 of June last Honble Sr & Gentlemen Yr Humble Servants To the Honble Charles Boone Presidt &Ca Council At Bombay Our last to you was by the Hartford Captain Francis Nelly Comr dated the 5th of September 1720 who Sailed hence on the 16th following for Madr Since when we receivd a Letter dated if 14 of February 1719/20 Directed by your order and Signed by your Secry advising us of Necessarys put on board the Hannover Captn Bond Accom= panyed with an Invoice for 4 Bales of Mattors, our stores are now overstockt with all sorts of India Goods that are vendable here, we Desire you'l not send us any thing till furthur advise But as great a quantity of Rice by each ship as conveniently you can which is always in Demand here, we were very sorry to hear of the Pyrates Infesting your Coast and Retarding the Shipping which we was in great hopes of seeing here last season besides our concern for the loss of the Cassandra but doubt not of the men of wars Destroying so pernicious an Enemey to trade in Margin Notes: Letter Ship Drake | The commanders brought a supply in the hope of selling it here, leaving the island much overstocked by the quantity put upon it by the last ships. The council asked the President to continue his instructions to the captains concerning garden seed, as requested in its last letter by the Hartford. The council wished him health and prosperity, and that the Honourable Masters' affairs might flourish under him. A postscript added that Mr Collet had died on board the Duke of York and was buried here on 1 June last. The letter closed as from the council, subscribing themselves the President's humble servants. The council addressed a further letter to the Honourable Charles Boone, President, and the Council at Bombay. The council's last letter went by the Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander, dated 5 September 1720, which sailed from here on the 16th of that month for Madras. Since then the council had received a letter dated 12 February 1720, signed by the President's secretary by his order, advising of necessaries put on board the Hanover, Captain Bond, together with an invoice for four bales of shalloons. The island's stores were now overstocked with all sorts of India goods that could be sold here, and the council asked the President to send nothing until further notice, but to send as great a quantity of rice by each ship as he conveniently could, which was always in demand. The council was very sorry to hear of the pirates infesting the coast and delaying the shipping it had hoped to see here last season, and was concerned for the loss of the Cassandra. The council did not doubt that the men of war would destroy so pernicious an enemy to trade. Interpretations This letter completes the run of India correspondence carried home by the Drake, the council writing to Bombay in the same terms as to the other presidencies, the whole set of India letters signed by the Drake recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The repeated instruction to halt all India goods and send rice instead continues the deliberate clearing of the overstocked stores set out in the letters to Fort St George and Bengal. The notice that Mr Collet had died aboard the Duke of York and was buried on 1 June 1721 marks the island's role in recording the deaths of Company passengers and servants for transmission to the presidencies. The Duke of York had arrived earlier with its Bengal cargo. The reference to the pirates infesting the Indian coast and the loss of the Cassandra reflects the wider danger to the Company's shipping in these years, the menace that had also driven the island's own alarm-duty order of 22 March 1720 and the fining of defaulters thereafter. The shalloons noted in the Bombay invoice were a light woollen cloth used chiefly for linings, part of the piece-goods trade the council was now trying to stem. Charles Boone as President at Bombay completes the three presidencies, the bench keeping its correspondence current with each as the homeward ships called. | |
159 | General and that before this can reach your hands. we desire you'l continue your Instructions to the Comanders that touchs at the Cape in their Homeward Bound passage to bring us some Garden seeds and Plants but no more then they can aford for 5 ₶ when brought here. We herewith Enclose a List of Shipping that has toucht here since our last which may be acceptable to you we are Honble Sr & Gentn Yr Humble Servants To the Worshippfull Isaac Pyke Esqr Depty Govr of the West Coast &Ca Council Our last to you was by the Hartford Captn Francis Nelly Comander under date of the 5th of Septemb 1720 who saild hence the 16 following for Madarass but have received no answer either to that or our former by the Craggs, we question not but that Bencoolen is Resettled long before this which we should be glad to hear of, and that if at any time you have any Quantity of Sugar or Rice we desire you'l send us yearly as much as conveniently you can But as for Arrack we are so well stockt that we shall not want any these two years According to our Honble Masters Orders we send you by this ship Drake Ten of their male and Ten of their Female slaves who we hope will prove of Service to you and by the next op= portunity may send you more, we Likewise send you five Prisoners vizt Joseph Josiah Bedloe & wm Rooksby who Run away from the Craggs outward bound Thomas Laurence Margin Notes: Letter Ship Drake | The council closed the Bombay letter by asking the President to continue his instructions to the commanders who touched at the Cape on their homeward passage, to bring some garden seeds and plants, but no more than they could afford for five pounds when brought here. The council enclosed a list of shipping that had touched at the island since its last letter, which might be useful to him. The letter closed as from the council, subscribing themselves the President's humble servants. The council addressed a letter to the Worshipful Isaac Pyke Esquire, Deputy Governor of the West Coast, and the Council. The council's last letter went by the Hartford, Captain Francis Nelly commander, dated 5 September 1720, which sailed from here on the 16th of that month for Madras, but the council had received no answer either to that letter or to its earlier one by the Craggs. The council did not doubt that Bencoolen had been relieved long before now, which it would be glad to hear of, and asked that whenever the Deputy Governor had any quantity of sugar or rice, he send yearly as much as he conveniently could. As for arrack, the island was so well stocked that it would need none these two years. 3: Following the Honourable Masters' orders, the council sent by the Drake ten of their male and ten of their female slaves, who it hoped would prove of service to the Deputy Governor, and might send more by the next opportunity. The council likewise sent five prisoners, namely Joseph Josiah Bedloe and William Rooksby, who had run away from the Craggs on her outward passage, and Thomas Laurence. Interpretations This letter opens the council's correspondence with the Company's settlement at Bencoolen on the west coast of Sumatra, addressed to Isaac Pyke as Deputy Governor, the former Governor of St Helena now holding that post. It forms part of the run of India and Bencoolen letters carried home and onward by the Drake, recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The instruction on sugar, rice and arrack repeats the supply pattern set out in the letters to the three Indian presidencies, the island clearing its overstock and asking for provisions in their place. The despatch of ten male and ten female slaves by the Drake under the Masters' orders carries out the marking of twenty slaves for Bencoolen recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721, the list certified sound by the ship's surgeon. The island here served as a transfer point in the Company's movement of slave labour between its eastern settlements, the directors' instruction capping the number the Drake could carry. The five prisoners sent to Bencoolen mark the island's use as a place of transportation for offenders, Bedloe and Rooksby named as runaways from the Craggs on her outward voyage. Sending such men on to a distant settlement removed them from the island while satisfying the Company's want of hands elsewhere. | |
160 | Garrott Johnson and John Newman, This Bedloe was so Im= =pudent that he not withstanding he had Aplyed to the Govr for a Licence to be married to the Widdow Swallow and was denied pretended to her any body might do the same and prevailed on her to let the Docter of the Ship Hartford to perform that office for them and gott to bed with her publickly that was not the first time for She is far gone with Child, which is an open violation of the Laws and Constitutions of this place as well as Others, Rooksby has been Indicted for stealing a Coat and Attempting to make his Escape of the Island and has behaved himself very untoward= =ly and basely notwithstanding his good Usuages, Thos Laurence hath also behaved himself very Insolently to, he gott on Board his officers the Hannover with an intent to make his Escape and has been found Guilty of other Misdameanors almost to mutiny, Garrott Johnson was formerly sent from Bombay for Murder and attemt to commit the Like crime on Board the Fordwich and he pub= dickly declared here he would do something of the like nature if he was provoked nay he would do some Mischief on purpose to be sent off the Island with other Malicious and Revingfull Expressions we have lookt upon him as a very dangerous fellow when =fore we have kept him confind ever since Aprill last, and thought it the best way to send him to Bencoolen where he may be of more Service then he can be here and being thus informd of his Villainy doubt not of your having a more watchfull Eye over him, Young Newman was put out by the Church wardens as an Apprentice to Mr Greentree, But soon Absented his Service by frequently Runing away and commiting many Robberies | The other two prisoners were Garrett Johnson and John Newman. Bedloe behaved so brazenly that, although he had applied to the Governor for a licence to marry the widow Swallow and been refused, he claimed that anyone might do as he pleased and prevailed on her to let the doctor of the Hartford perform the office for them, then went to bed with her publicly. This was not the first time, for she was far gone with child, an open breach of the laws and constitutions of this place as much as of others. Rooksby had been indicted for stealing a coat and attempting to escape the island, and had behaved very stubbornly and basely despite his good treatment. Laurence had likewise behaved very insolently, having gone aboard the Hanover with his officers, intending to escape, and had been found guilty of other misdemeanours bordering on mutiny. Garrett Johnson had earlier been sent from Bombay for murder and for attempting the like crime aboard the Fordwich, and had publicly declared here that he would do something of the same kind if provoked, that he would do some mischief on purpose to be sent off the island, with other malicious and revengeful expressions. The council judged him a very dangerous fellow and had kept him confined ever since April last. It thought it best to send him to Bencoolen, where he might be of more service than here, and, the Deputy Governor being thus warned of his villainy, the council did not doubt he would be kept under closer watch. Young Newman had been placed by the churchwardens as an apprentice to Mr Greentree, but soon abandoned his service by frequently running away and committing many robberies. Interpretations This minute sets out the council's account of the five prisoners sent to Bencoolen by the Drake, continuing the Bencoolen letter to Isaac Pyke and forming part of the run of letters carried home and onward at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The catalogue of each man's offences served to warn the receiving Deputy Governor of the character of those transported, the island unloading its most troublesome men onto a distant settlement while supplying the directors' want of hands. The Bedloe matter rests on the breach of the licence requirement for marriage. Bedloe had sought the Governor's licence to marry the widow Swallow and been refused, then arranged for the Hartford's doctor to perform the ceremony and cohabited openly with her while she was visibly pregnant. This connects to the record of his marriage to the widow Swallow by the Drake's doctor, the irregular union treated as a breach of the island's law. The substitution of a ship's doctor for the proper authority marks an attempt to evade the Governor's control over marriage on the island. Garrett Johnson's history carries the gravest charge, a man sent from Bombay on a murder accusation who threatened further violence on purpose to force his removal. His confinement since April last and his transfer to Bencoolen mark the council managing a dangerous prisoner it could neither safely hold nor release, passing both the man and the warning of his conduct to the next settlement. The Fordwich, named as the ship aboard which he attempted a second killing, was the vessel that had carried him from Bombay. | |
161 | Robberies which by no means or fair Usuages he could be re= =claimed from we have sent you a List of Shipping that has toucht here and Departed since our last if the Hartford which may be acceptable to you, we are Worshpll Sr & Gentn Yr Humble Servts By the Hartford we wrote you a Letter dated the 5th of Septr 1720, Adviseing therein that upon makeing up our Books of Accompts there appeard to be a mistake of £428: 2:7½ Short Charged due to the Honble Company and Since that we have Discovered another error of £87: 12:11¾ which in the whole makes £515:15:7½ and that you may be better Informd how the same did arise have herewith sent you a Copy of your Accot as we did by the Hartford, and desire the same may be Remitted us that we may give your Accompt Credit for the same We Lik= =wise gave you an Account of 28 ₶ 1½ that was short chargd in James Wakefields Accompt and desired it might be also paid wherefore desire you would give your self the trouble of Seeing yy same performed and we Being Blamed by our Honble Masters for Such a Seeming neglect makes us the more pressing and among Severall Bonds you delivered to Govr Johnson there is one for £54 Payable to the Honble Company due from Richard Scallow and Dated the 13th of Aprill 1715 which his widdow says is paid and we find an order of Council for Delivering Margin Notes: Letter to Govr Pyke Ship Drake Postscript The Severall Persons herein Mentiond as the Islands Indebted to the Honble Compy will Appear by the Inclosed Accot, & we desire you'l take Care to See the same paid into their Accot Currant as it becomes due to yt out of their Sallarys. | Newman could be reclaimed from his robberies by no fair treatment or means. The council enclosed a list of shipping that had touched here and departed since its last letter by the Hartford, which might be useful to the Deputy Governor. The letter closed as from the council, subscribing themselves the Deputy Governor's humble servants. A postscript noted that the several persons on the island who stood indebted to the Honourable Company would appear by the enclosed account, and asked the Deputy Governor to see those sums paid into their current account as they became due out of their salaries. The council addressed a letter to Governor Pyke by the Drake. By the Hartford the council had written a letter dated 10 September 1720, advising that on making up its books of account there appeared a mistake of £428 2s 7¼d short charged to the Honourable Company, and that since then it had discovered another error of £87 12s 11¾d, which together made £515 15s 7½d. So that the Governor might better understand how this arose, the council enclosed a copy of his account, as it had done by the Hartford, and asked that the same be remitted so it might give his account credit for it. The council had likewise given an account of £28 1s 0½d short charged in James Wakefield's account, and asked that this also be paid. The council asked the Governor to see the matter settled, the council being blamed by the Honourable Masters for such an apparent neglect, which made it the more pressing. Among the several bonds the Governor had delivered to Governor Johnson, there was one for £35 0s 0d payable to the Honourable Company, due from Richard Scallow and dated 13 April 1715, which his widow said was paid. The council found an order of council for delivering it up. Interpretations This minute closes the Bencoolen letter and opens a private letter of account to the former Governor Pyke, both carried by the Drake and forming part of the correspondence recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The pursuit of the sums short charged to Pyke continues the recovery of his omitted debts traced through the accounts, the council pressing a departed Governor for money the corrected books had exposed. The figures recover the debts left by Pyke at his departure, the £428 2s 7¼d and the further £87 12s 11¾d echoing the omissions charged to him by the letter of 10 September 1720, the same matter run through the audit that followed the bringing up of the books. The council's plea that it was blamed by the Masters for the neglect shows the pressure from London driving the recovery, the bench anxious to clear itself by collecting what the earlier accounting had let lie. The bond for £35 0s 0d from Richard Scallow, dated 13 April 1715 and said by his widow to be paid, illustrates the documentary discipline by which the council traced every instrument before discharging it. An order of council was needed to deliver up a paid bond, the record kept so that no obligation was cancelled without authority. The reference to James Wakefield's account, short charged by £28 1s 0½d, forms part of the same drive to correct every error the audit had turned up. | |
162 | The Bond up, But nothing appears any where of the money being paid to or from the Company but in your own Accompt in the year 171/9 there appears to be an Entry in the Transfer Jurnall for the same Sume of £54 Paid to Captn Mackett for Richard Swallow the widdow furthur alledging that Mr Tovey a Little before he Dyed told her the said money was paid but no body upon the Island, besides himself knew how, you being gone off and Mr Bazel Dead, and he would Satisfie the Govr of it but by his death was prevented Upon which we have concluded to stop so much in our hands & to write to you, Sr Desiring you'l give us what Light into the Matter you can that there may be no wrong on Either Side, But Mrs Tovey tells us that she being looking over her not Husbands Accompts when he lay Sick he told her that he was paid for writing the Bond above mentiond nor was the money paid for which twas made, so that we do not give Credit to what Mrs Swallow says on this Account. We wish you health and Prosperity and are. Sr Yr Humble Servants Honble Sr By the Hartford Captain Nelly Comander We wrote to Doctr Thomlinson Informing him of a mistake of £35: 10:7 that was Short charged in his accompt when made up in a Hurry at his goeing hence and Remains now due to Our Honble Masters But we have recd no answer he and his wife being Dead and under= =standing you are one of his Executors or Trusties we thought it proper Margin Notes: Letter to Govr Feak Ship Drake | The bond was delivered up, but nothing appeared anywhere of the money being paid to or from the Company, except in the Governor's own account. In the year 1715 there was an entry in the transfer journal for the same sum of £35 0s 0d paid to Captain Mackett for Richard Swallow. The widow further alleged that Antipas Tovey, a little before he died, told her the money was paid, but that no one on the island besides himself knew how, the Governor being gone off and Mr Bazett dead, and that Tovey would have satisfied the Governor here but was prevented by his death. The council had therefore decided to keep so much in its hands and to write to the Governor, asking him to give what light he could into the matter, so that there might be no wrong on either side. Mrs Tovey told the council that she, looking over her husband's accounts when he lay sick, was told by him that he was not paid for writing the bond, nor was the money for which it was made paid, so that the council gave no credit to what Mrs Swallow said on this account. The council wished the Governor health and prosperity, and closed as his humble servants. The council addressed a letter to Governor Pyke by the Drake. By the Hartford, Captain Nelly commander, the council had written to Doctor Thomlinson, informing him of a mistake of £35 10s 7d short charged in his account when made up in a hurry at his going from here, and still due to the Honourable Masters. The council had received no answer, and Thomlinson and his wife being dead, and understanding the Governor to be one of his executors or trustees, the council thought it proper to write. Interpretations This minute closes the account letter to the former Governor Pyke and opens a further letter, both carried by the Drake and forming part of the correspondence recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The unresolved bond for £35 0s 0d turns on conflicting testimony, the widow Swallow claiming payment on Tovey's word while Tovey's own widow swore the opposite, the council holding the sum until the former Governor could clarify the record. The contradiction shows the documentary discipline by which the council refused to discharge a debt on unsupported assertion. The transfer journal entry of 1715 recording £35 0s 0d paid to Captain Mackett for Richard Swallow stood against Mrs Tovey's sworn account that her husband was never paid for writing the bond and that the money it secured was never paid either. With both Governor Pyke gone and Captain Bazett dead, the only man said to know how the matter stood was Tovey, himself now dead, so the council kept the money in hand rather than credit either claim. This connects to the administration of Tovey's intestate estate, his widow Margaret having brought in the inventory at the consultation of 5 September 1721. The pursuit of Doctor Thomlinson's £35 10s 7d through his executor continues the recovery of the chaplain's omitted debt, traced through the corrected books and charged to him by the letter of 10 September 1720. With Thomlinson and his wife dead, the council turned to Pyke as his executor or trustee, the obligation surviving the debtor and falling on those who managed his estate. | |
163 | Proper to acquaint you therewith we have Likewise now sent you a Copy of his accompt where by you'l observe the mistake and beg you'l give your self the trouble to remit us the sume that we may give his accompt Credit in our Books We wish you health and Prosperity and are Honble Sr Yr Humble Servants To any of the Comanders of The English East India Ships Gentlemen By reason of the exceeding large quan= =titys of Arrack put on us the last shipping we are so over stockt with it that we cannot take any more at any price for the two Succeeding years we think this the most proper Expedt to prevent your Furnishing your selves with any Quantitys in Expectation of Disposing of it here, pray Gentlemen seal this up and leave for those gentlemen that may come after you to prevent their disapointments Likewise, we are Gentlemen Yr Humble Servants Island St Helena Novr ye 3, 1721 Which Letter was Enclosed by the Govr to Mr Blom one of the Gentlemen of the Council at Batavia, Another of ye same know'n Inclosd by the Governr ½ to Mr Snellings will at ye Cape Ed Johnson Ed Buffeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Letter sent to Batavia Ship Drake another of the same for ye Cape | The council thought it proper to acquaint the executor with the matter, and likewise sent a copy of Thomlinson's account so that he might observe the mistake. The council asked him to take the trouble to remit the sum, so that it might give the account credit in its books. The council wished him health and prosperity, and closed as his humble servants. The council addressed a letter to any of the commanders of the English East India ships, sent to Batavia by the Drake. Because of the exceeding large quantities of arrack put upon the island by the last ships, the council was so overstocked with it that it could take no more at any price for the two succeeding years. The council thought this the most proper means to prevent the commanders from bringing any quantity in the hope of selling it here. The council asked them to seal the letter up and leave it for those who might come after them, to prevent their disappointment, and closed as their humble servants. The letter was dated at the Island of St Helena, 3 November 1721. This letter was enclosed by Governor Johnson to Mr Blom, one of the gentlemen of the Council at Batavia. Another of the same was enclosed by the Governor to Mr Shillings, both addressed by Governor Johnson, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations This minute closes the account letter to the executor and enters a circular notice to the commanders of the English East India ships, the whole carried by the Drake and forming part of the correspondence recorded at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The notice continues the deliberate clearing of the overstocked arrack, the council warning incoming masters off a cargo it could not take rather than face their disappointment on arrival. The device of a sealed letter left at Batavia for later commanders to read in turn marks a practical solution to a communication problem at a remote station. The council could not reach ships still in the east, so it lodged a standing notice with the Council at Batavia, to be passed from one master to the next, each warned before he loaded arrack he could not sell. Batavia was the Dutch East India Company's headquarters on Java and the chief source of the arrack that had glutted the island's stores. The enclosure of the notice to Mr Blom and Mr Shillings, gentlemen of the Council at Batavia, shows the council relying on resident officers to circulate its warning among the homeward-bound English commanders who touched there. The repeated concern to spare the masters a wasted venture reflects the standing position that the island took goods only to the balance of a ship's store account, the stores being already full for two years ahead. | |
164 | Island St Helena Att consultations held From Tuesday the 17th Octor to the 26th Ditto 1721 att union Castle in James Valley Edward Johnson Esqr Govr Edward Byfeld 2d John Alexander John Goodwin Joseph Ormston The Marshall made Proclamation that all Persons were att Liberty to hear Mr Thomas Free make good his Complaints Mr Free to make good the first article complaining of the Govr reporting he had Ano= =ther Wife in England, Said most of his Wittness were either dead or gone of the Island Vizt Mr John Coles, Gibbs & Govr Pyke, & desired his Wife might be sent for She Deposeth That Mrs Pacler Purser of the Craggs frig about nine days before the Departure of the Said Ship Mett Mrs Free att Mrs Coulsons and told her that he was glad to see her, and She Congratulated him on his Ari= =vall, and askt her how Mr Free did? She Answe= =red Very ill, but hoped by the asistance of a good Margin Notes: Capen Wm Westcombe Comander of ship Drake Prs: Proceedings relating to Thos Frees Case Mrs Frees Deposition | At consultations held from Tuesday 17 October to 26 October 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander, John Goodwin and Joseph Ormston, with Captain William Westerban, commander of the Drake, also present. The marshal made proclamation that all persons were at liberty to hear Thomas Free make good his complaints. Free, to make good his first article, complaining of the Governor for reporting that he had another wife in England, said that most of his witnesses were either dead or gone from the island, namely Mr John Coles, Gibbs and Governor Pyke, and asked that his wife be sent for. Mrs Packer, wife of the purser of the Craggs Frigate, deposed that about nine days before the ship sailed she met Mrs Free at Mrs Coulson's, who told her she was glad to see her. Mrs Packer congratulated her on her arrival and asked how Mr Free did. Mrs Free answered that he was very ill, but hoped by the help of a good bargain to recover. Interpretations This minute opens the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the island's government, the council sitting in open hall under the directors' order across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721. The hearing was compelled by the directors, who had ordered that Free be allowed to make good the accusations he had carried to London, the bench obliged to examine charges against itself in public under paragraph 44 of the general letter by the Drake. The marshal's proclamation that all persons were at liberty to attend marks the formal opening of a public inquiry, the openness itself part of the council's answer to a complaint that touched its own conduct. By advertising the hearing and admitting any who wished to witness it, the bench sought to disprove Free's charges before the assembled island rather than behind closed doors. Free's first article, that the Governor had reported he kept another wife in England, drew testimony that turned the inquiry back on Free himself. The deposition that Mrs Free had lately arrived and spoken of her husband's hope to recover by a good bargain bears on the question of his marriage and circumstances, the very matter the hearing turned up against him, French later recalling taunts that Free had a wife in Ireland, both passages struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721. The Craggs Frigate, named as the ship whose purser's wife gave evidence, had earlier brought the change of government to Governor Edward Johnson. | |
165 | Surgeon they had on the Island he would do well of his broken legg, Mr Packer Replyed he was sorry for his Misfortune She desired him to resolve her one thing? he answered he would answer her, she askt him whether he had heard of a Letter on board the Ship that Mr Free had another Wife? he said yes, & was Pleased to say that comeing near St Helena, Govr Johnson, Mr Packer, Mr Ben= bow & Mr Jones were talking about the Island Govr Johnson askt Mr Packer and Doctr Jones whether they knew one Mr Free att St Helena They answered very well, the Govr should Say what is he? Mr Packer answered he was Clerk of the Councill when I was there last, and Doctr Jones Said I have lived upon the Place and he was Clerk in my time upon that Govr Johnson Said I have a letter for him from his Wife in England Whereupon Doctr Jones Said, he was Marryd to Mr Griffiths Widdow, a Gentleman he was very well acquainted with Mr Packer Said he was one of his Paulbearers, Neverthelefs Govr Johnson Insisted upon the Letter from his Wife for Mr Free upon that Mr Packer and Mr Jones said that they Could not believe it for Mr Free hath been in Publick business for some years & that if there had been a Wife it would have been known long before, Mr Packer Said Mr Free had a Sister, or Sisters, or Relations in England, With that Govr Johnson fetcht the Letter | Mrs Free hoped that, with the help of a good surgeon on the island, her husband would recover from his broken leg. Mr Packer replied that he was sorry for his misfortune. She asked him to settle one matter for her, and he answered that he would. She asked whether he had heard of a letter aboard the ship saying that Mr Free had another wife. He answered yes, and was pleased to say that, coming near St Helena, Governor Johnson, Mr Packer, Mr Benbow and Mr Jones were talking about the island. Governor Johnson asked Mr Packer and Doctor Jones whether they knew a Mr Free at St Helena. They answered that they knew him very well. The Governor asked what he was. Mr Packer answered that he was clerk of the council when Packer was last there, and Doctor Jones said he had lived on the island and that Free was clerk in his time. The Governor said he had a letter for Free from his wife in England, on which Doctor Jones said that Free was married to Mr Griffith's widow, a gentleman he was very well acquainted with, and Mr Packer said he was one of his pallbearers. The Governor nevertheless insisted that the letter from his wife was for Free, on which Packer and Jones said they could not believe it, since Free had been in public business for some years, and that if he had a wife it would have been known long before. Mr Packer said Free had a sister, or sisters, or relations in England. With that, the Governor fetched the letter. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the testimony of Mr Packer and Doctor Jones taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The witnesses recounted the shipboard conversation in which the report of Free's second wife arose, the bench gathering sworn accounts of how the rumour began to test Free's first article against the Governor. The depositions bear directly on Free's charge that the Governor had spread a false report of another wife in England. Packer and Jones, both acquainted with Free's marriage to the widow Griffith, swore they disbelieved the letter could be for him, Jones having known the late Griffith well and Packer having been one of his pallbearers. Their evidence cut against the existence of a second wife, the very point the inquiry weighed, the matter later turning up taunts about a wife in Ireland that were struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721. The Governor's production of a letter addressed to Free from a wife in England marks the origin of the dispute the hearing was convened to settle. The talk arose from a chance shipboard conversation as the vessel neared the island, the Governor pressing the letter against the witnesses' doubts, the whole exchange entered to show how the report Free complained of had come about. Free's marriage to Griffith's widow connects to his long-standing position as a former clerk of the council and his disputes over the Griffith estate already on the record. | |
166 | either gave the Letter or shew'd it him and said look here Mr Packer is not this a Womans hand? with that Mr Packer Said yes what of all that, he Said he had Sisters in England, and Perhaps a Frind upon that the old Gentleman Smiled, Govr Johnson Said that the Gentleman that gave him the Letter was one Mr Mitchell one of the Court of Directors and he told him that Mr Free had Married a near Relation of his, Mr Free askt Mr Packer whether the Letter was opened? and he said no not when he saw is In Answer to Mrs Frees Evidence which is only a Relation of a Story told her by Mr Packer which is intirely false for the Govr denyes during the whole voyage to have been in Company with those three Persons only together or att any time to have had any Private Conversation with those three Persons together, for Mr Benbows Conversation & behaviour during the whole Voyage was by no means agreable to him, for when he had Liquors of his own & could gitt any he was allwayes Intoxicated when Otherwise he never spoke a word he used to gitt in the Govrs Appartemt with the Governrs Servant & be drinking the Govrs Liquors for which the Govr Reproved & told him, it was not like a Gentleman to keep Such Company, or Encourage his Servant to Embezell his Liquors, the Govr allwayes Shund his Company, As to the first Margin Notes: Answers to Mrs Frees Evidence | The Governor either gave the letter or showed it to him, and said, look here, Mr Packer, is this not a woman's hand. Mr Packer said yes, but what of all that, for Free had sisters in England and perhaps a friend. The old gentleman smiled. Governor Johnson said that the gentleman who gave him the letter was a Mr Mitchell, one of the Court of Directors, who had told him Free had married a near relation of his. Mrs Free asked Mr Packer whether the letter had been opened, and he said no, not when he last saw it. In answer to Mrs Free's evidence, which was only a recital of a story told her by Mr Packer and entirely false, the Governor denied having been in company with those three persons only together during the whole voyage, or at any time having had any private conversation with the three of them together. Mr Benbow's conversation and behaviour during the whole voyage were by no means agreeable to the Governor, for when he had liquors of his own and could get any he was always intoxicated, and otherwise never spoke a word. He used to get into the Governor's apartment with the Governor's servant and drink the Governor's liquors, for which the Governor reproved him and told him it was not gentlemanly to keep such company or to encourage his servant to embezzle his liquors. The Governor always shunned his company. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor answering Mrs Free's evidence across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The Governor's denial that he had ever been alone in private with the three witnesses cut at the foundation of Free's account, the bench recording the Governor's rebuttal alongside the depositions to weigh the truth of the first article. The exchange over the letter touches the origin of the whole dispute, the Governor naming Mr Mitchell of the Court of Directors as the source who told him Free had married a near relation. By tracing the report to a director's own word, the Governor sought to show the rumour did not begin with him but came from London, the matter the hearing was convened to settle. Mrs Free's question whether the letter had been opened, and the answer that it had not, mark the doubt over whether any second wife in fact existed. The Governor's account of Mr Benbow's conduct during the voyage served to discredit the testimony Free relied on. By describing Benbow as a habitual drunkard who crept into his quarters to drink his liquor and corrupt his servant, the Governor undermined the credibility of the shipboard talk Free's case rested on, the bench entering the character of the witnesses as part of its answer to the complaint. | |
167 | Two Months the Governrs Conversation was in the Round house with the Captn, Where Mr Jones did not Come, the Captn, Mr John Caulier the Chief & 2d Mates & Mr Packer were his only asociates, Mr Packer and Mr Jones did not seem to have any great Respect for each other, the Remainder of the Voyage the Govr did not fre= =quent the Round house but Retired to his own Ap= =partemt, after he had recommended to the Captn the hardships imposed on the Gentlemen Passen= =gers by the Stinking beer that was Served out to them and could not be allowed a coole water in Lieu thereof, of which uneasiness Mr Packer was Suspected by the Governr as well as the Rest of the Gentlemen Passengers to be the great Promoter of & of Course his conversation With Mr Packer must drop to which Mr Ormston Asserted who was in the Same Ship Mr Free Saith Mr Jones told him the Very Same Story as Mr Packer told Mrs Free as before Mentioned & that he askt Mr Jones if the Governr had ever a Letter for him? Mr Jones Said he could not Verywell tell within a While after, talking of it again, Mr Jones Said I am allmost asur'd the Governr has a Letter for you, On the 15th day of July I being at work bed, Governr Johnson came to my house I wisht his Worship Welcome to the Island, The Governr Margin Notes: Mr Frees Declaration | For the first two months the Governor kept his company in the round house with the captain, where Mr Jones did not come. The captain, Mr John Caulier the chief mate, the second mate and Mr Packer were his only associates. Mr Packer and Mr Jones did not seem to have any great respect for each other. For the remainder of the voyage the Governor did not frequent the round house but withdrew to his own apartment, after he had told the captain of the hardships imposed on the gentlemen passengers by the foul beer served out to them, who could not be allowed a little water instead. Mr Packer was suspected by the Governor, as well as by the rest of the gentlemen passengers, to be the chief promoter of this complaint, and so the Governor's company with Mr Packer had to cease. Joseph Ormston, who was in the same ship, confirmed this. Free deposed that Mr Jones had told him the very same story as Mr Packer had told Mrs Free, and that he asked Jones whether the Governor had a letter for him. Jones said he could not well tell. A while after, talking of it again, Jones said he was almost sure the Governor had a letter for him. On 15 July, Free being lame, Governor Johnson came to his house, and Free welcomed his Worship to the island. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's account of the voyage and Free's own deposition taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The Governor traced his shipboard company in detail to rebut the claim that he had conspired with the witnesses, the bench setting his account against the depositions to test the first article. The Governor's explanation that he withdrew from the round house after the dispute over the passengers' beer served to account for his dealings with Packer. By naming Packer as the suspected ringleader of the complaint over foul beer and water, the Governor recast his contact with the witness as the very opposite of friendly collusion, the matter the inquiry weighed. Ormston's confirmation, given as a councillor who had sailed in the same ship, lent the Governor's account corroboration from the bench itself. Free's deposition that Jones had told him the same story, and that Jones grew almost sure the Governor carried a letter for him, marks Free building his case from the talk of the witnesses. The detail that the Governor visited the lame Free on 15 July ties the dispute to a particular meeting, the encounter at Free's house the point from which the later quarrel over the seizure of his estate would grow, Free having been ordered 21 lashes for his insolent reports at the consultation of 3 October 1721. | |
168 | Thankt me & bid me not disturb my legg and said I have a Letter for you which Mr Mitchell desired me to deliver to you with my hands & that you should open the Letter & read it before me, which I opened & shew'd it to the Governr & told him it was from my Sister the Govr took the Letter in his hands & Just lookt into it & laid it down again on the Table & Said Mr Free you must Write an Answerr to this Letter & deliver it to me & I Will take care it shall go home Safe for your Frinds admire they Cant hear from you In Answere to what Mr Free says that Mr Jones told him the Very Same Story Mr Packer had told his Wife the Govr Says he thinks there ought but Very little Credit to be given to that because Mr Free ownes that when he first askt Mr Jones whether the Govr had a Letter for him his Answere was he Could very well tell awhile after talking of the Same matter Mr Jones Sayes I am almost asurd the Governr has a Letter for you had Mr Jones related to Mr Free the very Same Story Mr Packer had to Mrs Free there would have been no Occasion for Mr Free to have askt the Question whether the Governr had a Letter from him or not or for Mr Jones to have answered in Dubious Termes as att both times he had for According to Mrs Frees Relation of what Mr Packer told her that The Govr fetcht the Letter & shew'd it Them Which is Praise & who ever believes the one can give no Credit to the other Margin Notes: Answer to Mr Frees Declaration | The Governor thanked Free and told him not to disturb his leg, and said he had a letter for him which Mr Mitchell had asked him to deliver with his own hands, and that Free should open and read it before him. Free opened it and showed it to the Governor, telling him it was from his sister. The Governor took the letter in his hands but did not look into it, and laid it down again on the table. He said Free must write an answer to it and deliver it to him, and that he would see it sent home safe, for his friends would be glad to hear from him. In answer to Free's deposition that Jones had told him the very same story Mr Packer had told his wife, the Governor said he thought there ought to be very little credit given to it. Free admitted that when he first asked Jones whether the Governor had a letter for him, Jones answered that he could not well tell, and a while after, talking of the matter again, Jones said he was almost sure the Governor had a letter for him. Had Jones related to Free the very same story Mr Packer had told Mrs Free, there would have been no occasion for Free to ask whether the Governor had a letter from him or not, nor for Jones to answer in such doubtful terms on both occasions. According to Mrs Free's account of what Mr Packer told her, the Governor produced the letter and showed it to them, which was precise, so that whoever believed the one account could give no credit to the other. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor answering Free's deposition across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The Governor turned Free's own evidence against him, drawing out the contradiction between two accounts of how the letter came to light, the bench testing the first article by setting the witnesses' stories side by side. The Governor's account of delivering the letter at Free's house records the courtesy of the first meeting before the later quarrel. By describing how he carried the letter from Mr Mitchell, declined to read it himself and offered to send Free's reply home safely, the Governor cast the encounter as a friendly service rather than the spreading of a damaging report, the matter the inquiry weighed. The Governor's logical attack on Free's evidence marks the heart of his rebuttal. If Jones had told Free the same circumstantial story Packer told Mrs Free, Free would have had no need to ask Jones whether a letter existed, nor would Jones have answered in doubtful terms. By exposing this inconsistency, the Governor sought to show that the two accounts could not both be true, so that neither deserved belief, the whole exchange entered to discredit the charge that he had spread a false report of a second wife. | |
169 | Mr James Ryder Planter of this Island deposeth that Govr Pyke came up the Valley & Went over to Mr Carne and Calld Mr Ryder in, Mr Ryder askt Govr Pyke his Will, He told him Mr Free had a Wife in England he told him he was Very Sorry to hear it on the Acct of his Mother and he askt his advice, he advised him to go up and acquaint his Mo= =ther and to come down and see whether he had a Wife or no and if he had to dispatch the old Rogue or Villain of the Island, Mr Ryder came down to Govr Johnson (he then was Sick a bed & told the Govr Unknown) his Mother gave his service to his Worship and desired to Know whether Mr Free had a Wife in Eng= =land his Worship told him he had a Letter and it was a Womans hand butt he did not know any thing of a Wife which he told to his Mother which She ownes to be a great Satisfaction that the Govr should Say to Mr Ryder Sm to Mr Free his Deposin this seems to be so farr from a Charge upon Govr Johnson that it Clearly takes away the Least im= =putation of the Governrs being the authour of any Such Report for Mr Ryder Deposeth that when he Aplyd to Govr Johnson Concerning Mr Frees haveing a Wife in England the Govr told him he knew Nothing of all Was Such a Satisfaction to her that She went home & Livd with Mr Free which She had forbore from her first hearing that Report, Had they not been Satisfyd that Governr Johnson was Not the Author of it they wd Margin Notes: James Ryders Deposition Reply thereto, ye Answer is sd is upon ye whole | Mr James Ryder, planter of this island, deposed that Governor Pyke came up the valley and went over to Mr Carne's and called Mr Ryder in. Ryder asked Governor Pyke his will, and the Governor told him Free had a wife in England. Ryder said he was very sorry to hear it on his mother's account, and asked his advice. Governor Pyke advised him to go and tell his mother and to come down and see whether he had a wife or not, and, if he had, to dispatch the old rogue, or words to that effect. Ryder came down to Governor Johnson, who was then sick in bed, and told him, unknown to his mother, that she gave her service to his Worship and wished to know whether Free had a wife in England. The Governor told him he had a letter, and that it was in a woman's hand, but that he knew nothing of a wife. Ryder told this to his mother, who owned it to be a great satisfaction that the Governor should say so. Ryder, sworn to his deposition, said it seemed so far from a charge against Governor Johnson that it clearly took away the least imputation of his being the author of any such report. Ryder deposed that when he applied to Governor Johnson concerning Free having a wife in England, the Governor told him he knew nothing of it. This was such a satisfaction to his mother that she went home and lived with Free, which she had forborne from her first hearing of the report. Had they not been satisfied that Governor Johnson was not the author of it. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the deposition of James Ryder taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. Ryder's evidence cut directly against Free's first article, the witness swearing that the Governor disclaimed any knowledge of a second wife, the bench gathering testimony that cleared the Governor of being the source of the report. The deposition traces the report to Governor Pyke rather than Governor Johnson. By swearing that Pyke first told him of Free's supposed wife and advised him to be rid of the old rogue, Ryder placed the origin of the rumour with the former Governor, not the present one, the very point the inquiry weighed. The former Governor Pyke being named as the source connects to Free's own admission that Pyke was among the witnesses he could not produce, being gone from the island. Ryder's account turns on the family interest at stake. His mother, married to or living with Free, had withdrawn from him on first hearing the report and returned only when satisfied that Governor Johnson disclaimed it, the Governor's denial that he knew of any wife the very reassurance that restored the household. The deposition thus served the Governor twice, both clearing him of authorship and showing that his own words had settled the matter rather than spread it. | |
170 | Sure ligh are brought these Gentlemn they have made use of Viz Govr Pyke Mr Packer Mr Jones & Mr Ormston face to face to have Justified what they had Reported as comeing from the Governr for what Ans= =wer the Governr had Made to Mr Ryder was Some time before the Departure of the Ship Crags had that Been a Reall Complaint against the Govr they would have taken all Probable Methods to have Proved it upon him which hath not been done Especial= =ly since the Letters of Complaints against the Govr were in July & Decemr 1720 & Mr Packer in his homeward bound Passage was here in Aprill 1721 & Mr Packer was then att Mr Frees house yet not withstanding the Letters of Complaints Mr Free had writt Mr Free did not think fitt to bring Mr Packer to the Governr to Justifie what he had told to his Wife which Seems to Argue no Intentions to Prove the Truth, The Governr is informed that it has been Severall times Reported long before his Arrivall that Mr Free had Another Wife Wittness Capen Alexander, Capen Cason Mr Slaugh= =ter & Mr French Capen Alexander says that he being Severall Persons being formerly Named of haveing other Wives in England Mr Free was in Parti= =cular Many years Since & that Mrs Free his Pre= =sent Wife has been Very Much Blamed for Marrying a Man of Such Common Report Margin Notes: Mr Alexander Delivers | Had the witnesses been brought, they would have made use of former Governor Pyke, Mr Packer, Mr Jones and Mr Ormston, face to face, to justify what they had reported as coming from the Governor. The answer the Governor had made to Mr Ryder was some time before the departure of the Craggs. Had there been a real complaint against the Governor, the witnesses would have taken all probable means to prove it upon him, which had not been done. The letters of complaint against the Governor were laid in July and December 1720, and Mr Packer, on his homeward passage, was here in April 1721, and was then at Free's house. Yet despite the letters of complaint Free had written, he did not think fit to bring Mr Packer to the Governor to justify what he had told his wife, which seemed to argue no intention to prove the truth. The Governor was informed that it had been reported several times, long before his arrival, that Free had another wife. The witnesses were Captain Alexander, Captain Cason, Mr Hawkins and Mr French. Captain Alexander deposed that, several persons being formerly named as having other wives in England, Free was particularly involved many years since, and that Free's present wife had been very much blamed for marrying a man of such common report. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's argument and Captain Alexander's deposition taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The Governor pressed the point that Free had failed to bring his witnesses face to face when he had the chance, the bench recording the argument that Free's conduct showed no real intention to prove his charge. The Governor's reasoning rests on the timing of Free's complaints and his opportunities to support them. The letters of complaint were sent in July and December 1720, the omitted debts of Governor Pyke recovered by the letter of 10 September 1720 belonging to the same period, and Packer was at Free's own house in April 1721, yet Free never brought him before the Governor to make good the story. By drawing out this failure, the Governor sought to show the charge was hollow, the witness available but never produced. Captain Alexander's deposition turned the matter of the second wife back on Free himself. By swearing that Free had long been named among men reputed to keep other wives in England, and that his present wife had been blamed for marrying a man of such report, Alexander supplied evidence that the rumour predated the Governor's arrival and did not begin with him. This connects to the matter the inquiry turned up against Free, the taunts about a wife in Ireland later struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721. | |
171 | Capen Cason says he has heard it Reported Very Frequently formerly that Mr Free had another Wife Mr Slaughter Deposeth He has heard Mr French long before Govr Johnson came to the Island tell Mr Free severall times that he the Said Free had a Wife in England and has heard Sev= =rall other People Say the Same Mr John French Gunr Deposeth Mr Free desires the Govr to ask the Said Mr French Whence he had the Report of Mr Frees haveing a Wife in England Who Deposeth that Govr Pyke told him Govr Johnson had one or two Letters which he said came for Mr Frees Wife in England As to that Part of the Complaint that the Breaking of his Legg was Occasiond by the Reply= =ing of the Govr allways took it to be the consequence of too much Liquor on both Sides because the Govr never heard of it before Mr Free came to the Govr to Complain & desired an Action to be Enterd for the asault against Mr French & did not Alleadge then any Such Matter But that he had offerd to make it up With him but he could not do any thing with him the Govr Wh he Saw Mr French told him that Mr Free had been with him & had desired an Action for the Assault might be Enterd against him Mr French told the Govr Then Mr Free had given Such Opprobrious Language to him that it was Impossible for him to bear him any Longer as he Margin Notes: Capt Cason Mr Slaughter Mr Frees request Mr Frenchs Deduction Relateing to Mr Frees Legg breaking & Observations | Captain Cason deposed that he had heard it reported very frequently in earlier years that Free had another wife. Ensign Slaughter deposed that he had heard Mr French, long before Governor Johnson came to the island, tell Free several times that he had a wife in England, and had heard all other people say the same. Mr John French, gunner, deposed. Free asked the Governor to ask French from whom he had the report of Free having a wife in England. French deposed that Governor Pyke told him Governor Johnson had one or two letters which he said came from Free's wife in England. As to that part of the complaint that the breaking of his leg was occasioned by the dispute between French and the Governor, the Governor always took drink on both sides to be the cause of it, since the Governor never heard of it before Free came to complain and asked that an action be entered for the assault against French. Free did not allege then any such matter, but that he had offered to make it up with French and could not do anything with him. The Governor, he thought, saw Mr French and told him Free had been with him and had asked that an action for the assault be entered against him. French told the Governor that Free had given him such abusive language that it was impossible for him to bear it any longer. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Cason, Slaughter and French taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The accumulated testimony confirmed that the report of Free's second wife was old and widespread, the bench gathering witness after witness to show the rumour did not begin with Governor Johnson. The depositions trace the report once more to Governor Pyke. French swore that it was Pyke who told him the present Governor held letters from Free's wife in England, placing the source again with the former Governor, the very point the inquiry weighed. The repetition across several witnesses that the rumour was common long before Governor Johnson arrived served to clear him of authorship, the matter the hearing was convened to settle. A second article enters here, Free's complaint that his broken leg arose from the quarrel between French and the Governor. The Governor's account treats the injury as the result of drink rather than any wrong done to Free, and recasts the dispute with French as an assault Free himself had provoked by abusive language. This connects to the long enmity between Free and the gunner French, French having testified against Free's witnesses earlier in the inquiry, the whole matter the bench weighed in answering Free's charges, his insolent reports having already drawn 21 lashes at the consultation of 3 October 1721. | |
172 | told him and after that gave him the Lye the Govr told Mr French that Mr Free had a Very good action for the assault against him yet not withstanding the Provocation given him & as it proceeded from Liquor as he told him he thought it did that they had better make it up together then lett it come to a Tryall for that would Occasion Money to be spent on both Sides which neither would be the better for & from that time to this the Govr had heard nothing of it Mr French Deposeth That the Govr told him that Mr Free had been with him to enter an action for the Assault against him that Mr Free did give Such ill Language that he could not bear him any longer and gave him a Caution or he would break his head after that Mr Free gave him the Lye upon which the quarrell happned And being askt by the Governr if he had not heard of Mr Free haveing another wife in England before the Sd Governrs Arrivall he furthr deposeth that Mr Saunderson did frequently twitt the Said Free with a Wife in Ireland which he had heard the Said Saunderson do So & Said Tom dont ye Remember Betty such a one Capen Goodwin Reports That he had heard Governr Pyke talk of a Letter which Governr Johnson had from the Said Frees Wife Margin Notes: Mr French Deposeth Mr Free haveing another wife further Confirmed | Free told French, and after that gave him the lie. The Governor told French that Free had a very good action for the assault against him, yet that, given the provocation and that it had proceeded from drink, he thought they had better make it up together than let it come to a trial, which would cost money to be spent on both sides, leaving neither the better for it. From that time to this the Governor had heard nothing of it. Mr French deposed that the Governor told him Free had been with him to enter an action for the assault, that Free had given such abusive language that he could bear him no longer, and gave him a caution lest he break his head. After that Free gave him the lie, on which the quarrel arose. Being asked by the Governor whether he had not heard of Free having another wife in England before the Governor's arrival, French further deposed that Mr Saunderson frequently taunted Free with a wife in Ireland, which French had heard Saunderson do, saying, Tom, do you not remember Betty, such a one. Captain Goodwin reported that he had heard Governor Pyke speak of a letter which Governor Johnson had from Free's wife. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the further depositions of French and Goodwin taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The testimony closed the inquiry's treatment of both the second wife and the broken leg, the bench gathering accounts that turned each charge back against Free. The exchange over the assault shows the Governor acting as a peacemaker rather than a partisan. By advising French and Free to settle their quarrel out of court, weighing the cost of a trial against any benefit, the Governor cast himself as one who sought to quiet the dispute, not inflame it, the matter Free had raised as a grievance. French's account of the provocation, that Free abused him and gave him the lie, placed the fault for the quarrel on Free. French's deposition that Saunderson frequently taunted Free with a wife in Ireland marks the inquiry turning up matter against Free himself. The detail of Saunderson asking whether Free remembered Betty connects to the passage later struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, the bench removing the taunt about a wife in Ireland once it had served to show the rumour was old. Goodwin's report tracing the talk of a letter once more to Governor Pyke confirmed the source lay with the former Governor, the very point that cleared Governor Johnson of spreading it. | |
173 | in England Mr Ormston Reports He had heard Govr Johnson tell Governr Pyke that Mr Mitchell had told the said Govr Johnson Mr Free was Married to a Relation of his Touching the 2d Part of The Complaint Mr Free says that he did make an offer to the Governr of 40000 yamms 50 Goatts 6 head of Cattle & 8 or 9 large Stoggs in Part of Payment for his Debt & that the Governr answered the Company did not want any of those things he must have Money In answere to which the Governr Says Mr Free did about the Latter end of February or begin= =ning of March 17 20/21 make an offer of yamms Catle &Ca & 8 or 9 large Stoggs which the Governr told him he would take as to the Rest the Company had no Occasion for them accordingly the Governr Sent for the Chief overseer William Portley to order him to receive them Portley acquainted the Govr that it would be more for Frees Intrest as well as for the Honble Company to fatt them for he had yamms fitt for that Purpose to Spare & the Compy had not the Governr orderd Mr Portley to acquaint Mr Free there of to which Mr Free agreed & they were to be putt up in a sty to be fatted one under another one a fortnight for a Change of Diett for the Black whereas there had been for Some Margin Notes: Mr Ormston means a Relation of Mr Mitchell About Govrs offerd of &Ca Govr Reports the Contrary | Joseph Ormston reported that he had heard Governor Johnson tell Governor Pyke that Mr Mitchell had told him Free was married to a relation of his. Concerning the second part of the complaint, Free said that he had offered the Governor 40,000 yams, 50 goats, 6 head of cattle and eight or nine large hogs in part payment of his debt, and that the Governor answered that the Company did not want any of these things, it must have money. In answer, the Governor said that Free, about the latter end of February or the beginning of March 1721, made an offer of yams, cattle and eight or nine large hogs, which the Governor told him he would take, but as to the rest the Company had no occasion for them. The Governor accordingly sent for the chief overseer William Portley to order him to receive them. Portley told the Governor that it would be more for Free's interest, as well as for the Company's, to fatten the hogs, for he had yams fit for that purpose to spare, and the Company had not. The Governor ordered Portley to acquaint Free of this, to which Free agreed, and the hogs were to be put up in a sty to be fattened, one under another every fortnight, for a change of diet for the slaves, whereas there had been none for some time. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Ormston's report and the Governor's answer to the second article taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. Ormston's account once more traced the report of Free's marriage to a director's word, the bench closing the first article with confirmation that the rumour came from London. The second part of the complaint turns on the Company's refusal to take payment in kind. Free's grievance was that the Governor demanded money and would not accept his livestock and provisions against his debt, while the Governor's answer showed he had in fact agreed to take the yams, cattle and hogs and refused only part. By tracing the negotiation through the chief overseer Portley, the Governor sought to show the matter was handled reasonably, not by the flat refusal Free alleged. This connects to Free's deep indebtedness to the Company and the seizure of his estate that followed, his insolent reports of the seizure having drawn 21 lashes at the consultation of 3 October 1721. The arrangement to fatten the hogs in succession for the slaves' diet marks a practical management of the Company's provisioning. Portley's advice that Free keep his hogs and fatten them on his own spare yams, the Company having none to spare, turned a debt settlement into a supply scheme, the hogs put up in turn to give the slaves a change of food they had long lacked. William Portley, named as chief overseer, had by this date been discharged for neglect and embezzlement, his perjury on the yam account convicting him at the consultation of 15 December 1720. | |
174 | time before, beef killd every Saturday for them the first time Mr Portley went for a Stogg there was none upon which Mr Portley came down to the Governr and acquainted him Mr Free had no Stogg ready according to his Promise that he had killd that Stogg putt up for his own use The Govr Sent for Mr Free and askt him what made him do so to Sell him his hoggs & Make use of them himself & Cautiond him to do so no More the next time Portley sent (or went) with the Butcher to kill a Stogg Mr Ryder refused telling him he had no order from Mr Free to suffer it Portley killd some of the Comps Beeff that day in stead there of about the middle of the week following Portley acquainted the Govr how Mr Free had Servd him the Govr Sent for Mr Free again & askt him whither he thought he could bear such treatment Mr Free alleadged that Portley did not come att the time appointed & that Mr Ryder he was sure had not refused him that the Stogg died in two or three days after Choakd with fatt some time after the Governr Saw Mr Ryder and En= =quiring into the Matter said Mr Free never had given him any orders to deliver it but seemed to be surprised when the Governr Said that Mr Free Should Say it Died it self in the Sty or was Choakd with fatt for Mr Free ordered it Margin Notes: Further about Hoggs | Before this, beef had been killed every Saturday for the slaves. The first time Portley went for a hog there was none, on which he came down to the Governor and told him Free had no hog ready, contrary to his promise, but had killed the hog put up for his own use. The Governor sent for Free and asked what made him do so, to sell his hogs and then make use of them himself, and cautioned him not to do so again. The next time Portley sent, or went, with the butcher to kill a hog, Mr Ryder refused, saying he had no order from Free to allow it. Portley killed some of the Company's beef that day instead. About the middle of the following week Portley told the Governor how Free had served him, and the Governor sent for Free again and asked whether he thought he could bear such treatment. Free alleged that Portley did not come at the time appointed, and that Ryder, he was sure, had not refused him, and that the hog died two or three days after, choked with fat. Some time after, the Governor saw Mr Ryder and, enquiring into the matter, was told that Free had never given him any orders to deliver it. Ryder seemed surprised when the Governor said Free claimed the hog had died of itself in the sty, or was choked with fat, for Free had ordered it. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's account of the hog supply taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The narrative set Free's version against the testimony of Portley and Ryder, the bench tracing the failed delivery to test the second article concerning the Company's refusal of payment in kind. The dispute turns on whether Free met his bargain to supply hogs for the slaves' food. The Governor's account, drawn from the chief overseer Portley and from Ryder, was that Free killed the hog put up for the Company and used it himself, then claimed the beast had died of its own accord. By tracing the contradiction between Free's story and Ryder's denial of any order, the Governor sought to show Free had broken his agreement and then misrepresented it, the very matter Free had raised as a grievance against the Company. The arrangement bears on the provisioning of the Company's slaves. The killing of beef every Saturday and the scheme to fatten Free's hogs for a change of diet show the council managing the regular feeding of its labour force, the failure of Free's supply forcing Portley to kill the Company's own beef instead. The reliance on a planter's bargain to feed the slaves marks how far the island's provisioning depended on private holders meeting their undertakings, the breakdown of Free's the point the inquiry weighed against him. | |
175 | him self to be killd James Vaughin Deposeth That he went to Mr Free & desired him to put up some hoggs to fatt for The Honble Comp to be be killd one undr another off which they did receive one Mr Ryder Deposeth That there was two hoggs putt in the Sty for the Honble Comp when they were fatt he sent to Mr Portley to take them that he might putt in others he said he would take one butt could not tell when he should take the other Mr Free sent to him a Second time & when he found they did not Send for it he killd it for his own use the Govr askt Mr Ryder whether the Stogg was Choaked with fatt as Mr Free reported & he ownd Mr Free had killd it & that when Portley either sent or went for the Hogg he told him he had no Orders from Mr Free to deliver it The Next time Portley had a Stogg of Mr Free for which he gave a Receipt for £3:4:0 att the next transferr day that Rect was brought in among Some Credits of Mr Ormstons which the Governr took notice of to the Gentlemn of the Councill that Frees Credits Should be amongst Mr Ormstons, thro the Multiplicity of Business Mr Ormstons Creditts were not Enterd that day & So for some days when they were Enterd the Govr orderd Mr Johnson to go to Mr Orm= =ston And Enquire of him how that Bill was to be Margin Notes: James Vaughin Deposes Mr Ryder furthr Deposes Govr Says furthur abt ye Donation | Free had ordered the hog to be killed. James Vaughan deposed that he went to Free and asked him to put up some hogs to fatten for the Company, to be killed one after another, of which the Company received one. Mr Ryder deposed that two hogs were put in the sty for the Company. When they were fat he sent to Portley to take them, so that he might put in others. Portley said he would take one but could not yet tell when he should take the other. Free sent to Ryder a second time, and when he found the Company did not send for the hog he killed it for his own use. The Governor asked Ryder whether the hog had been choked with fat, as Free reported, and he owned that Free had killed it, and that when Portley either sent or went for the hog he told him he had no orders from Free to deliver it. The next time, Portley had a hog of Free's, for which he gave a receipt for £3 4s 0d. At the next transfer day the receipt was brought in among some credits of Joseph Ormston, which the Governor told the gentlemen of the council should be among Free's credits. Through the press of business Ormston's credits were not entered that day, and so for some days, until they were entered. The Governor ordered Mr Johnson to go to Ormston and enquire how the bill was to be entered. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Vaughan and Ryder and the Governor's account of the hog receipt taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The testimony fixed the contradiction in Free's story, the bench tracing the fate of each hog to test the second article concerning his debt and the Company's dealings. The depositions resolve the question of how the hog came to be killed. Ryder's admission that Free killed the beast for his own use, against Free's claim that it died choked with fat, exposed the inconsistency the Governor had pressed throughout. By gathering Vaughan's and Ryder's accounts, the bench established that Free had broken his bargain and misrepresented the loss, the very matter Free had raised as a grievance. The handling of the £3 4s 0d receipt shows the documentary discipline by which credits were traced to the right account. The receipt for Free's hog was first entered among Ormston's credits and had to be redirected to Free, the Governor ordering an enquiry into how the bill should stand. This connects to the wider confusion in the accounts that the inquiry turned up, Henry Johnson's confused account of a disputed bill and whether Free or Ormston was to have the credit being struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721. | |
176 | Enterd Mr Ormston (as Johnson said) I answerd to Mr Free butt calls him back & said Lett's see it look to the Endorcemt & said go down to Mr Free he is in the Hall to which Mr Johnson made oath that it was as the Governr hath said Mr Ormston desired he might write him self what he had to Say which was granted him & Writt as follows Mr Ormston says Mr Free did deliver a Bill to him of £3:7:0 for Pork which the Honble Compr had received of the Said Free but it being returnd for one or two days the Sd Ormston did reflect on a debt owing him by the Sd Free (the nott to the Stuff amot of that Bill wherefore he desi= =red Mr Free to Endorce the said Bill to him & for the Surpluce of the Debt he would furnish Mr Free with necessarys out of the Stores to be taken up on the Sd Ormstons acct further that the Sd Ormston was then Intirely Ignorant of any Agreemt between the Governr & the Said Free which if he had been acquainted with would have prevented his request in any Such thing After Business was over the Govr Spoke to Mr Free about it he att first pretended that he was not very well when the first day for Transferrs was appointed & so he gott Mr Ormston to do is for him the Next day he appeard as Appears by Consultation the 5th of March himself & Mr Free ownd that Mr Margin Notes: Mr Ormstons request To write his owne Declaration Viz Govrs Answer | The Governor enquired how Ormston's bill was to be entered. Johnson said he answered to Free, but Free called him back and said, let us see, look to the endorsement, and bade Johnson go down to Free in the hall. Johnson made oath that it was as the Governor had said. Ormston asked that he might write down himself what he had to say, which was granted him, and wrote as follows. Ormston deposed that Free delivered a bill to him of £3 4s 0d for pork, which the Company had received of Free, but the bill being returned for one or two days, Ormston reflected on a debt Free owed him, the note coming to the full amount of that bill. He therefore asked Free to endorse the bill to him, and, for the surplus of the debt, he would furnish Free with necessaries out of the stores to be taken up on Ormston's account. Ormston further deposed that he was then entirely ignorant of any agreement between the Governor and Free, which, had he known of it, would have prevented his request. After this business was over, the Governor spoke to Free about it. Free at first claimed that he had not been very well when the first transfer day was appointed, and so had got Ormston to act for him. The next day he appeared, as appeared by the consultation of 5 March, himself, and Free owned that Ormston had acted for him. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Ormston's written deposition and the Governor's account taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The testimony untangled the dealings over the pork bill, the bench tracing how Free's credit came to pass through Ormston to test the matter concerning his debt. The deposition explains the diversion of the £3 4s 0d bill. Ormston, holding a note Free owed him for the full amount, asked Free to endorse the bill to him and offered to supply Free with goods from the stores against the surplus. By setting out that he acted in ignorance of any bargain between the Governor and Free, Ormston cleared himself of having interfered with that agreement, the bench recording his account to fix where the credit belonged. This connects to the confusion in the accounts the inquiry turned up, the disputed bill and whether Free or Ormston should have the credit being struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721. The reference to the consultation of 5 March shows the documentary trail by which the council fixed Free's dealings. Free first pleaded illness to explain why Ormston had acted for him on the transfer day, then owned that Ormston had so acted, the record of the earlier consultation used to settle the point. The endorsement of bills from one party to another marks a recognised means of transferring a debt, the council tracing each step to keep its books true. | |
177 | Ormston Should Say to him give me that Bill for you have no Credit in the Stores & then you shall have Creditt from me for it on which as if Consulta= =tion the 5th of May a Warrant was ordered for to him for the Companys Debt Touching the 3d Part Mr Free says he desired his Wife might be Sworn as an Evidence for him which was denyed & he being Sworn deposeth that he askt Capen Alexander for a Copy of his Indictmt & was Answered he could not lett him have itt His Evidence he complains being refu= =sed the Court never heard of any he offerd butt his own affidavit notwithstanding his Petition of the 4th February to the Governr Produced in Court where in he owns under his hand that he Made a Mistake in Reporting The Governr doth not know that he ever desired a Copy of his Indictmt Capen Alexander says that neither Mr Free did ever come or send to him before or after the Sessions for a Copy of his Inditement or any thing relating there to Touching the 4th Part That on the First Seizure of his Estate he was not permitted to dig a yamm for his Familly to eat That the Directions given to the Marshall app= Margin Notes: Replyes to Mr Frees Compt 3d Part Reply to ye 4th Part | Ormston should say to him, give me that bill, for you have no credit in the stores, and then you shall have credit from me for it, on which, at the consultation of 5 May, a warrant was ordered to be issued for the Company's debt. Concerning the third part, Free said he had asked that his wife be sworn as a witness for him, which was refused. He, being sworn, deposed that he had asked Captain Alexander for a copy of his indictment and was answered that he could not let him have it. His evidence, he complained, being refused, the court never heard of any he offered, but only his own affidavit, despite his petition of 7 February to the Governor, produced in court, in which he owned under his hand that he had made a mistake in reporting. The Governor said he did not know that Free ever asked for a copy of his indictment. Captain Alexander deposed that Free never came or sent to him, before or after the sessions, for a copy of his indictment or anything relating to it. Concerning the fourth part, Free said that on the first seizure of his estate he was not permitted to dig a yam for his family to eat. The directions given to the marshal followed. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the answers to the third and the opening of the fourth article taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested each grievance in turn against the testimony of the Governor and Captain Alexander, the inquiry moving from the second wife and the debt to Free's treatment at his trial and the seizure of his estate. The third article turns on Free's claim that the court denied him his evidence and a copy of his indictment. Both the Governor and Captain Alexander swore they knew of no such request, the witness denying Free ever applied for the copy, the bench setting their accounts against Free's complaint. The refusal to swear Free's wife as a witness reflects the standing rule that a wife could not give evidence for or against her husband, the same marital privilege applied across the island's courts. Free's own petition of 7 February, in which he admitted a mistake in reporting, was produced against him, the document undercutting the charge he now pressed. The fourth article opens with Free's grievance that he was barred from digging a yam for his family when his estate was first seized. This connects to the seizure of his estate for his debt to the Company and the distribution of the Griffith orphans' share mingled with it, the whole matter that had driven Free's complaints to London and earned him 21 lashes for his insolent reports at the consultation of 3 October 1721. | |
178 | in consultation may the 5th 1720 here unto anexed Adjournmt to 3 of Clock According to the adjournmt we mett John Hodghinson Deposeth that when he Seized Mr Frees Estate he had the Governrs order to forbid the makeing use of any thing belonging to the said Free & he also forbad Mr Ryder to the same Effect who said he had no business with Mr Frees Effects where on he forbad the Servants Touching the 5th Part Nott to lett any Part of his goods to be sold to Shipping Mr Free Says that Capen Edward Martin & Capen Wooten came to his house & askt him if he could Supply them with yamms, Fowles, Goates Hoggs & they would take them of him & make Payment in any thing he wanted he answered he had all them things but durst not Sell because his Estate was Seized to which they replyed it is Very hard Mr Free says Capen Martin & Capen Wooten did come & the Conversation was as in Mr Frees foregoing relation & that Capen Wooten made her severall presents as Rice, Cloth, two Bundles Rattans & Tea from Capen Martin In answer to which the Govr Says Mr Free Surely should have come to the Govr & acquainted him therewith for neither of the two Capens had Margin Notes: Adjourned Mr Hodghinson Deposeth Frees free Actions that he Could have Sold &Ca, Replyes | These directions were entered in the consultation of 5 May 1720, annexed here. The council adjourned until 3 o'clock. According to the adjournment, the council met again. John Hodgkinson deposed that when he seized Free's estate he had the Governor's order to forbid the use of anything belonging to Free. He also forbade Mr Ryder to the same effect, who said he had no business with Free's effects, on which Hodgkinson forbade the servants. Concerning the fifth part, Free complained that he was not allowed to sell any part of his goods to the shipping. Free said that Captain Edward Martin and Captain Wooten came to his house and asked whether he could supply them with yams, fowls, goats and hogs, and that they would take them of him and make payment in anything he wanted. He answered that he had all those things but dared not sell, because his estate was seized, to which they replied that it was very hard. Free said that Captain Martin and Captain Wooten did come, and the conversation was as in his foregoing account, and that Captain Wooten made his wife several presents, namely rice, cloth, two bundles of rattans and tea. In answer, the Governor said that Free should have come to the Governor and acquainted him with it, for neither of the two captains had spoken. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the deposition of Hodgkinson and the answers to the fourth and fifth articles taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested Free's grievances over the seizure of his estate against the testimony of those who carried it out, the inquiry tracing how far the seizure had barred him from his own goods. The fourth and fifth articles turn on the effect of the seizure on Free's dealings. Hodgkinson, the marshal who seized the estate, swore he forbade the use of anything belonging to Free under the Governor's order, the seizure extending to bar Free from selling his provisions or feeding his family from them. The reference back to the directions entered at the consultation of 5 May 1720 fixes the seizure to the warrant the council had ordered against Free for his debt, the whole matter the inquiry weighed. Free's complaint that he could not sell to the shipping marks the practical hardship of the seizure. Captains Martin and Wooten, wanting provisions for their ships, were turned away because Free dared not sell goods under attachment, the merchants judging it hard usage. The Governor's answer, that Free should have brought the matter to him, recast the grievance as Free's own failure to seek leave, the bench setting the Governor's account against the complaint. The presents of rice, cloth, rattans and tea to Free's wife mark the small trade in eastern goods that the visiting commanders carried, rattans being the pliant stems of climbing palms used for canes, wickerwork and binding. | |
179 | Spoken to him, one word to him in Relation to Mr Free & if then the Governr had refused his Compt might have been Sett Touching the 6th Part That some of his Hoggs died for want of feeding That his Estate was Seized for £262 of which he has given bond for £140 hath been Appraisded by two Eminent Planters att £388 that he had Since Paid £73 would have Paid the Rest if the Governr would have accepted what he could raise & Sell for proof here of Mr Powell inter= =ceding in his behalf with the Governr against the Selling his Estate & thereby ruining him offered besides severall Cattle Sheep & Hoggs to lay down £200 in Credit for him the Said Free but it would not be taken but Mr Powell was Threatned by the Governr for appearing in his behalf & for his Asis= =ting Mr Long to clear his Debt to the Compy Mr Free says that all the Gentlemn who had any Plantation can Very well tell that Stoggs will die if they are not fed & lookt after in a dry time Mr Free says Furthur that the Warrant to Seize was for £262 John Hodghinson Deposeth That to the Best of his Remembrance the Warr for to Seize was for 270 odd Pounds Mr Gabriel Powell Deposeth Att The Request of Mr Free & his Spouse he Writ Margin Notes: Reply & observance herto to ye 6th Part Frees Compt ye money Seizd for Mr Powels | No one had spoken to the Governor about Free, and had the Governor refused his complaint it might have been lost. Concerning the sixth part, Free said that some of his hogs died for want of food, that his estate was seized for £262 0s 0d, of which he had given bond for £140 0s 0d, that it had been appraised by two eminent planters at £388 0s 0d, that he had since paid £73 0s 0d, and would have paid the rest if the Governor would have accepted what he could raise and sell. As proof, he said that Mr Powell had interceded on his behalf with the Governor against the selling of his estate, which was thereby ruining him, and besides had offered several cattle, sheep and hogs to lay down £200 0s 0d in credit for Free, but it would not be taken. Powell was threatened by the Governor for appearing on his behalf and for advising Mr Long to clear his debt to the Company. Free said that all the gentlemen who had any plantation could tell that hogs would die if they were not fed and looked after in a dry time. Free said further that the warrant to seize was for £262 0s 0d. John Hodgkinson deposed that, to the best of his remembrance, the warrant to seize was for 270 odd pounds. Mr Gabriel Powell, to give his account, deposed that at the request of Free and his wife he wrote. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the answer to the sixth article and the deposition of Powell taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested Free's grievance over the seizure and sale of his estate against the figures and the testimony of those involved, the inquiry weighing whether the Company had pressed him too hard. The sixth article turns on the value of the seized estate and Free's efforts to redeem it. Free's account set the seizure at £262 0s 0d against an appraisal of £388 0s 0d by two eminent planters, with £140 0s 0d secured by bond and £73 0s 0d since paid, his complaint being that the Governor would not let him discharge the rest by raising and selling his goods. The discrepancy with Hodgkinson's recollection of 270 odd pounds was left on the record rather than reconciled, the bench noting both figures. Powell's intervention marks the social weight a leading planter could bring to bear. Free relied on Gabriel Powell, the island's largest landholder, having pleaded with the Governor against the sale and offered £200 0s 0d in credit backed by cattle, sheep and hogs to relieve him. The claim that Powell was threatened for appearing on Free's behalf and for advising John Long to clear his own debt connects the matter to the recovery of debts the corrected books had exposed, John Long having made satisfaction on a debt once summoned at the consultation of 31 October 1721. | |
180 | Twice on the Governr & did his Endeavour to in= =terceed with him & in their behalf & did offer Some Cattle, Hoggs, Goates, Sheep, & the Choice of the Blacks & of the houshold furniture Some Plate & £200 but beleives he did not offer the £200 with the other Effects the Governr Replyed when he offerd that £200 his money was his own he might do what he would with it & Presing the Governr to take it he answered as before & in the Governrs opinion it was better to have every thing Sold & the Governr Said he would have the Childrens Part Mr Powell farther said that after Capen Wooten Comeing into the Road (being acquainted with him formerly) he desired his Intrest with the Governr to make matters Easie haveing gaind the Govr Displeasure by Signeing a Certificate for Doctr Jones Capen Wooten Promis'd him he would use his Intrest with the Governr in two or three days after Capen Wooten told him he had Spoken to the Governr concerning his affair & that the Governr Seemed to be angry & said he Will oppose him as to the Lotting of Money to Mr Long That Some of his Hoggd died for want of feeding Mr Free doth not Particularize any Number of Hoggs & it is Very Well known that Hoggs will die of the Pant &Ca tho' fed every day & that his Blacks were not taken from his Plantation nor forbid to take Care of his Effects so that the fault could not be in Margin Notes: Mr Powells Deposition further Delivers Reply abt Frees Hoggs Dying | Powell wrote twice to the Governor and did his best to intercede on Free's behalf. He offered some cattle, hogs, goats and sheep, the choice of the slaves and of the household furniture, some plate, and £200 0s 0d, though he believed he did not offer the £200 0s 0d with the rest of the effects. The Governor replied that when Free offered the money it was his own and he might do what he liked with it. On Powell pressing the Governor to take it, he answered as before, that in his opinion it was better to have everything sold, and said he would have the children's part. Powell said further that, after Captain Wooten came into the road, being acquainted with him from earlier, he asked Wooten's help with the Governor to smooth matters, having incurred the Governor's displeasure by signing a certificate for Doctor Jones. Wooten promised he would use his influence with the Governor, and two or three days after told Powell he had spoken to the Governor about his affair, but that the Governor seemed angry and said he would oppose him over the lending of money to Mr Long. As to the complaint that some of his hogs died for want of food, Free did not state any number of hogs, and it was very well known that hogs would die of the pant even though fed every day. His slaves were not taken from his plantation nor forbidden to care for his effects, so that the fault could not lie there. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Powell's further deposition and the Governor's answer on the dying hogs taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench weighed Powell's account of his intercession against the Governor's stance, the inquiry tracing how far the Company had pressed the sale of Free's estate. Powell's deposition records both the scale of his offer and the limits of his standing. By laying out cattle, hogs, goats, sheep, the choice of slaves and household goods, plate and possibly £200 0s 0d to relieve Free, Powell brought the weight of the island's largest holder to the cause, yet the Governor refused, holding it better that all be sold and the children's share secured. The Governor's insistence on the children's part connects to the Griffith orphans' estate mingled with Free's, the council having ordered the orphans' share secured when it seized Free's effects. Powell's resort to Captain Wooten marks the use of a visiting commander as an intermediary with the Governor. Powell, having angered the Governor by signing a certificate for Doctor Jones, sought Wooten's help, only to learn the Governor remained displeased and meant to oppose him over the loan to Mr Long. This ties the matter to the certificate for the chaplain Jones that had drawn the council's censure, and to the recovery of John Long's debt, Long having been summoned and made satisfaction at the consultation of 31 October 1721. | |
181 | the Seizure only but in the Servants Entrusted or in the People who used to Manage for him neither was his own Person detained Relating to his Estate being Seized for £262 the Debt as Appears by the books of Accots was £291 odd money that in case the Warrant had been for any thing less than the Debt the Govr did think it would avail any thing to abrige the Honble Compr of any Debt that might have been over & above as to his alleadging he had given bond for £140 Capen Goodwin says Mr Powell & he were bound for that bond but Mr Powell did often desire him to take the said bond up upon which he did de= =sire the Govr to be discharged there from which the Govr said he could not do & that in Consultation he askt Mr Free again to Clear him of that Bond for he was not Easie to be longer bound Where upon Mr Free said he would gitt other Bonds men that I can do & made no Difficul= =ty of it That his Estate was indeed Appraised att £588 by Messrs Powell & Greentree that he had paid in £73 which the Govr beleeves may be there or there abouts & that the Governr uses the same tenderness towards him in recovering the Honble Compr Debt as he had to others for the 40000 yamms before mentiond offered to him & took as soon as the Compr had Occasion to buy Margin Notes: Reply abt his Debt Vallue of the Estate | The seizure touched only the servants entrusted with managing Free's affairs, the people who used to act for him, and his own person was not detained. As to his estate being seized for £262 0s 0d, the debt, as appeared by the books of account, was £291 0s 0d odd money. Had the warrant been for anything less than the debt, the Governor did not think it would help to reduce the Company of any debt that might have been over and above. As to Free's claim that he had given bond for £140 0s 0d, Captain Goodwin deposed that he and Mr Powell were bound for that bond, but that Powell often pressed him to take the bond up, on which Goodwin asked the Governor to be discharged from it. The Governor said he could not do so, and in council asked Free again to clear him of the bond, since he was not easy to be bound any longer, on which Free said he would give other bondsmen, and made no difficulty of it. As to his estate being appraised at £388 0s 0d by Mr Powell and Mr Greentree, and his having paid in £73 0s 0d, the Governor believed it might be near that, and that the Governor used the same tenderness towards him in recovering the Company's debt as he had to others. As to the 40,000 yams before mentioned, offered to him, the Governor took them as soon as the Company had occasion to buy. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's answer on the debt and the seizure taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested Free's figures against the books and the testimony of his bondsmen, the inquiry weighing whether the Company had dealt with him more harshly than with others. The Governor's answer rests on the books showing a larger debt than Free admitted. By setting the debt at £291 0s 0d odd against Free's £262 0s 0d, and arguing that a warrant for less than the full debt would not serve the Company, the Governor justified the scale of the seizure, the matter Free had pressed as a grievance. The reference to the books of account ties the figures to the corrected records the recent audit had produced, the same discipline by which the council pursued every debtor. Goodwin's deposition shows the burden a bond laid on its sureties. Goodwin and Powell stood bound for Free's £140 0s 0d, and Goodwin, uneasy at the lasting obligation, sought release, the Governor pressing Free in council to find other bondsmen. The matter illustrates how a debtor's bond tied his friends to the Company until fresh security could be found, the sureties anxious to be discharged. The appraisal at £388 0s 0d by Powell and Greentree, the same two leading planters, marks the council's reliance on principal holders to value a seized estate before its sale. | |
182 | yamms they bought none from the time of that offer untill the time they had received them the Remainder of the £73 the Governr takes to be his black hire with £10 Transferd to him In answer to the Governr Refusing to take what he could raise the Governr Says his trifling with him before made him resolve never to give heed to What he Said as he had Severall times told Mr Ryder and for the Proof of his Petition Which he Referrs too (deliverd in Consultation the 12th July 1720) there is no offer made but that we would Please to grant him time to raise what might be acceptable & Surely from the 3d of May to ye 2d of Novemr (which was the Day of Sale) will be thought a Reasonable time As to Mr Powells Interceedings &Ca The Governr says Mr Powell was with him & he beleives did offer the Severall Species and he Ans= =wered the Compr did not want any, that another time Mr Powell mett him on the Parade (Mr Ry= =der waiting att some distance off) Mr Powell had a Favour to begg of him that he would not be angry with him if he advanced £200 in Credits for Mr Free The Governr made answer he should not be angry in the Least for he knew Mr Powell had so much Money in the Companys hands it was his own & he might dispose of it as he pleased Mr Powell Margin Notes: Govr replys further and the talk wt Mr Powell | The Company bought no yams from the time of that offer until the time they had received them. The remainder of the £73 0s 0d the Governor took to be Free's slave hire, with £10 0s 0d transferred to him. In answer to the charge that the Governor refused to take what Free could raise, the Governor said that Free's trifling with him earlier made him resolve never to heed what he said, as he had several times told Mr Ryder. As to the proof of his petition, which Free referred to, delivered in the consultation of 12 July 1720, there was no offer made there but that the council would please to grant him time to raise what might be acceptable. Surely from 3 May to 2 November, which was the day of sale, would be thought a reasonable time. As to Mr Powell's intercessions, the Governor said that Powell was with him and, he believed, did offer the several kinds of goods, and that the Governor answered the Company did not want any. At another time Powell met him on the parade, with Mr Ryder waiting at some distance off. Powell had a favour to ask, that the Governor would not be angry with him if he advanced £200 0s 0d in credit for Free. The Governor answered that he should not be angry in the least, for he knew Powell had so much money in the Company's hands that it was his own, and he might dispose of it as he pleased. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's further answers on the yams and on Powell's intercession taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the Governor's dealings with Free against the dates in the record, the inquiry weighing whether Free had been allowed fair time and means to clear his debt. The Governor's defence rests on the time Free was given to redeem his estate. By pointing to Free's petition of 12 July 1720, which asked only for time to raise an acceptable sum, and reckoning the span from 3 May to the day of sale on 2 November as reasonable, the Governor sought to show he had not pressed the sale prematurely. The remainder of the £73 0s 0d charged as slave hire marks the council crediting Free with the labour of his slaves toward the debt, the books traced to fix what he had paid. The Governor's account of Powell's intercession turns on the source of Powell's money. By answering that Powell held so much credit in the Company's hands that the sum was his own to dispose of, the Governor cast his consent to the £200 0s 0d offer not as a favour but as a recognition of Powell's standing balance. This reflects the council's role as banker to its principal planters, holding their credit against future need, Powell the largest such holder on the island. | |
183 | furthur insisted that the Relation he Stood in with Mr Free (by marrying her daughter) inclind himto do any Service for her knowing how well She had livd & as to him he had nothing to say that he was against her marrying him, the Governr made answerr if his deseigne was to Serve her Only he thought he took a wrong Methode by pressing the £200 Credit for that Mr Frees affaires were so intricate he could not be Satisfied with the Companys Debt only but must Likewise have a Security for the Orphans to which Mr Powell said he would no wise be Concernd in The Governr did tell Mr Powell the best way he thought in serving Mr Free would be by letting every thing be Sold & he to buy against what ever he thought proper or Necesary for Mr Free & there by he would have the Property of the things & She might be secur'd for her life in the Enjoymt there of & oblige Mr Free to a better Usage toward her here after Mr Powell Being Present was askt if he did not remember what the Governr had said & if he could object against any thing he answered no he remembred is all very Well Touching the 7th Part Mr Free offered severall Substantiall Planters to be bound for him but none would be taken Margin Notes: relating to ye whole Affairs Mr Powell owns it was so touching ye 7th Part | Powell further insisted that the relationship he stood in with Free, by marrying his daughter, inclined him to do any service for her, knowing how well she had lived, and that he had nothing to say against her marrying Free. The Governor answered that if Powell's design was to serve her only, he thought he took a wrong method by pressing the £200 0s 0d credit. Free's affairs were so intricate that the Governor could not be satisfied with the Company's debt only, but must also have a security for the orphans, with which Powell said he would no wise be concerned. The Governor told Powell the best way he thought, in serving Free, would be by letting everything be sold, and Powell to buy whatever he thought proper or necessary for Free. By that means Powell would have the property of the goods, and Free's wife might be secured for her life in the enjoyment of them, obliging Free to better treatment of her hereafter. Mr Powell, being present, was asked whether he did not remember what the Governor had said, and whether he could object to anything. He answered no, he remembered it, and it was all very well. Concerning the seventh part, Free offered several substantial planters to be bound for him, but none would be taken. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's account of Powell's proposal and the opening of the seventh article taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the Governor's reasoning on the security he required, the inquiry weighing whether he had refused Free's offers without cause. The Governor's answer rests on the double security the seizure had to provide. By holding that he could not be content with the Company's debt alone but must also secure the orphans, the Governor justified his refusal of Powell's £200 0s 0d credit, which Powell would not extend to cover the orphans' share. This connects to the Griffith orphans' estate mingled with Free's, the council having ordered the orphans' share secured when it seized his effects, the same protective duty the bench exercised over the island's fatherless children. The Governor's alternative scheme shows a structured way to protect both the creditors and Free's wife. By proposing that all be sold and Powell buy in what Free needed, the Governor would secure the property in Powell's hands while leaving the wife a life enjoyment of the goods and binding Free to treat her better. The arrangement turned the sale into a means of safeguarding the wife against a husband whose conduct toward her the bench distrusted. The seventh article, that no surety Free offered would be accepted, marks the difficulty a debtor faced once the council judged his affairs too tangled to trust to fresh bonds. | |
184 | John Bagley Senr Deposeth He came not into the Hall to offer himself but the Governr Comeing where he was att work askt him what he meant to Ruine his Familly he replyed he did not know what his Worship meant the Governr Said in offering to be bound for Mr Free he answered he did it harmlessly & thought there was no harm in it the Governr replyed you may find more harm then you are aware of then he replyed he thanks his Wor= =ship for his good advice & said he would speake to Mr Ryder & seek farther into it to see if there was any danger or not whereupon he desisted the Matter Mr James Greentree Deposeth That he Promis'd Mr Free to Stand one of his Bonds men & Mr Ryder told him he had offerd the Said Greentree to the Governr & that the Govr would not Accept him Mr Greentree being infirm was now demanded an Answerr to the 9th Parrt wherein is said that the Said Greentree being one of the appraisers should say if the Governr would lett him make Publick Sale he would lay down the Money for the ammot of the said appraisemt & could have gaind a £200 more Mr Greentree answers when he was Appraising the Estate Mr Free Seemd to think Margin Notes: Jno Bagley Deposeth Mr Greentree Deposeth his Offer repeated His | John Bagley senior deposed that he did not come into the hall to offer himself, but that the Governor, coming where he was at his task, asked him what he meant by ruining his family. Bagley replied that he did not know what his Worship meant. The Governor said he meant his offering to be bound for Free. Bagley answered that he did it harmlessly and thought there was no harm in it. The Governor replied that he might find more harm in it than he was aware of, on which Bagley thanked his Worship for his good advice and said he would speak to Mr Ryder and look further into it, to see whether there was any danger or not. He then left the matter. Mr James Greentree deposed that he had promised Free to stand as one of his bondsmen, and that Mr Ryder told him he had offered Greentree to the Governor, but that the Governor would not accept him. Greentree, being infirm, was now asked for an answer to the ninth article, in which it was said that Greentree, being one of the appraisers, should have said that if the Governor would let Free make a public sale, he would lay down the money for the amount of the appraisal and could have gained £200 0s 0d more. Greentree answered that when he was appraising the estate, Free seemed to think. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Bagley and Greentree taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered the accounts of the planters Free had named as his sureties, the inquiry tracing how the Governor had treated those who offered to be bound for him. Bagley's deposition shows the Governor discouraging sureties rather than forbidding them. By recounting that the Governor warned him of more harm than he was aware of in standing bound for Free, the deposition records the pressure the Governor brought on Free's bondsmen, Bagley withdrawing to look further into the matter. This bears on the seventh article, that no surety Free offered would be taken, the bench weighing whether the Governor had refused the bonds or deterred the men who offered them. Greentree's evidence ties the appraisal of the estate to a claim of its true worth. As one of the two appraisers, Greentree was said to have offered to lay down the appraised value and could have gained £200 0s 0d more had a public sale been allowed, the figure bearing on whether the estate was undervalued or pressed to a loss. This connects to the appraisal at £388 0s 0d by Powell and Greentree, the same leading planters whose valuation the council relied on, the bench tracing whether Free had been deprived of the full value of his goods. | |
185 | a Chest of Drawers was over praised he offerd the money for it as also for a parcell books but Mr Free would not take it on which the Said Greentree askt it Mr Free or himself (he doth not know which) had the Selling of the Estate they might gain £100 but doth not remember he mentiond the Govr name Richard Gurling Deposeth Either Mr Free or Mr Ryder (one of the two) askt him whether he would be bound for Mr Free he Said he knew not whether his Worship would accept of his Bond because he had Sold his Effects & had Liberty to go off James Ryder Deposeth To the best of his knowledge he came to the Governr once & desired he would take bond for Mr Free the Governr askt him who they were he answered himself & Mr John Bagley Senr or Mr Rd Gurling (he knew not which) the Governr Said he would accept of neither but of him allone both on acct of Mr Free & the Children he told his Worship it was a very Weighty matter for him to take such a Charge upon him that was indebted to the Compr the Governr Said he thought it was so, he answered he answered he would be Very willing to be bound with another but if he took it upon himself he thought he should be ruind another time he came to his Worship & Mentiond Mr Green= =tree to be bound with him, the Governr made An= Margin Notes: Reply thereto Rd Gurling Deposed on abt bonds James Ryder furthr Deposeth on abt bonds Men | A chest of drawers was overvalued, he said, and he offered the money for it, as also for a parcel of books, but Free would not take it. Greentree said that either Free or himself, he did not know which, said that with the selling of the estate they might gain £200 0s 0d, but he did not remember mentioning the Governor's name. Richard Gurling deposed that either Free or Mr Ryder, one of the two, asked him whether he would be bound for Free. He said he knew not whether his Worship would accept of his bond, because Free had sold his effects and had liberty to go off. James Ryder further deposed, concerning the bondsmen, that to the best of his knowledge he came to the Governor only to ask him to take bond for Free. The Governor asked who they were, and he answered himself and Mr John Bagley senior, or Mr Richard Gurling, he knew not which. The Governor said he would accept of neither, but of him alone, both on account of Free and the children. Ryder told his Worship that it was a very weighty matter for him to take such a charge upon him, being indebted to the Company. The Governor said he thought it was so. Ryder answered he would be very willing to be bound with another, but if he took it on himself alone he thought he should be ruined. Another time he came to his Worship and mentioned Mr Greentree to be bound with him, and the Governor made answer. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Greentree, Gurling and Ryder on the bondsmen taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered the accounts of those Free named as sureties, the inquiry tracing whether the Governor had unreasonably refused them. The depositions show the reluctance of the planters to be bound for an indebted man with leave to depart. Gurling doubted the Governor would accept his bond because Free had sold his effects and had liberty to go off the island, the risk being that a departing debtor left his sureties exposed. The hesitation marks how a bond for a man about to leave carried more danger than security, the planters wary of standing for him. Ryder's deposition reveals the Governor's particular demand. By insisting he would accept Ryder alone as surety, on account of both Free and the children, the Governor sought a single responsible bondsman rather than a group, the requirement weighing heavily on Ryder, himself indebted to the Company and fearing ruin if he stood alone. This connects to the Griffith orphans' share secured within Free's seized estate, the Governor's concern for the children shaping the security he required, the same protective duty the bench owed the island's orphans. | |
186 | wer & said that Mr Greentree did not know him Nor he Mr Greentree & that he would make a Sale of all Mr Free in consultation said he could give very good Security a Person that had almost as much land as any upon the Island the Governr askt him who it was? he answerd John Bagley Senr the Governr made answer to that he could not by any means admit of him because he was then Calling upon him for Security of his own large Debt to the Compr he had been offerd as Security for Other Persons before After consultation the Governr walking to see the works went into the Carpenters yard were Mr Jno Bagley Senr was att work & said to him what hast thee nothing of thy own to loose or have you no Consideration of your Wife & Familly by Prosti= =tuting your self to be common bail for every body dint ye think ye have load enough of your own Debt to which he replyed I know not what your Worship means, to which the Governr answerd you have been proposd to me as security for others & now for Mr Free he answered he did it out of a Charitable disposition to help a poor man he did not know any Harm in it the Governr answerd there was more harm then he was aware of he Said I thank your Worship I will Enquire of Mr Ryder As to Mr Ryder Deposn the Govr Says he Margin Notes: Mr Frees name Jno Bagley the Govr Answer him Govr remarks relating to Jno Bagley being Security further | As to Mr Ryder, Governor Johnson deposed further. The Governor answered that Greentree did not know him, nor he Greentree, and that he would make a sale of everything. Free, in council, said he could give very good security, a person who had almost as much land as any on the island. The Governor asked who it was, and he answered John Bagley senior. The Governor answered that he could not by any means admit him, because he was then calling on Bagley for security for his own large debt to the Company, Bagley having been offered as security for other persons before. After the council, the Governor, walking to see how the works went, went into the carpenters' yard where John Bagley senior was at his task, and said to him, what, have you nothing of your own to lose, or have you no regard for your wife and family, by setting yourself up as common surety for everyone. Do you not think you have load enough of your own debt. Bagley replied that he did not know what his Worship meant. The Governor answered that Bagley had been offered to him as security for others, and now for Free. Bagley answered that he did it out of a charitable disposition to help a poor man, and did not know any harm in it. The Governor answered there was more harm than he was aware of. Bagley said he thanked his Worship and would enquire of Mr Ryder. As to Mr Ryder, the Governor deposed further. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Governor Johnson's account of his dealings with Bagley as a proposed surety taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the grounds for refusing the bondsmen Free offered, the inquiry weighing whether the refusals were reasonable. The refusal of Bagley rests on Bagley's own indebtedness. By explaining that he was pressing Bagley for security on his own large debt to the Company, and that Bagley had already been offered as surety for others, the Governor justified rejecting him as a bondsman for Free, a man already overburdened could not safely stand for another. This bears on the seventh article, that no surety Free offered would be accepted, the bench showing the refusals turned on the sureties' own circumstances rather than on any wish to ruin Free. The Governor's words to Bagley in the carpenters' yard mark the personal pressure he brought to discourage standing surety. By asking whether Bagley had no regard for his own wife and family in making himself common bail for everyone, the Governor sought to deter a man from a habit of suretyship that endangered his household. The exchange shows the council guarding against a debtor binding himself for others when he could ill bear his own load, the same caution that ran through its drive to secure unsecured credits by bond at the consultations of early 1721. | |
187 | he doth not remember Mr Gurling was proposd tho in case he had he should have made that answer because he had License to go off & was Disposing his Effects in order thereto & could not therefore be a proper Securrity for a person Run= =ning on the Island farther that walking from the Church (which was then Repairing) Mr Ryder mett him & talking about Mr Frees affairs told him Mr James Greentree would be bound With him for Mr Free the Governr answerd he was so well Satisfied in him that he would trust to his Security allone, as to Mr Greentree he did once know Mr Greentree when he came upon the Island & had a great Respect for Mr Greentree but when Mr Greentree was concernd about the Parsons affairs & that he in open Sessions had Generously forgiven those Persons that had askt his Pardon by their Petition deliverd in Sessions (of which Mr Greentree was one) he could not but observe how he had Shund him on all occasions & when invited to dinner on Publick days & that he was concernd for Mrs Southen as Security for her Debt which trust he had never Answerd yet & had had refused to make up her Accots in the Office which had Occasiond his granting a Warrant to bring her down to Reckon to th as he did not desire to have any thing more to do With Mr Greentree Which answers Mr Ryders Deposn that he would Margin Notes: relating to Mr Greentree | The Governor did not remember that Mr Gurling was proposed. In any case, had he been, the Governor should have made that answer, because Gurling had licence to go off and was disposing of his effects in order to do so, and could not therefore be a proper security for a person remaining on the island. The Governor said further that, walking from the church, which was then being repaired, Mr Ryder met him, and, talking about Free's affairs, told him Mr James Greentree would be bound with him for Free. The Governor answered that he was so well satisfied in Ryder that he would trust to his security alone. As to Mr Greentree, the Governor did once know him when he came to the island and had a great respect for him. But when Greentree was concerned about the parson's affairs, and when the Governor in open sessions had generously forgiven those persons who had asked his pardon by their petition delivered in sessions, of which Greentree was one, he could not but observe how Greentree had shunned him on all occasions and when invited to dinner on public days. Greentree was also concerned for Mrs Southen as security for her debt, which the Governor trusted he had never answered, having refused to make up her accounts in the office, which had occasioned the Governor's granting a warrant to bring her down to reckon. So the Governor did not desire to have anything more to do with Greentree. This answered Mr Ryder's deposition. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Governor Johnson's answers concerning the proposed sureties Gurling and Greentree taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the grounds on which each offered bondsman was refused, the inquiry weighing whether the Governor had reasonable cause. The refusal of Gurling rests on his pending departure. By holding that a man with licence to leave the island and disposing of his effects could not be a proper security for one who remained, the Governor gave the same practical ground that had made the other planters wary, a departing surety left the creditor exposed. This connects to Gurling's long-sought leave to go for England, his petitions to depart and sell his estate running through the records to the consultation of 27 October 1719. The refusal of Greentree turns on personal grievance rather than circumstance. By recounting that Greentree had shunned him since the affair of the chaplain and had stood security for Sarah Southen without making up her accounts, the Governor cast him as an unreliable man he wished no further dealings with. This ties the matter to the seditious libel touching the chaplain Jones, Greentree having been among the subscribers bound over and pardoned on submission across the consultations of January 1720, and to the debt of Sarah Southen, whose conduct the bench had already punished at the general sessions of 28 January 1720. | |
188 | take Mr Ryders Security allone & Mr Ryder being now Present was askt if he had any thing to Object he made answere he had not Touching the 8th Part On the 18th October following he made another Petition & offered to lett Mr Ryder or any body the Governr should appoint to have the Inspection of his Estate to see there were no Embezlemt & did not doubt to Clear his Estate by March following offering to Pay down near £100 in live Cattle & Plate but this was also refused & tho' the Governr (as he says) seems to approve of his proposals yet in a day or two after he caud a Publick Advertizemt to be sett up for Sale of Frees Estate by order of the Governr & Councill tho' the Councill had not agreed to any such order nor heard of it till Mr Alexander was directed to Signe & Publish it Mr Free Refers himself to the Sd Peti= =tion of 18 October in answere to the apointemt of Mr Ryder & so farr as to the advertizement Mr Free Says seing no flag hoisted nor hearing the Drum beat that Day he did not believe there had been a Councill Mrs Free Says that being Very Much Surprizd did att the advertizement comeing out so late she went over to Capen Goodwin & told him she was in a great surprize he answered so it is to one She Said not with= =standing the offers that had been made & the Money Margin Notes: Relateing to a Petition presented Reply to wth Mr Free refers Mrs Frees Declaration | The Governor would take Mr Ryder's security alone, and Ryder, being now present, was asked if he had anything to object. He answered that he had not. Concerning the eighth part, on 18 October following, Free made another petition and offered to let Mr Ryder, or anyone the Governor should appoint, have the inspection of his estate to see there were no embezzlements. He did not doubt to clear his estate by March following, offering to pay down near £100 0s 0d in live cattle and plate. This too was refused, and although the Governor, as Free says, seemed to approve of his proposals, yet in a day or two after he caused a public advertisement to be set up for the sale of Free's estate by the order of the Governor and council, though the council had not agreed to any such order nor heard of it until Mr Alexander was directed to sign and publish it. Free referred himself to his petition of 18 October in answer to the appointment of Mr Ryder. As to the advertisement, Free said that, seeing no flag hoisted nor hearing the drum beat that day, he did not believe there had been a council. Free said that, being very much surprised at the advertisement coming out so late, his wife went over to Captain Goodwin and told him she was in a great surprise. He answered that it was so, and that, despite the offers that had been made and the money. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the eighth article and Free's account of the advertisement of sale taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested Free's grievance that the sale was ordered without the council's agreement, the inquiry weighing whether the Governor had acted alone. The eighth article turns on Free's late offer to redeem his estate and the Governor's refusal of it. By offering to let Ryder inspect the estate against embezzlement and to pay near £100 0s 0d in cattle and plate, with a promise to clear all by March, Free sought to stay the sale, only to find the advertisement set up days later. His complaint that the Governor seemed to approve his terms yet proceeded to sale marks the heart of the grievance. Free's charge that the sale was published without the council's order touches the limits of the Governor's authority. By claiming the council never agreed to or heard of the order until Mr Alexander was directed to sign and publish it, Free alleged the Governor acted on his own, the absence of the flag and drum that usually marked a council day cited as proof none had sat. The bench recorded the charge as part of its answer, the matter bearing on whether the seizure and sale were lawfully ordered or pressed by the Governor alone against the procedures of the board. | |
189 | that Mr Powell had offered to lay down & that his Son was to be downe next Tuesday about her affairs & that to be ruind att this rate was intollerable for her to bear & Spoke again Concerning the affairs to which Capen Goodwin made no answer but said Mrs Free the Govr had some discourse last night att supper about her affairs but the dis= =course fell & there was no more of it att that time but to day after dinner he began it again not with standing what was said the Govr in a Passion either said or Swore Ill give you my word Mrs Free I have done what ever lay in my Power for you for I am but one with the Capen Goodwin gott up and Paced the Room Severall times backward & forewards & she lamenting her ruinate Condition he made no further Reply to her She took her leave & came away That Whereas Mr Free made demand in the Petition of an allowance to be Made him for the Charge he had been att on the Children account which was unreasonable & Contrary to the Custome of the Island as appears by his Petition here unto Anexed As to that Part belonging to his Wife we were allwayes Willing to allow him Deducting Debts due from him to the Estate which has been the occasion of the Demurr in the Management Margin Notes: Govr Reply to Frees Case | Mr Powell had offered to lay down the money, and his son was to be married next Tuesday about her affairs, and to be ruined at this rate was intolerable for her to bear. She spoke again concerning her affairs, to which Captain Goodwin made no answer, but said, Mrs Free, the Governor had some discourse last night at supper about her affairs, but the discourse fell, and there was no more of it at that time, but today after dinner he began it again. Despite what was said, the Governor in a passion either said or swore, I will give you my word, Mrs Free, I have done whatever lay in my power for you, for I am but one. Captain Goodwin got up and paced the room several times backward and forward, and she, lamenting her ruined condition, he made no further reply to her. She took her leave and came away. Whereas Free made a demand in his petition for an allowance to be made him for the charge he had been at on the children's account, this was unreasonable and contrary to the custom of the island, as appeared by his petition annexed here. As to that part belonging to his wife, the council was always willing to allow him, deducting the debts due from him to the estate, which had been the occasion of the delay in the management of it. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, Captain Goodwin's account of the supper conversation and the council's answer on the children's allowance taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench recorded the exchange with Mrs Free and the council's position on her claim, the inquiry weighing Free's grievances over the management of the estate. Goodwin's account of the Governor's words marks a councillor confirming the Governor's stance from within the board. By relating that the Governor protested in passion that he had done all that lay in his power, being but one, Goodwin lent the bench's own testimony to the claim that the Governor had not acted arbitrarily but was constrained by his single voice on the council. The detail bears on Free's charge that the sale was ordered without the council's agreement. The council's answer on the children's allowance rests on the custom of the island. By holding Free's demand for an allowance for the charge of the children unreasonable and contrary to custom, the bench drew on the settled practice that a man could not charge the estate for maintaining those whose property he managed. This connects to the Griffith orphans' estate held by Free in his late wife's right, the deduction of his own debts to that estate being the very cause of the delay the inquiry traced, the council exercising its protective duty over the orphans' share. | |
190 | of the whole affair As for that Part in the Petition where in he offers Mr Ryder or any Person else might be appointed to inspect there into to see that no Embezlemt or waste be made there of is manifestly false for when the Govr sent to Mr Ryder & desired him to take Care of the Estate & to Safe Expences that otherwise might be paid out of the Estate Mr Ryder answered the Govr that Mr Free att his Perill had forbid him to concern himself with any thing that belongd to him that Mr Ryder as appears by Consultation May the 5 appearing on behalf of the orphans was intrusted upon his Engagement that nothing should be medled with att all when Mr Ryder told that he was forbid by Mr Free to concern himself any longer the Govr Said he would take it upon him to Indemnifie Mr Ryder Mr Ryder desired till the next morning to returne his Answere when comeing accordingly he did undertake it and never did relinquish it to the Govr Since that Mr Ryder did bring in a Bill for his Charges & troubles in looking after that Estate of Ten Guineas or there abouts As to that Part of the Petition that Mr Free says that he would clear the Estate by March the Governr told him then in Consultation he would not rely on any thing that he Said for he had putt him of from time to time with trifling Excuses but if he could Margin Notes: about Mr Ryders inspecting into ye Estate and what he informd thereon Govr further Reply. | The delay touched the management of the whole affair. As for that part of the petition in which Free offered that Mr Ryder, or any person else, might be appointed to inspect the estate to see that no embezzlement or waste was made of it, this was manifestly false. When the Governor sent to Mr Ryder and asked him to take care of the estate and to save expenses that might otherwise be paid out of it, Ryder answered that Free, at his peril, had forbidden him to concern himself with anything belonging to him. Ryder, as appears by the consultation of 5 May, appearing on behalf of the orphans, was entrusted on his engagement that nothing should be meddled with. When Ryder said he was forbidden by Free to concern himself any longer, the Governor said he would take it upon himself to indemnify Ryder. Ryder asked till the next morning to return his answer, and, coming accordingly, did undertake it and never relinquished it to the Governor since. Since then Ryder brought in a bill for his charges and trouble in looking after the estate of ten guineas or thereabouts. As to that part of the petition where Free says he would clear the estate by March, the Governor told him then in council that he would not rely on anything he said, for Free had put him off from time to time with trifling excuses. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's answers concerning Ryder's care of the estate and Free's promise to clear it taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the management of the seized estate against the record, the inquiry weighing Free's grievance that he was denied the chance to redeem it. The Governor's answer exposes a contradiction in Free's own conduct. By showing that Free had forbidden Ryder to touch his estate at the very time he now claimed to have offered Ryder its inspection, the Governor sought to prove the petition false. The reference to the consultation of 5 May fixes Ryder's appointment on behalf of the orphans, the bench tracing the documentary record to settle the point. The Governor's undertaking to indemnify Ryder marks the council securing a manager for the estate against the risk of Free's interference. By taking the indemnity upon himself, the Governor freed Ryder to care for the estate despite Free's prohibition, the arrangement allowing the orphans' interest to be guarded while the debt was settled. Ryder's bill of ten guineas for his charge and trouble reflects the cost of administering a seized estate, the manager allowed his expenses against the property he kept. The Governor's refusal to rely on Free's promise rests on Free's record of putting him off with excuses, the same distrust that ran through the Governor's dealings with him. | |
191 | could make any satisfactory proposals the Govr & the Govr of the Councill would willingly grant him that time the Govr told Mr Ryder the same that if he could make any proposals to gitt the Money in by March or any other time he would Willingly grant it or if Mr Ryder could Show any Probabi= =lity that his affairs could be made an end of by March he would willingly comply with it but there was no Prospect of it As to Mr Frees thinking the Govr had ap= =proved of his Proposals Mr Free in his answers to that Part in the Proof of his allegations refers himself to his Petition which being rejected & taken no notice of could have but very little ground to think that his Proposals in his Petition were aproved of As to that Part of the Complaint about the advertizemt where in he says it was sett up by order of the Govr & Councill whereas the Connell had agreed to no such order nor heard of it till Mr Alexander was directed to Sign & Publish it is false for the Govr did communicate to the Councill that he was informd that things had been Carryd out of Frees house Privately to severall places & therefore He thought it was Proper to Issue out an advertizemt immediately for the Sale of his Effects to secure what was left to Satisfie the Honble Compr Debt & secure the Orphans to which the Councill readily agreed is is true there were | Had Free been able to make any satisfactory proposals, the Governor and the council would willingly have granted him time. At that time the Governor told Mr Ryder the same, that if Free could make any proposals to bring the money in by March or any other time, he would willingly grant it, or if Ryder could show any probability that his affairs could be brought to an end by March, he would willingly comply with it. But there was no prospect of it. As to Free's thinking that the Governor had approved of his proposals, Free, in his answer to that part in the proof of his allegations, referred himself to his petition, which, being rejected and taken no notice of, could give him but very little ground to think that his proposals in his petition were approved. As to that part of the complaint about the advertisement, where he says it was set up by order of the Governor and council, whereas the council had agreed to no such order nor heard of it until Mr Alexander was directed to sign and publish it, this was false. The Governor did communicate to the council that he was informed things had been carried out of Free's house privately to several places, and therefore he thought it proper to set out an advertisement immediately for the sale of his effects, to secure what was left to satisfy the Company's debt and secure the orphans, to which the council readily agreed. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the Governor's answers on the offer of time and the advertisement of sale taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench tested Free's grievances against the record, the inquiry weighing whether the Governor had refused him a fair chance and ordered the sale without the council's consent. The Governor's answer rests on the lack of any real prospect that Free could clear his debt. By holding that he and the council would have granted time had Free shown any probability of settling by March, the Governor cast the refusal as the result of Free's own failure to offer a credible plan, not of any wish to ruin him. Free's belief that his proposals were approved was met with the point that his petition had been rejected and ignored, leaving no ground for the assumption. The Governor's defence of the advertisement answers the charge that he acted without the council. By stating that he told the board he was informed Free's goods were being carried off privately, and that the council readily agreed to an immediate sale to secure what remained, the Governor sought to show the order was a proper conciliar act, not his own. The justification turns on the need to protect both the Company's debt and the orphans' share, the council moving at once to prevent the dispersal of the estate. This connects to the Griffith orphans' interest mingled with Free's, the bench's protective duty over the orphans driving the speed of the sale. | |
192 | no Flag hoisted nor is it att any time att the Publish= =ing an advertizemt Butt that the Drum did beat & the advertizemt was put out as usual Thomas Watts Being Sworn Deposes that one Morning being up early he saw Mr Frees Wench go by his house with a bundle tyed up in a White Cloth but doth not know whether She carryd it that he has heard the wench say that there was a Chest of Drawers carried to Mrs Coulsons Capen Goodwin says in answer to Mrs Frees Relating to the advertizemt That Mrs Free did come over to him lamenting her Miserable State is true and that he told her he was Very Sorry for her but that it was intirely Mr Frees fault and that it was talkt of Carry= =ing los att supper & today att dinner & the reason was because the Governr was informd Mr Free had Privately conveyd away severall of his goods Touching the 9th Part That there was an order to sell the same for Present money &Ca the Planters being very few there to buy the Millitary who had none were allowed to buy & to that end have Credt in the Stores where by & otherwise the Soldrs are indebt some £40, 50 to £60 a man To Prove this Mr Free says he was Mistaken in Particulars but he believes the Garrisr were indebt in Genr | No flag was hoisted, nor is it at any time, when publishing an advertisement. But the drum did beat, and the advertisement was put out as usual. Thomas Watts, being sworn, deposed that one morning, being up early, he saw Free's slave woman go by his house with a bundle tied up in a white cloth, but did not know whether she carried it, and that he had heard the slave woman say a chest of drawers had been carried to Mrs Coulson's. Captain Goodwin said, in answer to Mrs Free concerning the advertisement, that Mrs Free did come over to him lamenting her miserable state, which was true, and that he told her he was very sorry for her, but that it was entirely Free's fault, and that it was talked of at supper and today at dinner. The reason was that the Governor was informed Free had privately conveyed away several of his goods. Concerning the ninth part, there was an order to sell the estate for ready money, the planters being very few there to buy. The military, who had none, were allowed to buy on credit in the stores, and to that end had credit, otherwise the soldiers were indebted some £40 0s 0d, £50 0s 0d, to £60 0s 0d a man. To prove this, Free said he was mistaken in the particulars, but believed the garrison were indebted in general. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the deposition of Watts and the answers on the advertisement and the ninth article taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered testimony on the removal of Free's goods and the terms of the sale, the inquiry tracing whether the Governor had acted properly. Watts's deposition supports the Governor's ground for the immediate sale. By swearing that he saw Free's slave woman carry a bundle from the house and had heard a chest of drawers was taken to Mrs Coulson's, the witness lent weight to the claim that Free was conveying his goods away privately, the very report that prompted the advertisement. The bench recorded the evidence to answer Free's charge that the sale was ordered without cause. The ninth article turns on the sale being made for ready money. By explaining that the planters present to buy were few and that the soldiers, having no cash, were allowed credit in the stores, the Governor accounted for the terms of the sale and the garrison's resulting debt. The detail that soldiers stood indebted by £40 0s 0d to £60 0s 0d a man marks how far the Company's store carried the garrison on credit, the want of coin on the island making such advances necessary, the same shortage of money that ran through the council's dealings with its servants and planters. | |
193 | Concerning the order that was made to Sell for Present money the care that Was taken in the Sale there of appears in consultation of Novr ye 15th 1720 for as in that Consultation the 2d & 3d of 9br were the days appointed for the Sale & it was adjournd to the 8th following because there was few bidders on the 2d day above Mentiond when the Sale was begun the Govr & Gentn of ye Counsell being mett att the Place appointed for the Sale the Marshall Publick= =ly declared the Conditions of the Sale & the Goods that were in Mr Frees house according to the Inventory taken att ye Seizure as well as the Inventory taken att the Appraisemt by Messrs Powell & Greentree before Mentiond were orderd to be brought out to be Publickly Exposed but every thing of Vallue was either hid or Clandestinely carryd out of the house there was severall odd things putt up in the morning but nothing Sold but two Pillrs one bowlster a Print= =ing bed a Wool Pillow one quilt & one Bed Head which was sett up according to the appraisemt att 25th was Sold to the Cooper att 26th nobody offering to buy we adjournd till 3 a Clock in the after noon then Some Lumber was putt up but nobody bidding & we being informd be= =cause it was for prest payment the Govr & Counsell Seing who of the Garrison was there to encourage the Sale did grant the Garrisson then Prest (Excepting Gardner & Staples who were very much in debt) Creditt for those Small things that were to be Exposed than | The order to sell for ready money, and the care taken in the sale, appeared in the consultation of 15 November 1720. In that consultation, the 2nd and 3rd of November were the days appointed for the sale, and it was adjourned to the 8th following, because there were few bidders on the 2nd. When the sale was begun, Governor Johnson and the gentlemen of the council, being met at the place appointed, the marshal publicly declared the conditions of the sale. The goods in Free's house, according to the inventory taken at the seizure as well as the inventory taken at the appraisal by Mr Powell and Mr Greentree, were ordered to be brought out and publicly exposed. But everything of value was either hidden or carried out of the house secretly. Several odd things were put up in the morning, but nothing was sold except two pillows, one bolster, a standing bed, a wool pillow, one quilt and one bed head. This was set up on 25 November, according to the appraisal, and was sold to the cooper on the 26th. Nobody offering to buy, the sale was adjourned till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Then some lumber was put up, but nobody bid, and the council, being informed that this was because the sale was for ready money, and the Governor and council seeing who of the garrison was there to encourage the sale, granted the garrison then present, namely Captain Gardner and Staples, who were very much in debt, credit for the small things that were to be exposed. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the account of the conduct of the sale taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the sale step by step against the record, the inquiry showing the care taken and the obstruction the sale met. The narrative answers Free's grievances by documenting the regularity of the sale. By tracing the appointed days, the public declaration of conditions by the marshal, and the use of both the seizure inventory and the appraisal by Powell and Greentree, Governor Johnson sought to show the sale was conducted openly and by the book. The reference to the consultation of 15 November 1720 fixes the proceedings to the record, the bench answering the charge that the sale was irregular. The failure of the sale turns on the removal of Free's valuable goods. By recording that everything of worth was hidden or carried off secretly, leaving only odd bedding and lumber to be sold, the account placed the blame for the poor return on Free himself rather than on any wrong by the council. The grant of credit to the indebted soldiers Gardner and Staples to encourage bidding marks the council's resort to its own store credit to move goods no one would buy for cash, the want of ready money on the island once more shaping its dealings, the same shortage that left the garrison deep in debt. | |
194 | which we take to be the grounds of the Complaint that the Military were allowed to buy & to that end have Credit in the Stores some £40 some £50 to £60 a man, which is utterly false & according to Mr Frees Proof of these allegations he says he was mistaken in Particulars but believes the Garrison were in Debt in Generall Mr Byfeld Bot an Escritoire Sett up as appraised in the Inventory att £5 and bid to £5:10 for which no body bid more, So that every thing was Sold to the Highest bidder the next day we mett att Mr Ryders house in the Country where Mr Free was and the Govr Spoke to Mr Free and told him he Still went on & Persisted in his dishonest Practices by Clandestinely conveying away his goods out of his house which was Siezd for Securrity of the Compr & for the Orphans & that if he did not immediately Produce them & lett them be forth comeing the same day he would commit his person to Prison for that the Person of a man ought to make Satisfaction for his conveying away his Effects after that man= =ner and that the Govr &Ca did reprove Mr Ryder offering the things to be removed when it was his Engagemt that nothing should be removed one reason the Sale was put of so long As to that Part that his Blacks & goods were Sold for halfe their worth we refer to a Copy of the appraisemt & a Copy here unto anexed | This was taken to be the grounds of the complaint that the military were allowed to buy, and to that end have credit in the stores, some owing £40 0s 0d, some £50 0s 0d, to £60 0s 0d a man, which was entirely false. According to Free's proof of his allegations, he was mistaken in the particulars, but believed the garrison were in debt in general. Mr Byfield bought an escritoire set up as appraised in the inventory at £5 0s 0d, and bid £5 10s 0d, for which nobody bid more, so that everything was sold to the highest bidder. The next day the council met at Mr Ryder's house in the country, where Free was, and Governor Johnson spoke to Free and told him that he still went on and persisted in his dishonest practices by secretly conveying away his goods out of his house, which was seized for the security of the Company and the orphans. He told Free that if he did not immediately produce them and let them be brought forth that same day, he would commit his person to prison, for a man's person ought to make satisfaction for his conveying away his effects in that manner. The Governor and council did rebuke Mr Ryder for suffering the things to be removed, when it was his engagement that nothing should be removed, this being one reason the sale was put off so long. As to that part, that his slaves and goods were sold for half their worth, reference is made to a copy of the appraisal. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the account of the escritoire sale and the Governor's confrontation with Free taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench traced the conduct of the sale and the removal of Free's goods, the inquiry testing whether the estate was undervalued and whether Free had obstructed the proceedings. The sale of the escritoire to Mr Byfield serves to answer the charge that goods went for less than their worth. By recording that the piece, appraised at £5 0s 0d, fetched £5 10s 0d with no higher bid, the account showed that everything sold went to the highest bidder, the bench meeting the ninth article with evidence of fair sale. Edward Byfield, named as the buyer, was second in council and chief overseer of the plantations by this date. The Governor's threat to imprison Free marks the council's power to compel a debtor's body in satisfaction of a debt. By warning that a man's person ought to answer for goods conveyed away, the Governor invoked the recognised principle of arrest for debt, the seizure of the person where the estate was put beyond reach. This connects to the security of both the Company's debt and the orphans' share, the estate seized for both, the bench's protective duty over the orphans sharpening its pursuit. The rebuke of Ryder for allowing goods to be removed, against his engagement that nothing should be touched, shows the council holding its appointed manager to the trust he had undertaken at the consultation of 5 May 1720. | |
195 | it will appear what yet remains unsold or never came to hand As to that Part of the Complaint that the People who would & did bid were discountenanced & intimi= =ted we take to be only putt in as words to aggravate the Complaints but never deisignd to be provd because Mr Free hath not produced any evidence whatsoever intending to the Proof there of altho' Particularly askt to every article whether he had any thing more to Say As to that Part Mr Greentree Should Say that if the Govr would give him leave to make Publick Sale he would lay down the Money we take it by Mr Greentrees own deposition to be only talk among themselves & if the Govr would do so and so for he never aplyd to the Govr about any Such Matter Touching the 10th Part The Said Free says he is turn'd out of house & home has nothing to Subsist on & knows no Other reason but the Govrs Spleen because he & Mr Ormston his neighbour converd to gether Mr Free says it is Plainly known to all ye Island In answere to Which the Govr says there Could be no reason because either of them were too Worthless to give him any Concern but that the true reasons have been fully Sett forth in the foregoing remarks | From the appraisal it would appear what yet remained unsold or never came to hand. As to that part of the complaint, that the people who would and did bid were discouraged and intimidated, the council took this to be only put in as words to aggravate the complaints, but never designed to be proved, because Free produced no evidence whatever toward the proof of it, although he was particularly asked at every article whether he had anything more to say. As to that part, that Mr Greentree should say that if the Governor would give him leave to make a public sale he would lay down the money, the council took it by Greentree's own deposition to be only talk among themselves, and not as if the Governor would do so, for he never applied to the Governor about any such matter. Concerning the tenth part, Free said he was turned out of house and home, had nothing to subsist on, and knew no other reason but the Governor's spite, because he and Mr Ormston, his neighbour, conversed together. Free said it was plainly known to all the island. In answer, the Governor said there could be no reason in it, because either of them was too worthless to give him any concern, but that the true reasons had been fully set forth in the foregoing remarks. Interpretations This minute continues the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the answers to the remaining articles taken across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench dealt with Free's charges of intimidation and spite, the inquiry closing the substance of his complaints against the testimony already gathered. The council's answer on the intimidated bidders rests on Free's failure to prove the charge. By noting that Free, asked at every article whether he had more to say, produced no evidence of the discouragement he alleged, the bench treated the complaint as empty words meant to swell the case rather than a matter he intended to prove. The same point met the claim attributed to Greentree, which his own deposition reduced to idle talk never carried to the Governor. The tenth article turns on Free's charge that the seizure sprang from the Governor's personal spite over his friendship with Ormston. By answering that both men were too worthless to give him any concern, the Governor dismissed the imputation of malice and rested his case on the reasons already set out, the debt, the orphans and Free's own conduct. This connects to Joseph Ormston's recent discharge from council and the accountant's office at the consultation of 3 November 1721, the bench treating Free's association with him as no ground for the seizure of his estate. | |
196 | According to an Adjournmt of the 25th Octobr the Governr & Counsell mett on the 26th do 1721 Where Mr French appeard who upon recollectg him self since his former deposition has recollected some Particular Instances relating Mr Frees haveing another Wife and Deposeth that one Mr Saunderson Formerly an Enseigne here was in Ireland att the Same time as Mr Free was, as he has heard him say & used to hitt Mr Free in the Teeth very often of a Wife he had in Ireland and has heard him ask Mr Free if he did not remember a Gentlemn that went up stairs in the house were he took Lodgings or did Live and whether he did not find the Said Gentn in a Room either on or in the bed with a Gentlewn that Mr Saunderson said was his the Said Frees Wife & the Gentn Seing the Said Free returning down stairs did immediately gott up draw his Sword & laid the Sd Free on the Back part of his neck and that the depont has seen the Mark where the Sword did Cutt him Severall times and that the said Saun= =derson has twitted the Said Free in a Joaking manner that he had a Ring with a Cypher in it hand in hand from the Same Gentlewomen to which Mr Free Swore that he gave it her Mr Johnson att the Request of Mr Ormston was Summond again & deposeth that Some time Since on a Consultation day the Govr delverd a Bill to him & bid him go and ask Mr Ormston who was to have Cred for that Bill, he went up stairs to Mr Ormston & shewd him the | According to an adjournment of 25 October, Governor Johnson and the council met on 26 October 1721. Mr French appeared, who, upon recollecting himself since his former deposition, had remembered some particular instances relating to Free having another wife. He deposed that one Mr Saunderson, formerly an ensign here, was in Ireland at the same time as Free, as he had heard him say, and used to taunt Free very often about a wife he had in Ireland. He had heard him ask Free whether he did not remember a gentlewoman who went upstairs in the house where he took lodgings or did live, and whether he did not find the gentlewoman in a room, either on or in the bed with a gentleman, whom Saunderson said was Free's wife. The gentleman, seeing Free returning downstairs, immediately got up, drew his sword and laid Free on the back part of his neck. The deponent had seen the mark where the sword struck him several times. Saunderson had taunted Free in a joking manner that he had a ring with a cypher in it in hand from the same gentlewoman, to which Free swore that he gave it her. Mr Johnson, at the request of Mr Ormston, was summoned again, and deposed that some time since, on a consultation day, the Governor delivered a bill to him and bade him go and ask Mr Ormston who was to have credit for the bill. He went upstairs to Ormston and showed him the bill. Interpretations This minute records the proceedings of the adjourned hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the further depositions of French and Johnson taken on 26 October 1721 within the inquiry that ran across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered the last recollected evidence, the testimony turning up further matter against Free himself. French's deposition supplies a circumstantial account of the report of Free's wife in Ireland. By relating Saunderson's repeated taunts, the tale of the gentlewoman found with another man, the sword wound to Free's neck and the ring with the cypher, the witness gave the rumour a detailed origin that bore against Free's first article. This connects to the matter the inquiry turned up against Free, French's recollection of Sanderson's taunts that Free had a wife in Ireland being struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, the bench removing the passage once it had served its purpose. Johnson's recall at Ormston's request marks the council reopening the matter of the disputed bill. By summoning Johnson again to recount how the Governor sent him to ask Ormston who should have credit for the bill, the bench returned to the confusion over whether Free or Ormston was to be credited. This ties to Henry Johnson's confused account of the disputed bill that was likewise struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, both irregular passages removed before the proceedings were drawn into proper form. | |
197 | Said Bill open & asking him who was to have Credit for he replyed Mr Free was & when he was gott to the outer door Comeing down Mr Ormston calld to him to See the Bill again & after second Sight of it told him Mr Free was in the Hall & bid him go & ask him there for Mr Johnson sayth he is positive & to the best of his remembrance when he did speak to Mr Free in the Hall he told him Mr Ormston was to have the Creditt Capen Alexander & Capen Goodwin who bot Mr Frees Goates desired that the following Persons their depo= =sitions might be added here unto John Lacey deposeth Being a Partner concernd in the Goat Pound fryday being the usual day appointed for pounding according to Custome hereoff, were he mett Capen Alexandr & Capen Goodwin he & the the one of them (but doth not remember Which) to relieve them of the fatigue & take the acct of their Goates they had bot att Mr Frees on Cry & to the best of his remembrance Capen Goodwin Looking up the Still & seing Mr Powell & Mr Ryder comeing they forbore when Mr Ryder came to them they told him they had begun to which he answord it is so well on which they Proceeded to draw & Mark the rest furthr that there was a dispute between Mr Ryder & Capen Alexandr or Capen Goodwin he had forgott which respec= =ting two kidds what Ewe they belong'd to Charles Steward Deposeth That he hapned to go after the Goates Capen Alexandr Chusing him to draw for him (which was begun before Mr Margin Notes: abt Frees Goats being Sold Jno Laceys Deposition Cha: Stewards Deposition | Johnson showed Ormston the bill, asking him who was to have credit for it. Ormston replied that Free was. When Johnson had got to the outer door, coming down, Ormston called to him to look at it again, and after a second sight of it told him Free was in the hall and bade him go and ask him further. Johnson said he was positive, and that to the best of his remembrance, when he came to Free in the hall, Free told him Ormston was to have the credit. Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin, who bought Free's goats, asked that the depositions of the following persons be added here. John Lacy deposed that, being a partner concerned in the goat pound, Friday being the usual day appointed for pounding according to custom, he met Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin there, one of them, but he did not remember which, to relieve them of the fatigue and take the account of their goats. They had been at Free's earlier, and to the best of his remembrance Captain Goodwin was looking up the still. Mr Powell and Mr Ryder coming, they forbore until Mr Ryder came to them, when they told him they had begun, to which he answered it was very well, on which they proceeded to draw and mark the rest. Lacy deposed further that there was a dispute between Mr Ryder and Captain Alexander or Captain Goodwin, he had forgot which, respecting two kids, whose ewe they belonged to. Charles Steward deposed that he happened to go after the goats, Captain Alexander choosing him to draw for him, which was begun before. Interpretations This minute continues the adjourned hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions on the disputed bill and the sale of the goats taken on 26 October 1721 within the inquiry that ran across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered evidence on the credit for the bill and on the purchase of Free's goats, the testimony bearing on the dealings the inquiry traced. Johnson's account of the bill records the confusion over who should be credited. By relating that Ormston first said Free was to have the credit, then sent Johnson to ask Free, who answered that Ormston was to have it, the deposition fixed the muddle in the accounts the inquiry had uncovered. This connects to the disputed bill and the credit between Free and Ormston that was struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, the bench removing the irregular passage before drawing the proceedings into form. The depositions of Lacy and Steward concern the purchase of Free's goats by the councillors Alexander and Goodwin. By recounting the pounding of the goats at the goat pound and the dispute over two kids, the witnesses gave an account of how the councillors came to buy the stock, the matter bearing on whether Free's goods were fairly sold. The goat pound, where the island's goats were driven and marked on the appointed days, served as the place where ownership of the half-wild flocks was settled, the partners drawing and marking the beasts under the custom of the island. | |
198 | Mr Ryder came) accidentially Looking up the Still saw him comeing on which they forbore till he came he had drawn but two and after Mr Ryder came they went on Capen Alexandr & Capen Goodwin told Mr Ryder they had begunn he answer'd it is Very well, further that there being a Contest between Mr Ryder & Capen Alexandr of two kidds the depont drawing the Goates for Capen Alex= =ander & being askt by him whose kidds he thought they were he Said Capen Alexanders further that Mr Ryder did drink success to them with the Said Goates & Said they were the 2d best flock upon the Island Except the Honble Compr Richard Goodwin Deposeth That Capen Goodwin haveing Chosen him to draw for him he was willing to do it to the best of his Judgmt however after the Goates were pounded he stayed Some time and seing Mr Ryder came not began to draw & then seing Mr Ryder comeing forbore till he came to the Pound who when he Came did bid Capen Alexandr & Capen Good= =win & all them a good morning they told him we have drawn Some Goates he answered it is Very well & so we went drawing we hapned to kitch Some that were not Mr Frees Mr Ryder made answer & Said they were his further that a Reatch was begunn of success to the Goates which Mr Ryder Pldged & Said they were the 2d best flock upon Th Island Francis Stunge Deposeth That there was a dispute between Capen Alexander Margin Notes: Rd Goodwins Deposition Fra: Stunge | Mr Ryder came accidentally, looking up the still, and saw Steward coming, on which they forbore until he came. Steward had drawn but two, and after Mr Ryder came they went on. Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin told Mr Ryder they had begun, and he answered it was very well. There was a dispute between Mr Ryder and Captain Alexander over two kids, Steward drawing the goats for Captain Alexander, and being asked by him whose kids he thought they were, he said Captain Alexander's. Steward deposed further that Mr Ryder did drink success to them with the goats, and said they were the best flock on the island, except those of the Company. Richard Goodwin deposed that Captain Goodwin, having chosen him to draw for him, he was willing to do it to the best of his judgement. After the goats were pounded he stayed some time, and, seeing Mr Ryder had not come, began to draw. Then, seeing Mr Ryder coming, he forbore until he came to the pound, who, when he came, bade Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin and all of them good morning. They told him they had drawn some goats, and he answered it was very well. As they went on drawing, they happened to catch some that were not Free's. Mr Ryder said they were his, and that a search was begun for success to the goats, which Mr Ryder pledged, and said they were the best flock on the island, except those of the Company. Francis Junge deposed that there was a dispute between Captain Alexander and Mr Ryder. Interpretations This minute continues the adjourned hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Steward, Goodwin and Junge on the sale of the goats taken on 26 October 1721 within the inquiry that ran across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered corroborating accounts of the pounding and drawing of Free's goats, the testimony bearing on whether the councillors had bought them fairly. The depositions converge to show the purchase conducted openly and with Ryder's knowledge. By recounting that Alexander and Goodwin forbore until Ryder came, told him they had begun, and drew the goats in his presence, the witnesses answered any suggestion that the councillors took the stock improperly. Ryder's drinking success to the buyers, and his praise of the flock as the best on the island save the Company's, marked his acceptance of the sale, the manager of the estate himself approving the transaction. The dispute over the two kids and the catching of goats not belonging to Free reflect the practical difficulty of dividing half-wild flocks at the pound. By recording that some beasts drawn were not Free's and that Ryder claimed them, the depositions show the care taken to separate the seized stock from others mingled with it, the ownership of each kid traced to its ewe. This connects to the council's reliance on the goat pound as the place where the island's flocks were sorted and marked, the partners settling title under the custom of the island before the seized goats passed to the buyers. | |
199 | & Mr Ryder of two kidds belong? to Mr Free whether they were dropped whether before or after the Ewe was Marked Gabriel Powell Deposeth That on the Pounding day before Mentioned he went with Mr Ryder to the Pound & by the Way talkt about the Goates Mr Ryder did to the best of the depont remembrance Say he would not have any thing to do with the deliverance of the Said Goates or Words to that Effect The Govr askt Mr Powell whether he did not Think it a fair entrry, he answeed yes he did John George Deposeth That after the Goates were Sold the Govr askt Mr Ryder if he would go with Capen Alexandr & Capen Goodwin to see them drawn & when the Govr was going a Way he told Capen Alexandr & Capen Goodwin if they would Pitch on a day Mr Ryder would go with them Margin Notes: Deposition Gab: Powells Deposition questn put to Mr Powell Jno Georges Deposition | The dispute between Captain Alexander and Mr Ryder concerned whether two kids belonged to Free, and whether they were dropped before or after the ewe was marked. Gabriel Powell deposed that on the pounding day before mentioned he went with Mr Ryder to the pound, and by the way they talked about the goats. Mr Ryder, to the best of the deponent's remembrance, said he would not have anything to do with the delivery of the goats, or words to that effect. Governor Johnson asked Mr Powell whether he did not think it a fair entry, and he answered that he did. John George deposed that after the goats were sold the Governor asked Ryder whether he would go with Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin to see them drawn, and that when the Governor was going away he told Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin that they would fix on a day, and that Mr Ryder would go with them. Interpretations This minute continues the adjourned hearing of Thomas Free's complaints against the government, the depositions of Powell and George on the sale of the goats taken on 26 October 1721 within the inquiry that ran across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench gathered the final accounts of the drawing of Free's goats, the testimony closing the question of whether the councillors had bought them fairly. The depositions confirm the regularity of the purchase from disinterested witnesses. By recording Powell's view that the entry was fair, and George's account that the Governor himself arranged for Ryder to attend the drawing, the bench answered any suggestion that Alexander and Goodwin took the stock improperly. The Governor's direct question to Powell whether he thought it a fair entry marks the bench seeking confirmation of its own conduct from a leading planter present at the pound. Ryder's remark that he would not concern himself with the delivery of the goats bears on his position as manager of the seized estate. By distancing himself from the handover while still attending the drawing, Ryder kept the line between his charge of the estate and the councillors' purchase of its stock, the matter the inquiry traced. This connects to Ryder's appointment to care for the estate on behalf of the orphans at the consultation of 5 May 1720, the bench tracing how the seized goats passed to the buyers without prejudice to the trust he held. | |
200 | Island St Helena To The Worshipsfull Edward Johnson Esqr Govr &Ca The Humble Petition of Thos Free Humbly Sheweth Whereas your Petitioner made a Mistake in reporting of Some words, your Worship Should Speake in the Areid Humbly Crave Pardon, and hopeing yr Worship will Par= =don it and Shall take care for the Future in what I Say against yr Worship And yr Petitioner as in duty bound Shall ever pray Thos Free Febr ye 28th 1719/20 Island St Helena To The Worshipsfull Edward Johnson Esqr Govr &Ca Conneill The Petition of Thos Free Humbly Sheweth That your Petitioner being indebted a large Sum of money to the Honble Compr and being earnestly desirous to discharge the Same with all possible Expedition doth Humbly Inxreat your Worship &Ca would be favourably pleased to grant him time to raise what may be Acceptable & necesary there to hopeing that When your Worship &Ca have taken what Margin Notes: Petition of Thos Free & Crys Pardon Petition of Thos Free abt his Debt | Thomas Free addressed a petition to Governor Johnson and the council. Free set out that he had made a mistake in reporting some words the Governor was alleged to have spoken. He asked pardon, hoping the Governor would forgive it, and undertook to take care for the future in whatever he should say against his Worship. The petition was dated 9 February 1719 and signed by Thomas Free. Thomas Free addressed a further petition to Governor Johnson and the council. Free set out that, being indebted in a large sum of money to the Company and earnestly wishing to discharge it with all possible speed, he asked the council to grant him time to raise what might be acceptable and necessary toward it, hoping that when the Governor and council had taken what. Interpretations This minute enters two petitions of Thomas Free to Governor Johnson and the council, the documents read into the record of the public hearing of his complaints across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The petitions were produced as evidence in the inquiry, the bench setting Free's own written words against the charges he now pressed. The first petition of 9 February 1719 records Free's admission that he had misreported the Governor's words. By owning his mistake and asking pardon for the report, Free supplied under his own hand the very acknowledgement that undercut his first article, the charge that the Governor had spread a false report of a second wife. This connects to the petition the bench produced against him earlier in the hearing, the document showing he had confessed the fault he now complained of. The second petition bears on Free's claim that he was denied time to clear his debt. By setting out his wish to discharge his large debt to the Company and asking only for time to raise an acceptable sum, the petition fixed the limited nature of his offer, which the Governor had answered by reckoning the span allowed to the day of sale as reasonable. The reading of the petitions into the record marks the documentary discipline by which the council met a complaint with the complainant's own instruments, the written proof weighed against the spoken charge. | |
201 | he hath offerd that the debt will be near half paid faithfully promising to use his Endeavours for discharge of the Remainder by every Oppertunity And your Petitioner as in Duty bound Shall ever Pray Thos Free July ye 12th 1720 Island St Helena To The Worshipsfull Edward Johnson Esqr Govr and Counsill the Most Humble Petition of Thos Free Humbly Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner upwards of Seven years since did enter upon a Small Esta att his Intermarriage with the Widdow of Mr Daniell Griffiths of which there was no Inventory taken nor no will made to direct the dispos all there of through which neglect your Petitioner to his dayly concern hath found himself greatly Involvd and although he was a Stranger to the right Managemt of affairs relating there unto yet he Sd Petitioner did improve that Estate to the best of his Judgmt and was the more industrious there because he knew very well of a debt of about £97 was placed in the Store books to the Widdow your Petitioners Wifes acct not believing of in the Loan any Wrong or fr[...] to the Childr due as a recompence to Show his good & honest Intentions he has been att the following Charg[...] Margin Notes: 3d Petition of Thos Frees relateing to his Estate | Free's second petition continued, setting out that he had offered that the debt would be near half paid, and faithfully promising to use his endeavours for the discharge of the remainder by every opportunity. The petition was dated 12 July 1720 and signed by Thomas Free. Thomas Free addressed a third petition to Governor Johnson and the council. Free set out that upward of seven years since he had entered upon a small estate at his marriage with the widow of Mr Daniel Griffith, of which there was no inventory taken, nor any made to direct the disposal of it. Through neglect, his daily concern had found him greatly involved, and although he was a stranger to the right management of affairs relating to it, he had improved that estate to the best of his judgement. He was the more industrious because he knew very well a debt of about £97 0s 0d was placed in the store books to the widow, his wife's account. Not believing, or intending, any wrong to the children, but as a recompense to show his good and honest intentions, he had been at the following charge. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of Thomas Free's petitions to Governor Johnson and the council, the documents entered into the record of the public hearing of his complaints across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The petitions were produced as evidence in the inquiry, the bench weighing Free's written account against the charges he pressed. The second petition of 12 July 1720 fixes the substance of Free's offer to redeem his estate. By promising that the debt would be near half paid and the remainder discharged as opportunity allowed, the petition set out the limited terms the Governor had answered by reckoning the time to the day of sale as reasonable. This connects to the Governor's defence that Free's petition contained no firm offer but only a request for time, the bench tracing the document to settle the point. The third petition opens Free's account of the Griffith estate he held in his late wife's right. By setting out that he married the widow of Daniel Griffith, that no inventory was taken, and that a debt of about £97 0s 0d stood in the store books to the widow's account, the petition records the tangled affairs that the inquiry traced. This connects to the Griffith orphans' estate mingled with Free's, the council's protective duty over the orphans' share driving its refusal to settle with Free until his debts to the estate were deducted, the very cause of the delay the bench had set out. | |
202 | and Expence where in begs a due Regard may be there unto had & Serious ly Considered of by your Worship & Counsill Vizt for boarding Schooling & Clothing Mr Griffiths 3 Children for 7½ years a £10 P anum each 225:1 For a black man added to ye Inventory Lately stolen & Purchased with ye Petitioners own Money 25:1 For a Sow & ten Piggs bot in same Manner 3:1 for a debt due properly & Particularly to your Petitioner from Mr French & is added to the afore said Inventory 25:1 and the Sd Estate Increasd by 4 black Children Since My Marriage also added in Sd Inventory and appraisd att 20:1 besides Severall other Improvemt already laid before your Worship & Counsill all which being duly Considered together with the Small advantages that has accrued to ye Petitioner out of the Sd Estate he humbly conceives your Worship & Coun= =cill will deem the Said Sum of £97 before mentiond to be but very insignificant to the aforeskid Charge, Expence & Improvemt & hopes you'l please to allow there of as well as to grant and appoint him the whole ⅓ of the Said Inventory (lately deliverd into Court) in Right of his wife or else please to deduct what properly was Purchased with his own Money before the Sd Intermarriage and also the Sums arising to him as a Seperate & destinct Debt but as he has a Reall affection for his Wifes Childr & Willing to Show his good will he does not So much insist upon the Margin Notes: Charge he has been att Vizt He prays ye Estate in right of his wife &Ca | Free's third petition continued, setting out the charges and expenses for which he asked a fair regard, begging the Governor and council to take them into serious account. For boarding, schooling and clothing the three Griffith children for seven and a half years, at £10 0s 0d a year each: £225 0s 1d For an able man added to the inventory lately, taken and purchased with the petitioner's own money: £25 0s 1d For a sow and ten pigs bought in the same manner: £3 0s 1d For a debt due properly and particularly to the petitioner from Mr French, added to the inventory: £25 0s 1d For the estate being increased by four slave children since his marriage, also added to the inventory and appraised at: £20 0s 1d Free set out that, besides several other improvements already laid before the Governor and council, all which, duly considered together with the small advantages that had accrued to him out of the estate, he humbly conceived the Governor and council would deem the sum of £97 0s 0d before mentioned to be very insignificant against the charges, expenses and improvements. He hoped they would allow for them, and either grant and appoint him the whole third of the inventory, lately delivered into court, in right of his wife, or else deduct what was properly purchased with his own money before the marriage, and also the sums arising to him as a separate and distinct debt. But as he had a real affection for his wife's children and was willing to show his good will, he did not so much insist upon them. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of Thomas Free's third petition to Governor Johnson and the council, the document entered into the record of the public hearing of his complaints across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The petition set out Free's claim for the charges he had borne on the Griffith estate, the bench weighing his account against the custom of the island. The schedule of charges marks Free's case for setting his outlay against the debt owed to the estate. By itemising the cost of maintaining the three Griffith children, the slaves and stock he added to the inventory, and the debt due from French, Free sought to show that his charges far exceeded the £97 0s 0d standing against the widow, so that the sum should be deemed insignificant. The detail bears on the dispute over the management of the estate that the inquiry traced. The petition's two alternatives reveal the legal footing of Free's claim. By asking either for the whole third of the inventory in his wife's right, or for the deduction of what he had bought with his own money before the marriage, Free framed his demand around a widow's customary share and his own separate property. This connects to the council's answer that it was always willing to allow him his wife's part once his debts to the estate were deducted, the deduction being the very cause of the delay the bench had set out, the protective duty over the Griffith orphans shaping its refusal to grant the allowance Free now pressed. | |
203 | his request of an allowance or deduction provided he may be allowed his Wifes third according to the Custome & Constitution of this Place and is so far from convening with your Worshpr and Counsill in an affair so Vexatious to him that he is Willing & desirous to Submit himself & Case wholy to your Worshpr & Counsells prud Judgmt And your Petitioner further humbly begs your Pleasure to Consider the Poor & Weak Capacity of his Wife (who has allways livd in good repute) She being aged & not capable of getting no other lively hood then what it hath Pleased God already to Provide for her, but if the Estate is Sold then She with your Petitioner will be totally ru= =ined for ever and become burthensome to this Place which humbly prays the Sd Estate may be continued in his posses= =sion and that Mr Ryder or any person else may be appoin= =ted to Inspect there into to see that no Embezlemt or Waste be made there of which is a thing far from yr Petitioners act so knavishly in or att least tending to the disadvantage of the Sd Children & your Petitioner has lessend his Debt Considerably & hopes to Pay all he is indebted to the Honble Compr by March next at farthest if your Worship & Counsill will be pleasd to grant his humble request in the Premises Articles and as Notice there unto do humbly offer Vizt 6 head of black Cattle that may ammot to about £27 or £28 6 Hoggs about 7 or 8 50 Goats or the Money for ym when Sold at about 18 or 19 15 or 16 Sheep at about 15 or 16 In Plate accounted as good as ready money 25 Margin Notes: Mr Freed prays Mr Ryder &Ca may Inspect into ye Estate offers towards ye pay of his Sd debt | Free's third petition continued, setting out that, provided his request for an allowance or deduction might be granted, he asked that his wife's third be allowed according to the custom and constitution of this place. The matter being so vexatious to him, he was willing and desirous to submit himself and his case wholly to the considered judgement of the Governor and council. Free further asked the council to consider the poor and weak capacity of his wife, who had always lived in good repute. She, being aged and able to earn no other livelihood than what it had pleased God to provide for her, would, if the estate were sold, be totally ruined for ever, together with the petitioner, and become burdensome to the place. Free humbly prayed that the estate might be continued in his possession, and that Mr Ryder, or any other person, might be appointed to inspect it, to see that no embezzlement or waste was made of it, which was a thing far from his intent, nor in the least tending to the disadvantage of the children. He set out that he had lessened his debt considerably and hoped to pay all he owed the Company by March next at furthest, if the Governor and council would grant his request in the preceding articles. As notice of this, he humbly offered toward his debt: 8 head of black cattle, that may amount to about: £27 0s 1d, or £28 6 hogs, about 7 or 8 50 goats, or the money for them when sold, at about 18 or 19 15 or 16 sheep, at about 15 or 16 In plate accounted as good as ready money: £25 0s 1d Interpretations This minute continues the reading of Thomas Free's third petition to Governor Johnson and the council, the document entered into the record of the public hearing of his complaints across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The petition set out Free's final offer to redeem his estate, the bench weighing the terms against his earlier dealings. The petition turns on Free's submission to the council's judgement on his wife's customary share. By asking for her third according to the custom of the place and offering to submit his whole case, Free framed his claim around the recognised right of a widow to a portion of her husband's estate, the same custom the council invoked in refusing his demand for an allowance. This connects to the bench's position that it was always willing to allow the wife's part once Free's debts to the estate were deducted. The offer of cattle, hogs, goats, sheep and plate marks Free's attempt to satisfy the debt in kind rather than money. By laying down a schedule of stock and plate toward the sum he owed, with a promise to clear all by March, Free sought to stay the sale by payment from his own goods. This connects to the Governor's answer that he would not rely on Free's promises, having been put off from time to time, and to the council's insistence on securing both the Company's debt and the orphans' share, the offer in kind weighed against the want of ready money the bench preferred. | |
204 | Which Amot to near £100 which with other Creditts that he doubts not of raising by the time aforesaid Will be Sufficient to Clear the Whole Debt and as he hopes the same is not Desuperate your Petitioner humbly beseeches your Worship & Counsill to Comiserate the Poor & deplorable condition his weak & aged wife will inavi= =tably be reduced to and which will be such a greif wherein that nothing but yr Worships Clemency & goodness can Suffice to put a Stop to her Misery and Which will cause yr Petitioner as in duty bound to ever pray &Ca Thomas Free Octobr ye 18th 1720 Copys of Ordrs of Counsell Relating to Thos Free Ordered that Thomas Free who Married the Widdow of Mr Daniel Griffith be Summond to give an acct of what Effects & Estate he has in his Possession belonging to the Sd Mr Griffiths Orphans Thomas Free according to Summons appeared & alledges he cannot give any acct of Mr Griffiths his Prede= =cessrs Estate neither is it Customary so to do while the mother of any Child is living & that Mr Griffith died Intestate with such like trifling Excuses which I heard a deisign to Defraud the Orphr Wherefore orderd that the Said Thomas Free do with= =out fail being in answr or bay unto us of Mr Griffiths Estate Margin Notes: Consultation Novr ye 29th 1720 Consultation aprill 5th 1720 | Free's third petition closed, setting out that the offer amounted to near £100 0s 0d, which, with other credit he did not doubt to raise by the time mentioned, would be sufficient to clear the whole debt. He hoped it would not be necessary, and humbly begged the Governor and council to take pity on the poor and deplorable condition to which his weak and aged wife would inevitably be reduced, which would be such a grief that nothing but their clemency and goodness could put a stop to her misery. The petition was dated 18 October 1720 and signed by Thomas Free. Copies of orders of council relating to Thomas Free followed. At the consultation of 29 March 1720, the council ordered that Thomas Free, who married the widow of Mr Daniel Griffith, be summoned to give an account of what effects and estate he had in his possession belonging to the Griffith orphans. At the consultation of 5 April 1720, Free appeared according to summons and alleged that he could give no account of Griffith's predecessor's estate, nor was it customary to do so while the mother of any child was living, and that Griffith died intestate, with similar trifling excuses, which the council took to be a design to defraud the orphans. The council therefore ordered Free, without fail, to deliver an account in writing of Griffith's estate. Interpretations This minute closes the reading of Thomas Free's third petition and enters copies of the council's orders relating to him, the documents set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The orders traced the council's earlier dealings with Free over the Griffith orphans' estate, the bench laying the documentary ground for its conduct toward him. The petition's appeal turns on the plight of Free's aged wife. By pressing the council to consider the ruin that the sale would bring on a weak and aged woman of good repute, Free sought to move the bench by the hardship to his wife rather than the merits of his claim. This connects to the Governor's alternative scheme of letting all be sold and securing the wife a life enjoyment of the goods, the bench's concern for her welfare weighed against its duty to the creditors and the orphans. The orders of 29 March and 5 April 1720 fix the origin of the council's pursuit of Free. By recording that Free was summoned to account for the Griffith orphans' estate and met the summons with excuses the council read as a design to defraud, the orders show the bench exercising its protective jurisdiction over the fatherless children. This connects to the council's standing duty over the island's orphans, the refusal of Free to render an inventory driving the seizure of the estate and the long contest the inquiry now traced. | |
205 | this day fortnight which we adjudge to be a Sufficient time to do it in Thomas Free in consultation of the 5th Instant was ordered to bring in an Inventory of Mr Griffiths Predecessrs Estate that we might know what Part of it did belong to his poor Orph that they might not be wrongd of their Right but the Sd Free not appearing with any Inventory he was sent for to give us a Reason why he did not Comply with our Order He made Reply as before that he could give no such Inventory nor did he know how to go about it persisting that it was not usuall while while the Mother of any Child con or as Living and that Mr Griffith died without will he thought there was thele need of an Inventory to be required with such his foolish notions grounded on his Ignorance & Obstinate Demure Wherefore it is Ordered that a Warrant be Issued to Seize all the Estate of the Sd Griffith now in Sd posession of the Sd Thos Free that distribution be made thereof aira to Law & the Childr have their Sd secured to them The Govr Reports that he finding Thomas Free to trifle with him in Relation to the debt Due to the Honble Compr which is Very large for that he had assignd a bill to Mr Ormston which the Govr had before taken in part of the Debt Due to the Honble Compr had ordered a Warrant to Seize his Effects towards makeing Satisfaction which was accordingly Executed That Mr Ryder had been with him & acquainted him that the Estate of the Orphr of Mr Griffith was so intermingd Margin Notes: Consultation aprll 26th 1720 Consultation may ye 5th 1720 | The council allowed Free a week, which it judged to be sufficient time to deliver the account. At the consultation of 26 April 1720, Free was ordered to bring in an inventory of Griffith's predecessor's estate, so that the council might know what part of it belonged to the poor orphans, that they might not be wronged of their right. But Free, not appearing with an inventory, was sent for to give a reason why he did not comply with the order. He replied, as before, that he could give no such inventory, nor did he know how to go about it, persisting that it was not usual while the mother of any child was living, and that, Griffith having died intestate, he thought there was the less need of an inventory, with such ill-founded notions grounded on his ignorance and obstinacy. The council therefore ordered that a warrant be issued to seize all the estate of Griffith now in the possession of Free, that distribution be made of it according to law, and the children's share secured to them. At the consultation of 5 May 1720, Governor Johnson reported that, finding Free trifling with him over the debt due to the Company, which was very large, and that Free had assigned a bill to Mr Ormston, which the Governor had before taken in part of the debt due to the Company, he had ordered a warrant to seize Free's effects toward making satisfaction, which was accordingly executed. He reported that Mr Ryder had been with him and acquainted him that the estate of the Griffith orphans was so intermingled with Free's. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of the council's orders relating to Thomas Free, the documents entered into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The orders traced the council's escalating measures against Free over the Griffith orphans' estate and his debt to the Company, the bench laying the documentary ground for the seizure. The orders of 26 April and 5 May 1720 mark the council's resort to seizure after Free's repeated refusal to account. By recording that Free met successive demands for an inventory with the same excuses, the orders show the bench moving from summons to a warrant to seize the Griffith estate, the distribution to be made by law and the children's share secured. This connects to the council's protective jurisdiction over the orphans, the refusal to render an account driving the seizure the inquiry now traced. The Governor's report of 5 May 1720 reveals the two grounds on which Free's effects were taken. By recording both Free's large debt to the Company and his diversion of a bill to Ormston that the Governor had already taken in part payment, the order shows the seizure answered the Company's claim as well as the orphans'. The intermingling of the orphans' estate with Free's, reported by Ryder, marks the practical difficulty that bound the two interests together, the council appointing Ryder to manage the whole so that neither the creditors nor the children should suffer by the confusion. | |
206 | with those of Mr Frees that he feared the Orphr would Suffer and that he had undertaken to bring in an Inventory in about a fortnights time upon which the Govr orderd the Marshall to keep Possession but not to dispose of any thing till further order from him Thomas Free according to the Govr order brought & deliverd an Inventory this day of the Stock & Estate now in his Possession with an acct of Debts & Credts of the Cleartz raise to be £237:15:6¾ besides 21¼ acres of Lead Land & 10 acres of Free Land being Not Valued belonging to his prede =cessor Mr Griffiths Orphans Whereas Mr James Ryder appeard and acquainted us that Thos Free mentiond in our Consultations of the 5th & 25th of Aprill 9br & May & 14th June refuses to make any Allowance for what he has Expended on his own Acct out of the Estate of Daniel Griffith but insists on his Wifes haveing 3d part as if so much money had been by him Expended whereby the Orphans will be greatly Injured Wherefore Ordered that the whole Estate be Sold and the Children taken under our Care that the Eldest Son of the Sd Griffith be taken into the Guard Mr Ryder has promised to give him his diett for his Work in his Plantation when off of Duty, that the youngest Son & Daughter be putt to board to Mr Ryder att the usuall rate to be paid him out of their Devidends and if there is any Stock that Mr Ryder may think improvable for their Intrest that it be Valued & deliverd to Mr Ryder & he to be Margin Notes: Consultation Janury 14th 1720 Consultation 11th October 1720 Whole Estate to be Sold & the Orphans taken undr ye Governrs Care how disposed off | Ryder feared the orphans would suffer by the intermingling of their estate with Free's, and had undertaken to bring in an inventory within about a fortnight, on which the Governor ordered Mr Ryder to keep possession but not to dispose of anything until further order from him. At the consultation of 14 January 1720, Free, according to the Governor's order, brought in and delivered an inventory of the goods and estate now in his possession, with an account of debts and credits. The clear estate came to £237 15s 6¾d, besides 22½ acres of leased land and ten acres of free land, not valued, belonging to his predecessor Griffith's orphans. At the consultation of 14 October 1720, Mr James Ryder appeared and acquainted the council that Free, mentioned in the consultations of 5 and 25 April, 3 May and 14 June, refused to make any allowance for what he had expended on his own account out of the estate of Daniel Griffith, but insisted on his wife having a third part, as if so much money had been expended by him, whereby the orphans would be greatly injured. The council therefore ordered that the whole estate be sold and the children taken under its care. The eldest son of Griffith was to be taken into the guards, Mr Ryder having promised to give him his diet for his work in his plantation when off duty. The youngest son and daughter were to be put to board with Mr Ryder at the usual rate, to be paid out of their dividends. If there was any stock that Mr Ryder thought unprofitable for their interest, it was to be valued and delivered to him. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of the council's orders relating to Thomas Free, the documents entered into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The orders traced the inventory of the Griffith estate and the council's provision for the orphans, the bench laying the documentary ground for the sale. The inventory of 14 January 1720 fixes the value of the estate at the heart of the dispute. By recording a clear estate of £237 15s 6¾d besides the leased and free land belonging to the Griffith orphans, the order set the figure against which Free's claims and the orphans' share were weighed. This connects to the later appraisal and seizure, the bench tracing the worth of the estate through the record. The order of 14 October 1720 marks the council's decision to sell the estate and take the children into its own care. By placing the eldest son in the guards, boarding the younger two with Ryder out of their dividends, and providing for the disposal of unprofitable stock, the bench made deliberate arrangements for the orphans once Free's refusal to allow for the estate forced the sale. This connects to the council's protective jurisdiction over the island's fatherless children, the provision for the Griffith orphans showing the bench acting as guardian where a stepfather's management had failed them. | |
207 | accomptable to us for the Same Pursuant to the order of Counsell of the 15th October last Mr Frees out cry for the Sale of the Estate in his posses= =sion was appointed to be on the 2d & 3d Instant but we finding there was but few bidders the Sale was adjournt to Sun= day the 8th following that the goods might fetch a greater Price Mr Free was Summond to Clear & discharge the Estate of Mr Griffith decd according to the Inven= =tory taken after his death The Said Free Appeard & Said he had not drawn out an acct of those Estate Creditts of Mr Griffiths would endeavour to do it & promises to bring it in our Consultation day James Ryder & Thos Free were ordered to ye Free appeard & his acct not being yet Settled is or= =derd to attend this day Sennight Mr Free appears & Says that Mr Powell comeing from home in a hurry this Morning (when the Allarm was Made) forgott to bring his books & acct with him without which he cannot furnish the Inventory he was orderd to bring in this day Therefore is ordered that he appear next Consultation day Margin Notes: Consultation Novr ye 15th Frees out cry adjourned Janry ye 24th Frees promise Febr ye 7th Mr Frees acct not pleaded yet Ryder is ordered Febr ye 14th Mr Frees Excuse for not giveing in ye Acct he is orderd | Ryder was to be accountable to the council for the stock delivered to him. At the consultation of 15 November 1720, pursuant to the order of council of 18 October, the sale of the estate in Free's possession was appointed for the 2nd and 3rd of November. There being but few bidders, the sale was adjourned to the 8th following, so that the goods might fetch a greater price. At the consultation of 24 January 1720, Free was summoned to clear and discharge the estate of Mr Griffith deceased, according to the inventory taken after his death. Free appeared and said he had not yet made out an account of the debts and credits of the Griffith estate, but would endeavour to do it, and promised to bring it in on the next consultation day. At the consultation of 7 February 1720, James Ryder and Thomas Free were ordered to appear. Free appeared, and his account not being yet settled, Ryder was ordered to attend that day week. At the consultation of 14 February 1720, Free appeared and said that Mr Powell, coming from home in a hurry that morning when the alarm was made, forgot to bring his book of accounts, without which Free could not make up the inventory he was ordered to bring in that day. The council therefore ordered that he appear on the next consultation day. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of the council's orders relating to Thomas Free, the documents entered into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The orders traced the conduct of the sale and the council's repeated efforts to make Free settle the Griffith estate, the bench laying the documentary ground for its dealings with him. The order of 15 November 1720 records the care taken to obtain a fair price at the sale. By adjourning the sale from the 2nd to the 8th of November because the bidders were few, the council sought to let the goods fetch their worth rather than be sold at a loss. This connects to the bench's answer to the ninth article, that the sale was conducted openly and in the interest of obtaining the best return, the delay weighed against any charge that the estate was sacrificed cheaply. The run of orders from January and February 1720 shows the council's persistence against Free's delays. By summoning him again and again to render an account of the Griffith estate, only to meet excuses of unmade accounts and a forgotten book, the bench documented the obstruction that drove its measures. This connects to the council's protective duty over the orphans, the repeated demands for an inventory marking its insistence that the children's share be ascertained and secured before the estate was settled. | |
208 | An Inventory of Goods taken the 4th May 1720 belonging to Thos Free Vizt To a bed & furniture £10 To a Printed & Wool bed & bolster 4 1 Pair 2 small feathr bedds 2 pillows & 1 Carpett 4 10 1 pallempore 10 3 Pr Sheets & 4 Pillowbears 1 4 3 Table Cloths & 24 Napkins 5 6 Towells 9 China Ware in the Country 13 a Parcell Glass ware 14 4 Looking Glasses 1 10 1 Desk 3 1 Chest of Drawers 2 4 old boxes 10 1 Small case & 4 bottles 7 6 5 Tea Tables 7 6 1 Case & 6 bottles 12 a parcell books 10 1 Hoane 6 1 warming Pan 15 a Parcell old Pictures 4 6 1 Small old ovall Table 10 8 Cane Chairs 3 6 wooden ditto 1 4 1 Small Table 10 12 pewter dishes 2 8 12 ditto Plates 13 Carried over 54 17 Margin Notes: Inventory of Thos Frees Estate | An inventory of goods taken on 4 May 1720, belonging to Thomas Free, namely the bed and furniture. A corded and wool bed and bolster: £4 0s 0d One large and two small feather beds, two pillows and one carpet: £4 10s 0d One palempore: £0 10s 0d Three sheets and three pillowcases: £1 4s 0d Three tablecloths and twenty-four napkins: £0 5s 0d Six towels: £0 9s 0d China ware in the country: £0 13s 0d A parcel of glassware: £0 14s 0d Four looking glasses: £1 10s 0d One desk: £0 3s 0d One chest of drawers: £2 0s 0d Four old boxes: £0 10s 0d One small case and four bottles: £0 7s 6d Five tea tables: £0 7s 6d One case and six bottles: £0 12s 0d A parcel of books: £0 10s 0d One horn: £0 6s 0d One warming pan: £0 15s 0d A parcel of pictures: £4 6s 0d One small old oval table: £0 10s 0d Eight cane chairs: £0 3s 0d Six wooden cane chairs: £1 4s 0d One small table: £0 10s 0d Twelve pewter dishes: £2 8s 0d Twelve pewter plates: £0 13s 0d Carried over: £54 17s 0d Interpretations This minute enters the inventory of Thomas Free's goods taken on 4 May 1720, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The inventory was the valuation against which the seizure and sale of Free's estate were measured, the bench producing it as the documentary basis for its dealings with him. The inventory marks the formal valuation by which a seized estate was assessed before sale. By itemising the household goods and their appraised worth, the document fixed the value of Free's effects, the running total carried forward to the next leaf. This connects to the appraisal at £388 0s 0d by Powell and Greentree and the dispute over whether the estate was sold for less than its worth, the bench tracing the figures through the record. The household goods listed reveal the material standing of a planter's establishment on the island. The palempore named in the inventory was a painted or printed cotton bed covering of Indian make, part of the eastern textile trade that reached the island through the Company's ships, its presence among Free's goods marking the spread of imported furnishings into the houses of the settlement. The mix of pewter, glass, china and cane furniture reflects a household of some comfort, the seizure stripping a planter of the goods that marked his place in the small society of the island. | |
209 | Brought over £54 17 4 Pewter Basons & 1 ditto fonnele 16 6 9 old Candlesticks 3 1 Pewter Stand 1 quart pott 1 Cared 8 2 Pr Salts 8 2 Chests 1 10 1 Couch 6 9 old Stools 6 1 Stone Morter 10 8 Earthen Jarrs 1 2 2 Stone Bottles 5 2 Small Cotts 12 1 half Bushll 1 Peck & ½ Peck 6 1 yam & 1 Bread Pott 1 10 1 Brass Kottle 15 2 Pr Potts & 1 Skillett 1 10 1 old frying pan & 1 Pr Teakettle 3 1 brass Ladle & Skimmer 5 2 Spitts & Dripping pan 10 2 Box Irons & 2 heaters 15 1 Pr Tongs & 1 Pr bellows old 4 6 1 Pr Pott hangers 4 2 Cheese Stones 5 a Parcell of Tools 1 1 Grind Stone 10 1 old Still 10 1 hen Coop 8 2 Wooden Flaskets 2 6 Carried over £70 4 | The inventory of Thomas Free's goods continued. Brought over: £54 17s 0d Four pewter basins and one pewter funnel: £0 16s 0d Three old candlesticks: £0 3s 0d One pewter stand, one quart pot and one canister: £0 8s 0d Two pewter salts: £0 2s 0d Two chests: £1 0s 0d One couch: £0 6s 0d Three old stools: £0 6s 0d One stone mortar: £0 10s 0d Eight earthen jars: £1 2s 0d Two stone bottles: £0 5s 0d Two small cots: £0 12s 0d One half bushel, one peck and one half peck: £0 6s 0d One yam and one bread pot: £1 10s 0d One brass kettle: £0 15s 0d Two pewter pots and one skillet: £1 10s 0d One old frying pan and one teakettle: £0 3s 0d One brass ladle and skimmer: £0 5s 0d Two spits and a dripping pan: £0 10s 0d Two box irons and two heaters: £0 15s 0d One pair of tongs and one pair of bellows, old: £0 4s 6d One pair of pot hangers: £0 4s 0d Two cheese stones: £0 5s 0d A parcel of tools: £1 0s 0d One grindstone: £0 10s 0d One old still: £0 10s 0d One hen coop: £0 8s 0d Two wooden flaskets: £0 2s 6d Carried over: £70 1s 4d Interpretations This minute continues the inventory of Thomas Free's goods taken on 4 May 1720, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench carried forward the valuation against which the seizure and sale of the estate were measured, the household and kitchen goods itemised line by line. The kitchen and dairy goods listed reveal the self-supplying household of an island planter. The yam pot and bread pot, the cheese stones and the still mark a domestic economy that prepared its own food and drink from local produce, the yam being the island's staple crop and the still a means of distilling spirit. The presence of such equipment among Free's goods shows a household that fed and provisioned itself, the seizure stripping the means of that subsistence. The detailed appraisal of even the smallest items reflects the documentary discipline of a seizure for debt. By valuing every pot, iron and tool to the penny, the inventory left no part of the estate unaccounted, the running total carried from leaf to leaf so that the whole worth of Free's goods could be set against his debt and the orphans' share. This connects to the council's insistence that nothing be embezzled or carried off, the careful valuation guarding the estate the bench held for both the Company and the children. | |
210 | Brought over £70 4 2 fowls 3 6 Hoggs 5 10 9 head of Cattle 26 22 Sheep 20 3 Sows & 5 Shoates 3 10 26 fowles 1 16 1 pott 15 5 head of Cattle 14 7 Hoggs 4 13 ducks 19 2 Turkeys 10 2 Cases with Bottles 1 15 2 ditto Empty 12 a parcell of Lumber 1 10 2 old Chairs 3 a Parcell China Ware 2 1 round table 1 5 2 Square ditto 1 1 Couch 1 10 5 Cane Chairs 2 1 Chest 15 3 Spitts & 1 pott 1 10 2 Teakettles 12 1 Pail 2 1 Desk 6 1 Chest 1 1 bed with furniture 8 Carried over 177 1 | The inventory of Thomas Free's goods continued. Brought over: £70 4s 0d Two fowls: £0 3s 0d Six hogs: £5 10s 0d Nine head of cattle: £26 0s 0d Twenty-two sheep: £20 0s 0d Three sows and three shoats: £3 10s 0d Twenty-six fowls: £1 16s 0d One pot: £0 15s 0d Five head of cattle: £14 0s 0d Seven hogs: £4 0s 0d Thirteen ducks: £0 19s 0d Two turkeys: £0 10s 0d Two cases with bottles: £1 15s 0d Two cases empty: £0 12s 0d A parcel of lumber: £1 10s 0d Two old chairs: £0 3s 0d A parcel of china ware: £2 0s 0d One round table: £1 5s 0d Two square tables: £1 0s 0d One couch: £1 10s 0d Five cane chairs: £2 0s 0d One chest: £0 15s 0d Three spits and one pot: £1 10s 0d Two teakettles: £0 12s 0d One pail: £0 2s 0d One desk: £0 6s 0d One chest: £1 0s 0d One bed with furniture: £0 8s 0d Carried over: £177 1s 0d Interpretations This minute continues the inventory of Thomas Free's goods taken on 4 May 1720, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench carried forward the valuation, the livestock and further household goods itemised line by line against which the seizure and sale were measured. The livestock entries mark the chief worth of a planter's estate on the island. The cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry together formed the most valuable part of Free's goods, the stock representing both food and a store of value in a settlement short of ready money. This connects to Free's own offers to pay his debt in cattle, hogs, goats and sheep, the council weighing the livestock against the sum he owed, the beasts the readiest means by which a planter could satisfy a creditor. The repetition of cattle, hogs and household goods in separate parcels reflects the gathering of an estate held in more than one place. The china, tables and chairs appearing again after the livestock suggest goods drawn from different parts of Free's holding into a single valuation, the appraisers listing each parcel as they came to it. The running total carried forward marks the documentary care by which the whole estate was assessed, the bench guarding the value it held for both the Company's debt and the orphans' share. | |
211 | Brought over £177 1 1 old Pr Tables 10 1 Pr brass Scales 4 1 ditto Skimmer & Ladle 8 1 Small Quilt 12 2 Pr old Sheets 2 3 Pr Pillowbears 9 15 Napkins 15 9 Towells 5 9 Coarse Table Cloths 9 2 old Lanthorns 5 2 Chamber Potts 9 6 Small dishes & 2 old Plates 2 5 ½ Patt 1 qt 1 Pt & 1 flagn Pott 6 5 brass Candlesticks 1 6 blacks & ½ one 125 5 ditto Children 30 142000 yamms 140 a parcell of Plate 25 4 3 Carboys 12 a box of Weights 5 a Pasing hod 6 162 Goates 50 2 a Pestill & Morter 5 Debts Due to the Estate 357 18 30 14 Debts Due from ye Estate 578 12 250 16 Clear Estate 237 15 21 acres free land att ye Pursline Side 9br 94 att foot of Peak hill, 20 Acres in the Country | The inventory of Thomas Free's goods continued. Brought over: £177 1s 0d Old pewter tables: £0 10s 0d One pair of brass scales: £0 4s 0d One brass skimmer and ladle: £0 5s 0d One small quilt: £0 12s 0d Two pairs of old sheets: £0 2s 0d Three pairs of pillowcases: £0 9s 0d Fifteen napkins: £0 15s 0d Nine towels: £0 5s 0d Nine coarse tablecloths: £0 9s 0d Two old lanterns: £0 5s 0d Two chamber pots: £0 9s 0d Six small dishes and two old plates: £0 2s 0d Five and a half pewter quart pots, one pint pot and one flagon pot: £0 6s 0d Five brass candlesticks: £0 1s 0d Six slaves and one half slave: £125 0s 0d Five slave children: £30 0s 0d 142,000 yams: £140 0s 0d A parcel of plate: £25 4s 0d Three carboys: £0 12s 0d A box of weights: £0 5s 0d A glazing hod: £0 6s 0d 162 goats: £50 2s 0d A pestle and mortar: £0 5s 0d Debts due to the estate: £357 18s 0d £30 14s 0d Debts due from the estate: £578 12s 0d £250 16s 0d Clear estate: £237 15s 0d Free land at the foot of Peak hill, 20 acres in the country, and leased land. Interpretations This minute closes the inventory of Thomas Free's goods taken on 4 May 1720, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench carried the valuation to its total, the slaves, yams and stock making up the bulk of the worth, with the debts and the clear estate reckoned at the foot. The valuation of the slaves marks them as by far the most valuable part of the estate. The six and a half slaves at £125 0s 0d and the five slave children at £30 0s 0d together outweighed every other item, the human beings held as property the chief store of wealth on the island, the seizure treating them as goods to be appraised and sold like the cattle and furniture. This connects to the council's earlier provision for the orphans, the stock and slaves the substance of the estate the bench held for both the Company and the children. The reckoning of debts and the clear estate shows the formal accounting by which a seized estate was reduced to its net worth. By setting the debts due to the estate against those due from it, the appraisers arrived at a clear estate of £237 15s 0d, the same figure entered at the consultation of 14 January 1720. This connects to the dispute over the value of the estate that ran through the inquiry, the bench tracing the figures so that the Company's debt, the orphans' share and Free's own claim might each be measured against the whole. | |
212 | Lead Land We acknowledge this to be a true Inventory to ye best of our knowledge & Judgment as Wittness our hand James Greentree Gabriel Powell £42:17:2 Mr Frees Part being allowed 60 ₶ for ye Yamms improved Debts To The Honble Compr £291 16 6¾ To Mr Powell 26 14 11 To Mr Ryder (since pd of This 25:17:6 11:5: 17:2:6) 27 2 6 To Mr Vesey 1 13 To Richard Swallow 15 To Capen Bakett 2 12 6 £350 16 5¾ Debts Due to The Estate John French £25 Richard Finsley 3 Antipas Tovey decd 1 14 Thomas Burnham decd 1 £30 14 | The inventory closed with leased land. James Greentree and Gabriel Powell acknowledged it to be a true inventory, to the best of their knowledge and judgement, and witnessed it under their hands. Free's part came to £42 8s 2d, being allowed £60 0s 0d for the yams improved. Debts due from the estate: To the Honourable Company: £291 16s 6¾d To Mr Powell: £26 14s 11d To Mr Ryder, being the sum of £15 17s 6d and £11 5s 0d, making £17 2s 6d: £27 2s 6d To Mr Vesey: £1 13s 0d To Richard Swallow: £0 15s 0d To Captain Bazett: £2 12s 0d Total: £350 16s 5¾d Debts due to the estate: John French: £25 0s 0d Richard Tinsley: £0 3s 0d Antipas Tovey deceased: £1 14s 0d Thomas Burnham deceased: £1 0s 0d Total: £30 14s 0d Interpretations This minute closes the inventory and account of Thomas Free's estate, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench entered the appraisers' attestation and the full reckoning of debts due to and from the estate, the figures making up the documentary basis for the seizure and sale. The attestation by Greentree and Powell marks the formal warrant of a seizure valuation. By signing the inventory as a true account to the best of their knowledge, the two leading planters lent the appraisal the authority on which the council relied, the same two whose valuation at £388 0s 0d the inquiry had traced. This connects to the bench's reliance on principal holders to value a seized estate before its sale, the appraisers' hands the guarantee of its worth. The schedule of debts reveals how far a planter's affairs were bound up with the Company and his neighbours. The largest debt by far, £291 16s 6¾d to the Company, set against smaller sums owed to Powell, Ryder, Vesey, Swallow and Bazett, shows the store as the chief creditor of the island, the planter held to it before all others. The debts due to the estate from French, Tinsley and the deceased Tovey and Burnham mark the web of small credits that ran through the settlement, the council gathering them in to set against what the estate owed, so that the Company's claim and the orphans' share might be satisfied from the whole. | |
213 | The Effects of Thos Free Sold att Publick outery in the Fort Vally Novr ye 2d 1721 Settup Sold ffor 2 pillows 1 bowlster feathr 1 plandr bed 1 wool Pillow 1 old quilt & 1 beadstead 25th The Coopr £1 6 1 Escritoire accordg to ye appraisemt £5 Mr Byfeld 5 10 20 Pewter plates 2 dishes 1 tin Drippg pan 1 Pr Pott & 2 brass Candlesticks £ s 1:10 Jno Swallow 1 11 1 Large Chest 1:- Capen Alexan 1 1 1 lesser Chest :12 Not Sold Mr Hyd 1 Cloak :10 Capen Goodwin 1 a Parcell of old China & Earthn ware :5 Caleb Davis 10 1 Round Table :15 Jos: Bates 2 10 1 Couch 1:- Capen Alexand 1 5 4 Chairs :10 Doctr Beale 1 1 square Table :10 Serg whaley 2 1 1 Pr back gammon Tables :10 Not Sold 1 Smll Chest 2 Cases 2 bottles Clart 1 Pt brandy & 1 pewter pott :10 John Oneille 16 6 1 Chest :10 Sten Johnson 13 6 1 Case with 11 Bottles :10 Hen Johnson 10 6 1 Empty Case 2:6 Serg whaley 4 1 Case with 15 bottles 12:6 Thos watts 1 19 Pullys Storekeepr 9 6 1 Pr Sheets 1 pall empore :10 Thos Brown 10 6 1 looking glass 3 Smll pictrs 1 powdr box 1 paper powder & 2 lines 5:- Jno Dixon 10 2 Smll Pewter dishes 4 old plates 2 qt potts 1 flagon Some knifes & forks Sett up att 5:- Serg whaley 11 1 Glass Case & Earthen Not Sold 1 Pott Part of a Bead Stead 5:- Capen Goodwin 6 1 Bottle of Tea 2d of White Sugar 1 bottle of Suger Candy 1 Coarse China Jarr 3 herrasols & a Smll parcll Rattans 10:- Capen Alexand 16 1 Box Iron 2 hand vices & old Books :10 Rob Wallington 11 1 Common Prayer Book 2:6 The Honble Compr 5 2 Carboys :15 Mr Wrangham 16 1 Hogg 1:- Hen Hutton 1 1 1 box with Seales & weights :5 Mr Byfeld 7 6 1 Chamberpott qt pott Pr Pott & fonnell :7:6 Cha Steward 12 1 Pr brass Seales pestle & Morter :5 Rich Beale 12 4 Pr Candlesticks & 1 Lanthorn :5 Jno Highamson 5 6 11 Cane Chairs £4:- Mr Ryder 4 6 1 Chest of Drawers 1:10 Cha Steward 1 15 1 Warming pan :7:6 Mr Wranghm 11 1 Sq Table 1 Hoan 2 Razors with a Case :5 Richd Beale 11 Carrd over £34 13 6 | The effects of Thomas Free were sold at public auction in the Fort Valley on 2 November 1721. Each item is given with the price set up and the sum sold for, with the buyer named. Two pillows, one bolster, a feather and plank bed, one wool pillow, one quilt and one bedstead, set up at the appraisal on the 25th, sold to the cooper: £1 6s 0d One escritoire, according to the appraisal at £5 0s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £5 10s 0d Twenty pewter plates, two dishes, one tin dripping pan, one pewter pot and two brass candlesticks, set up at £1 10s 0d, sold to John Swallow: £1 11s 0d One large chest, set up at £1 1s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £1 1s 0d One lesser chest, set up at £0 12s 0d, not sold, Mr Ryder One cloak, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Captain Goodwin: £2 0s 0d A parcel of old china and earthenware, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Caleb Davis: £0 10s 0d One round table, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to Joseph Bates: £2 10s 0d One couch, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £1 5s 0d Four chairs, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Doctor Beale: £1 0s 0d One square table, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Sergeant Whaley: £2 1s 0d Two backgammon tables, set up at £0 10s 0d, not sold One small chest, two cases, two bottles of claret, one of brandy and one pewter pot, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to John Oneil: £16 8s 0d One chest, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Steven Johnson: £13 6s 0d One case with eleven bottles, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Henry Johnson: £0 10s 6d One empty case, set up at £2 6s 0d, sold to Sergeant Whaley: £0 4s 0d One case with fifteen bottles, set up at £0 12s 6d, sold to Thomas Watts: £1 0s 0d Nineteen pulleys, sold to the storekeeper: £0 9s 0d One pair of sheets and one palempore, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Thomas Brown: £0 10s 6d One looking glass, three small pictures, one powder box, one paper of powder and two lines, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to John Dixon: £0 10s 0d Two small pewter dishes, four old plates, two quart pots, one flagon and some knives and forks, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Sergeant Whaley: £0 11s 0d One glass case and earthen, not sold One pot and part of a bedstead, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Captain Goodwin: £0 6s 0d One bottle of tea, two of white sugar, one bottle of sugar candy, one coarse china jar, three parasols and a small parcel of rattans, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £0 16s 0d One box iron, two hand vices and old books, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Robert Wallington: £0 11s 0d One common prayer book, set up at £0 2s 6d, sold to the Honourable Company: £0 5s 0d Two carboys, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to Mr Wrangham: £0 16s 0d One hog, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Steven Hutton: £1 1s 0d One box with scales and weights, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £0 7s 6d One chamber pot, one quart pot, one pewter pot and a funnel, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Charles Steward: £0 12s 0d One pair of brass scales, a pestle and mortar, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Richard Beale: £0 12s 0d Four candlesticks and one lantern, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Jonathan Higham junior: £0 5s 6d Eleven cane chairs, set up at £4 1s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £4 6s 0d One chest of drawers, set up at £1 10s 0d, sold to Charles Steward: £1 15s 0d One warming pan, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Mr Wrangham: £0 11s 0d One square table, one horn and two razors with a case, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Richard Beale: £0 11s 0d Carried over: £34 13s 6d Interpretations This minute enters the account of the public sale of Thomas Free's effects in the Fort Valley on 2 November 1721, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench recorded each item with its set-up price and the sum it fetched, naming the buyer, the sale answering the charge that the estate went for less than its worth. The account marks the open conduct of a sale by public auction. By listing the appraised price at which each lot was set up alongside the sum it actually fetched and the name of the buyer, the record showed the sale conducted in the view of all, many lots fetching above their appraisal. This connects to the bench's answer to the ninth article, that everything sold went to the highest bidder, the named prices the proof against any charge of undervaluing. The buyers reveal how a planter's goods passed among the small society of the island. The councillors Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin, the planters Ryder, Wrangham and the Stewards, and soldiers and tradesmen all took lots, the estate dispersed among the very men who governed and peopled the settlement. The presents Captain Wooten had earlier made to Free's wife, the parasols and rattans now sold to Captain Alexander, mark the eastern goods that reached the island through visiting ships, rattans being the pliant palm stems used for canes and binding, here scattered among the buyers with the rest of the household. | |
214 | Settupatt Brought over £34 13 6 Sold for 1 Pr back gammon Tables & 1 oval Table £1:-:- Govr Johnson 1 4 old boxes 3 old Stools 2 old flasketts 2:6 Mr Coles 6 1 Brass Ladle Scimmer Spott & Druppg pan 7:6 Mr Ryder 13 2 Spits 1 Ladle & Scimmer 7:6 Cha Steward 8 3 measures 5:- Honble Compr 10 1 Large Earthen Jarr 3 Smll legd & 5 Smll do £1:2:- Mr Byfeld ford 1 8 1 yamm pot Meat Pott brth Pott :10 Mr Ryder 17 2 old Small yamm Potts :10 Thos Watts 14 1 brass kettle 1 Small meat pott :7:6 Mr Powell 8 1 Teakettle & Scillett :5 John George 9 2 Teakettles :5 Tho Eastings 10 2 old Cotts :3 Jonad Higham 3 6 1 Pr Tongs bellows Pottthangrs & 1 old Pail 2:6 Rich Beale 8 1 Rattan Couch :15 Hen Johnson 18 6 1 Small Cott :3 Rich Finsley 9 6 1 rattan Cott :10 Doctr Beale 16 6 a parcll Tools :10 Cha Steward 16 a parcell of books Jos Bedloe 5 1 old Chest :10 Mr Ryder 14 1 square Table :7:6 Mr Ryder 8 1 Large Chest with Lock & key :15 Wm Rooksby 1 10 1 Large Pott :10 Edm Nichols 1 1 kettle :10 Rich Beale 10 6 1 black man Named Alexander £18:- Mr Byfeld 19 5 1 do Jumper 18:- Mr Byfeld 25 5 1 do Scipio 16:- Mr Byfeld 25 1 do Clouse 10:- Capen Alexand 10 5 1 black Wench Namd Abigail & her Child a boy 18:- Mr Ryder 30 5 1 ditto Mary & 2 Children 20:- Capen Alexand 21 1 Girl Namd Pegg 10:- Tho Greentree 12 1 ditto Sarah 5:- Mr Ryder 5 5 1 Cow & Calf Cha Steward 3 15 1 do do Jno Coles 5 5 1 do do Mr Powell 3 2 1 do do Mr Powell 3 1 6 2 Bullocks Rich Beale 7 1 Pr Soop Plates 1:-:- Capen Goodwin 1 1 6 dishes 1:5 Capen Alexand 1 5 6 6 old dishes 1 Bason 1 Ring 1 fonnell :18 Not Sold 1 frying pan 3 basons 1 qt pott :15 Capen Goodwin 1 8 Smll Pictures 1 looking glass :7:6 Jno Bedloe 8 1 looking Glass in standing frame :7:6 Capr Alexand 13 2 old lookings a parcll of Lacqd Salvers :5 Thos Dutch 8 1 Warming pan :10 Not Sold 1 Case with 6 & 1 do with 4 bottles :10 Mr Wranghm 12 Carried over £230 17 | The account of the public sale of Thomas Free's effects continued, each item given with the price set up and the sum sold for, with the buyer named. Brought over: £34 13s 6d Two backgammon tables and one oval table, set up at £1 1s 0d, sold to Governor Johnson: £1 0s 0d Four old boxes, three old stools and two old flaskets, set up at £0 2s 6d, sold to Mr Coles: £0 6s 0d One brass ladle, skimmer, spit and dripping pan, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Mr Ryder: £0 13s 0d Two spits, one ladle and skimmer, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Charles Steward: £0 8s 0d Three measures, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to the Honourable Company: £0 10s 0d One large earthen jar, three small ones and five smaller, set up at £1 2s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £1 8s 0d One yam pot and meat pot for the pot, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £0 17s 0d Two old small yam pots, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Thomas Watts: £0 14s 0d One brass kettle and one small meat pot, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Mr Powell: £0 8s 0d One teakettle and skillet, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to John George: £0 9s 0d Two teakettles, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Thomas Eastings: £0 10s 0d Two old cots, set up at £0 3s 0d, sold to Jonathan Higham: £0 3s 6d One pair of tongs, bellows, pot hangers and one old pail, set up at £0 2s 6d, sold to Richard Beale: £0 8s 0d One rattan couch, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to Steven Johnson: £0 18s 6d One small cot, set up at £0 3s 0d, sold to Richard Tinsley: £0 9s 6d One rattan cot, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Doctor Beale: £0 16s 6d A parcel of tools, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Charles Steward: £0 16s 0d A parcel of books, sold to Joseph Bedloe: £0 5s 0d One old chest, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £0 14s 0d One square table, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Mr Ryder: £0 8s 0d One large chest with lock and key, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to William Rooksby: £1 10s 0d One large pot, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Edmund Nichols: £1 0s 0d One kettle, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Richard Beale: £0 16s 6d One slave named Alexander, set up at £18 0s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £19 5s 0d One slave named Jumper, set up at £18 0s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £25 5s 0d One slave named Scipio, set up at £16 0s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £25 0s 0d One slave named Cloice, set up at £10 0s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £10 5s 0d One slave woman named Abigail and her child, a boy, set up at £18 0s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £30 5s 0d One slave woman named Mary and two children, set up at £20 0s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £21 0s 0d One girl named Pegg, set up at £10 0s 0d, sold to Thomas Greentree: £12 0s 0d One girl named Sarah, set up at £5 0s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £5 5s 0d One cow and calf, sold to Charles Steward: £3 15s 0d One cow and calf, sold to John Coles: £5 5s 0d One cow and calf, sold to Mr Powell: £3 2s 0d One cow and calf, sold to Mr Powell: £3 1s 6d Two bullocks, sold to Richard Beale: £7 0s 0d One pair of soup plates, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Captain Goodwin: £1 1s 0d Six dishes, set up at £1 5s 0d, sold to Captain Alexander: £1 5s 6d Six old dishes, one basin, one ring and one funnel, set up at £0 18s 0d, not sold One frying pan, three basins and one quart pot, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to Captain Goodwin: £1 0s 0d Eight small pictures and one looking glass, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Joseph Bedloe: £0 8s 0d One looking glass in standing frame, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to Captain Alexander: £0 13s 0d Two old looking glasses and a pair of lacquered salvers, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Thomas Dutch: £0 8s 0d One warming pan, set up at £0 10s 0d, not sold One case with six bottles and one with four bottles, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Mr Wrangham: £0 12s 0d Carried over: £230 17s 0d Interpretations This minute continues the account of the public sale of Thomas Free's effects in the Fort Valley on 2 November 1721, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench recorded each lot with its set-up price, the sum it fetched and the buyer, the sale of the slaves and stock making up the great part of the return. The sale of the slaves marks them as the most valuable part of the estate, sold like the cattle and household goods. The men Alexander, Jumper, Scipio and Cloice, the women Abigail and Mary with their children, and the girls Pegg and Sarah together fetched far more than all the furniture, each human being knocked down to a named buyer at public auction. The slaves Alexander and Abigail and Mary connect to the earlier appraisal of the estate's slaves at £125 0s 0d, the seizure treating them as property to be dispersed among the planters and councillors of the island. The pattern of buyers shows the estate passing into the hands of those who governed and held land on the island. Mr Byfield, second in council, bought three of the four slave men, while Captain Alexander, Captain Goodwin, Mr Ryder and Mr Powell took slaves, cattle and goods between them. This connects to the small and interconnected society of the settlement, the seizure of one planter's whole substance dispersing it among his neighbours, the leading men acquiring the most valuable human property the island held. | |
215 | Settupatt Brought over £230 17 Sold for 7 Glasses 2 Decanters £ 6 Lumber 2:6 1 Chest of Drawers 2:- 1 writing Desk with Drawers 3:- Mr Byfeld 3 8 China ware :7:6 James Vaughn 12 6 1 Desk :5 Jos Bedloe 8 6 8 Chairs 3:- 6 Island Ditto :18 Serg Dutch 1 1 1 Couch 1:- a Smll Cott feathn bed 1 pilln & an ordry blankt Hen Johnson 1 11 a large Cott feathn Bed & bowlster & 1 Chints flowred Carpett £1:10 Wm Rooksby 4 1 Smll feathn bed 2 pillows & New Quilt 2:- Capen Goodwin 5 10 a Large Chest feathn bed bowlster & two Pillows with pillowbears 1 plandr bed & 1 old large quilt 1 bed Stead & 1 Sett of China Curtins £6:- John Bagley Jun 13 1 old feather bed & Wooll ditto 1:- Giles Hayse 4 5 1 Pr New Sheets & pillow bears :10 Wm Rooksby 14 1 ditto do :10 Tho Watts 12 6 1 ditto do :10 Giles Hayse 12 6 3 Dungree Sheets :10 James Vaughn 12 1 long Cloth Sheets 2 Pr old ditto & 3 pillowbears :15 Jno Bagley Jun 1 14 1 China Counter pin :8 Hen Johnson 9 7 Course Towells 15 Napkins & 3 dungree Table Cloths 1:- Mr Ryder 1 2 1 Huckeback Table Cloth & 1 dn Napkins 1:-:- Jonad Higham 1 10 6 1 do do 1:-:- Thos Greentree 1 11 1 Hucke back Table Cloth & 6 Towells Mr Wrangham 1 1 a Parcell Glass ware Mr Ryder 13 a Parcell China Ware :5 Mr Byfeld 7 6 pewter Dishes :9 Isaac Leech 14 2 Small do 1 Tanchd 1 Bason & 1 Ring :10 Rich Finsley 11 6 1 young Cow & Calf Capen Goodwin 2 15 6 1 Ryde Steer Mr Powell 1 10 1 Red Heifer Mr Powell 2 11 1 ditto Less Mr Wrangham 1 11 1 Large black Cow Rich Finsley 3 19 178 Goates @ 7/9 ea bot between Capen Alexand & Capen Goodwin 68 19 6 24 Sheep at 1:3:6 Pea bot by Wm Penny 28 4 ½ of a black fellow namd Moses James Ryder 4 10 Totall 390 7 | The account of the public sale of Thomas Free's effects continued, each item given with the price set up and the sum sold for, with the buyer named. Brought over: £230 17s 0d Seven glasses and two decanters, set up at £0 6s 0d Lumber, set up at £0 2s 6d One chest of drawers, set up at £2 0s 0d One writing desk with drawers, set up at £3 0s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £3 8s 0d China ware, set up at £0 7s 6d, sold to James Vaughan: £0 12s 6d One desk, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Joseph Bedloe: £0 8s 6d Eight chairs, set up at £3 0s 0d Six island chairs, set up at £0 18s 0d, sold to Sergeant Dutch: £1 1s 0d One couch, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Steven Johnson: £1 11s 0d A small cot, feather bed, one pillow and one ordinary blanket, a large cot, feather bed and bolster, and one chintz flowered carpet, set up at £1 10s 0d, sold to William Rooksby: £4 0s 0d One small feather bed, two pillows and one quilt, set up at £2 0s 0d, sold to Captain Goodwin: £5 10s 0d A large chest, feather bed, bolster and two pillows with pillowcases, one plank bed, one old large quilt, one bedstead and one set of china curtains, set up at £6 0s 0d, sold to John Bagley junior: £13 0s 0d One old feather bed and wool one, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Giles Hayse: £4 5s 0d One pair of new sheets and pillowcases, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to William Rooksby: £0 14s 0d One pair, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Thomas Watts: £0 12s 6d One pair, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Giles Hayse: £0 12s 6d Three dungaree sheets, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to James Vaughan: £0 12s 0d One pair of long cloth sheets, two pairs of old ones and three pillowcases, set up at £0 15s 0d, sold to John Bagley junior: £1 4s 0d One china counterpane, set up at £0 8s 0d, sold to Steven Johnson: £0 9s 0d Seven coarse towels, fifteen napkins and three dungaree tablecloths, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Mr Ryder: £1 2s 0d One huckaback tablecloth and one dozen napkins, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Jonathan Higham: £1 10s 6d One ditto, set up at £1 0s 0d, sold to Thomas Greentree: £1 11s 0d One huckaback tablecloth and six towels, sold to Mr Wrangham: £1 1s 0d A parcel of glassware, sold to Mr Ryder: £0 13s 0d A parcel of china ware, set up at £0 5s 0d, sold to Mr Byfield: £0 7s 0d Six pewter dishes, set up at £0 9s 0d, sold to Isaac Leech: £0 14s 0d Two small dishes, one stanch, one basin and one ring, set up at £0 10s 0d, sold to Richard Tinsley: £0 11s 6d One young cow and calf, sold to Captain Goodwin: £2 15s 6d One red steer, sold to Mr Powell: £1 10s 0d One red heifer, sold to Mr Powell: £2 11s 0d One ditto, less, sold to Mr Wrangham: £1 11s 0d One large black cow, sold to Richard Tinsley: £3 19s 0d 178 goats at 7 shillings 9 pence each, bought between Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin: £68 19s 6d 24 sheep at £1 3s 6d each, bought by William Penny: £28 4s 0d One half of a slave named Moses, sold to James Ryder: £4 10s 0d Total for all: £390 7s 0d Interpretations This minute closes the account of the public sale of Thomas Free's effects in the Fort Valley on 2 November 1721, the document set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench carried the sale to its grand total, the bedding, livestock and goats making up the final lots, the whole estate dispersed among the island's buyers. The grand total marks the measure against which Free's grievance of undervaluing was tested. By bringing the sale to £390 7s 0d, the account showed a return above the appraisal at £388 0s 0d by Powell and Greentree, the figures answering the charge that the estate was sold for less than its worth. This connects to the bench's repeated insistence that everything went to the highest bidder, the total the proof that the sale served the creditors and the orphans rather than wronging Free. The sale of the goats and the half-slave Moses reveals how property in livestock and human beings was divided on the island. The 178 goats bought jointly by Captain Alexander and Captain Goodwin recall the drawing of the flocks at the goat pound that the inquiry traced, while the half-share in the slave Moses sold to Ryder marks the practice of holding fractional property in a slave, two owners dividing a single person between them. This connects to the earlier appraisal entry of six and a half slaves, the half-slave the same kind of divided ownership, the human being treated as a chattel to be split like the stock. | |
216 | No 10 These Things as Appraisd in The Inventory remains unsold Vizt 142000 yamms £140 18 Hoggs 12 15 6 31 Fowles 2 3 6 13 Ducks 19 2 Turkeys 10 a Pr Cl Plate 25 4 Debts Due to the Estate but not alld for 30 14 2 Cheese Stones 5 1 Grind Stone 10 1 old Still 10 1 Henn Coop 3 1 Gaging Hodd 6 £214 These Things as appraisd remaining being added to the Acco of Sale Makes 604:7 the Whole Appraizemt amot to no More than 588 ₶ 12 ₶ Island St Helena To The Worshble Edward Johnson Esqr Govr &Ca Counsell Worshble Sr & Gentn I have received Severall Sheets of paper Which I Suppose is intended to appear for a State of my Case where in Answer to Some passages are Omitted Margin Notes: Estate but not allowd for Thos Frees Lettr | The things appraised in the inventory that remained unsold were as follows. 142,000 yams: £140 0s 0d Eighteen hogs: £12 15s 6d Thirty-one fowls: £2 3s 6d Thirteen ducks: £0 19s 0d Two turkeys: £0 10s 0d A parcel of plate: £25 4s 0d Debts due to the estate but not yet accounted for: £30 14s 0d Two cheese stones: £0 5s 0d One grindstone: £0 10s 0d One old still: £0 10s 0d One hen coop: £0 3s 0d One glazing hod: £0 6s 0d Total: £214 0s 0d These things, as appraised, added to the account of sale, made £604 7s 0d. The whole appraisal amounted to no more than £588 12s 0d. Thomas Free addressed a letter to Governor Johnson and the council. Free set out that he had received several sheets of paper, which he supposed were intended to appear as a statement of his case, in which answers to some passages were omitted. Interpretations This minute closes the account of the unsold goods of Thomas Free's estate and opens his letter to Governor Johnson and the council, the documents set into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench reckoned the whole worth of the estate by adding the unsold goods to the sale, the figures answering the dispute over its value. The reckoning of the unsold goods against the sale completes the council's account of the estate's worth. By adding the appraised value of the yams, stock and plate that remained unsold to the £390 7s 0d the sale fetched, the bench arrived at £604 7s 0d, against a whole appraisal of £588 12s 0d. The sale and the remaining goods together exceeding the appraisal answered Free's charge that his estate was sold for less than its worth, the figures traced through the record to prove the point. Free's letter marks his renewed objection that the council's account of his case was incomplete. By claiming that answers to some passages were omitted from the sheets drawn up as the statement of his case, Free reopened his complaint at the very close of the inquiry. This connects to the matter struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, the passages on the Irish wife and the disputed bill removed before the proceedings were drawn into form, Free now pressing that the omissions told against him. | |
217 | & Some positive Depositions are passt over when att the Same (with Submission) most Strange remarks are Made & advantages taken I doubt not but the Honble Compr are Sufficiently & long before this time Sensible that any affair may be So managed on this Island that a Judge in his own Case can very hardly be Suspected of dealing hardly by any one For me to answer every Particular would be to enter upon a New work & be as unequall there being one to many I am Charged with another Wife (now) in Ireland & Somewhere else if that Excuses the Wife, the Govr brought me the Proce is my Misfortune My Hoggs are dead it is Said in answer they Might Die of the Pant they Might also Break their Necks but no Proof of any did My Bill to Mr Orm= =ston is a Very Mighty Obstacle lett the Honble Compr Judge if I am the Worse man for answering to pay him twenty or thirty Shill and it is Very well known I could not have Absolute Necessitys out of the Stores if therefore they Judge his Offer Inhumaine I am Sorry I knew no better the Evidences Producd are to the best of my Remem= =brance Very defective how ever I Shall not Presume to dispute att Present by what Power they have been Swayed As for the List now what you are Pleased to Call it of my Effects Some are Said to be appraised & some to be Sett up att Such & Such Sums & they are given | Free's letter continued, setting out that some positive depositions were passed over, while at the same time, with submission, most strange remarks were made and advantages taken. He did not doubt that the Company were sufficiently and long since aware that any affair might be so managed on the island that a judge in his own case could hardly be suspected of dealing hardly by anyone. Free wrote that for him to answer every particular would be to enter upon a new task and be as unequal still. Being one wife too many, he was charged with another wife, now in Ireland and somewhere else, if that excuse would serve. The wife the Governor brought him was his misfortune. As to the answer that his hogs were dead, he allowed they might die of the pant, but they might also break their necks, and there was no proof that any did. His bill to Mr Ormston was a very mighty obstacle. He asked the Company to judge whether he was the worse man for refusing to pay Ormston twenty or thirty shillings, when it was very well known he could not have absolute necessities out of the stores. If they judged his offer inhumane, he was sorry he knew no better. The evidence produced was, to the best of his remembrance, very defective. He would not, however, presume to dispute at present by what power it had been swayed. As to the list of his effects, some were said to be appraised and set up at such and such sums. Interpretations This minute continues the reading of Thomas Free's letter to Governor Johnson and the council, the document entered into the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. Free pressed his objections to the conduct of the inquiry, the bench setting his complaints into the same record they challenged. Free's central charge struck at the impartiality of the inquiry. By arguing that a judge in his own case could hardly be suspected of dealing hardly, Free pointed to the position of the Governor and council, who sat in judgement on complaints against their own government. The objection touched the structural difficulty of the hearing, the bench obliged by the directors to examine charges against itself, the matter the whole inquiry turned on. Free's complaint over the omitted depositions and the swayed evidence marks his protest that the record was shaped against him. By claiming that favourable depositions were passed over and the evidence defective, Free reopened the dispute over what the proceedings recorded. This connects to the passages struck from the record at the consultation of 26 October 1721, the matter on the Irish wife and the bill to Ormston removed before the proceedings were drawn into form, Free now treating those omissions as proof the inquiry was managed to his disadvantage. | |
218 | rally Sold for more but Pray Gentlemn doth the whole amount to £588 Severall Effects of mine might have been Sold that were never put up to my knowledge & Some that were could not because who (under Frowns) had Credit Might not Buy in Short if the Honble Compr are pleased to Strip of the Mask they will Easily find that I am Worshble Sr & Gentn The Ruind & Unhappy Thos Free October ye 31th 1721 Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Saturday ye 4 of Novr 1721 At Union Castle in Jams Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres John Alexander & John Goodwin The last Consultation read and approovd of Captain Wm Westerbane came to the Castle to take his leave this day and acquainted us that he had sent to Mr Ormstons house to See if he was ready to go on Board that word was brought him he was not at home he then ordered his people to go and carry his things down they brought him word that the people in the house would not Suffer them to take them, told them Mr Ormston had left no orders for the carry= =ing them down upon which we desired Capen Goodwin that he would go to the house and Speak to Mr Ormston Capen Goodwin Margin Notes: Information of Mr Ormstons absence | Free's letter closed, setting out that several were sold for more. He asked the council whether the whole amounted to £588 0s 0d. Several of his effects might have been sold that were never put up to his knowledge, and some that could not be sold because those who, under arrest, had credit might not buy. In short, if the Company were pleased to strip off the mask, they would easily find the truth. The letter was dated 31 October 1721 and subscribed as from the ruined and unhappy Thomas Free. At a consultation held on Saturday 4 November 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The last consultation was read and approved. Captain William Westerban came to the castle to take his leave that day and acquainted the council that he had sent to Mr Ormston's house to see whether he was ready to go on board. Word was brought him that Ormston was not at home. He then ordered his people to carry Ormston's things down, but they brought him word that the people in the house would not allow them to take the things, telling them Ormston had left no orders for their carrying down. He therefore asked Captain Goodwin to go to the house and speak to Ormston. Interpretations This minute closes the reading of Thomas Free's letter and opens the consultation of 4 November 1721, the letter ending the record of the public hearing across the consultations of 17 to 31 October 1721 under the directors' order. The bench entered Free's final protest and then turned to the departure of the Drake and the matter of Joseph Ormston's removal from the island. Free's parting charge rests on the irregularity he alleged in the sale. By claiming that goods were sold without his knowledge and that indebted buyers under arrest were barred from bidding, Free pressed his complaint that the sale was managed to his loss. His call for the Company to strip off the mask marks the bitterness with which he closed, the ruined man laying his case before the directors over the heads of the council that had judged him. The matter of Ormston's departure connects the hearing to the wider business of the Drake. Captain Westerban, commander of the ship that had carried the directors' order for the inquiry and was to carry its record home, sought to remove Ormston, lately discharged from council and the accountant's office at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The refusal of the people in Ormston's house to give up his goods marks the resistance the ship's company met, the council sending Goodwin to deal with a councillor whose removal from the island had become a matter of force. | |
219 | on his Return acquainted us Mr Ormston was not at home but that all his things were packt up ready to be carried down, The Captain being very Uneasy on Staying we orderd Ensigne Slaughter to send down his things that were in the house and to Search every house in the Valley accordingly Mr Slaughter made Search on his return he acquainted us he had searcht every house in the Valley but could not find him Moll a Black wench of Wm Beals was sent for She sayd that this Morning about 6 a Clock She went into Mr Ormstons house to light a Stick and that She saw him then in his Morning gown in the house, Mary Oliver a Black Wench of Mrs Carnes wh sayd that She saw him go out of his house between 6 & 7 a Clock that he walkt very fast up the Valley with his Sword and Cane in his hand upon which three Orders were Issued out as follows Island St Helena ss To Wm Slaughter Ensigne You are hereby Required to make Strickt Search for Joseph Ormston him to apprehend and bring before Us in order to be sent on Board the Ship Drake now in the Road he haveing secretly withdrawn himself from his own house in the night time in order to evade his own Engagement made to us yes= =terday of going off this Island in this Ship, at Consultation as well as at other times, you are hereby also Empowered to Break open all locks barrs and bolts belonging to any place where you Shall have any reason to Suspect him to be, you are likewise ordered to apprehend and bring before us Margin Notes: 3 Ordrs Issued to Search for Mr Ormston | Captain Goodwin, on his return, told the council that Ormston was not at home, but that all his things were packed up ready to be carried down. The captain being very uneasy at staying, the council ordered Ensign Slaughter to send down the things in the house and to search every house in the valley. Slaughter made search, and on his return told the council he had searched every house in the valley but could not find Ormston. Moll, a slave woman of Mr Beale, was sent for. She said that this morning about 6 o'clock she went into Ormston's house to light a stick, and saw him then in his morning gown in the house. Mary Oliver, a slave woman of Mrs Carnes, said she saw him go out of his house between six and seven, and that he walked very fast up the valley with his sword and cane in his hand. Three orders were thereupon issued, as follows. The first order was directed to William Slaughter, ensign. Slaughter was required to make strict search for Joseph Ormston, to apprehend him and bring him before the council, so that he might be sent on board the Drake now in the road. Ormston had secretly withdrawn himself from his own house in the night, in order to evade his own engagement made to the council the day before to leave the island in this ship, at the consultation as well as at other times. Slaughter was also empowered to break open all locks, bars and bolts belonging to any place where he had reason to suspect Ormston might be, and was likewise ordered to apprehend and bring before the council whoever. Interpretations This minute records the council's pursuit of Joseph Ormston on his flight from the island, the proceedings of the consultation of 4 November 1721 following his discharge from council and the accountant's office at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The bench moved from the public hearing of Free's complaints to the hunt for a councillor who had broken his undertaking to depart, the matter of his removal become a chase through the valley. The search of every house and the questioning of the slave women mark the council's resort to a general hunt for the missing man. By sending Ensign Slaughter through the valley and taking the accounts of Moll and Mary Oliver, who had seen Ormston in his morning gown and then hurrying off with his sword and cane, the bench traced his flight from his own house. The use of slaves as witnesses to his movements shows how the small society of the valley was drawn into the pursuit, the comings and goings of every house observed. The warrant to Slaughter reveals the wide powers the council granted to recover Ormston. By empowering the ensign to break open locks, bars and bolts wherever he suspected the man might hide, the bench armed its officer with the authority to force any house on the island. This connects to Ormston's broken engagement to leave by the Drake, made at the consultation of 3 November 1721, the council treating his flight as a defiance of its order and pursuing him with the full force of a search warrant, the departure of the ship pressing the urgency of the hunt. | |
220 | any person or persons whom you Shall Suspect to be privy to his Strictly withdrawing himself or harbouring him now that they may be examined concerning the primises and dealt with according to law, you are to take what assistance of the Guards you Shall think Requisite or any other person you Shall think proper, Given Under our hands in Con= =sultation held at Union Castle this 4th day of Novemr 1721 Edwd Johnson Memdm one other to Sarjant Young Edwd Byfeld and one to Jno George Marshall John Alexander John Goodwin In the Execution of which Insigne Slaughter took him goeing from John Longs, and brought him to the Castle about one a clock, Mr Ormston aledged he was comeing down when he mett Mr Slaughter, The Captn told him over night that he would be Sailing by seaven a Clock in the mor= =ning and his goeing out of the valley in the morning seemed to us as if he went out of the way on purpose to prevent his goeing on Board, Mr Slaughter was ordered to attend on him Board, the frequent Cabbaling of the Refractory people as well as his own disorders early and late at his own house and other places in the Valley more then Usuall since his being restored by the Honble Company gave us just reason and Grounds to Suspect the Consequences that might attend his Stay here which made us the more Sollicitous for his goeing off Ed Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: He being bot to ye Castle was Ordrd on Board if Ship Imediatly Ill consequencs that might attend his Stay on the Island | The warrant continued, empowering Slaughter to apprehend any person whom he suspected of being privy to Ormston's withdrawing himself, or of harbouring him, so that they might be examined concerning the matter and dealt with according to law. Slaughter was to take whatever assistance of the guards he thought necessary, or any other person he thought proper. It was given under the hands of the council at a consultation held at Union Castle on 4 November 1721, signed by Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A memorandum noted that one other order was issued to Sergeant Young, and one to John George, marshal. In the execution of this warrant, Ensign Slaughter took Ormston coming from John Long's and brought him to the castle about 1 o'clock. Ormston alleged he was coming down when he met Slaughter. The captain had told him overnight that he would be sailing by 7 o'clock in the morning, and his going out of the valley in the morning seemed to the council as if he went out of the way on purpose to prevent his going on board. Slaughter was ordered to attend him on board. The frequent cabal of the refractory people, as well as Ormston's own disorders early and late at his own house and other places in the valley, more than usual since his being restored by the Company, gave the council just reason and grounds to suspect the consequences that might attend his stay, which made it the more anxious for his going off. The order was made that Ormston be brought to the castle and might be put on board the ship immediately. Interpretations This minute closes the council's pursuit of Joseph Ormston and his apprehension, the proceedings of the consultation of 4 November 1721 following his discharge from council and the accountant's office at the consultation of 3 November 1721. The bench secured the missing man and ordered him aboard the Drake without delay, the matter of his removal from the island brought to its forcible end. The warrant's reach to those who harboured Ormston marks the council's determination to leave him no refuge. By empowering Slaughter to seize and examine any person privy to his flight, the bench extended its pursuit beyond the man himself to all who might shelter him. The taking of Ormston at John Long's, the same planter whose debt the council had lately recovered, shows how the search ran through the holdings of the valley until he was found. The council's stated grounds for hastening Ormston's departure reveal its fear of his influence on the island. By citing the frequent cabal of refractory people and Ormston's own disorders since his restoration by the Company, the bench justified its anxiety to be rid of him. This connects to the long contest over Ormston's conduct traced through the consultations to his discharge on 3 November 1721, the council treating his continued presence as a danger to order and pressing him aboard the ship to remove a source of faction from the settlement. | |
221 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 7th of Novr 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approvd of This day we Settled the accompt of the Ship Drake who Sailed hence with our Severall Letters for India on Saturd day the 4th In the afternoon Captain Goodwin the Storekeeper brought in the Invoice of the Goods brought in the Said Ship Mr French ye Gunner brought in his accompt of Stores Expen= =ded for the month of October which was Examnd & as follows Diet Leakidge faulty To Powder For the Generall Exercise dates Octr 4th For an allarm 4 4 5th Arrived the store Ship the Drake 9th Deliverd to Capen Goodwin 16 12 20 King Georges Coronation Day 1 4 16 39 For the Gaurds Expence 8 For the Worshipfull the Govr Hp 3 To Ensign Slaughter 1 Trucks Delivd to the Carpenter 3 musquet Balls to ye Gaurds 3 To Capen Goodwin 6 To Captain Cason 1 Paper quirs 4 Flints 50 match 8 14 Totall 14 50 4 10 3 1 4 36 80 Signd John French Margin Notes: Ship Drakes Departure for India Invoice of Goods bro: in Gunds Acco for Octr | At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 November 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The last consultation was read and approved. This day the council settled the account of the Drake, which sailed from here with its several letters for India on Saturday the 4th in the afternoon. Captain Goodwin the storekeeper brought in the invoice of the goods brought in the ship. Mr French the gunner brought in his account of stores expended for the month of October, which was examined and stood as follows. The stores were reckoned under four heads, namely diet shot, leaden shot, paper, and powder. For the general exercise, 4 October: 7 pounds of powder For an alarm: 4 paper, 4 pounds 6 ounces of powder When the Drake arrived, the store delivered to Captain Goodwin, 9 October: 16 paper, 12 pounds of powder King George's coronation day, 20 October: 1 diet shot, 4 leaden shot, 16 paper, 39 pounds of powder For the guards' expense: 8 pounds of powder For the Worshipful the Governor: 3 pounds of powder To Ensign Slaughter: 1 pound of powder Trucks delivered to the carpenter: 3 Musket balls to the guards: 3 leaden shot To Captain Goodwin: 6 leaden shot To Captain Cason: 1 leaden shot Paper: 4 quires Flints: 50 Match: 14 pounds 8 ounces Total: 14 diet shot, 50 leaden shot, 4 quires of paper, 10 paper cartridges, 3, 1, 4 quires, 36 flints, 80 pounds of powder The account was signed by John French. Interpretations This minute opens the consultation of 7 November 1721, the council turning from the departure of the Drake on 4 November 1721 to the settling of the ship's account and the gunner's monthly return of stores. The bench recorded the invoice of goods brought in the ship and examined the expenditure of military stores, the routine business of the garrison resuming after the long hearing and the pursuit of Ormston. The gunner's account marks the regular discipline by which the consumption of military stores was checked. By bringing in a dated return of the powder, shot and other stores issued through October, French rendered the garrison's expenditure to the council for examination, each issue tied to its occasion. This connects to the standing administration of the island's defences, the gunner accountable for every charge of powder spent on exercise, alarm or salute. The occasions of expenditure reveal the ceremonial and defensive uses of the garrison's powder. The firing on King George's coronation day on 20 October, the salute when the Drake arrived, and the issue for the general exercise and the guards mark the mix of celebration and readiness that governed the use of stores. The powder spent on the coronation, by far the largest charge, shows the island marking the loyalty of a remote settlement to the crown, the salute a public assertion of allegiance that justified the expense of scarce gunpowder. | |
222 | The Doeter brought in his Accompt of Medecines expended for the month of October which was Examined and approovd This Day the Marshall made a return of the warrant to Levey a tax of twenty pounds on the heads of the Grown Blacks on this Island to make Satisfaction to the widdow Shreve for her Slave Peter who was Executed Mr Long appeard at Mr Lacys Complaint for not makeing pay= =ment of twenty nine pounds for a Black he bought of Mr Lacy the Black was delivered to Mr Doveton according to Mr Lacys desire, Mr Long produced a Deed of Gift of Eliz Steward now wife of Mr Lacy which Mr Lacy Disputed Mr Long desired a Tryall by the Countrey which we allowed of, the said John Long to be at all charges of the Court The Petition of Martin Norman Island St Helena To the Worshipfull Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr &Ca Council The Humble Petition of Martin Norman most Humbly Sheweth That forasmuch as your Petitioner being reduced to a very poor and misserable Condition, and haveing no setled place to live in nor the Least thing to Subsist on Humbly prays your Worship &Ca Council to grant him about two Acres of the Honble Companys wast Land lying between Chubs Spring and the foot of Cuo path part of it being Cald Roberts Plan= =tation, where your petitioner is in hopes and Doubts not of Raising Margin Notes: Doctrs Accot of Medecines bro: in Warr: return for Pet[...] Widdow Shreve Black Mr Lacys Complt agt Jno Longs Tryall Ordr Normans Petn for 2 Acrs Land | The doctor brought in his account of medicines expended for the month of October, which was examined and approved. This day the marshal made a return of the warrant to levy a tax of twenty pounds on the heads of the grown slaves on the island, to make satisfaction to the widow Shreve for her slave Peter, who was executed. John Long appeared at Mr Lacy's complaint for not making payment of twenty-nine pounds for a slave he bought of Mr Lacy. The slave was delivered to Mr Doveton according to Mr Lacy's desire. Mr Long produced a deed of gift from Elizabeth Steward, now wife of Mr Lacy, which Mr Lacy disputed. Mr Long asked for a trial by the country, which the council allowed, the said John Long to be at all charges of the court. The petition of Martin Norman was read. Martin Norman addressed a petition to Governor Johnson and the council. Norman set out that, being reduced to a very poor and miserable condition, having no settled place to live in nor the least thing to subsist on, he humbly asked the council to grant him about two acres of the Company's waste land lying between Chubb's Spring and the foot of one path, part of it being called Roberts's plantation, where he was in hopes, and did not doubt, of raising. Interpretations This minute records routine business of the consultation of 7 November 1721, the council settling the doctor's account, levying a tax for an executed slave, hearing a dispute over the sale of a slave, and receiving Martin Norman's petition for land. The bench moved through the ordinary administration of the island after the long hearing of Free's complaints and the departure of the Drake. The tax levied on the heads of the grown slaves to compensate the widow Shreve marks a recognised mechanism for indemnifying an owner whose slave was put to death by the law. By raising twenty pounds across the island's slaveholders to make satisfaction for the executed Peter, the council spread the loss of a condemned slave among all who held such property, the owner not made to bear alone the cost of a punishment carried out for the public good. The treatment of the slave as a capital asset whose destruction required compensation shows how far the law regarded the slave as property even in executing him. The dispute between Long and Lacy over the sale of a slave turns on a contested title. By producing a deed of gift from the woman now Lacy's wife, Long resisted Lacy's claim for payment, the ownership of the slave bound up with the property the wife brought to her marriage. The council's grant of a trial by the country, at Long's charge, marks the bench referring a disputed question of title to a jury rather than settling it itself. Norman's petition for waste land connects to the council's standing role in granting the Company's unused ground to poor settlers, the distribution of land a means of planting the island and relieving the destitute. | |
223 | Raising fowles &Ca Sufficient to support his Necessitys and to pay the Rent, wherefore humbly begs his poor and Deplorable Condition may be Considered and his Humble request Granted, And as in Duty bound shall ever pray for Your healths & prosperity Novr ye 7th 1721 Martin his marke Norman We knowing him to be an Idle fellow and would never settle to any fixt abode we think this will be of no Service to him by reason of the labour and charge he must be at to bring it into Order and therefore we Reject his petition That Whereas in Pursuance to ye 44 and 45 Parr of the Generall Letter by the Drake with relation to Mr Free we have Servd him with a Copy of the Said Parr and the whole proceedings have been according to the Direction in the Said Letter we think it proper that they should be made publick both to the People of this Island as well as to the Commanders that shall come here, therefore we do Order that two Copys of the whole proceedings be forthwith Copyed out the one deliverd to Mr Carne the other to Mr Powell to lie open in their publick room to be Perused by any person they shall come therein these being the Cheif houses of Entertainmt in the Valley That every body may Judge how far the Govr or Mr Free are Culpable Captain Cason desired that he might have a Copy of that Parr in the General Letter relating to ye Honble Companys takeing his money at usuall interest and likewise a Copy of our Ordrs thereon which was Accordingly ordered Margin Notes: rejected Copys of Mr Frees Case Ordrd to be lodgd in Houses of Entertainmt Capt Casons requests Copys of Ordr relat to his money at Interest | Norman's petition closed, setting out that he hoped to raise fowls and produce sufficient to support his needs and to pay the rent. He humbly begged that his poor and deplorable condition be considered and his request granted. The petition was dated 7 November 1721 and signed by Martin Norman with his mark. The council, knowing Norman to be an idle fellow who would never settle to any fixed abode, thought the grant would be of no service to him, by reason of the labour and charge he must be at to bring the land into order, and therefore rejected his petition. In pursuance of the 44th and 45th paragraphs of the general letter by the Drake relating to Mr Free, the council had served him with a copy of those paragraphs, and the whole proceedings had been according to the direction in the letter. The council thought it proper that they should be made public, both to the people of the island and to the commanders who should come here. It therefore ordered that two copies of the whole proceedings be forthwith copied out, the one delivered to Mr Carne, the other to Mr Powell, to lie open in their public rooms to be perused by any person, these being the chief houses of entertainment in the valley, so that everyone might judge how far the Governor or Mr Free was culpable. Captain Cason asked that he might have a copy of the paragraph in the general letter relating to the Company's taking his money at the usual interest, and likewise a copy of the council's order on it, which was accordingly ordered. Interpretations This minute closes the consultation of 7 November 1721, the council rejecting Norman's petition, ordering the proceedings on Free's complaints made public, and granting Cason a copy of the letter touching his money. The bench moved through the final business following the long hearing and the departure of the Drake. The rejection of Norman's petition rests on the council's judgement of his character. By refusing the waste land on the ground that an idle man who would not settle could not bring it into order, the bench treated the grant of the Company's land as a charge to be earned by industry, not a relief to be given to the shiftless. The decision marks the council weighing the labour and cost of cultivation against the petitioner's disposition, the land granted to those who would improve it. The order to make the Free proceedings public marks the council's answer to a complaint that touched its own conduct. By having two copies laid open in the chief houses of entertainment, where planters and visiting commanders gathered, the bench invited the whole island and the passing ships to judge between the Governor and Free. This connects to the directors' order under the 44th and 45th paragraphs of the general letter by the Drake that compelled the hearing, the council carrying out the directors' direction by publishing the record so that its vindication might be seen by all, the public exposure the bench's own defence against the charges Free had carried to London. | |
224 | This day Mr Byfeld brought in his monthly Accompt for October of all ye Honble Companys live stock and expence for the Said month which was Examined and approved of Captain Goodwin answers the Hurry of opening the store goods by the Ship Drake prevented his bringing in his monthly Accompt But says it shall be ready by next Consultation Day Ed Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wensday the 8th of Novr 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander John Goodwin The last Consultation read & approovd of This day we mett to consider furthur on the Generall Letter by the Drake and affixed the price of all the goods in ye Invoice of merchandize Laden by the Honourable the Court of Directors of the United Company of merchants of England Trading to ye East Indies in and upon the Good Ship Called the Drake Burden 390 Tons or thereabouts where of goeth Commander Captn Wm Whitaker bound by the Almightys Permission for ye Island of St Helena and goes Consignd to the Governour and Council their Resident being markt and numbered as pr margent The Particulars are as follows Vizt Margin Notes: Mr Byfelds Accot for Octr Capt Goodwins Excuse for not bringing in his Accot Invoice of Invoices of Ship Drake | This day Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account for October of all the Company's livestock and expense for the month, which was examined and approved. Captain Goodwin gave as his reason that the hurry of opening the store goods by the Drake had prevented his bringing in his monthly account, but said it would be ready by the next consultation day. The consultation was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. At a consultation held on Wednesday 8 November 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley, present Governor Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield second, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The last consultation was read and approved. This day the council met to consider further the general letter by the Drake and to fix the price of all the goods in the invoice of merchandise laden by the Honourable Court of Directors of the United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies in and upon the Drake, burden 390 tons or thereabouts, whereof Captain William Whitaker is commander, bound by the Almighty's permission for the Island of St Helena and consigned to the Governor and council as the Company's resident, the goods being marked and numbered as per margin. The particulars were as follows. Interpretations This minute closes the consultation of 7 November 1721 and opens that of 8 November 1721, the council moving from the storekeeper's account to the fixing of prices on the goods the Drake had brought. The bench turned to the regular business of setting the rates at which the Company's imported merchandise would be sold on the island. The pricing of the invoice marks the council's role as the Company's agent in disposing of its goods at a remote station. By meeting to fix the price of every item the Drake had carried, the bench set the terms on which the imported merchandise would pass to the island's people, the consignment delivered to the Governor and council as the Company's resident to be sold on its behalf. This connects to the standing function of the council as the Company's factor, holding and selling the goods that supplied the settlement. The formal recital of the ship's burden, commander and consignment reflects the documentary care with which a cargo was received. By entering the Drake's tonnage, the name of Captain Whitaker and the marking of the goods as per margin, the council fixed the particulars of the consignment in its record, the formula echoing the bill of lading by which the directors shipped their merchandise. The same ship that had carried the directors' order for the Free hearing and borne its record home now furnished the cargo whose pricing occupied the bench, the Drake the thread running through the island's business of these weeks. | |
225 | Invoice Prime Cost No 5 to 8 Vinegar 8 Casks contains 1 Ton Amounting to 20 10 Oyle 3 Jars and 1 Chest Vizt 3 Jars Genoa Oyle of 100 Gall at £5:10 pr Gall 29 3 1 Chest Florence oyle of 48 Bottles at 1s 9d Bottl 11 4 Oyle 3 Jars and 1 Chest amounting to 40 7 4 13 to 31 Soap 19 Chests wt 33:3:13 at 77s 9 pr Ct 127 16 9 Cordrage 6 Coyles Vizt No 1 1 Coyle 2½ Inch wt 2:20:23 2 1 Ditto 2:1:2 3 1 Do 2:1:14 4 1 Do 2 Inch 1:2:5 5 1 Do 1:2:20 6 1 Do 1:2:19 6 Coyles Cordrage wt 11:2:27 at 30s/ pr Ct 17 15 2 Iron Mongers ware 4 Casks and nine Bundles Vizt Cask No 1 100 Pick axes Sorted at 2/9 13:15 12 Duble head mauls wt 290 at 4 pr Ct 4:16:8 20 pr Pott Hooks Sorted wt 25½ at 4d 8:6 1 Cask 9 Do 2 100 Pickax & Garnets wt 541 at 4½d 10:2:10 3 Pr Tipt Shovels and Tongs at 2:9 :8:3 3 Pr Duble Tipt Do at 3:10 11:6 1 Cask Do 9 Do 3 12 Extrea Steal hand saws whet & set 3:10 2:6 12 Do at 3:6 3 6 Large Do at 5:6 1:13 6 Extrea Large Do at 6: 1:16 6 pr Shovels & Tongs No 1 1:8 10 6 pr Do No 2 2:- 12 6 Pr Do No 3 do 2:2 13 6 Pr Do No 4 do 2:6 15 £42 5 8 Card over 206 8 11 | The invoice of goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Vinegar, numbers 5 to 8 8 casks containing 1 ton £20 10s 0d Oil, 3 jars and 1 chest, namely Genoa oil 3 jars of 100 gallons, at 5 shillings 10 pence per gallon £29 3s 4d Florence oil 1 chest of 48 bottles, at 5 shillings per bottle £11 4s 0d Oil, 3 jars and 1 chest, amounting to: £40 7s 4d Soap, numbers 13 to 31 19 chests weighing 33 hundredweight 3 quarters 13 pounds, at 77 shillings 9 pence per hundredweight £127 16s 9d Cordage, 6 coils, namely Number 1, 2½ inch 1 coil, weight 2 hundredweight 0 quarters 23 pounds Number 2 1 coil, weight 2 hundredweight 1 quarter 2 pounds Number 3 1 coil, weight 2 hundredweight 1 quarter 14 pounds Number 4, 2 inch 1 coil, weight 1 hundredweight 2 quarters 5 pounds Number 5 1 coil, weight 1 hundredweight 2 quarters 20 pounds Number 6 1 coil, weight 1 hundredweight 2 quarters 19 pounds 6 coils cordage weight 11 hundredweight 2 quarters 27 pounds, at 30 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £17 15s 2d Ironmonger's ware, 4 casks and nine bundles, namely Cask number 1 Pickaxes 100 sorted, at 2 shillings 9 pence each £13 15s 0d Double head mauls 12, weight 290 pounds, at 4 pence per pound £4 16s 8d Pot hooks 20 pairs sorted, weight 25½ pounds, at 4 pence per pound £0 8s 6d 1 cask: £0 9s 0d Cask number 2 Pickaxes and garnets 100, weight 541 pounds, at 4½ pence per pound £10 2s 10d Tipped shovels and tongs 3 pairs, at 2 shillings 9 pence £0 8s 3d Double tipped shovels and tongs 3 pairs, at 3 shillings 10 pence £0 11s 6d 1 cask: £0 9s 0d Cask number 3 Extra steel hand saws, whetted and set 12, at 3 shillings 10 pence each £2 6s 0d Steel hand saws 12, at 5 shillings each £3 0s 0d Large hand saws 6, at 6 shillings each £1 16s 0d Extra large hand saws 6, at 6 shillings each £1 16s 0d Shovels and tongs, number 1 6 pairs, at 1 shilling 8 pence £0 10s 0d Shovels and tongs, number 2 6 pairs, at 2 shillings £0 12s 0d Shovels and tongs, number 3 6 pairs, at 2 shillings 2 pence £0 13s 0d Shovels and tongs, number 4 6 pairs, at 2 shillings 6 pence £0 15s 0d Total: £42 4s 5d Carried over: £206 8s 11d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the imported merchandise at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out each line of the cargo with its prime cost, the household stores, cordage and ironmongery itemised in detail before the rates of sale were fixed. The invoice marks the prime cost on which the council based the prices it would charge. By recording the original cost of each item as laden by the directors, the bench fixed the figure against which it would set the island's selling price, the prime cost the foundation of the markup by which the Company supplied the settlement at a profit. This connects to the council's role as the Company's factor, the prime cost the measure from which the rates of sale were reckoned. The nature of the goods reveals the supply of a small working settlement from England. The pickaxes, mauls, saws, shovels and tongs mark the tools needed to clear and cultivate the island and to maintain its fortifications, the ironmongery the equipment of a labouring colony. The Genoa and Florence oil, the vinegar and the soap mark the imported provisions and necessaries that the island could not produce for itself, the cargo of the Drake supplying both the means of work and the comforts of the household from the manufactures of home. | |
226 | Brought over 206 8 11 Prime Cost Iron mongers ware brought over 42 5 8 3 Pr Large Tongs No 5 @ 3:4 10 3 Pr Larger Do @ 4/4 13 1 Cask wt wt 53 @ 4/4 1 8 2 1 Bench Vice 1 Screw plate wt 12 Taps 10 6 Doz: Files No 1 10 2 Doz: Do 2 5 6 2 Doz: Do 3 11 2 Doz: Do 4 1 6 6 Whimble Stocks 16 6 12 Butts for Do 6 6 12 Large Gutt Strings 6 6 6 Doz: Brick Trowels 3 6 1 Cask 9 3 Doz Firmers and gouges Sorted 8 3 1 Doz: Long Do 5 6 2 Doz: heading Chissels 13 3 Doz: 3 Sqr Files 6 6 6 Doz: Gimblets Sorted 6 6 2 Pr whole Deal Groving plains 4 4 2 Pr Slitt Do 4 4 2 Pr Table Do 4 4 12 Pr Steel Compases 3 10 12: 24 Inch Rules with Brass 13 12: 18 Inch Do with Squares 17 6 12 Brass Chalk Rools 6 6 4 Doz: Best Chalk lines 13 6 Plate Stock Locks No 1 5 6 Do 2 6 6 6 Do 3 8 3 6 Do 4 10 24 Square Staples for Do 3 4 2 Doz: Box hinges No 1 4 8 7 Doz: Do 2 5 10 1 Doz: Do 3 5 1 Doz: Do 1 7 8 1 Doz: Chest Do 2 1 Doz: Do Card over 6200 8 206 8 11 | The invoice of ironmonger's ware continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £206 8s 11d Ironmonger's ware brought over: £42 5s 8d Large tongs 3 pairs, number 5, at 3 shillings 4 pence £0 10s 0d Larger tongs 3 pairs, at 4 shillings 4 pence £0 13s 0d 1 cask: Bench vice 1, weight [...], at 4½ pence per pound £1 8s 2d Screw plate 1, with 12 taps £0 10s 0d Files 6 dozen, number 1 £0 10s 0d Files 2 dozen, number 2 £0 5s 6d Files 2 dozen, number 3 £0 11s 0d Files 2 dozen, number 4 £0 1s 6d Thimble stocks 6 £0 16s 6d Bitts for ditto 12 £0 6s 6d Large gut strings 12 £0 6s 6d Brick trowels 6 dozen £3 6s 0d 1 cask: £0 9s 0d Firmers and gouges sorted 3 dozen £0 8s 3d Long firmers and gouges 1 dozen £0 5s 6d Heading chisels 2 dozen £0 13s 0d Square files 3 dozen, 3 inch £0 6s 6d Gimlets sorted 6 dozen £0 6s 6d Whole deal grooving planes 2 pairs £0 4s 4d Slit ditto 2 pairs £0 4s 4d Table ditto 2 pairs £0 4s 4d Steel compasses 12 pairs £0 3s 10d Rules with brass 12, 24 inch £0 13s 0d Ditto with squares 12, 18 inch £0 17s 6d Brass chalk bowls 12 £0 6s 6d Best chalk lines 4 dozen £0 13s 0d Plate stock locks 6, number 1 £0 5s 0d Plate stock locks 6, number 2 £0 6s 6d Plate stock locks 6, number 3 £0 8s 3d Plate stock locks 6, number 4 £0 10s 0d Square staples for ditto 24 £0 3s 4d Box hinges 2 dozen, number 1 £0 4s 8d Box hinges 1 dozen, number 2 £0 3s 10d Box hinges 1 dozen, number 3 £0 5s 0d Chest ditto 1 dozen, number 1 £0 7s 8d Chest ditto 1 dozen, number 2 Total: £62 0s 8d Carried over: £206 8s 11d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the ironmonger's ware at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the tools and hardware line by line with their prime cost, the carpenter's and builder's equipment forming the bulk of this part of the cargo. The detailed listing of tools reveals the equipping of a settlement that built and maintained its own structures. The planes, chisels, files, gimlets and compasses mark the carpenter's trade, while the locks, hinges and staples mark the fitting of doors and chests, the cargo supplying the means by which the island's buildings and furniture were made and kept. The variety and quantity of the hardware show a colony dependent on England for the very tools of its construction. The reckoning of each item to its prime cost marks the documentary basis of the council's pricing. By recording the cost of every dozen files and pair of planes as laden by the directors, the bench fixed the figure from which it would set the island's selling rate, the prime cost the foundation of the supply at a profit. This connects to the council's standing function as the Company's factor, the invoice the instrument by which the directors charged their goods to the settlement and the bench reckoned what the island's people should pay. | |
227 | Brought over £ 206 8 11 Prime Cost Iron Monger ware Brought over £62 8 1 Doz: Chest Staples No 3 10 1 Doz: Do No 4 15 4 4 Doz: Smooth filed Do No 5 8 6 15 4 2 Doz: Splinter locks A B 10 4 Doz: Do C D 2 4 2 Doz: Do E F 1 15 1 Doz: Do G 1 2 1 Doz: Do H 1 13 1 Doz: x x ward cupbd Locks No 1 6 1 Doz: Do 2 10 2 Doz: Ring Bowd Do 3 1 2 2 Doz x x ward Do 4 1 10 8 1 Doz: S Bitt Do 5 1 4 3 Fine Do 6 11 6 3 Do 7 15 3 Do 8 1 3 Do 9 1 4 9 1 Cask 9 4 Doz: Shod Shovells @ 17 pr Doz 3 8 1 Doz: Large Shovells 19 3 24 Frying pans Sorted wt 1:0:16 at 49:6: pr Ct 2 16 10 24 Do wt 1:0:19 at 49:6 pr Ct 2 18 2 24 Do wt 1:0:18 at 49:6 pr Ct 2 17 5 1 pair Large Smiths Billows 4 2 6 Ironmongers ware four casks 89 Bund amounts to 97 6 6 Iron Potts 20 wt 3:2:6½ at 27:6 pr Ct 4 17 10 Deals 30: Vizt 3 No 1 36 foot 2 Inch Deals at 9/4 pr £28 2 18 Do 2 Do at 3/10 11 10 1 14 Do 2 Do 16 1 12 Do 2 Do 13 4 1 13 Do 1½ Do whris Deales 10 9 1 19 Do Floting & hris Do 11 Deales Carried over £90 3 Carried over £308 13 | The invoice of ironmonger's ware continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £206 8s 11d Ironmonger's ware brought over: £62 0s 8d Chest staples 1 dozen, number 3 £0 10s 0d Chest staples 1 dozen, number 4 £0 15s 4d Smooth filed chest staples 4 dozen, numbers 5, 6 £0 15s 4d Splinter locks AB 2 dozen £0 10s 0d Splinter locks CD 4 dozen £0 9s 0d Splinter locks EF 2 dozen £1 15s 0d Splinter locks G 1 dozen £1 2s 0d Splinter locks H 1 dozen £1 13s 0d Ward cupboard locks, number 1 1 dozen £0 6s 0d Ward cupboard locks, number 2 1 dozen £0 10s 0d Ring bowed ditto, number 3 2 dozen £1 2s 0d Ward ditto, number 4 2 dozen £1 10s 8d Spring bitted ditto, number 5 1 dozen £1 4s 0d Fine ditto, number 6 3 £0 11s 6d Ditto, number 7 3 £0 15s 0d Ditto, number 8 3 £1 0s 0d Ditto, number 9 3 £1 4s 9d 1 cask: £0 9s 0d Shod shovels 4 dozen, at 17 shillings per dozen £3 8s 0d Large shovels 1 dozen £0 19s 0d Frying pans sorted 24, weight 1 hundredweight 3 quarters 16 pounds, at 49 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £2 16s 10d Frying pans 24, weight 1 hundredweight 0 quarters 19 pounds, at 49 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £2 18s 2d Frying pans 24, weight 1 hundredweight 0 quarters 18 pounds, at 49 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £2 17s 5d Large smith's bellows 1 pair £4 2s 6d Ironmonger's ware, four casks and nine bundles, amounts to: £97 6s 5d Iron pots 20, weight 3 hundredweight 2 quarters 6½ pounds, at 27 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £4 17s 10d Deals, 30, namely 36 foot 2 inch deals 2, at 9 shillings 4 pence per pair £28 0s 0d 18 foot 2 inch deals 2, at 3 shillings 10 pence £11 10s 0d 14 foot 2 inch deals 14 £16 1s 0d 12 foot 2 inch deals 12 £13 4s 0d 13 foot 1½ inch christmas deals 13 £10 9s 0d 19 foot floating christmas deals 19 £11 0s 0d Deals carried over: £90 3s 0d Carried over: £308 13s 2d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the ironmonger's ware and deals at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the locks, shovels, pans and timber line by line with their prime cost, completing the hardware and beginning the building materials of the cargo. The great quantity and variety of locks reveal the securing of property in a settlement where goods were held under lock and key. The splinter, ward, cupboard and spring locks, sorted by pattern and number, mark the fitting of chests, doors and cupboards against theft, the same care for security that ran through the council's concern over embezzlement and the carrying off of goods. The hardware supplied the means by which a planter or the Company kept its stores safe. The deals listed mark the import of sawn timber for the island's building. The settlement lacked the large trees needed for construction, so the directors shipped deals of various lengths and thicknesses, the christmas and floating deals among them, to supply the boards for floors, doors and frames. This connects to the standing dependence of the island on England for its building materials, the cargo of the Drake furnishing the timber that the bare and treeless slopes could not yield, the deals priced like the rest for sale to those who built on the island. | |
228 | Brought over £308 13 2 Prime Cost Deales Brought over £90 3 4 10 Inch Do yellow dram Deales @ 3/5 33 1 1 10 Do 2 Inch yellow dram deales 11 19 Yellow saw deales at 7/4 pr Ct 146 11 1 14 Foot 1½ Inch Deales 11 11 amounting to 292 Baths 120 Vizt 30 Duble 12 Ells dram Baths @ 6/o 9 30 28 Foot Do @ 5 7 10 30 18 Do @ 2/9 4 2 6 30 20 Do @ 2/2 3 5 120 Baths amounting To 23 17 6 Duble Ufers 60 amounting To 3 17 Spears 60 Vizt 30 20 Foot Spears 1 13 30 16 Do 19 6 60 Spears amounting to 2 12 6 Square Timber 30 peices at 3/10 pr pr 5 15 1 Tar 20 Barrells at 29/8 pr Barrell 29 13 4 Pitch 10 Barrells wt 5:2:3 at 6/9 pr Ct 9 5 10 Rozin 2 Barrells wt 5:3:3 @ 10/9 pr Ct 3 15 Blacking 1 cask qty 300 Barrells @ 27/6 pr Barrell 4 2 6 Brimstone 1 cask qty 2 0 10 @ 26/4 pr Ct 2 15 Tin ware 1 cask Vizt 12 Tin Lanthorns 1 13 4 Doz: Round puding pans 3 2 8 2 Dez: Square Ditto 1 11 6 Pissy pans 10 3 2 Small Speaking Trumpets 5 6 2 Large Ditto 15 4 2 Doz: Tin Kettles 2 4 1 Dez: Quart Coffee Potts 13 1 Dez: 3 Pint Ditto 1 2 Doz: Pepper Boxes 4 6 3 Doz: Porringers 9 3 Doz: Tin Lamps 1 9 £14 7 3 £686 6 11 | The invoice of deals and other goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £308 13s 2d Deals brought over: £90 3s 0d 10 inch yellow Dram deals [...], at 3 shillings 5 pence £33 1s 0d 10 foot 2 inch yellow Dram deals [...] £11 1s 0d Yellow saw deals 19, at 7 shillings 4 pence per piece £146 11s 0d 14 foot 1½ inch deals [...] £11 11s 0d Deals, amounting to: £292 0s 0d Baulks, 120, namely Double 12 ells Dram baulks 30, at 6 shillings £9 0s 0d 28 foot ditto 30, at 5 shillings £7 10s 0d 18 foot ditto 30, at 2 shillings 9 pence £4 2s 6d 20 foot ditto 30, at 2 shillings 2 pence £3 5s 0d 120 baulks, amounting to: £23 17s 6d Double ufers 60, amounting to: £3 17s 0d Spars, 60, namely 20 foot spars 30 £1 13s 0d 16 foot ditto 30 £0 19s 6d 60 spars, amounting to: £2 12s 6d Square timber 30 pieces, at 3 shillings 10 pence per piece £5 15s 1d Tar 20 barrels, at 29 shillings 6 pence per barrel £29 13s 4d Pitch 10 barrels, weight 22 hundredweight 3 quarters, at 6 shillings 9 pence per hundredweight £9 5s 10d Rosin 2 barrels, weight 5 hundredweight 1 quarter 3 pounds, at 10 shillings 6 pence £3 15s 0d Blacking 1 cask, namely 300 barrels, at 27 shillings 6 pence per barrel £4 2s 6d Brimstone 1 cask, namely 2 hundredweight 0 quarters 10 pounds, at 26 shillings 4 pence per hundredweight £2 15s 0d Tin ware, 1 cask, namely Tin lanterns 12 £0 13s 0d Round pudding pans 4 dozen £3 2s 8d Square pudding pans 2 dozen £1 11s 0d Pasty pans 6 £0 10s 3d Small speaking trumpets 2 £0 5s 6d Large speaking trumpets 2 £0 15s 4d Tin kettles 2 dozen £2 4s 0d Quart coffee pots 1 dozen £0 13s 0d Pint coffee pots 1 dozen £0 5s 0d Pepper boxes 2 dozen £0 4s 6d Porringers 3 dozen £0 9s 0d Tin lamps 3 dozen £0 19s 0d Total: £14 7s 3d Total: £686 6s 11d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the deals, baulks, naval stores and tin ware at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the timber, tar and household tin line by line with their prime cost, the cargo running from building materials to the small wares of the kitchen. The timber and naval stores reveal the supply of materials the island could neither grow nor make. The deals, baulks, spars and square timber furnished the boards and beams for building, while the tar, pitch, rosin and brimstone supplied the means of caulking and preserving timber and boats. This connects to the standing dependence of the bare island on England for its construction and maintenance, the cargo of the Drake bringing the very substance of building to a settlement without forests of its own. The tin ware marks the import of the lesser household goods that completed the supply of the colony. The pudding pans, kettles, coffee pots, pepper boxes and porringers furnished the kitchen and table, while the speaking trumpets among them served for hailing at sea or across distance. The variety of these small manufactures shows how completely the island looked to England for its domestic equipment, the Company's ship supplying the comforts and conveniences of the household alongside the tools and timber of the working settlement, the whole cargo priced for sale to the island's people. | |
229 | Brought over 686 6 11 Prime Cost Tin Ware Brought over £14 7 3 2 Doz quart Tin ffunnells 10 3 Doz Tin Saucpans 1 1 1 Cask 8 Tin ware 1 Cask amounting to 16 9 3 Wainscott Boards 123 Vizt 59 of 3 Inch Wainscott Boards qty 6:4:2 ffeet at 3s 4d pr foot 8 9 3 64 1 Inch Ditto 6:8:6 ffeet at 2s pr foot 11 8 8 123 Wainscott Boards amounting To 19 17 11 Anchor Stocks 11 Vizt 1 anchor Stock of 17 ffeet Long 2 14 8 1 Ditto 16 Do 2 11 8 1 Ditto 15 Do @ 48/7 7 5 9 1 Ditto 14 Do 2 5 8 1 Ditto 13 Do 2 2 8 1 Ditto 12 Do 1 19 9 2 Ditto 11 Do @ 36/9 3 13 6 1 Ditto 9 Do 1 10 9 11 Anchor Stocks amounting to 24 4 2 Elm Boards 50 Containing 615:2 at 2s 2d pr foot 5 13 6 Flower 20 Casks Vizt 10 Casks Flower Contn 28 1 13 @ 12s 6d pr Ct 16 19 4 10 Ditto 28 0 17 @ 12s pr Ct 16 17 10 20 Casks Flower amounting to 33 17 2 Bread 32 Casks Vizt 8 Casks bread qty 13 @ 9/4 pr Ct 14 8 Ditto Second spending Do 30 @ 10/6 pr Ct 15 15 8 Do First spending Do 36 @ 9/4 14 8 Do Second Do 36 @ 10/6 15 15 32 Casks Bread amounting to 59 10 Iron 154 Bars wt 4 Tons @ 16/10 pr Ton 66 Carried over 912 11 | The invoice of tin ware and other goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £686 6s 11d Tin ware brought over: £14 7s 3d Quart tin funnels 2 dozen £0 10s 0d Tin saucepans 3 dozen £1 12s 0d 1 cask: £0 8s 0d Tin ware, 1 cask, amounting to: £16 9s 3d Wainscot boards, 123, namely ¾ inch wainscot boards 59, of 642 feet, at 3½ pence per foot £8 9s 3d 1 inch ditto 64, of 686 feet, at 4 pence per foot £11 8s 8d 123 wainscot boards, amounting to: £19 17s 11d Anchor stocks, 11, namely Anchor stock of 17 feet long 1 £2 14s 8d Ditto, 16 foot 1 £2 11s 8d Ditto, 15 foot, at 48 shillings 7 pence 3 £7 5s 9d Ditto, 14 foot 1 £2 5s 8d Ditto, 13 foot 1 £2 2s 8d Ditto, 12 foot 1 £1 19s 9d Ditto, 11 foot, at 36 shillings 9 pence 2 £3 13s 6d Ditto, 9 foot 1 £1 10s 9d 11 anchor stocks, amounting to: £24 4s 2d Elm boards 50, containing 615½ feet, at 2½ pence per foot £5 8s 5d Flour, 20 casks, namely Flour 10 casks, containing 28 hundredweight 1 quarter 13 pounds, at 12 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £16 19s 4d Flour 10 casks, containing 28 hundredweight 0 quarters 17 pounds, at 12 shillings per hundredweight £16 17s 10d 20 casks flour, amounting to: £33 17s 2d Bread, 32 casks, namely Bread 8 casks, weight 13 hundredweight, at 9 shillings 4 pence per hundredweight £14 0s 0d Second spending bread 8 casks, weight 30 hundredweight, at 10 shillings 6 pence per hundredweight £15 15s 0d First spending bread 8 casks, weight 36 hundredweight, at 9 shillings 4 pence £14 0s 0d Second bread 8 casks, weight 36 hundredweight, at 10 shillings 6 pence £15 15s 0d 32 casks bread, amounting to: £59 10s 0d Iron 154 bars, weight 4 tons, at 66 shillings 10 pence per ton £66 1s 0d Carried over: £912 1s 1d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the wainscot, anchor stocks, flour, bread and iron at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the timber, provisions and metal line by line with their prime cost, the cargo running from building boards to the staple foodstuffs of the settlement. The flour and bread mark the import of the basic provisions on which the garrison and the Company's people depended. The thirty-two casks of bread, sorted into first and second spending and second bread, and the twenty casks of flour, supplied the staple food that the island could not grow in sufficient quantity. This connects to the standing dependence of the settlement on shipped provisions, the slender local harvest of yams and stock unable to feed the garrison without the bread and flour the Company sent from home. The anchor stocks and iron reveal the supply of materials for the island's shipping and forge. The anchor stocks, graded by length, furnished the wooden cross-pieces for ships' anchors, while the four tons of bar iron supplied the smith with the metal he worked into tools, fittings and repairs. This connects to the island's place as a port of call where ships were watered and refitted, the anchor stocks serving the vessels that touched here, the bar iron the raw material from which the settlement's own ironwork was forged. | |
230 | Brought over 912 1 1 Prime Cost Tobacco 1 Hhd and 1 Barrell Vizt 1 Hhd Tobacco Cutt qty 400 at 15s pr Ct £25 1 Barrell Ditto 100 @ 18s pr Ct 7 10 Tobacco 1 Hhd & 1 Barrell amounting to 32 10 Compass Timber 2 Peices amounting to 13 Stationary ware 1 Chest Vizt 9 Doz Ink Glasses 6 6 1 Doz Sand Boxes 2 9 1 Doz Pen Knives 1 2 1 Doz 2 clasped Do at 1s 9d ea 2 9 6 10 Doz Black Lead pencils at 2/9 pr Doz 1 7 6 2 Doz Red Ditto 4 4 4 fine Sealing wax at 2/4 pr Ct 19 4 4 Whafers 4 4 4 Pounce 10 2 Sealing wax No 4 3 8 Stationery ware 1 Chest amounting to 6 11 9 No 12 Peas and Beans 2 Casks Vizt 1 Cask of fine Windsor Beans Contn 3 Bushll @ 6/4 pr Bushell 2 13 4 1 Ditto fine Seed Pease 8 Do @ 7/8 pr Bushell 3 1 4 2 Cask of Pease and Beans amounting to 5 14 8 Twine 2 Casks Vizt 400 Shoe Thred at 16/2 pr Ct 27 10 400 Twine at 13 21 13 4 2 Casks of Twine amounting to 49 3 4 No 1 Haberdashers Ware 1 Cask Vizt 24 Brown Thred No 1 at 3/10 pr Ct 10 12 8 Peices ferritt 2 at 6/ 2 8 8 Ditto Broad Do 3 at 9/3 3 6 4 Gross Galloome 4 at 26/4 5 5 4 10 Doz Lacking pins 5 at 15/4 7 13 4 11 Doz Do 6 at 13/0 7 3 25 Doz Ditto 7 at 13/9 17 3 9 28 Doz fine Do 8 at 9/4 13 1 4 £66 12 9 Haberdashers ware Carried over 100 6 13 10 | The invoice of tobacco and other goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £912 1s 1d Tobacco, 1 hogshead and 1 barrel, namely Tobacco 1 hogshead, weight 400 pounds, at 15 shillings per hundredweight £25 0s 0d Tobacco 1 barrel, weight 400 pounds, at 18 shillings per hundredweight £7 10s 0d Tobacco, 1 hogshead and 1 barrel, amounting to: £32 10s 0d Compass timber 2 pieces, amounting to: £0 13s 0d Stationery ware, 1 chest, namely Ink glasses 9 dozen £0 6s 6d Sand boxes 1 dozen £0 2s 9d Penknives 1 dozen £1 2s 0d Two clasped penknives 1 dozen, at 1 shilling 9 pence each £2 9s 6d Black lead pencils 10 dozen, at 2 shillings 9 pence per dozen £1 7s 6d Red ditto 2 dozen £0 4s 4d Fine sealing wax [...], at 2 shillings 4 pence per pound £0 19s 4d Wafers [...] £0 4s 4d Pounce [...] £0 1s 0d Sealing wax, number 4 [...] £0 3s 8d Stationery ware, 1 chest, amounting to: £6 11s 9d Peas and beans, 2 casks, namely Fine Windsor beans 1 cask, containing 8 bushels, at 6 shillings 8 pence per bushel £2 13s 4d Fine seed peas 1 cask, containing 8 bushels, at 7 shillings 8 pence per bushel £3 1s 4d Peas and beans, 2 casks, amounting to: £5 14s 8d Twine, 2 casks, namely Shoe thread 400, at 16½ pence per pound £27 10s 0d Twine 400, at 13 pence £21 13s 4d Twine, 2 casks, amounting to: £49 3s 4d Haberdasher's ware, 1 cask, namely Brown thread, number 1 24, at 8 shillings 10 pence per pound £10 12s 0d Ferret, number 2 8 pieces, at 6 shillings £2 8s 0d Broad ditto, number 3 8 pieces, at 9 shillings 3 pence £3 6s 0d Galloon, number 4 4 gross, at 26 shillings 4 pence £5 5s 4d Lacing pins, number 5 10 dozen, at 15 shillings 4 pence £7 13s 4d Lacing pins, number 6 11 dozen, at 13 shillings 10 pence £7 3s 0d Ditto, number 7 25 dozen, at 13 shillings 9 pence £17 3s 9d Fine ditto, number 8 28 dozen, at 9 shillings 4 pence £13 1s 4d Total: £66 12s 9d Haberdasher's ware carried over: £1,006 13s 10d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the tobacco, stationery, pulse, twine and haberdashery at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the wares line by line with their prime cost, the cargo running from leaf tobacco to the small goods of the writing desk and the haberdasher's counter. The stationery and haberdashery reveal the supply of the lesser manufactured goods that the island's people bought for use and trade. The ink glasses, penknives, pencils and sealing wax furnished the writing needs of a settlement whose business turned on the keeping of accounts and the sending of letters, while the threads, ferrets, galloon and lacing pins supplied the materials of dress and mending. This connects to the council's role in supplying every want of the colony from England, the imported wares reaching from the clerk's desk to the seamstress's basket. The tobacco and pulse mark the import of consumable goods for the island's table. The hogshead and barrel of tobacco supplied a staple comfort much used by the garrison and people, while the Windsor beans and seed peas furnished both food and seed for the island's gardens. This connects to the mix of consumption and cultivation that the cargo served, the seed peas in particular bearing on the council's standing concern to keep the island's planting supplied, the directors sending the means to grow as well as the goods to consume. | |
231 | Brought over 1006 13 10 Prime Cost Haberdashers Ware Brought over £66 12 9 46 Doz Cawh Pins No 9 at 10/6 24 3 4 Doz Broad Diaper Tapes No 10 at 19/10 3 19 4 3 Doz fine narrow Do 11 at 5/6 2 4 3 Peices broad bridle Ribbon 12 at 41/ 6 12 3 Ditto 13 at 28/8 4 6 3 Ditto 14 at 24/2 4 16 8 2 pr Black Do 15 at 19/10 1 19 8 2 pr Do 16 at 24/2 2 8 4 5 peices Do 17 at 30/10 7 14 2 20 Pr Black Lustring 18 at 5/0 5 2 6 5 Nuns Thred 19 at 13/2 3 12 5 4 Ditto 20 10 8 Fine Ditto 21 at 52/10 21 2 10 2 Fine flourishing Do 22 at 39/8 3 19 4 2 Super fine Do 23 at 52/10 5 5 8 8 Peices Taffaty Ribbon 24 at 6/ 2 8 8 Ditto 25 at 11/ 4 16 1 Peice Broad black Ribbon 26 at 1 8 8 6 Doz horn Combs 27 at 2/9 16 6 6 Doz Large Do 28 at 13/10 4 3 36 Doz Gold Buttons at 7/2 12 18 30 Oz Gold Thred at 6/8 10 24 Doz Broad holld Tapes No at 12/10/6 12 12 24 Doz Milling Do 30 at 7/8 9 4 4 Doz White Tapes 31 at 11/ 2 8 4 Doz White filleting 32 at 48/4 9 13 4 4 Doz Speeled Tapes 33 at 7/2 1 8 8 12 Girls Bodice 34 at 5/3 3 3 12 Womens Do 35 at 7/2 4 3 12 Jumps 36 at 14/4 8 12 12 Do Tabby before 37 at 17/8 10 12 2 Doz Mens wash Gloves 38 at 13/ 1 6 2 Doz Do 39 at 15/4 1 10 8 4 Doz White Glazd top Do 40 at 15/4 3 1 4 £311 15 8 Haberdashers ware Carried over £1006 13 10 | The invoice of haberdasher's ware brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,006 13s 10d Haberdasher's ware brought over: £66 12s 9d Lacing pins, number 9 46 dozen, at 10 shillings 6 pence £24 3s 0d Broad diaper tapes, number 10 4 dozen, at 19 shillings 10 pence £3 19s 4d Fine narrow ditto, number 11 3 dozen, at 5 shillings 6 pence £2 4s 0d Broad bridle ribbon, number 12 3 pieces, at 4 shillings 4 pence £0 12s 0d Ditto, number 13 3 pieces, at 28 shillings 8 pence £4 6s 0d Ditto, number 14 14 pieces, at 24 shillings 2 pence £4 16s 8d Black ditto, number 15 2 pairs, at 19 shillings 10 pence £1 19s 8d Ditto, number 16 2 pairs, at 24 shillings 2 pence £2 8s 4d Ditto, number 17 5 pieces, at 30 shillings 10 pence £7 14s 2d Black lutestring, number 18 20 pieces, at 5 shillings £5 2s 6d Nuns thread, number 19 5 pieces, at 13 shillings 6 pence £3 12s 5d Ditto, number 20 5 pieces £0 10s 0d Fine ditto, number 21 8 pieces, at 52 shillings 10 pence £21 2s 10d Fine flourishing ditto, number 22 2 pieces, at 39 shillings 8 pence £3 19s 4d Superfine ditto, number 23 2 pieces, at 52 shillings 10 pence £5 5s 8d Taffeta ribbon, number 24 8 pieces, at 6 shillings £2 8s 0d Ditto, number 25 8 pieces, at 1 shilling £1 16s 0d Broad black ribbon, number 26 1 piece £1 8s 0d Horn combs, number 27 6 dozen, at 2 shillings 9 pence £0 16s 6d Large ditto, number 28 6 dozen, at 13 shillings 10 pence £1 3s 0d Gold buttons 36 dozen, at 7 shillings £12 18s 0d Gold thread 30 ounces, at 6 shillings 8 pence £10 0s 0d Broad holland tapes, number 29 24 dozen, at 10 shillings 6 pence £12 12s 0d Milling ditto, number 30 24 dozen, at 7 shillings 8 pence £9 4s 0d White tapes, number 31 4 dozen, at 1 shilling £2 8s 0d White filleting, number 32 4 dozen, at 48 shillings 4 pence £9 13s 4d Speeled tapes, number 33 4 dozen, at 7 shillings 2 pence £1 8s 8d Girls' bodices, number 34 12, at 5 shillings 3 pence £3 3s 0d Women's ditto, number 35 12, at 7 shillings 2 pence £4 6s 0d Jumps, number 36 12, at 14 shillings 4 pence £8 12s 0d Tabby ditto, before, number 37 12, at 17 shillings 8 pence £10 12s 0d Men's wash gloves, number 38 2 dozen, at 19 shillings £1 6s 0d Ditto, number 39 2 dozen, at 15 shillings 4 pence £1 10s 8d White glazed top ditto, number 40 4 dozen, at 15 shillings 4 pence £3 1s 4d Total: £311 15s 8d Haberdasher's ware carried over: £1,006 13s 10d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the haberdashery at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the ribbons, threads, tapes and garments line by line with their prime cost, the cargo turning to the finer goods of dress and adornment. The range of ribbons, lutestring and gold thread reveals the import of goods for fashion as well as use on the island. The taffeta and bridle ribbons, the black lutestring, the gold buttons and thread mark the materials of finer dress, the small society of the settlement seeking the ornaments of fashion from home. This connects to the material standing of the island's people, the planters and officers buying the trimmings that marked their place even on a remote rock, the imported finery a sign of the colony's ties to the manners of England. The bodices, jumps and gloves mark the import of ready-made garments alongside the materials to make them. The girls' and women's bodices, the jumps and the men's wash gloves furnished clothing that the island could not produce, while the tapes, fillets and threads supplied the means of sewing and mending. This connects to the council's role in supplying every want of the colony, the cargo reaching from the raw materials of the needle to the finished garments of the wardrobe, the haberdashery the most various and valuable part of this portion of the Drake's lading. | |
232 | Brought over £1006 13 10 Prime Cost Haberdashers Ware Brought over £311 15 8 2 Doz Lamb Gloves No 41 at 11/6 1 3 2 Doz Womens kid white 42 22/ 2 4 2 Doz Ditto Culls 43 25/ 2 6 3 Doz Ditto Wash 44 13/ 1 19 3 Doz Ditto Lamb 45 12/ 1 16 10 M Finest needles 46 8/3 4 2 6 9 Gross Coat Buttons 47 9/4 4 4 9 Do Brest 48 9/4 4 4 4 Doz Ivory Combs 49 10/6 2 12 6 5 Doz Do 50 16/ 4 4 M Sail needles 51 1 3 10 5 fine Nuns Thred 52 61/6 18 9 2 Super fine Do 53 2 8 12 Gross Brass Buttons 54 5/6 3 6 1 Gross Brass thimbles 55 7 2 8 Doz Read Carnation Tapes 56 8/3 yarnme 3 6 1 Gross Steel thimbles 57 10 12 Knitting Needles 58 17 6 80 Yards Edging A 7 2 6 8 41 Do B 10 1 14 2 104½ Do C 15 6 10 7 152 Ditto D 2/ 15 4 73½ Ditto fine E 2/9 10 2 4 231½ Super fine Do F 3/10 44 7 5 18 Doz fine Silvr Buttons 5/ 5 8 13½ Oz Silvr Thred 5/6 3 14 3 1 Cash 10 Haberdashers Ware amounts To 457 4 9 No 2 Shoes 1 Chest Vizt 50 pr mens Shoes fashonable at 4/4 10 16 8 50 pr mens Strong Shoes 3/10 9 11 8 2 Doz Womens Bretled Shoes 66/ 6 12 76 pr Womens Spanish fair Sticht 3/10 pr pr 14 11 4 Shoes 2 Chests amounting to 41 11 8 Carried over £1505 10 3 | The invoice of haberdasher's ware brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,006 13s 10d Haberdasher's ware brought over: £311 15s 8d Lamb gloves, number 41 2 dozen, at 11 shillings 6 pence £1 3s 0d Women's kid white, number 42 2 dozen, at 22 shillings £2 4s 0d Ditto cuffs, number 43 2 dozen, at 22 shillings £2 6s 0d Ditto wash, number 44 3 dozen, at 13 shillings £1 19s 0d Ditto lamb, number 45 3 dozen, at 12 shillings £1 16s 0d Finch needles, number 46 10 thousand, at 8 shillings 3 pence £4 2s 6d Coat buttons, number 47 9 gross, at 9 shillings 4 pence £4 4s 0d Breast ditto, number 48 9 gross, at 2 shillings 9 pence £1 4s 9d Ivory combs, number 49 4 dozen, at 10 shillings 6 pence £2 12s 6d Ditto, number 50 5 dozen, at 16 shillings £4 0s 0d Sail needles, number 51 1 thousand £1 3s 10d Fine nuns thread, number 52 6 pieces, at 61 shillings 6 pence £18 9s 0d Superfine ditto, number 53 2 pieces £2 0s 8d Brass buttons, number 54 12 gross, at 5 shillings 6 pence £3 6s 0d Brass thimbles, number 55 1 gross £0 7s 2d Read's carnation tapes, number 56 8 dozen, at 8 shillings 3 pence £3 6s 0d Steel thimbles, number 57 1 gross £0 10s 0d Knitting needles, number 58 12 £0 17s 6d Edging A 80 yards, at 7 pence £2 6s 8d Ditto B 41 yards, at 10 pence £1 14s 2d Ditto C 104½ yards, at 15 pence £6 10s 7d Ditto D 152 yards, at 2 shillings £15 4s 0d Fine ditto E 73½ yards, at 2 shillings 9 pence £10 2s 4d Superfine ditto F 231½ yards, at 3 shillings 10 pence £44 7s 5d Fine silver buttons 18 dozen, at 6 shillings £5 8s 0d Silver thread 13½ ounces, at 5 shillings 6 pence £3 14s 3d 1 cask: £0 10s 0d Haberdasher's ware amounts to: £457 4s 9d Shoes, 2 chests, namely Men's fashionable shoes 50 pairs, at 4 shillings 4 pence £10 16s 8d Men's strong shoes 50 pairs, at 3 shillings 10 pence £9 11s 8d Women's braided shoes 2 dozen, at 66 shillings £6 12s 0d Women's Spanish fair slight shoes 76 pairs, at 3 shillings 10 pence per pair £14 11s 4d Shoes, 2 chests, amounting to: £41 11s 8d Carried over: £1,505 10s 3d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the remaining haberdashery and the shoes at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the gloves, needles, buttons, edging and footwear line by line with their prime cost, closing the haberdasher's ware and opening the chests of shoes. The gloves, edging and silver buttons reveal the import of the finer goods of dress for the island's people. The kid and lamb gloves, the graded edging and the silver buttons and thread mark the materials of fashionable clothing, the higher grades of edging in particular fetching a heavy prime cost. This connects to the material standing of the settlement's officers and planters, the imported finery the means by which they kept the manners of England on a remote island. The needles, thimbles and buttons mark the supply of the tools and fastenings of the needle trade. The finch and sail needles, the brass and steel thimbles, and the coat and breast buttons furnished both the household seamstress and the sailmaker, the sail needles in particular serving the ships that called for repair. The chests of shoes, sorted into men's fashionable and strong and women's braided and slight, supplied the footwear the island could not make, the cargo of the Drake clothing the settlement from the head to the foot. | |
233 | Brought over 1505 10 Prime Cost No 1 to 6 Turnery Ware 3 Casks & 3 Bundles Vizt 36 Large Square Trays at 3/ pr Tray 5 8 3 Dozn large Bowles at 11/ pr Doz 1 13 3 Doz Do Small at 7/8 1 3 3 Doz: platters Sorted at 11/ 1 13 6 Doz Ladles 2/2 13 2 Gross Spoons 4/4 pr Gross 8 8 3 Gross qt Bowles 39/8 pr Do 5 19 3 Bushell measures 13 3 Halfe Do 8 3 3 Pecks Do 3 9 18 Scrubing Brushes 18 3 Doz Shoe Ditto 8 3 18 Hair Brooms 1 3 6 2 Doz Cloaths Brushes 17 6 2 Doz Sieves Sorted 1 3 6 2 Doz: Do 8 10 3 Casks 4 5 Turnery ware 3 Casks & 3 Bundles Amounting To 24 7 2 No 1 White Lead 1 Barrell wt 2:3:14 t nett 2:3:3 at 27/6 3 15 7 2 Red Lead 1 Barrl wt 1:1:26 t 5 nett 1:1:11 at 15/4 pr Ct 1 2 3 Painting Brushes 1 Box containing 6 Doz 1 5 4 Oyle of Turpentine 1 Case wt 28:4 t T:2:1 nett 25:4 t is 3 Gallons 3:4 at 5 pr Gall 17 No 4 Starch 1 Cask Contd 2 at 41/10 pr Ct 4 3 8 K T Hair Powder 1 Box contd 100 2 10 No 1 to 3 Braisiers ware 3 Casks Vizt 6 3 quart Saucpans No 1 at 6/8 2 6 3 pinte Do 2 5/6 1 13 6 3 Quart Do 3 4/4 1 6 6 3 pintes Do 4 2/9 16 6 6 Galln Kettles 1 5/6 1 13 6 3 Quants Do 2 6/8 2 Braisiers ware Carried over £9 8 6 Carried over £1543 10 Margin Notes: N B | The invoice of turnery ware and other goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,505 10s 3d Turnery ware, numbers 1 to 6, 3 casks and 3 bundles, namely Large square trays 36, at 3 shillings per tray £5 8s 0d Large bowls 3 dozen, at 11 shillings per dozen £1 13s 0d Small bowls 3 dozen, at 7 shillings 8 pence £1 3s 0d Platters sorted 3 dozen, at 11 shillings £1 13s 0d Ladles 6 dozen, at 2 shillings 2 pence £0 13s 0d Spoons 2 gross, at 4 shillings 4 pence per gross £0 8s 8d Bowls 3 gross, at 39 shillings 8 pence per dozen £5 19s 0d Bushel measures 3 £0 13s 0d Half bushel measures 3 £0 8s 3d Peck measures 3 £0 3s 9d Scrubbing brushes 18 £0 18s 0d Shoe ditto 3 dozen £0 8s 3d Hair brooms 18 £1 3s 6d Cloths brushes 2 dozen £0 17s 6d Sieves sorted 2 dozen £0 4s 6d Ditto 2 dozen £0 8s 10d 3 casks: £0 5s 0d Turnery ware, 3 casks and 3 bundles, amounting to: £24 7s 0d White lead, number 1 1 barrel, weight 2 hundredweight 3 quarters 14 pounds net, at 23 shillings per hundredweight £3 15s 0d Red lead, number 2 1 barrel, weight 1 hundredweight 1 quarter 26 pounds, 5 pounds net, at 15 shillings 4 pence per hundredweight £1 2s 0d Painting brushes 3, 1 box containing 6 dozen £1 5s 0d Oil of turpentine 4, 1 case, weight 28 hundredweight 4 quarters, tare 2 hundredweight 4 quarters net 25 hundredweight 4 quarters, namely 3 gallons 3¼ at 5 pence per gallon £0 17s 6d Starch, number 3 1 cask, containing 2 hundredweight, at 41 shillings 10 pence per hundredweight £4 3s 8d Hair powder 1 box, containing 100 pounds £2 10s 0d Brazier's ware, numbers 1 to 3, 3 casks, namely Quart saucepans, number 1 6 dozen, at 6 shillings 8 pence £2 0s 0d Pint ditto, number 2 6 dozen, at 5 shillings 6 pence £1 13s 0d Quart ditto, number 3 6 dozen, at 4 shillings 4 pence £1 6s 0d Pint ditto, number 4 6 dozen, at 2 shillings 9 pence £0 16s 6d Gallon kettles 6, at 5 shillings 6 pence £1 13s 0d Quart ditto 6, at 6 shillings 8 pence £2 0s 0d Brazier's ware carried over: £9 8s 6d Carried over: £1,543 10s 0d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the turnery, paint materials and brazier's ware at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the wooden ware, lead, brushes and copper goods line by line with their prime cost, the cargo running from kitchen treen to the painter's materials. The turnery ware reveals the import of the wooden vessels of the kitchen and table. The trays, bowls, platters, ladles and spoons, turned from wood, furnished the cheaper domestic ware that served the ordinary household, while the bushel, half-bushel and peck measures supplied the standard measures by which grain and produce were sold. This connects to the council's role in supplying both the goods of daily use and the instruments of fair dealing, the measures fixing the quantities by which the island's trade was conducted. The white and red lead, oil of turpentine and painting brushes mark the import of the materials for painting and preserving. These supplied the means of painting buildings, boats and woodwork, both for appearance and for protection against the weather and decay. This connects to the maintenance of the island's structures and fortifications, the paint materials serving to preserve the timber and ironwork the bare and exposed settlement could ill afford to lose, the cargo of the Drake furnishing the means of upkeep as well as of building. | |
234 | Brought over £1543 10 11 Prime Cost Braisiers ware Brought over £9 8 6 6 2 Galln Kettles No 3 at 8/3 2 9 6 6 1 Quart Do No 4 at 10/6 3 3 4 Large fine Square Candn 1 5/ 1 6 Large Diamd Square Do 2 4/4 1 6 4 Ditto 4 Square 3 3/10 15 4 4 Do 4 3/6 14 10 Do 5 3/4 1 13 4 6 Large Round Candn 6 3/ 18 6 middleing Do 7 2/9 16 6 4 Small Do 8 2/2 8 8 4 Spring Do 9 2/9 11 24 Hand Do 2/0 2 8 12 Strong best pepper Boxes 5 10 12 Do 6 8 12 Iron morters wt 2:0:2 at 4½ pr Ct 3 15 9 12 Pestles 50½ 5½ pr Do 1 3 2 3 Brass morters & Pestles No 1 at 7/8 1 3 2 Do 2 6/8 13 4 2 Do 3 6/6 11 5 Do 4 5/ 1 5 3 Strong 3 qt Copper Kettles 1 11/ 1 13 4 5 Pintes Do 2 9/4 1 17 4 7 2 Quarts Do 3 8/3 2 17 9 4 3 Pintes Do 4 7/2 1 18 8 6 Large Brass Ladles 1 2/2 13 7 Next Size 2 2/ 14 5 midle 3 1/8 8 4 2 Small 4 1/3 2 6 3 Casks 9 Braisiers ware 3 Casks amounting To 45 2 2 Tobacco Pipes 8 Barrells Vizt No 1 Barrell Contd 21 2:1 Do 21 3:1 Do 21 4:1 Do 21 Tobacco pipes Card over 8 Gross gross Carried over £1588 13 1 | The invoice of brazier's ware and other goods brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,543 10s 11d Brazier's ware brought over: £9 8s 6d Gallon kettles, number 3 6, at 8 shillings 3 pence £2 9s 6d Quart ditto, number 4 6, at 10 shillings 6 pence £3 3s 0d Large fine square candlesticks, number 1 4 £0 6s 0d Large diamond square candlesticks, number 2 6, at 4 shillings 4 pence £1 6s 0d Ditto 4 square, number 3 4, at 3 shillings 10 pence £0 15s 4d Ditto, number 4 4, at 3 shillings 6 pence £0 14s 0d Ditto, number 5 10, at 3 shillings 4 pence £1 13s 4d Large round candlesticks, number 6 6, at 3 shillings £0 18s 0d Middling ditto, number 7 6, at 2 shillings 9 pence £0 16s 6d Small ditto, number 8 4, at 2 shillings 2 pence £0 8s 8d Spring ditto, number 9 4, at 2 shillings 9 pence £0 11s 0d Hand ditto 24, at 2 shillings £2 8s 0d Strong best pepper boxes 12 £0 5s 10d Ditto 12 £0 6s 8d Iron mortars 12, weight 2 hundredweight 0 quarters 2 pounds, at 4½ pence per pound £3 15s 9d Pestles 12, weight 50½ pounds, at 5½ pence per dozen £0 3s 2d Brass mortars and pestles, number 1 3, at 7 shillings 8 pence £1 3s 0d Ditto, number 2 2, at 6 shillings 8 pence £0 13s 4d Ditto, number 3 2, at 5 shillings 6 pence £0 11s 0d Ditto, number 4 5, at 5 shillings £1 5s 0d Strong copper kettles, number 1 3, at 11 shillings £1 13s 0d Pint ditto, number 2 4, at 5 shillings £1 14s 4d Quart ditto, number 3 7, at 8 shillings 3 pence £2 17s 9d Pint ditto, number 4 4, at 7 shillings 2 pence £1 18s 8d Large brass ladles 6, at 2 shillings 2 pence £0 13s 0d Next size 7, at 2 shillings £0 14s 0d Middle 5, at 1 shilling 8 pence £0 8s 4d Small 2, at 1 shilling 3 pence £0 2s 6d 3 casks: £0 9s 0d Brazier's ware, 3 casks, amounting to: £45 2s 2d Tobacco pipes, 8 barrels, namely Barrel number 1, containing 21 gross Ditto number 2, 21 gross Ditto number 3, 21 gross Ditto number 4, 21 gross Tobacco pipes carried over, 84 gross Carried over: £1,588 13s 1d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the brazier's ware and tobacco pipes at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the copper and brass goods line by line with their prime cost, closing the brazier's ware and beginning the count of pipes. The candlesticks, mortars and kettles reveal the import of the metal household goods that the island could not make. The graded candlesticks furnished the lighting of the settlement's houses, while the iron and brass mortars and pestles supplied the means of grinding spices and medicines, and the copper kettles the vessels of the kitchen. This connects to the council's role in supplying every want of the colony, the brazier's ware furnishing the durable metal goods that served the household for years. The tobacco pipes mark the import of a cheap and perishable consumable in great quantity. The eight barrels holding twenty-one gross apiece supplied the clay pipes that the garrison and people used with the imported tobacco, the pipes fragile and soon broken, so that a constant supply was needed. This connects to the hogshead and barrel of tobacco already priced earlier in the cargo, the pipes and the leaf together furnishing a staple comfort of the settlement, the directors sending the means of the habit alongside the substance. | |
235 | Brought over £1588 10 1 Prime Cost Tobacco Pipes Brought over 8 gross No 5:1:1 Barrell Contd 21 6:1:1 Do 21 7:1:1 Do 21 8:1:1 Do 21 8 Barrells pipes qty 168 Gross at 2/ 16 16 Hatts 4 Cases Vizt No 16 20 48 Souldiers Hatts Laced at 2/6 6 2 24 Boyes Beaver Candn No 1 4/6 4 18 24 Do 2 4/6 5 8 24 Do 3 5/7 6 14 8 72 Beaverits lined wt Silk 4 5/4 30 4 72 Cloath Do lined wt Silk 5 10/0 36 Hatts 4 Cases amounting To 89 1 Books 1 Box Vizt 6 Doz Horn Books 13 5 Doz English Tutors 1 13 1 Large Compn fol Edges Gilt 1 13 3 Doz Compn 24 2 12 10 2 Doz Do Large 3 12 6 6 Bibles 4to 4 19 18 Ditto Smaller 3 19 200 Church Chatechisms 18 4 1 Do mandays Spelling Books 11 1 Box 9 Books 1 Box amounting To 21 8 S W Stilliards 1 Box Contd 12 pr at 8/5 pr pr 4 19 No 1 to 2 Pewter 2 Casks Vizt 2 Dozn Shallow Dishes 2 Dozn Supe Do wt 197:8 at 11 pr 9 1 3 Doz Supe plates 3 Doz: Basons Sorted 5 14 5 Doz: Porringers 2 15 3 Doz Tankards Sorted 4 10 4 Doz: Chamber pots Sorted 6 12 2 Casks 11 6 Pewter 2 Casks amounting to 29 3 6 Card over 1749 12 13 | The invoice of tobacco pipes, hats, books and pewter brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,588 13s 1d Tobacco pipes brought over, 84 gross Barrel number 5, containing 21 gross Ditto number 6, 21 gross Ditto number 7, 21 gross Ditto number 8, 21 gross 8 barrels pipes, 168 gross, at 2 shillings £16 16s 0d Hats, 4 cases, namely Soldiers' hats laced 48, at 2 shillings 6 pence £6 0s 0d Boys' beaver, number 1 2 dozen, at 4 shillings 6 pence £4 18s 0d Ditto, number 2 2 dozen, at 4 shillings 6 pence £5 8s 0d Ditto, number 3 2 dozen, at 5 shillings 7 pence £6 14s 0d Beaverets lined with silk, number 4 8 dozen, at 7 shillings 4 pence £30 0s 0d Cloth ditto lined with silk, number 5 4 dozen, at 16 shillings £36 0s 0d Hats, 4 cases, amounting to: £89 0s 0d Books, 1 box, namely Horn books 6 dozen £0 13s 0d English tutors 5 dozen £1 13s 0d Large compass for edges gilt 1 £1 13s 0d Compass, number 24 3 dozen £2 12s 10d Large ditto 2 dozen £3 12s 6d Bibles, quarto 6 £4 19s 0d Ditto, smaller 18 £3 19s 0d Church catechisms 200 £0 18s 4d Mondays spelling books 1 £0 11s 0d 1 box: £0 9s 0d Books, 1 box, amounting to: £21 0s 8d Billiards 1 box, containing 12 pairs, at 8 shillings 5 pence per pair £4 19s 0d Pewter, 2 casks, namely Shallow dishes 2 dozen, weight 197 pounds 8 ounces, at 11 pence per pound £9 1s 0d Soup ditto 2 dozen Soup plates 3 dozen Basins sorted 3 dozen £5 14s 0d Porringers 6 dozen £2 15s 0d Tankards sorted 3 dozen £4 10s 0d Chamber pots sorted 4 dozen £6 12s 0d 2 casks: £0 11s 6d Pewter, 2 casks, amounting to: £29 3s 6d Carried over: £1,749 12s 13d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the pipes, hats, books and pewter at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the remaining pipes, the cased hats, the box of books and the casks of pewter line by line with their prime cost, the cargo turning to dress, learning and the metal of the table. The hats reveal the import of graded headwear for the ranks of the island's society. The laced soldiers' hats, the boys' beaver, and the silk-lined beaverets and cloth hats mark the distinctions of station and age that even a remote settlement observed, the finer silk-lined hats fetching a heavy prime cost. This connects to the material standing of the colony's people, the hats marking the place of each wearer from the common soldier to the gentleman. The books mark the import of the materials of religion and learning for the island. The horn books, English tutors and spelling books supplied the teaching of children, while the bibles and the two hundred church catechisms furnished the worship and instruction of the settlement. This connects to the standing concern of the Company to maintain religion and letters on the island, the catechisms in particular bearing on the religious order the chaplain upheld, the directors sending the means of faith and schooling to a colony far from the institutions of home. | |
236 | Brought over £1749 12 13 Prime Cost Glass Ware 1 Chest Vizt 36 Diamd Buttn Acorn Massey Sack wt 11:7 36 Cutt Button Paris Sack 11 10 36 Spanish Sack 12 2 2 Dozn Ovall Salts 14 12 6 Dozn Footed Trencher Salts 20 13 70 14 at 5 6 2 Dozn Ribd Cruits 11 2 Doz Do Plain 11 1 Nest Cruipples 16 Glass Ware 1 Chest Amount To 6 8 7 No 20 to 22 Cutlary Ware 3 Lines 3 Casks Vizt 6 Large Clecing Knives No 1 at 3/10 1 3 12 Do Small 2 1/10 1 2 12 Do 3 1/2 14 12 Do 4 1/ 12 9 Do 5 1/5 12 9 7 Do 6 1/3 8 9 5 Do 7 1/11 14 7 3 Do 8 1/10 2 6 3 Dozn London Shoe Knives 9 3/10 11 6 3 Dozn Do 10 5/ 15 2 Dozn Box Knives & forks 11 5/ 10 2 Dozn Horn Steel ferritt Do 12 6/ 12 2 Dozn Do with Bath ferrill 13 6/ 12 2 Doz fine Sqr thick Baths 14 8/10 17 8 2 Dozn Grater Knives & forks 15 10/ 1 2 Dozn Engine Cutt Do 16 11/ 1 2 6 pr Large Taylors Sheers 17 1/8 10 4 Doz all blades & 1 Doz hogs No 18 3:4 6 Peging awles & 4 Hasps 0:11 1 Hammer 6 2 Punches 6 2 Cutting Knives & Handles 1 8 Cutlery ware Card over at 7 6 £11 9 9 Carried over £1756 10 | The invoice of glass ware and cutlery brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,749 12s 13d Glass ware, 1 chest, namely Diamond butt acorn massey sack 36, weight 11 hundredweight 7 pounds Cut button Paris sack 36, weight 11 hundredweight 10 pounds Spanish sack 36, weight 12 hundredweight 2 pounds Oval salts 2 dozen, weight 14 hundredweight 12 pounds Footed trencher salts 6 dozen, weight 20 hundredweight 13 pounds Glass weight 70 [...], at 5 shillings 6 pence Ribbed cruets 2 dozen £0 11s 0d Plain ditto 2 dozen £0 11s 0d Nest cruet pots 1 £0 16s 0d Glass ware, 1 chest, amounting to: £6 8s 7d Cutlery ware, numbers 20 to 22, 3 casks, namely Large carving knives, number 1 6, at 3 shillings 10 pence £1 3s 0d Small ditto, number 2 12, at 1 shilling 10 pence £1 2s 0d Ditto, number 3 12, at 1 shilling 2 pence £0 14s 0d Ditto, number 4 12, at 1 shilling £0 12s 0d Ditto, number 5 9, at 1 shilling 5 pence £0 12s 9d Ditto, number 6 7, at 1 shilling 3 pence £0 8s 9d Ditto, number 7 5, at 11 pence £0 14s 7d Ditto, number 8 3, at 10 pence £0 2s 6d London shoe knives, number 9 3 dozen, at 3 shillings 10 pence £0 11s 6d Ditto, number 10 3 dozen, at 5 shillings £0 15s 0d Box knives and forks, number 11 2 dozen, at 5 shillings £0 10s 0d Horn steel ferruled ditto, number 12 2 dozen, at 6 shillings £0 12s 0d Ditto with bath ferrule, number 13 2 dozen, at 6 shillings £0 12s 0d Fine square thick baths, number 14 2 dozen, at 8 shillings 10 pence £0 17s 8d Grater knives and forks, number 15 2 dozen, at 10 shillings £1 0s 0d Engine cut ditto, number 16 2 dozen, at 11 shillings £1 2s 0d Large tailors' shears, number 17 6 pairs, at 1 shilling 8 pence £0 10s 0d All blades and shoes, number 3 1 dozen and 1 dozen £0 3s 4d Pegging awls and hafts 6, 4 £0 0s 11d Hammer 1 Punches 2 £0 0s 6d Cutting knives and handles 2 £1 4s 8d Cutlery ware carried over, at 7 shillings 6 pence: £11 9s 9d Carried over: £1,756 1s 10d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the glass ware and cutlery at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the drinking glasses, salts, knives and shears line by line with their prime cost, the cargo turning to the finer ware of the table and the tools of the cutler. The glass ware reveals the import of the vessels of the table for the island's better households. The graded sack glasses, named for the wines they served, and the oval and trencher salts mark the furnishing of the dining table with the glass that the settlement could not make, the imported ware a sign of the comfort the planters and officers kept. This connects to the material standing of the colony, the glass for wine and the salts for the table marking a society that observed the forms of genteel dining even on a remote rock. The cutlery marks the import of the knives and tools that the island could neither forge nor grind. The carving and shoe knives, the box and grater knives and forks, and the tailors' shears furnished both the table and the trades, the variety graded by size and finish. This connects to the council's role in supplying the settlement with the worked metal goods it lacked, the cutlery serving the household at its meals and the tradesmen at their work, the cargo of the Drake equipping the colony from the carving knife to the cutter's awl. | |
237 | Brought over £1756 10 Prime Cost Cutlary Ware Brought over 7:6 £11 9 9 2 Size Sticks 2 9 2 Whet Stones 0 10 2 Shoulder Sticks 1 1 2 Long Do 1 1 2 molutees 1 1 2 Bone Do 0 8 4 Shoe Knives 1 8 4 Large Do 1 10 4 Pinchers Sorted 1 6 2 pr pinchers 3 4 1 Gross Sorted Tax 1 1 1 Dozn & Do 1 Doz 0 6 1 4 11 The Same as above No 2 1 4 11 Ditto 3 1 4 11 30 Dozn Fishing Lines No 1 @ 1/11 pr Ct 2 17 6 30 Doz Do 2 2/ 3 5 30 Doz Do 3 2/6 3 15 30 Doz Do 4 3/ 4 10 30 Doz Do 5 3/4 5 30 Doz Do 6 3/10 5 15 15 Doz Do 7 4/4 3 5 30 Doz Do 8 5/ 7 10 15 Doz Do 9 6/8 5 20 Doz Do 10 7/8 7 13 4 20 Doz Do 11 1/ 11 15 Doz Do 12 13/0 9 15 3 Dozn Do 13 13/4 2 6 4 Dozn Do 14 20/0 4 4 Dozn Do 15 22/ 4 8 3 M Bait Hooks 16 4/4 13 3 M Small machrell Do 17 5/6 16 6 3 M Large Do 18 6/8 1 3 M Small Breem Do 19 11/0 1 13 3 M Large Do 20 14/4 2 3 Cutlary ware Carried over £301 9 10 Carried over £1756 10 | The invoice of cutlery ware and fishing tackle brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,756 1s 10d Cutlery ware brought over, at 7 shillings 6 pence: £11 9s 9d Size sticks 2 £0 2s 9d Whet stones 2 £0 0s 10d Shoulder sticks 2 £0 1s 1d Long ditto 2 £0 1s 1d Mounters 2 £0 1s 1d Bone ditto 2 £0 0s 8d Shoe knives 4 £0 1s 8d Large ditto 4 £0 1s 10d Pitchers sorted 4 £0 1s 6d Pinchers 2 pairs £0 3s 4d Sorted tax 1 gross £0 1s 1d 1 dozen and 1 dozen, number 2 £0 0s 6d Total: £5 4s 11d The same as above, number 2 £5 4s 11d Ditto, number 3 £5 4s 11d Fishing lines, number 1 30 dozen, at 1 shilling 11 pence per dozen £2 17s 6d Ditto, number 2 30 dozen, at 2 shillings £3 5s 0d Ditto, number 3 30 dozen, at 2 shillings 6 pence £3 15s 0d Ditto, number 4 30 dozen, at 3 shillings £4 10s 0d Ditto, number 5 30 dozen, at 3 shillings 4 pence £5 0s 0d Ditto, number 6 30 dozen, at 3 shillings 10 pence £5 15s 0d Ditto, number 7 15 dozen, at 4 shillings 4 pence £3 5s 0d Ditto, number 8 30 dozen, at 5 shillings £7 10s 0d Ditto, number 9 15 dozen, at 6 shillings 8 pence £5 0s 0d Ditto, number 10 20 dozen, at 7 shillings 8 pence £7 13s 4d Ditto, number 11 20 dozen, at 11 shillings £11 0s 0d Ditto, number 12 15 dozen, at 13 shillings £9 15s 0d Ditto, number 13 3 dozen, at 15 shillings 4 pence £2 6s 0d Ditto, number 14 4 dozen, at 20 shillings £4 0s 0d Ditto, number 15 4 dozen, at 22 shillings £4 8s 0d Bait hooks, number 16 3 thousand, at 4 shillings 4 pence £0 13s 0d Small mackerel ditto, number 17 3 thousand, at 5 shillings 6 pence £0 16s 6d Large ditto, number 18 3 thousand, at 6 shillings 8 pence £1 0s 0d Small bream ditto, number 19 3 thousand, at 11 shillings 9 pence £1 13s 0d Large ditto, number 20 3 thousand, at 14 shillings 4 pence £2 3s 0d Cutlery ware carried over: £301 9s 10d Carried over: £1,756 1s 10d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the remaining cutlery and the fishing tackle at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the small cutler's wares and the graded fishing lines and hooks line by line with their prime cost, the cargo turning to the gear of the island's fishery. The fishing lines and hooks reveal the import of the tackle on which the island's fishery depended. The graded lines and the mackerel and bream hooks, supplied in great quantity, furnished the means of catching the fish that formed a chief part of the settlement's food. This connects to the standing reliance of the island on its surrounding waters, the moderate seas yielding fish that supplemented the slender harvest of yams and stock, the directors sending the tackle to keep the fishery supplied. The careful grading of the lines by size and price marks the variety of fishing the island's waters required. The range from the finest to the heaviest lines, and the hooks sorted for bait, mackerel and bream, show a fishery that took many kinds of fish by different means, the tackle matched to the catch. This connects to the practical economy of the settlement, the fish a free resource that the imported tackle unlocked, the cargo of the Drake furnishing the simple gear by which the island fed itself from the sea. | |
238 | Brought over £1756 10 Prime Cost Cutlary Ware Brought over £301 9 10 10 Gross Cordrage Hooks No 21 @ 3/10 1 18 4 6 Ditto Roch 22 5/ 1 10 6 Ditto Large Do 23 6/ 1 16 10 Do Dolphin 24 7/8 3 16 8 10 Do Large Do 25 10/ 5 6 Do Large Cod Do 26 12/ 3 12 2 Ditto Boneta Do 27 14/4 1 8 8 2 Ditto Large Do 28 20/ 2 2 Ditto Albecoro Do 29 23/ 2 6 2 Ditto Large Do 30 26/4 2 12 8 5 Doz Chaives for Byonets 11 Cutlary Ware 3 Lines 3 Casks Amounting To £128 1 2 S H Drop Shott 1 Cask Contd 5 0 14/3 pr Ct 3 11 3 Stuffs 6 Bales Vizt 27 Peices Fustians 20½ No 1 Scand @ 16/6 22 5 6 26 Ditto 20 2 18/9 24 7 6 18 Do 20 3 21/ 18 18 4 Do 24 4 22/6 4 10 25 Ditto 24 5 28/ 35 20 Ditto fine Serges qty 14 to 22 @ 37/4 37 6 8 20 Ditto Thicksetts 24 No 1 @ 26/4 26 6 8 10 Ditto 24 2 28/8 14 6 8 20 Ditto 24 3 32/4 32 6 8 10 Do fine Cambletts @ 75/0 37 10 6 Do fine Black Crapes qty 16 @ 56/0 16 10 10 Do Shalloons 44/0 22 Stuffs and Bales Amounting To 291 7 8 Spanish Cloaths & Dirrants 1 Bale Vizt 1 Spanish Cloth No 1 contd 28 ¾ 1 Do 2 24 ¾ 1 Do 3 29 ½ 1 Do 4 28 ¾ 1 Do 5 25 Spanish Cloth Card over 136¾ @ 18/6 pr 126 1 6 Carried over £2179 11 | The invoice of cutlery ware and textiles brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £1,756 1s 10d Cutlery ware brought over, at 10 shillings: £301 9s 10d Cod hooks, number 21 10 gross, at 3 shillings 10 pence £1 18s 4d Roach ditto, number 22 6 gross, at 5 shillings £1 10s 0d Large ditto, number 23 6 gross, at 6 shillings £1 16s 0d Dolphin ditto, number 24 10 gross, at 7 shillings 8 pence £3 16s 8d Large ditto, number 25 10 gross, at 10 shillings £5 0s 0d Large cod ditto, number 26 6 gross, at 12 shillings £3 12s 0d Boneta ditto, number 27 2 gross, at 14 shillings 4 pence £1 8s 8d Large ditto, number 28 2 gross, at 20 shillings £2 0s 0d Albacore ditto, number 29 2 gross, at 20 shillings £2 6s 0d Large ditto, number 30 2 gross, at 26 shillings 4 pence £2 12s 8d Knaves for bayonets 5 dozen £0 11s 0d Cutlery ware, 3 casks, amounting to: £128 1s 2d Drop shot 1 cask, containing 5 hundredweight, at 14 shillings 3 pence per hundredweight £3 11s 3d Stuffs, 6 bales, namely Fustians, number 1, scanted 27 pieces, of 2042 yards, at 16 shillings 6 pence £22 5s 6d Ditto, number 2 26 pieces, of 20 yards, at 18 shillings 9 pence £24 7s 6d Ditto, number 3 18 pieces, of 20 yards, at 21 shillings £18 18s 0d Ditto, number 4 4 pieces, of 24 yards, at 22 shillings 6 pence £4 10s 0d Ditto 25 pieces, of 24 yards, at 28 shillings £35 0s 0d Fine serges, number 5 20 pieces, of 21 to 22 yards, at 37 shillings 4 pence £37 6s 8d Thicksetts, number 6 20 pieces, of 24 yards, at 26 shillings 4 pence £26 6s 8d Ditto 10 pieces, of 24 yards, at 25 shillings 8 pence £14 6s 8d Ditto 20 pieces, of 24 yards, at 32 shillings 6 pence £32 6s 8d Fine camlets 10 pieces, at 75 shillings £37 10s 0d Fine black crapes 6 pieces, at 56 shillings £16 10s 0d Shalloons 10 pieces, at 44 shillings £22 0s 0d Stuffs, 6 bales, amounting to: £291 7s 8d Spanish cloths and druggets, 1 bale, namely Spanish cloth, number 1, containing 28¾ yards Ditto, number 2, 24¾ yards Ditto, number 3, 29½ yards Ditto, number 4, 28¾ yards Ditto, number 5, 25 yards Spanish cloth carried over, 136¾ yards, at 18 shillings 6 pence per yard £126 4s 6d Carried over: £2,179 0s 11d Interpretations This minute continues the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council pricing the remaining fishing hooks, the shot and the woollen stuffs at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench set out the graded hooks, the bales of cloth and the Spanish cloth line by line with their prime cost, the cargo turning to the heavy textiles that formed the most valuable part of the lading. The graded fish hooks reveal the variety of the island's sea fishery in the kinds of fish it took. The hooks sorted for cod, roach, dolphin, bonito and albacore mark the range of species the moderate waters yielded, the larger hooks for the larger fish. This connects to the island's reliance on its surrounding seas, the variety of tackle matched to a fishery that took many kinds of fish, the directors supplying the hooks to keep the settlement fed from the water. The woollen stuffs mark the import of the heavy cloth that clothed the settlement against its climate. The fustians, serges, thicksetts, camlets, crapes and shalloons furnished the durable woollen and mixed cloths from which the island's people made their clothing, the moderate climate calling for substantial cloth rather than light. This connects to the council's role in supplying the colony with the materials of dress, the shalloons in particular the same light lining cloth noted in the earlier Bombay invoice, the textiles the most valuable part of this portion of the cargo and the chief material the island bought from home. | |
239 | Brought over £2179 11 Prime Cost Spanish Cloths Bro over wt contd 136¾ @ 18/6 123 1 6 1 Do No 6 25 ½ 17/3 21 19 10 1 Do 7 26 16/9 21 15 6 1 Do 8 24½ 17:9 21 19 4 8 pr fine Durants 60½ pr Ca @ 71 6 pr 28 12 Spanish Cloths & Durants 1 Bale Amounting to 217 8 2 S T Stockings 1 Case Vizt 12 Dozn Wells No 1 @ 24 pr Doz 14 8 13 Dozn Do 2 26/ 16 18 100 Pr Soldiers Hose 3 14 pr pr 5 16 8 1 Case 6 8 Stockings 1 Case amounting To 37 9 4 2433 18 15 Charges 12 3 5 Summ Totall of This Invoice which God Prosper £2446 1 10 Ed Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | The invoice of Spanish cloths, durants and stockings brought in the Drake continued, each entry given with its prime cost. Brought over: £2,179 0s 11d Spanish cloths brought over, containing 136¾ yards, at 18 shillings 6 pence £126 1s 6d Ditto, number 6 1, 25½ yards, at 17 shillings £21 19s 10d Ditto, number 7 1, 26 yards, at 16 shillings 9 pence £21 13s 6d Ditto, number 8 1, 24 yards, 17 shillings 9 pence £24 19s 4d Fine durants 8 pairs, 605 yards, at 71 shillings 6 pence per piece £28 12s 0d Spanish cloths and durants, 1 bale, amounting to: £217 8s 2d Stockings, 1 case, namely Wells, number 1 12 dozen, at 24 shillings per dozen £14 8s 2d Ditto, number 2 13 dozen, at 26 shillings £16 18s 0d Soldiers' hose, number 3 100 pairs, at 14 shillings per pair £5 16s 8d 1 case: £0 6s 8d Stockings, 1 case, amounting to: £37 9s 4d Total: £2,433 18s 5d Charges: £12 3s 5d Sum total of this invoice, which God prosper: £2,446 1s 10d The invoice was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations This minute closes the invoice of goods brought in the Drake, the council completing the pricing of the Spanish cloths, durants and stockings and reckoning the grand total at the consultation of 8 November 1721. The bench carried the cargo to its sum, the whole consignment valued and the prices fixed at which the island's people would buy. The grand total marks the measure of the Company's supply to the island for the year. By bringing the whole invoice to £2,446 1s 10d, the bench fixed the prime cost of the entire cargo the Drake had brought, the figure the foundation of the markup by which the goods would be sold to the settlement. This connects to the council's standing function as the Company's factor, the invoice the instrument by which the directors charged a year's supply to the island and the bench reckoned what the colony should pay. The pious closing formula and the councillors' signatures mark the formal completion of a commercial instrument. The wish that God prosper the invoice, set above the hands of Byfield, Alexander and Goodwin, follows the merchant's custom of commending a venture to providence, the same form used in the bills of lading by which the directors shipped their goods. The signing of the priced invoice by the council closed the business of receiving and valuing the cargo, the same ship that had carried the directors' order for the Free hearing and borne its record home now fully accounted for in its lading. | |
240 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 14 Nob[er] 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Goo[er] Edw[d] Byfeld [...] John Alexander John Goodwin M[r] Benj[a] Hawkes Clk: of Coun[?] Absent by Reason of Sickness The Last Consultation read and Approv[d] of Executed 2 Leases one to Samuell Jossey for 20 [...] Acres of Land the other to Jonathon Doveton for 8 [...] of Land both Commencing from Lady Last and both for the Term of 21 years with the Usuall Covenants Capt[n] Goodwin brought in and Deliver[d] his Monthly Accompt[s] for the month of October Last mentioned in Consultation of the Seaventh Instant which was Examined & Approv[d] of John Martin Vanoosten presented the following Petition Island St Helena To The Worshipfull Edward Johnson Esq[r] Goo[er] and Councill The Humble Petition of John Martin Vanoosten Most Humbly Sheweth That whereas by M[r] Ormstons goeing off the Accomptants Margin Notes: Leases for Lands Deliv[d] to Jon[a] Doveton to Sam[l] Jossey Capt[n] Goodwin Acc[o] for Oct[r] | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 14 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin in attendance. Benjamin Hawkes, the clerk of council, was absent through illness. The previous consultation was read and approved. Two leases were executed and delivered. The first went to Samuel Jessey for 20 acres of land, the second to Jonathan Doveton for 8 acres. Both began from Lady Day last and ran for terms of 21 years with the usual covenants. Captain Goodwin brought in and delivered his monthly account for the month of October, already noted in the consultation of the seventh of this month. The council examined and approved it. John Martin Van Oosten then presented a petition. He addressed it to Governor Johnson and the council. The petition set out that the accountant's place had fallen vacant on Joseph Ormston's departure. Interpretations The two leases recorded here ran on the island's standard terms, a 21-year tenancy commencing from Lady Day with the usual covenants binding the tenant to fence, plant and keep the conditions of the grant. Samuel Jessey's 20 acres followed the survey and grant of freehold land assembled for him from the holdings of Thomas Burnham and Jane Mudge, recorded at the consultation of 19 January 1720, while Jonathan Doveton's parcel answered his earlier petition for the waste under Stalleys mound and a building plot in James Valley. Lady Day, the feast of the Annunciation on 25 March, served as the standard quarter day from which rents and terms were reckoned. The accountant's office that Van Oosten's petition concerned had passed to Joseph Ormston in 1719, when the directors' general letter of 31 May 1721, brought by the Drake, restored Ormston to council and to the accountant's office. Van Oosten had himself delivered the balanced 1720 books at the consultation of 12 September 1721, examined by Byfield and Goodwin, so his petition on the vacancy followed directly from the bookkeeping he had already performed. | |
241 | Nob[r] 14 Place is left vacant and your Petitioner having about one year and halfe past with his Utmost Endeavours & diligence brought the Books of Accompts to beare which had laid Un- ballanced for 3 years before Humbly beggs your worship and Councill would be pleased to consider the fatigue he has tahe[n] therewith and to settle your said Petitioner in the said M[r] Ormstons Place which Favour will Encourage your said Petit[r] so that through dilegence he will allways Endeavour to be wor- thy of the Same. For Every thing being here very dear and living very Expencive therefore Humbly beggs your worshipe and &c will be pleased to consider the Premises and grant this his Humble Request and Y[r] Petitioner as in Duty Nob[r] 14 1721 bound Shall ever Pray &c Rejected till his future M[r] Vanoosten behaviour deserves the Encouragement he desires We went on with the General Letter and Examined former Consultations and compared them with the Invoice book in order to give our Honorable masters the severall particulars in An- swer to their General Letter to us Adjurnd till to morrow morning Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeld Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: Mart Vanosten desires to be admited in M[r] Ormstons Place of Accom[r] Rejected Gen[l] Lett[r] Drake [...] furth[r] purs[d] | John Martin Van Oosten's petition continued, setting out that the accountant's place stood vacant. He represented that for about the past year and a half he had brought the Company's books of account into balance by his own effort and diligence, the books having lain unbalanced for three years before. He asked Governor Johnson and the council to weigh the labour this had cost him and to settle him in Joseph Ormston's former place. He argued that such a favour would encourage him to continue deserving it, and that everything on the island being very dear and life very expensive, he hoped the council would consider his case and grant his request. The petition was dated 14 November 1721 and signed by Van Oosten. The council rejected the petition until his future conduct should deserve the encouragement he sought. The council then resumed the general letter. It examined earlier consultations and compared them with the invoice book, so as to furnish the directors with the several particulars in answer to their general letter. The consultation was adjourned to the next morning. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Van Oosten's claim to the accountant's office rested on the very work that had exposed the office's long neglect. The 1720 books he had brought to balance were delivered ready at the consultation of 12 September 1721, examined by Byfield and Goodwin, while the three years of unbalanced accounts behind them were the arrears that had cost Antipas Tovey his place in 1719 and passed through Joseph Ormston's hands thereafter. The council's refusal until his conduct should merit reward reflected a caution sharpened by that history, the office having twice been a source of trouble, and by the warning given to Van Oosten at the consultation of 27 September 1721 against further negligence after his foul books were found so erased that they had to be recopied. The complaint that goods and living were very dear points to the island's dependence on imported supply and the absence of any local market to moderate prices, a constant pressure on the salaries and credit of the Company's servants. The general letter occupying the council was the directors' annual dispatch, answered point by point against the consultations and the invoice book so that each transaction reported home could be vouched from the record. | |
242 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednsday the 15 day of Nob[r] 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Goo[er] Pres[t] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approved of M[r] Byfeild Aquaints us that there is Some land at Perkins Plantation that lies vacant and contains upwards of two Acres and lies from the water fall below the old Gutt as far as the wall next to the house which he thinks will be very proper to be added to the Plantation, To which we agree and according ly order that it be sett about and fenced in as Soon as conven- iency offers Ordered that the following Advertizement be Issued out and sett up at the publick place for the view and perusall of all persons Island St Helena By the Worshipfull Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] & Council An Advertizement Whereas by order of the Honerable Lords Propriiters to us to remind the People of planting wood and fencing in their Lands according to the Tenor of the Lands and the covenants of the Leases we think it proper herein to insert that Par[a] which is as follows Remember our Orders for Planting and fencing of Lands they Margin Notes: A peice of ground to be added to Perkins plat- tation to remind the people to plant Wood & fence their Lands | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Wednesday 15 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin present. The previous consultation was read and approved. Byfield reported that a piece of land at Perkins's plantation lay vacant. It contained upwards of 2 acres and ran from the waterfall below the old gut as far as the wall next to the house. He judged it well suited to be added to the plantation. The council agreed and ordered that the work begin and the parcel be fenced in as soon as convenient. The council ordered an advertisement issued and posted at the public place for everyone to see and read. The advertisement ran under the authority of Governor Johnson and the council. It recalled that the Lords Proprietors had directed the council to remind the inhabitants to plant wood and fence their lands according to the terms of their grants and the covenants of their leases. The council thought it proper to set out that paragraph, which followed, reminding the people of the standing orders for planting and fencing the lands they held. Interpretations The parcel added to Perkins's plantation completed a sequence already in motion, the Company's term in the holding called Perkins's having expired in July 1721, on which the council appointed a view of sites for a new plantation to take the yam suckers with Captain Cason's assistance, and the division of Perkins's 50 acres into 30 of leased land and 20 of the heir's free land was lodged in the Secretary's office at the consultation of 17 October 1721. Byfield's report fell within his charge as chief overseer of the Company's plantations and live stock, the post fixed at 40 pounds a year at the consultation of 10 January 1721. The advertisement enforced the directors' standing policy against the destruction of the island's scarce timber, a recurring concern answered earlier by the Great Wood preservation order of 25 August 1719 and the bark-stripping advertisement of 14 December 1720. The covenants in the inhabitants' leases bound each tenant to plant a quota of wood and to fence the holding, the penalty for default being seizure of the land, so that the obligation to plant and enclose ran as a condition of tenure rather than a mere exhortation. | |
243 | Nob[r] 15 Have Seemd a late to lye a sleep or to be dead, Revive them The Planters must be Sensible of the Benifitt to themselves of those Orders make the Wilfull and Obstinate sensible they must and Shall comply but be not to Rigourous as to the time consider such as have not hands Enough by Indulging them with a reasonable Prolongation of time, as far as you think reason, but let them know you will not be triffled with a Due complyance from each one we expect and therefore order this Publick notice to be given Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 15 day of November 1721 & Signd by Ord[r] John Alexander M[r] Slaughter the Governours Steward brought in his Accompt of the Expence of the Table for the Month of October 20 Fowles at 1/6 ead 1 10 14 Goates 10/ ea 7 1 Sheep 1 2 Kidds 5/ 10 784 Beef 25/ p [...] 9 16 134 Pork 10/6 3 7 56 Butter 12 p [...] 2 16 65 Eggs 1 5 5 62 Bottles of milk 4 p Bott 1 8 31 Dayes Greens 12 1 11 54 Gallons Arrack 6/4 17 2 11 60 Bottles port wine 2/6 7 10 4 Galletia 2 8 20 Maderia 12 1 25 Bottles of Ale 1 3 1 11 3 152 Sugar 6 3 16 1 Gallon of vinegar 4 1 Quart of sweet Oyle 3 4 Peices of Bengall Pork at 1/6 6 Carried Over £ 66 16 4 Margin Notes: the Stewards Expence for Oct[r] | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Wednesday 15 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin present. The previous consultation was read and approved. Byfield reported that a piece of land at Perkins's plantation lay vacant. It contained upwards of 2 acres and ran from the waterfall below the old gut as far as the wall next to the house. He judged it well suited to be added to the plantation. The council agreed and ordered that the work begin and the parcel be fenced in as soon as convenient. The council ordered an advertisement issued and posted at the public place for everyone to see and read. The advertisement ran under the authority of Governor Johnson and the council. It recalled that the Lords Proprietors had directed the council to remind the inhabitants to plant wood and fence their lands according to the terms of their grants and the covenants of their leases. The council thought it proper to set out that paragraph, which followed, reminding the people of the standing orders for planting and fencing the lands they held. The advertisement addressed the planters on the purpose of those standing orders. It observed that the orders had lately seemed to lie asleep or dead, and called for them to be revived. The planters were to understand the benefit the orders brought them. The wilful and obstinate were to be made to see that they must and would comply. The council nonetheless directed that the time allowed not be too rigorous. Those short of labour were to be indulged with a reasonable extension where the council judged it reasonable, but were to know that the council would not be trifled with. Due compliance was expected from every holder, and this public notice was ordered given for that purpose. The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 15 November 1721 and signed by order by John Alexander. Mr Slaughter, the Governor's steward, brought in his account of the expense of the table for the month of October. 20 fowls at 1s 6d each, £1 10s 0d 14 goats at 10s each, £7 0s 0d 1 sheep at 5s, £0 10s 0d 2 kids, £1 0s 0d 784 beef at 25s per [...], £9 16s 0d 134 pork at 1s 6d, £3 7s 0d 56 butter at 12d per pound, £2 16s 0d 65 eggs at 1s, £0 5s 5d 62 bottles of milk at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 8d 31 days' greens at 12d, £1 11s 0d 54 gallons arrack at 6s 4d, £17 2s 11d 60 bottles port wine at 2s 6d, £7 10s 0d 4 [...] at 2s, £0 8s 0d 20 madeira at 12d, £1 0s 0d 25 bottles of ale at 1s 3d, £1 11s 3d 152 sugar at 6d, £3 16s 0d 1 gallon of vinegar, £0 4s 0d 1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d 4 pieces of Bengal pork at 1s 6d, £0 6s 0d Carried over, £60 16s 4d Interpretations The advertisement turned a routine reminder into a warning of enforcement, balancing two pressures that pulled against each other. The orders for planting wood and fencing carried the penalty of seizure on default, yet a holder short of labour could not meet a fixed deadline, so the council reserved a discretion to extend the time case by case while denying any general relaxation. This managed the conflict between protecting the island's timber and keeping the planters solvent and on their land, the same tension running through the Great Wood preservation order of 25 August 1719 and the bark-stripping advertisement of 14 December 1720. The steward's account values the Governor's table at the Company's expense, the public table itself capped at the consultation of June 1717 to three bottles of wine a day out of shipping time and not above six in it. Arrack was the distilled spirit shipped from Batavia and Bencoolen, here the single largest line on the account, while madeira and port were the fortified wines carried out by the Indiamen, and the Bengal pork the salted provision sent from the Company's Indian settlements. The prices stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the arithmetic across the column. Several quantities are recorded without a stated unit, the beef and pork most probably reckoned in pounds and the butter and sugar likewise, the rates being given per pound. The unit against the 784 beef is illegible and is left unmarked accordingly. | |
244 | 200 Bread 1/3 p [...] 2 18 4 80 Flower 3 [...] 1 3 4 6 Tea 7/6 2 5 70 of Candles 12 4 5700 of Lemons 2/6 p 100 3 10 24 of Soape at 6 7 2 6 6 English Beef 1/6 9 W[m] Slaughter £ 80 2 6 Went on and proceeded to the farther reading over the Gen[er] all Letter Examining former consultations and letters in order to give a particular Answer to each Paragraph of their Honours General Letter which we finished Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Court held Pursuant to M[r] John Tovys desire in Consultation of the 7 Instant at the Sessions house near Union Castle In James Valley on Thursday the 16 day of November 1721 Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] [...] Pres[t] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] John Alexander [...] John Goodwin [...] in Coun[ll] Then the Court was Opened According to the Usuall manner and these persons following Persons Appointed for Jurors are As follows 1 Orlando Bagly, foreman 2 Joshua Johnson 3 James Tovys Margin Notes: Gen[l] Lett[r] further & finished | The steward's account of the table's expense for October continued, carrying forward the running total. 200 bread at 1s 3d per [...], £2 18s 4d 80 flour at 3s 6d, £1 3s 4d 6 tea at 7s 6d, £2 5s 0d 4 pepper at 12d, £0 4s 0d 70 candles, £3 10s 0d 5,700 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £7 2s 6d 24 soap, £1 1s 0d 6 English beef at 1s 6d, £0 9s 0d Total signed by William Slaughter, £80 2s 6d The council resumed and carried on the further reading of the general letter. It examined earlier consultations and letters so as to give a particular answer to each paragraph of the directors' general letter, and finished that work. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A court was held at the sessions house near Union Castle in James Valley on Thursday 16 November 1721, pursuant to Mr John Long's request made at the consultation of the seventh of this month. Governor Johnson sat as first in council, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The court was opened in the usual manner. The following persons were appointed as jurors. 1: Orlando Bagley, foreman 2: Joshua Johnson 3: James Vesey Interpretations The account closes the Governor's table reckoning for October at £80 2s 6d, the figures standing as entered with no reconciliation of the column. Tea features as a costly line at 7s 6d, reflecting its status as an expensive imported luxury carried out by the Indiamen, while lemons appear in great quantity at 5,700, the island's citrus being grown for the refreshment of homeward shipping and valued against scurvy. English beef is distinguished from the local beef of the earlier page, the imported salt provision listed separately from the island's own slaughtered cattle. The court convened at John Long's request, Long being the free planter of Sandy Bay whose disputes over land, water and assault recur through the record, most recently the watercourse complaint of 22 December 1720 when Captain Alexander charged him with blocking the channel carrying water out of Thomas Swallow's land. The jury was empanelled under Orlando Bagley as foreman, the same man who had stood foreman at the trial of the slave Sultan on 14 April 1721. | |
245 | Nob[r] 4 Rich Beale 5 Edw[d] Nicholls 6 James Greentree 7 Francis Wrangham 8 Jonathon Doviton 9 Sam[ll] Jossey 10 Isaac Wood 11 Tom Scale 12 John French who were all Sworn Then Proclamation was made for John Long Plan[t] and John Lacy Deft both Appeard in Court and the following Declaration Read Island St Helena To the Worship[ll] Edward Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] & Council The Declaration & Petition of John Long of the said Island Planter most Humbly Sheweth and Setteth forth That Whereas Elizabeth Lacy the present wife of John Lacy of the said Island during the time of her being Charles Stew- ard[s] Deceasd widdow did in Consideration of the Naturall affection love and good will which she had and did then bear towards her then son Thomas Steward did freely and absolutely give and granted to him the said Thomas Steward his heirs &c the Sume of fifty pounds in good and Currant money of the said Island as also one Heifer out of her own Proper Stock to be put into a Distinct mark with all the Increase immediately after to run on and bring him a Stock and in case of his the said Thomas Stewards death before [...] or Marriage She the said Eliz Lacy then Steward did fre[ely] and Margin Notes: Jn[o] Longs Declaration ag[t] Jn[o] Lacy | The list of jurors continued and was completed. 4: Richard Beale 5: Edward Nicholls 6: James Greentree 7: Francis Wrangham 8: Jonathan Doveton 9: Samuel Jessey 10: Isaac Wood 11: Tom Seale 12: John French These were sworn. Proclamation was then made for John Long the plaintiff and John Lacy the defendant. Both appeared in court, and the following declaration was read. John Long of the island, planter, addressed his declaration and petition to Governor Johnson and the council. He set out that Elizabeth Lacy, the present wife of John Lacy, had earlier been the widow of Charles Steward, deceased. During her widowhood, out of the natural affection, love and goodwill she bore towards her son Thomas Steward, she had freely and absolutely given and granted to him and his heirs the sum of £50 0s 0d in good and current money of the island. She had also given him one heifer out of her own stock, to be set apart under a distinct mark with all its increase, to run on and breed for him at once. The declaration further set out that, should Thomas Steward die before he came of age or married, Elizabeth, then Steward, had then [...] Interpretations The declaration recovers a gift made by a widow to her son and now in dispute between John Long and the son's stepfather John Lacy. Elizabeth Lacy's grant of £50 0s 0d and a marked heifer to Thomas Steward illustrates how property passed within island families outside the formal lease and grant system, a mother settling cash and breeding stock on her child during her widowhood. The reservation that the heifer run under a distinct mark with all its increase shows how cattle were individually branded and their offspring tracked, the island's herds being the principal store of private wealth and the subject of constant valuation and dispute. The condition attached to the gift, providing for Thomas Steward's death before majority or marriage, points to a contingent settlement designed to keep the property within the family should the boy die young. Charles Steward was the deceased planter whose orphans' estate runs through the record, accounted for by Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721, so the gift and its reversion bear on the wider Steward inheritance that the council had been overseeing. | |
246 | and clearly give the said fifty pounds and Heifer with the Increase to your Petitioners son John Long Junier to whom she did give Likewise one other Heifer, and in case of his death before Marriage then and in such case the said Gift of fifty pounds and both Heifers with their Increase to fall and go to the surviving child or children of your said petit[r] as in and by a Deed of Gift bearing date the 2 of march 1715 sign'd and seald by the said Eliz Lacy then Eliz Steward will and may at large more fully Appear, and whereas the said Thomas Steward being since dead your petitioner for and on the behalf of his surviving Children, did in Pursuance to and by vertue of the said Deed of Gift make lawfull demand of the aforesaid John Lacy, for the Possesion of the said Heifer and increase given as before mentiond to your Petitioners son John Long Jun[r] being likewise since dead the said Cattle being in the said Lacys pasture and also Demanded the said Sume of fifty pounds in the like manner, But the said John Lacy did and doth pasitively refuse to deliver up the said Cattle out of his pasture or to pay the aforesaid fifty pounds Still Detaining the whole very Unjustly and to the manifest loss and prejudice of your Petitioners Surviveing children whose right he deems the said Cattle and fifty pounds to be, and the said Lacy haveing already Sold great part of his Estate and intending very Speedily to Sell all your Petitioner has cause to fearthere may be some Evil intentions to wrong and defraud his poor Children and therefore Humbly prayes the said John Lacy may before any farther Sale of his Estate be obliEdg to pay the said herein mentiond Sume of fifty pounds and to deliver up five head of Cattle being the Heifer and her increase Demanded and by the said Lacy detained to pay the Sum of fifty as aforesaid unto your said Petitioner for the use and Benyfit of | John Long's declaration continued. It set out that Elizabeth Lacy had given the £50 0s 0d and the heifer, with its increase, to the petitioner's son John Long junior, to whom she had likewise given one further heifer. Should that son die before marriage, the gift of £50 0s 0d and both heifers with their increase was then to pass to the surviving child or children of the petitioner. All this appeared more fully in a deed of gift dated 2 March 1715, signed and sealed by Elizabeth Lacy, then Elizabeth Steward. The declaration further stated that Thomas Steward had since died. The petitioner, for himself and on behalf of Steward's surviving children, had under the deed lawfully demanded of John Lacy the possession of the heifer and its increase given to the petitioner's son John Long junior, who had likewise since died. The cattle stood in Lacy's pasture. The petitioner had also demanded the £50 0s 0d in the same way. Lacy positively refused, and still refused, to deliver up the cattle out of his pasture or to pay the £50 0s 0d. He continued to detain the whole, very unjustly and to the plain loss and harm of the petitioner's surviving children, whose right the petitioner claimed the cattle and the £50 0s 0d to be. The declaration added that Lacy had already sold a great part of his estate and intended very soon to sell the rest. The petitioner feared some ill intention to wrong and defraud his poor children. He therefore asked that, before any further sale of his estate, Lacy be obliged to pay the £50 0s 0d and to deliver up the five head of cattle, being the heifer and her increase demanded and detained by Lacy, and to pay the sum [...] to the petitioner for the use and benefit [...] Interpretations The declaration sets out a claim in detinue, the recovery of specific cattle wrongfully withheld, joined to a money demand under a deed of gift. The two successive deaths, of Thomas Steward and then of John Long junior, triggered the reversionary clauses of the 2 March 1715 deed, carrying the £50 0s 0d and the marked heifers down to John Long's surviving children. The whole structure shows how a widow's settlement was drafted to survive the death of its first beneficiary, the property cascading to named substitutes rather than falling into a general estate. The urgency of the petition rests on Lacy's sale of his estate, the petitioner seeking an order before the assets were dispersed beyond recovery. This points to the practical weakness of a claim against a defendant preparing to leave or to liquidate, the petitioner asking the court to secure the cattle and the money while they could still be reached. The fear of fraud against poor children gave the council, sitting as a court, a protective interest in the orphans' property of the kind exercised at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721, where the Steward orphans' estate was accounted for by Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling. | |
247 | Nob[r] of his said Surviving Children according to the true meaning and good intent of the Donor and Deed of Gift before named and recited that they may no Longer be sufferers and deprived of what was so Charitably given and well designd by the said Eliz Lacy formerly Eliz Steward, for their future good and Bennefitts Submitting the whole to your worships and Councils prudence and Justice And as in Duty bound shall ever Pray &c John Long Nob[r] 14 1721 The Defendant John Lacy prayed [...] Court for another day of Tryall being disapointed in a main part of his Evidence his wife being suddenly taken Ill on Tuesday evening last and not able to Appear being now confind to her bed and produced M[rs] Robinson and M[rs] Coles as wittnesses of the same, Who Being sworn Deposes that M[rs] Lacy is not in a condition either to come or to be brought out of her bed and believe She wont be able to Appear in less then a months time Whereupon Ordered by the Court that the matter now in dispute between M[r] Long and M[rs] Lacy be Adjurnd till a day month or sooner if M[rs] Lacy be able to Appear M[r] Byfeild moved the Court in behalf of M[r] Shefeild touch[er] he is attorney that the Sale which M[r] Lacy has already begun may goe on pursuant to a warrant granted him in Consultation of the 17 of October Last In Order to his having Satisfaction made him, for that he thinks this dispute Margin Notes: Jn[o] Lacy deffend[t] prayed for another hearing wanted Evidence Court Adjourned M[r] Byfeild moves for M[r] Lacys Sale to goe on pursuant to an Ord[r] | John Long's declaration closed. It asked that the cattle and money be secured for his surviving children according to the true meaning and intent of the donor and the deed already recited, so that they might no longer be kept from what Elizabeth Lacy, formerly Elizabeth Steward, had charitably given and well meant for their future benefit. He submitted the whole to the council's prudence and justice. The declaration was dated 14 November 1721 and made in the name of John Long. The defendant John Lacy asked the court for another day of trial, being disappointed in a main part of his evidence. His wife had been suddenly taken ill on Tuesday evening last and could not appear, being now confined to her bed. He produced Mrs Robinson and Mrs Coles as witnesses to this. Both were sworn and deposed that Mrs Lacy was in no condition either to come or to be brought out of her bed, and that they believed she would not be able to appear in less than a month's time. The court ordered that the matter now in dispute between Long and Lacy be adjourned for a month, or sooner if Mrs Lacy should be able to appear. Byfield then moved the court on behalf of Mr Sheffield, whose attorney he was. He asked that the sale Lacy had already begun be allowed to go on under the warrant granted at the consultation of 17 October last, so that Sheffield might have satisfaction. He observed that this dispute [...] Interpretations The adjournment turned on the absence of a single material witness, Lacy's own wife Elizabeth, whose deed of gift of 2 March 1715 lay at the heart of the cause. Her testimony as the original donor would settle the meaning and effect of the grant, so the court postponed rather than proceed without her, the two sworn women establishing the medical ground for delay. The matter was held over for a month with a saving for an earlier hearing should she recover. Byfield's intervention exposes a conflict between two claims on the same shrinking estate. Long sought to freeze Lacy's assets to protect the children's cattle and money, while Sheffield, through Byfield as his attorney, pressed to let the sale proceed under the warrant of 17 October 1721 so his own debt could be met. The court thus faced competing creditors, one seeking to halt the sale and one to advance it, the same Edward Byfield who sat second in council acting here in his private capacity as attorney to John Sheffield, a role he had earlier filled when he had the widow Bazett summoned over a debt due to Sheffield's deceased son Henry at the consultation of 13 December 1720. | |
248 | Dispute between M[r] Lacy and M[r] Long does no way concerne him nor ought it to hinder the Intended Sale and says that in case M[r] Long does recover the fifty pounds and Cattle or either part he will be at full liberty to sue M[r] Lacy for his Demand The Judge sayes that it is his Opinion That provided John Long does make out the Deed of Gift of Eliz Steward to be valid nevertheless the fifty pounds and the Cattle remaining in her hands so long as she was the widdow of Steward and after her marriage with M[r] Haswell it Remained in his hands dureing his life at his death it became a debt of M[r] Haswells and ought not to be preferred before any other debt of M[r] Haswells by reason of the Speciality of the Deed of Gift for it will allways be Deemd that M[rs] Haswell who voluntarily made the Deed of Gift to her own child by her late husband Steward and John Long as father to his child or children who were Reversionary nominees in the said deed of Gift were both satisfied with M[r] Haswells security, or else they would have forced it by law out of M[r] Haswells hands before his death Tis further Ordred hereupon that the sale above mentiond do go on, and in case there be a Sufficiency to Satisfee the Honb[le] Company their Debt, M[r] Sheffeild his and M[r] Powells debt, that then the Cattle in Dispute be not sold till the matter in hand is Decided Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: The Gov[er] as Judge gives his Opinion relating to y[e] Gift &c Sale to goe on in Ord[r] of Satisfying debts | Byfield's argument for Mr Sheffield closed. He contended that the dispute between Lacy and Long in no way concerned Sheffield and ought not to delay the intended sale. He added that, should Long recover the £50 0s 0d and the cattle or any part, he would be fully free to sue Lacy for his demand. Governor Johnson, sitting as judge, then gave his opinion. He held that even if Long made good the deed of gift of Elizabeth Steward as valid, the £50 0s 0d and the cattle had nonetheless remained in her hands so long as she was Steward's widow. After her marriage to Mr Haswell they remained in his hands during his life, and at his death became a debt of Haswell's estate. The Governor ruled that this debt ought not to be preferred before any other debt of Haswell's by reason of the special nature of the deed of gift. His reasoning was that Mrs Haswell, who had voluntarily made the deed of gift to her own child by her late husband Steward, and John Long, as father to his child or children who were the reversionary nominees named in the deed, must both be taken to have been satisfied with Haswell's security. Otherwise they would have forced the matter out of Haswell's hands by law before his death. The court further ordered that the sale already mentioned go on. Should there be enough to satisfy the Company's debt, Mr Sheffield's debt and Mr Powell's debt, then the cattle in dispute were not to be sold until the matter in hand was decided. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Governor Johnson's ruling subordinated the deed of gift to the ordinary debts of a deceased man's estate, defeating the priority Long had hoped the deed would carry. The reasoning rested on inferred acquiescence, the donor and the children's father having let the money and cattle pass through two successive husbands' hands without enforcing the gift, so the court treated them as having accepted Haswell's general credit rather than holding a secured claim. This reduced what Long pleaded as a charitable trust to an unsecured debt ranking equally with all others against the Haswell estate. The order managed competing creditors by sequencing the sale against the cattle in dispute. The general sale was allowed to proceed at once, but the contested cattle were reserved from it so long as the proceeds covered the three ranking debts of the Company, Sheffield and Powell, the court protecting the disputed property only to the extent the other creditors could be paid without it. The chain of marriages running from Charles Steward through Elizabeth to Captain George Haswell ties this cause to the much-litigated Haswell estate, Haswell having died intestate about 22 June 1718 and his widow Elizabeth granted sole administration at the consultation of 5 August 1718. | |
249 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 21 of Nob[r] 1721 at Union Castle In James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approved of Captain Goodwin Acquainted us that all the Chest Tea he had in the Stores was all served out and therefore Desird that the price on the Calles might be sett in Order to selling out next serving day Wherefore Ordered that the prices be put on the Tea and the rest of the Cargoe brought us by Capt Gorden Freight insurance & Interrest added to the prime Cost Accordingly as 2 Bohea to be sold at 6 p Calle Sittolo all charges not amounting to 2 to be sold at 4 p Cattle China Cups as above not quite a halfpenny to be sold at 2 ea Sneakers with D[o] about 1 4 to be sold at 6 ea Bowles about 4 4 to be sold at 2 6 ea Silk at 10/3 p Calle to be sold at 18 p Ce The Doct[r] brought in his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 17 Instant which was Examined and Approov[d] of The following Petitions were Presented by Henry Frank[s] and M[r] Powell & Henry Francis & M[r] Wrangham desiring The Same may be Registerd Margin Notes: Storekeepers report ab[o] Tea Prices of the China Cargo viz[t] D[r] Expence for Nob[r] Sev[ll] Peticons | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 21 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin present. The previous consultation was read and approved. Captain Goodwin reported that all the chest tea he held in the stores had been served out. He asked that prices be fixed on the rest of the cargo so it could be sold on the next serving day. The council ordered that the prices be set on the tea and the rest of the cargo brought in by Captain Gordon, adding freight, insurance and interest to the prime cost. The prices of the China cargo were set as follows. Bohea tea to be sold at 6s per catty Singlo tea, all charges not amounting to 2s, to be sold at 4s per catty China cups, as above, not quite a halfpenny, to be sold at 2s each Saucers with the cups, about 1½d, to be sold at 6d each Bowls, about 4½d, to be sold at 2s each Silk at 10s 8d per catty, to be sold at 18s per catty The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended since the seventeenth of this month. The council examined and approved it. The following petitions were presented. Mr Powell, Henry Francis and Mr Wrangham each asked that their grants be registered. Interpretations The pricing order shows the Company's standard markup on imported goods sold at the island, freight, insurance and interest added to the prime cost so that each commodity carried its full charge of carriage and capital before any margin. The cargo came in under Captain John Gordon, the commander whose ship had carried home the advertisement against the illicit slave trade dated 24 February 1720, and the goods listed are the staples of the China trade. The commodities priced were unfamiliar imports moving through the island's stores. Bohea and singlo were grades of China tea, bohea the darker and commoner sort and singlo a green tea, both shipped from Canton and sold here by the catty, a Chinese weight of about a pound and a third. The China cups, saucers and bowls were porcelain table wares carried as ballast and trade goods, and the silk was raw or woven China silk, priced per catty at a steep advance over its landed cost. These were the same China cargoes recently handled in quantity, the Montague and Essex having brought China goods earlier in 1721. The repricing answered a recurring concern of the autumn, the storekeeper's report of insecure stores and disordered accounts laid before the council at the consultation of 8 August 1721 having exposed how loosely the Company's goods were held and valued. | |
250 | Island St Helena To the Worship[t] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] and Council The Humble Petition of Henry Francis and Gabriell Powell most Humbly Sheweth That whereas he the said Henry Francis did some time since sell and dispose of a Dwelling house situate in James Valley with all the ground & Appurtenances thereunto belonging unto the said Gabriel Powell who has a Bill of Sale for the Same Sighd by the said Henry Francis But Your Petitioners having ignorantly slipt the proper time for Registering all such bargains which they are Since Inform[d] Should have been done within a month after the date thereof Humbly Prayes by this Joynt petition that the said Bargaine and Sale for the House and premises afores[d] may be confirmed by this our Joynt request and to be lookt upon as good and as binding as if the Same had been Register'd in Due time Nob[r] 21 1721 And as in Duty bound shall ever Pray &c Henry Francis Gabriel Powell The Humble Petition of Henry Francis & Francis Wrang- ham most Humbly Sheweth That whereas he the said Henry Francis did Margin Notes: Joynt Petition of Gab Powell & Hen Francis praying y[e] Registry of a Bill of Sale [...] R[d] &c & Regist[d] | The joint petition of Henry Francis and Gabriel Powell was addressed to Governor Johnson and the council. It set out that Henry Francis had some time before sold a dwelling house in James Valley, with all its ground and appurtenances, to Gabriel Powell, who held a bill of sale for it signed by Francis. The petitioners had unknowingly let pass the proper time for registering such bargains, which they were since informed should have been done within a month of the date of the deed. They jointly asked that the bargain and sale of the house and premises be confirmed and treated as good and binding as if it had been registered in due time. The petition was dated 21 November 1721 and signed by Henry Francis and Gabriel Powell. The council ordered it registered. The joint petition of Henry Francis and Francis Wrangham was then read. It set out that Henry Francis had [...] Interpretations The petition reveals the registration regime governing land transfers at the island, every bargain and sale of property required to be entered on the public record within a month of the deed. The failure to register within that period left the bill of sale unconfirmed, so the parties sought the council's order to validate the transaction retrospectively and give it the same force as a timely registration. This shows registration as constitutive rather than merely evidential, the conveyance needing the council's recognition to bind against later claims. The two named parties were established figures in the island's property dealings, Henry Francis a substantial holder named among the largest debtors in the abstract of debts entered at the consultation of 31 January 1716, and Gabriel Powell the foremost landholder of the census, charged at the consultation of 19 February 1719 with holding at least 290 acres, more than any two men on the island. The recurrence of such retrospective registration petitions points to a system in which holders frequently let the deadline lapse and relied on the council to cure the defect afterward. | |
251 | Nob[r] Did some time since sell and dispose of 17 Acres of land lying in two different Parcills with the Appurtenances there unto belonging, unto the said Francis Wrangham who has a Bill of Sale for each Parcill, signd by the said Francis But your Petitioners having ignorantly slipt the proper time for Registering all such Bargains &c which they are Since informed should have been done within a month after the date thereof, Humbly prays by this Joynt petition that the Bargain and Sale for the land above[s][d] may be confirmd by this our said Petition, and to be lookt on as good and as binding as if the Same had been Register'd in Due time And as in duty bound shall ever Nob[r] 21 1721 Pray &c Henry Francis Francis Wrangham They being calld in M[r] Francis was askt whether he had received Satisfaction from M[r] Powell for the purchase of his house and likewise of M[r] Wrangham for the two parcills of land and stock Mentiond in the bill of Sale he answerd he was very well Satisfied and desired the Deeds might be Registered notwithstanding the Elapse of the time by law Limited wherein they ought to have been Registered Ordrd that the Deeds be Register'd Accordingly M[r] Powell desired a warrant of Seizure might be granted against M[r] Lacy for the Debt that he owes him being [...] M[r] Margin Notes: Joynt Petition of Hen Francis & F W[m] Wrangham Pray[g] y[e] 3 d Bill of Sale for land all partys Concernd were calld in M[r] Francis De- claring to be Satisfyed the Bills of Sale [...] Ord[r] to be Regist[d] M[r] Powells desire for a Warr[t] | The joint petition of Henry Francis and Francis Wrangham continued. It set out that Henry Francis had some time before sold 17 acres of land to Francis Wrangham. The land lay in two separate parcels with their appurtenances, and Wrangham held a bill of sale for each parcel, signed by Francis. The petitioners had unknowingly let pass the proper time for registering such bargains, which they were since informed should have been done within a month of the date of the deed. They jointly asked that the bargain and sale of the land be confirmed and treated as good and binding as if it had been registered in due time. The petition was dated 21 November 1721 and signed by Henry Francis and Francis Wrangham. The council ordered it granted and the deeds registered. All parties were then called in. Mr Francis was asked whether he had received satisfaction from Mr Powell for the purchase of his house, and likewise from Mr Wrangham for the two parcels of land and stock named in the bill of sale. He answered that he was very well satisfied and asked that the deeds be registered, notwithstanding the lapse of the time within which they ought by law to have been registered. The council ordered the deeds registered accordingly. Mr Powell then asked that a warrant of seizure be granted against Mr Lacy for the debt Lacy owed him [...] Interpretations The council secured each retrospective registration by examining the seller in person before confirming the deeds. Francis was called in and asked directly whether he had been paid for the house and for the land and stock, his acknowledgement of satisfaction removing any doubt that the bargains were complete and the consideration received. This oral confirmation protected the buyers' titles against later challenge, the council treating the seller's admission as the safeguard that justified curing the missed deadline. Powell's application for a warrant of seizure against Lacy connects directly to the cause adjourned at the court of 16 November 1721, where Powell's debt was one of the three ranking claims, alongside the Company's and Sheffield's, that the disputed Steward cattle were reserved to satisfy. The warrant of seizure was the council's standing instrument of debt enforcement, authorising the marshal to take and hold the debtor's goods, here pressed by Powell as Lacy prepared to sell his estate and disperse the assets against which the debt could be recovered. | |
252 | M[r] Lacy being in the Valley was Sent for by the Marshall & he owns the Debt due to M[r] Powell Ordrd that a warrant be Issued out Immediatly M[r] Powell and M[r] Wrangham informd the Gov[er] that there are Severall Hoggs now running in Swanley Valley belong- ing to the Estate of M[r] Free that is unmarkt wherefore Ordrd that a Letter be wrote and sent to M[r] Pipeler who has all along taken care of that Estate, to acquaint him thereof and that he marke them in the Usuall marke, and to dispose of them as Oppertunity offers Rendering us an account of the Same Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Wednsday the 22 day of Nob[r] 1721 at Union Castle In James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approv[d] of M[r] Lacy made complaint That M[rs] Bridget Bazett Executrix of Capt[n] Matt[w] Bazett refused to pay £25 1 3 Due to Capt[n] Haswell his predecesor and acquainted the Gov[er] that M[r] Greentree who is his Evidence is very Infirm and is now down in the Valley and M[rs] Bazett likewise and Margin Notes: M[r] Lacy being sent for owns y[e] Debt, warrant g'd granted Immediatly M[rs] Powell & Wrangham Informacon of some of M[r] Free Hoggs A Lett[r] to be sent M[r] Pipeler &c M[r] Lacy Com[p] ag[t] M[rs] Bazett for a debt | Mr Powell's application closed. Lacy being in the valley, the marshal was sent to fetch him so he might settle the debt due to Mr Powell. The council ordered a warrant issued at once. Mr Powell and Mr Wrangham then reported to Governor Johnson that several hogs were running in Swanley Valley belonging to the estate of Mr Free, all unmarked. The council ordered that a letter be written and sent to Mr Ryder, who had all along cared for that estate, telling him of the hogs. He was to mark them in the usual mark, dispose of them as opportunity allowed, and render an account of the same. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Wednesday 22 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin present. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Lacy made a complaint. Mrs Bridget Bazett, executrix of Captain Matthew Bazett, had refused to pay him £25 0s [...] due to Captain Haswell, her predecessor in the trust. Lacy told Governor Johnson that Mr Greentree, who was his witness, was very infirm and now down in the valley, and that Mrs Bazett likewise [...] Interpretations The hogs in Swanley Valley illustrate how the council managed the property of a man whose estate it had seized, Thomas Free's holding having been taken and sold under the orders of 1720 over the Griffith orphans, with James Ryder appointed to oversee it. Unmarked stock running wild had no clear owner, so the council directed Ryder to brand the hogs in the estate's mark and convert them, the marking establishing title and the disposal turning the strays into recoverable value for the creditors. The instruction to render an account kept Ryder answerable for the proceeds. Lacy's complaint against the Bazett executrix shows debts passing down a chain of successive office-holders and their estates. The £25 0s 0d was originally due to Captain Haswell, then carried into the trust held by Captain Matthew Bazett, and now claimed against Bazett's widow Bridget as his executrix, the same widow Byfield had summoned over a debt to John Sheffield's son at the consultation of 13 December 1720. The plea that the witness Greentree was infirm and a party absent foreshadows the same difficulty of securing testimony that had forced the month's adjournment in the Long and Lacy cattle cause at the court of 16 November 1721. | |
253 | Nob[r] and to avoid further trouble desired it might be heard upon M[r] Greentree appeard and Shewed the Book of Accompts wherein the Acco[b] formerly Stated appeard to be the Same which he the said Greentree Swore he Entered Accordingly M[r] Bazetts dictating, and to which M[r] Bazell sometime before his death did agree, wherefore Ordrd That M[rs] Bazell pay the said Sume of £25 1 3 M[r] Byfeild Acquainted us that a Black child of the Honb[le] Comp[a] born of one of the Black women sent to the West Coast calld Mercy about four Months old at the hutts dyed this day M[rs] Coles widd[o] presented a Deed of Gift made & sighd by Jos: Coles her son in law for 30 Acres of land and a house he gave to her children after her decease desiring the same may be Registered Edw[d] Johnson Granted Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 28 day of Nob[r] 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approvd of Capt[n] Alexander made report that According to the Order of last Consultation he had sent a letter to M[r] Ryder ab[o] the marking and disposing of M[r] Frees Hoggs M[r] Ryder Deliv[d] the following Petition Margin Notes: M[r] Bazell Ord[r] to pay M[r] Lacy Report of a Bl[k] Child dead M[rs] Coles desires y[e] Registry of a Deed of Gift Report of a letter sent M[r] Ryder ab[o] M[r] Frees Hoggs | Mr Lacy's complaint closed. To avoid further trouble, he asked that the matter be heard at once. Mr Greentree appeared and produced the book of accounts, in which the account formerly stated appeared to be the same. Greentree swore that he had entered it according to Mr Bazett's dictation, and that Bazett some time before his death had agreed to it. The council ordered that Mrs Bazett pay the £25 0s 0d. A black child of the Company, born of one of the black women sent to the windward coast, called Mercy, about four months old at the Hutts, died this day. Mrs Coles, widow, presented a deed of gift made and signed by Joseph Coles, her son-in-law, for 30 acres of land and a house he had given to her children after her death. She asked that it be registered. The council granted it. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 23 November 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin present. The previous consultation was read and approved. Captain Alexander reported that, under the order of the previous consultation, he had sent a letter that morning to Mr Ryder about marking and disposing of Mr Free's hogs. Mr Ryder then delivered the following petition. Interpretations The Bazett debt was settled by documentary proof and the bookkeeper's oath, Greentree producing the account book and swearing he had entered the sum at Captain Matthew Bazett's own dictation with Bazett's agreement before his death. This shows how the council resolved a contested debt against an estate, the entry in the dead man's own accounts, vouched on oath by the man who wrote it, sufficing to bind the executrix. The willingness to hear the matter at once, rather than adjourn as in the Long and Lacy cattle cause, turned on the witness being present and the evidence in hand. The deed of gift Mrs Coles registered illustrates again the use of conditional family settlements to pass land and a house to children after the death of an intervening holder, the property reserved to her children's benefit with the gift taking effect only on her death. The grantor Joseph Coles was the son of the murdered planter John Coles, killed by his slave Sultan on 9 April 1721, the family's affairs having passed through the council when his widow Bridget Coles was granted administration at the consultation of 4 July 1721. The death of the four-month-old child illustrates the high infant mortality among the Company's slaves, the women sent to the windward coast and their children counted as Company stock, the loss recorded with the same exactness applied to the herds in the chief overseer's monthly accounts. | |
254 | Island St Helena To the Worship[ll] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] & Council The Most Humble Petition of James Ryder free planter most Humbly Sheweth That whereas your Petitioner to his daily and great concern standing indebted to the Honble Company In the Sume of one Hundred thirty odd pounds, and being very desirous to pay the same as Soon and as he has any thing to offer towards lessening the said Debt, Humbly prays your Worsp and Council to accept of two men Blacks twenty head of neat Cattle twenty thousand of Yams and twelve Hoggs, which he hopes will near if not quite make full payment of the said Debt and shall always Endeavour to pay what further his necessity may oblidge him to run on a new score for the support and maintainance of himself and family And as in Duty bound shall Nob[r] the 28 1721 ever Pray James Ryder The Petitioner was sent for in and told we had no occasion for any Blacks having sent off twenty very lately to Ben- coolen and that we had no occasion neither for the Yams the Honb[le] Company having Eno[ugh] and as to the Cattle he offers Margin Notes: Petit[n] of James Ryder makes Proposals to pay his Debt the Particulars Petit[r] Answer | The petition of James Ryder, free planter, was addressed to Governor Johnson and the council. Ryder set out that he stood indebted to the Company in the sum of about £130 0s 0d, a matter of daily and great concern to him. Being very anxious to clear it as soon as he had anything to offer towards reducing it, he asked the council to accept the following in payment. 2 black men 20 head of neat cattle 20,000 yams 12 hogs He hoped these would nearly, if not quite, make full payment of the debt. He undertook to pay whatever his further needs might oblige him to run up on a new account for the support and maintenance of himself and his family. The petition was dated 23 November 1721 and signed by James Ryder. The petitioner was sent for and told that the council had no need of any slaves, having sent off twenty very lately to Bencoolen, nor any need of the yams, the Company having enough. As to the cattle he offered [...] Interpretations Ryder's petition shows a planter attempting to discharge a sterling debt in kind rather than coin, offering slaves, cattle, yams and hogs against the £130 0s 0d he owed the Company. This reflects the chronic scarcity of money at the island, where wealth was held as land, stock and labour, and a debtor's only means of payment was often the produce and property of his own plantation. The Company, as principal creditor, became the forced taker of such goods at its own valuation, the transfer passing through the account books. The council's refusal turned on the Company having no present use for what Ryder offered, the recent dispatch of twenty slaves to Bencoolen having met its labour needs and its yam stocks being full. The twenty slaves were those marked for Bencoolen on the Drake and noted in the closing of the autumn's business, so the Company was for once oversupplied with the very labour a planter sought to surrender. This left Ryder unable to clear his debt in the most valuable currency he held, the council taking only what it could employ and leaving the rest a continuing charge. | |
255 | Nob[r] offers if he will let us know their severall kinds we will then give him a further answer as to the 12 Hoggs we are willing to take them at the Usuall rate M[r] Doveton desired a Bill of Sale he had from the Estate of John Nicholls sen[r] Deceasd for a dwelling house he bought of them in the Fort Valley might be Registered Ordrd it be Register'd Accordingly M[r] Ryder Appeard and Desired he might be Disch[ar] ged from the care he had of M[r] Frees Effects Ordrd that in pursuance thereto an Advertizement be Issued out to give notice that the land belonging to the Orphans of M[r] Griffith will be let out for their Advantage Orlando Bagley John Harding and Benj[a] Greentree who were the persons Appointed to take care of the Estate of Rich Swallow and to dispose of them for the payment of the Honb[le] Companys and others debts and to take care of and to put out his Orphans and an old woman and a Mallatto Boy that was to be brought up and maintaind out of the said Estate brought in and deliverd this day an Accot of the said estate but Severall persons not haveing made payment they desired a Summons for them to appear next Consultation day which was Granted Ordrd that an Advertizement be Published for the Calling in all Bank Bills, in Order to the makeing up that Accompt Jn[o] Alexander Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: M[r] Dovetons desires y[e] Registry of a Bill of Sale for a House M[r] Ryder desires a discharge from M[r] Frees Effects Land of M[r] Griffith Orph[s] to be Lett Trustees Appointed to take care of[t] Estate &c of R[d] Swallow &c bro[t] in an Acc[o] of y[e] same persons indebted to y[e] said Estate Sumon[d] Bank Bills calld in | The council's answer to Ryder closed. As to the cattle, the council asked Ryder to state their several kinds, and would then give him a further answer. As to the 12 hogs, the council was willing to take them at the usual rate. Mr Doveton asked that a bill of sale be registered. He had it from the executors of John Nichols senior, deceased, for a dwelling house he had bought from them in Fort Valley. The council ordered it registered. Mr Ryder then appeared and asked to be discharged from the care he had of Mr Free's effects. The council ordered that an advertisement be posted to give notice that the land belonging to the orphans of Mr Griffith would be let out for their benefit. Orlando Bagley, John Harding and Benjamin Greentree were the persons appointed to take care of the estate of Richard Swallow, to dispose of it for payment of the Company's debts and others, to put out his orphans, and to provide for an old woman and a mulatto boy who were to be brought up and maintained out of the estate. They brought in and delivered this day an account of the estate. Several persons not having made payment, the trustees asked for a summons for them to appear at the next consultation day, which was granted. The council ordered an advertisement published calling in all bank bills, so that account might be made up. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The council deferred its decision on the cattle until Ryder specified their kinds, the value of stock turning on whether the beasts were cows, bullocks, heifers or oxen, while accepting the hogs at the standard rate. This shows the care taken in valuing payment in kind, the Company unwilling to take cattle blind but content to absorb hogs at a fixed price, each class of animal carrying its own worth in the transfer books. Ryder's release from the care of Free's effects, the same charge confirmed only two days earlier when he was directed to mark and sell the Swanley Valley hogs, passed the management of the seized estate back to the council, which advertised the Griffith orphans' land for letting. The estate's affairs join the long sequence of the Griffith orphans and Thomas Free, settled at the consultation of 15 November 1720 when Free's estate was sold and the children taken under the council's care. The Swallow estate was administered as a trust for creditors and dependants together, the three appointed men charged to sell the property, pay the Company and other creditors, and maintain the orphans, an old woman and a mulatto boy from the proceeds. The summons against defaulting debtors and the calling-in of bank bills both served the same end of bringing the estate's scattered assets to account. The bank bills were the island's local paper currency, periodically recalled so the issue could be reckoned and balanced, a recurring measure last ordered at the consultation of 19 February 1716 when the storekeeper was directed to make out bills to Abraham Melando for the gathered bank bills. | |
256 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 5 day of December 1721 at Union Castle in James Valley John Alexander Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] John Goodwin Edw[d] Byfeild [...] The Last Consultation read and Approved The Severall persons sumond according to y[e] order of last Consultation appeard this day in order to make Payment to Richard Swallows Estate The Widow Swallow the Sume of sixty three pounds twelve Shillings and a penny She promised to make payment as soon as possible and desired the house might be sold in which she has one third part John Hanson the Sume of Seven pounds four Shillings & six pence He says he is not able to make payment Yet but will as Soon as he can Raise money Josp[h] Whalley the Sume of Seven pounds fourteen Shillings and nine pence He owns the debt and promises payment as Soon as he is able John Myers the Sum of two pounds ten Shillings He Says he gave Rich Swallow a Bill for three pounds and since that another for four pounds both which has been paid and never had any dealings with him since the payment of the four pounds, and no acco[t] Appearing any where that the said Myers stands indebted he is therefore discharged John Pypher the Sum of one pound three Shillings He Margin Notes: Sev[ll] persons Appeard that stood Indebted to R[d] Swallows Decd Estate the Wid[ow] Jn[o] Hanson Jos[h] Whaley Jn[o] Myers Jn[o] Pypher | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 5 December 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The several persons summoned under the order of the previous consultation appeared this day to make payment to Richard Swallow's estate. The widow Swallow owed the sum of £63 12s 1d. She promised to pay as soon as possible, and asked that the house, in which she held a third part, be sold. John Hanson owed £7 4s 6d. He said he was not able to pay yet, but would as soon as he could raise the money. Joseph Whaley owed £7 14s 9d. He acknowledged the debt and promised payment as soon as he was able. John Myers was charged with £2 10s 0d. He said he had given Richard Swallow a bill for £3 0s 0d and afterwards another for £4 0s 0d, both of which had been paid. He had had no dealings with Swallow since paying the £4 0s 0d, and no account appearing anywhere that Myers stood indebted, he was discharged. John Pypher owed £1 3s 0d. [...] Interpretations The consultation records the trustees' recovery effort against the debtors of Richard Swallow's estate, each summoned person examined in turn and his debt either acknowledged, deferred or discharged. This shows the council acting as the forum in which a deceased man's outstanding credits were called in for the benefit of the estate, the creditors and the dependants it supported, the three appointed men having been charged at the consultation of 23 November 1721 to gather the assets and provide for Swallow's orphans, an old woman and a mulatto boy. Myers's discharge turned on the absence of any surviving record of the debt, the council declining to enforce a charge that no account anywhere supported once Myers showed his two bills had been paid. This reflects the evidentiary weakness of an estate's claims when the bookkeeping was incomplete, the same difficulty that had let John Myers escape and that ran through the autumn's reckoning of the disordered Company accounts. The widow Swallow's request to sell the house in which she held a third part shows the partial interests that complicated the realisation of island property, her dower share standing against the estate's need to convert the whole for payment of debts. | |
257 | Dec[r] He owns the Debt and says he will pay it Ordrd he pay it by this day Sennight George Lindsey the Sume of two pounds ten Shillings and one penny halfpenny for Dyett He owns the Debt and says he is willing to pay it John How three shaillings which he owns and promises to pay Benjamin Greentree planter desired to have an Order for the writings his mother Swallow Refuses to deliver him for the Land he lately bought at our Cry Ordrd she Deliver them Accordingly to y[e] s[d] P[?] Greentree M[r] French the Gunner brought in his Accompt of Stores Expended in the month of Nob[r] last which was Examined Approved of and is as follows Island St Helena at a Revue Guns 7 Nob[r] 9 1721 For y[e] Anniversary of y[e] King[s] Birth day D Cords 21 Lanthers 1 Falkines 4 Powder 16 39 D[o] Departed the Drake Store Shipe from 11 11 5 Guns fired 21 1 4 16 39 Deliverd the Gaurd 8 Musquett Rodes 12 Cattridge Paper 9 nine 2 Flints 50 Match 7 lb Totall 7 50 2 12 53 2 8 32 104 John French Margin Notes: Geo Linsey Jn[o] How Ben Greentree desires an Ord[r] for y[e] delivery of Writings M[r] Swallow to Deliv[r] y[m] Gun[rs] Acc[o] for Nob[r] | The examination of Richard Swallow's debtors continued. John Pypher acknowledged his debt of £1 3s 0d and said he would pay it within a week. George Lindsey owed £2 10s 1½d for diet. He acknowledged the debt and said he was willing to pay it. John How owed 3s. He acknowledged it and promised payment. Benjamin Greentree, planter, asked for an order for the deeds to the land he had lately bought at public auction. His mother, the widow Swallow, refused to deliver them. The council ordered that she deliver them to Greentree accordingly. Mr French the gunner brought in his account of stores expended during November. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows, reckoned across guns, demi-culverins, leaguers, falconets and powder. At a review: 7 [...] For the anniversary of King William's birthday: 21 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 leaguers, 16 falconets, 39 [...] of powder Departed the Drake store ship from England: 11 guns and 11 [...] of powder 5 December, guns fired: 21 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 leaguers, 16 falconets, 39 [...] of powder Delivered the guard: 8 [...] Musket rounds: 12 Cartridge paper: 2 quire Flints: 50 Match: 7 pounds Total: 7 guns, 50 [...], 2 [...], 12 [...], 53 [...], 2 [...], 8 [...], 32 [...], 104 [...] Signed by John French. Interpretations The closing debtor entries complete the trustees' recovery for Richard Swallow's estate, the smaller sums acknowledged and deferred in the same manner as the larger ones examined at the consultation of 5 December 1721. Greentree's application over the deeds exposes a family obstruction to a completed sale, the widow Swallow holding the writings to land her own son had bought at auction and refusing to hand them over, the council ordering delivery so the purchaser's title could be perfected. The widow is the same Margaret Swallow whose interest in the estate runs through the Burnham insolvency, she having petitioned with the executors at the consultation of 25 August 1719 for leave to sell the whole estate to meet its debts. The gunner's account records the powder and ordnance stores spent in the month, the issues marked by the ceremonial and signal firing that punctuated the garrison's calendar. The salute of 21 guns for the anniversary of King William's birthday on 4 November shows the island keeping the Hanoverian succession's commemorative days, the same honours repeated on 5 December for the arrival of shipping. The Drake appears here as a store ship out of England, the vessel that had carried the directors' general letter of 31 May 1721 restoring Joseph Ormston to council and the accountant's office. Several column headings and figures in the totals line are illegible or ambiguous, the units against the grand totals not recoverable with confidence and marked accordingly rather than guessed. The gunner John French is the restored master gunner, reinstated to his office and his inventory of the magazine taken in the summer of 1721. | |
258 | M[r] Wood appeard at y[e] Complaint of Richard Long for not paying him his wifes fortune one of the Daughters of Samuell Desfountain whose widdow he married M[r] Wood sayes he never denyed Payment he has from time to time lett him have Cattle and money to about the amount of forty pounds and that as her fortune was left in stock he is ready to pay him the Remainder in stock M[r] Ryder Appeard to give an Answer what the particu- lar Species of the Cattle he offerd in his petition the last Consultation viz[t] ten Bullocks six Cowes three Heifers one young Bull, Ordrd that James Vaughn do goe and see them The Petition of John Harding Island St Helena To the Worship[ll] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] & Council The Humble Petition of John Harding planter most Humbly Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner did some time since Petition Your worship and Council for leave to dispose of about 13 Acres of Leased land that he lately purchased of the widdow Swallow to mathew Mudge who having since Recanted his Bargaine Giles Hayes has been Treating with Your Petitioner for the same wherefore Humbly prays the said Giles Hayes may be admitted Margin Notes: M[r] Wood Appeard at y[e] Complaint of Long and sayes he is Ready to pay him his wifes part the Species of y[e] Cattle offerd by M[r] Ryder Vaughn to view y[m] Jn[o] Harding prays leave to dispose of ab[o] 13 Acres of Leasd Land | Mr Wood appeared on the complaint of Richard Long, who charged him with not paying his wife's fortune. She was one of the daughters of Samuel Desfountain, whose widow Wood had married. Wood said he had never denied payment. He had from time to time let Long have cattle and money to about the value of £40 0s 0d, which was the amount of the wife's fortune. Since that fortune had been left in stock, he was ready to pay Long the remainder in stock. Mr Ryder appeared to answer what particular kinds of cattle he had offered in his petition at the previous consultation. They were 10 bullocks, 6 cows, 3 heifers and 1 young bull. The council ordered that James Vaughan go and see them. The petition of John Harding, planter, was addressed to Governor Johnson and the council. It set out that Harding had some time before asked the council for leave to dispose of about 13 acres of leased land, which he had lately bought from the widow Swallow. The land had passed to Matthew Mudge, who had since gone back on his bargain. Giles Hays had since been treating with Harding for the same parcel, and Harding asked that Hays be admitted [...] Interpretations The Wood complaint shows a marriage fortune pursued through the council, the £40 0s 0d settled on Desfountain's daughter being claimed by her husband Richard Long against Wood, who had married the daughter's mother and held the stock in which the fortune lay. Wood's answer that he was ready to pay the remainder in stock reflects the island's reliance on cattle and goods in place of coin, a fortune left in livestock being discharged in livestock rather than money. The dispute turns on accounting for what had already passed between the parties against the fixed value of the settlement. Ryder's specification of his cattle answers the council's deferral at the consultation of 23 November 1721, when it declined to value his offered beasts until he stated their kinds. The breakdown into bullocks, cows, heifers and a young bull let the council assess the herd's worth against Ryder's debt, James Vaughan appointed to inspect and verify the animals before any acceptance, the same caution the council applied to all payment in kind. Harding's petition continues the disposal of leased land complicated by a buyer's withdrawal, Matthew Mudge having gone back on his purchase of the 13 acres, leaving Harding free to deal with Giles Hays instead. The land had come from the widow Swallow, whose estate and that of the late Thomas Burnham run together through the Burnham insolvency and the assembled freehold granted to Samuel Jephs from Burnham's and Jane Mudge's lands at the consultation of 19 January 1720. | |
259 | Dec[r] admitted to possess that peice of Land for the term of Ten years and to become Tennant to your Petitioner who will be Accountable to the Honb[le] Company for the Rent Due Annually And as in Duty bound ever Pray December 5 1721 John Harding The Gov[er] says that Giles Hayes had been Severall times with him for a grant of the Honb[le] Companys land Calld the sugar Cane Plantation and promised from time to time to bring in a Petition into Consultation at the same time has been treating in the manner above which we think is not a Handsome way of Treating about the Honb[le] Comp[s] Land and therefore dont think it proper to say any thing further to this Petition till Giles Hayes has Cleard himself M[r] Byfeild Reports that there is a Black boy born of Mary Joshuas wife, named Tom at the Plantation hous the 30 November Last Island St Helena By the Worship[ll] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] and Council An Advertizement Whereas Sundry Cash notes has been delivered out by Gov[er] Pyke and the then Councill to Severall persons as well Comanders and other officers belonging to Shiping as to the Inhabitants of the said Island or else has been paid to them as So much Cash, And we being at an Uncertainty how many Margin Notes: The Governours Answer to this Pet[n] a Black Boy born All Cash notes to be brought in | John Harding's petition closed. He asked that Giles Hays be admitted to hold the parcel of land for a term of ten years and become his tenant, accountable to the Company for the rent due each year. The petition was dated 5 December 1721 and signed by John Harding. Governor Johnson observed that Giles Hays had several times applied to him for a grant of the Company's land at the Sugar Cane plantation, promising from time to time to bring in a petition, while at the same time treating for land in the manner above. The Governor thought this no proper way of dealing over the Company's land, and so did not think it right to say anything further to Harding's petition until Hays had cleared himself. Mr Byfield reported that a black boy had been born of Mary, Joshua's wife, named Tom, at the plantation house on 30 November last. An advertisement was issued under the authority of Governor Johnson and the council. It recited that sundry cash notes had been delivered out by Governor Pyke and the council of his time to various persons, both commanders and other officers belonging to shipping and inhabitants of the island, or else had been paid to them as so much cash. The council being uncertain how many [...] remained outstanding, all such cash notes were to be brought in. Interpretations The Governor's refusal to act on Harding's petition exposes a disapproval of indirect dealing over the Company's land. Hays had been seeking a direct grant of the Sugar Cane plantation while simultaneously negotiating to take Harding's leased parcel, and Governor Johnson treated this double approach as an improper way of acquiring Company ground, requiring Hays to clear his conduct before the petition could advance. This reflects the council's concern to keep land disposal orderly and above board, the same guarding against engrossment and irregular acquisition that ran through the land-letting policy under Governor Pyke. The advertisement recalling the cash notes addresses the legacy of an earlier paper currency issued under the previous administration. Governor Pyke and his council had put out cash notes to ships' officers and inhabitants, or credited sums as cash, and the present council could not reckon how many were still in circulation. Calling them in let the Company account for its outstanding paper and close off a liability inherited from before, part of the wider drive to bring the disordered accounts up to date that occupied the council through 1721, distinct from the bank bills recalled by the separate order at the consultation of 23 November 1721. The birth of the boy Tom records the increase of the Company's slave stock, the children of the slave women counted and noted with the same care as the deaths, following the death of the four-month-old child Mercy at the Hutts recorded at the consultation of 22 November 1721. | |
260 | many has been deliverd out in the whole and thereby not able to make up the accompt of these said Cash notes in our Books These are therefore to Require all and every person and persons who has any Cash notes by them that they do bring the same In unto us on Tuesday the 5 of December next Ensuieing the date hereof which shall be Return'd to the owner: or Creditt given them for their amount, or any other Satisfaction made, as shall be desird our aim and intent herein being only to settle the acco[t] as above mentiond: wherefore a ready Complyance is here- unto Expected Dated the 24 of November 1721 and Signd by ord[r] of the Gov[er] and Council John Alexander M[r] Ryder Reported that there is now Remaining of M[r] Frees Estate the following Particulars viz[t] 18 Hoggs Young & Old besides 6 Piggs that he is Sure of, & some more Piggs not Certain how many 1 old p[r] of Stilliards 1 old Still 2 Cheese Stones 1 old Hen Coope 1 Grind Stone 1 Stone Bottle 6 fowles & Chickens 1 Duck Besides Yamins &c All in the Said M[r] Ryders Possesion M[r] Margin Notes: Particulars bro[t] in by M[r] Ryder of M[r] Frees Estate | The advertisement recalling the cash notes closed. So many had been delivered out in all that the council could not make up the account of them in its books. Every person holding any cash notes was required to bring them in on Tuesday 5 December next. Each note would then be returned to the owner, or credit given for its amount, or some other satisfaction made as the holder might wish. The council's only aim was to settle the account as set out, and ready compliance was expected. The advertisement was dated 24 November 1721 and signed by order of the Governor and council by John Alexander. Mr Ryder reported that the following items remained of Mr Free's estate. 18 hogs, young and old 6 pigs that he was sure of, with some further pigs not certain how many 1 old pair of billiards 1 old still 2 cheese stones 1 old hen coop 1 grindstone 1 stone bottle 6 fowls and chickens 1 duck besides the yams All of these stood in Ryder's possession. The record was signed by John Alexander. Interpretations The advertisement completes the recall of the cash notes issued under Governor Pyke, the council offering holders three forms of redemption, the note returned, credit entered for its value, or other satisfaction agreed, so the outstanding paper could be drawn back in and accounted. The inability to make up the account until the notes were surrendered shows the practical difficulty of tracking a paper currency once dispersed, the recall being the only means of fixing the total liability, part of the wider effort to bring the Company's books to a true state through 1721. Ryder's inventory of Free's effects gives a household catalogue of a seized estate, the strays and chattels he had been charged to mark and keep, the same care he sought release from at the consultation of 23 November 1721. The pair of billiards stands out as an item of leisure furniture, a billiard table being an unusual possession on a small remote island, while the still points to the private distilling of spirits and the cheese stones and grindstone to the ordinary equipment of a plantation household. The estate is that of Thomas Free, sold and its dependants provided for under the orders settled at the consultation of 15 November 1720, the residue of stock and goods still in hand and counted for the creditors' benefit. | |
261 | Dec[r] M[r] Byfeild brought in his Acco[t] of the Honble Comp[s] as live Stock and Expence for the Month of Nob[r] last, which was Examind and Approovd of Capt[n] Goodwin likewise brought in his Acco[t] of Store Goods Sold and Deliverd out in the month of Nob[r] which was also Examind and Approovd of M[r] Slaughter did likewise bring in and deliver the following Acco[t] of the Expence of the Generall Table for the said Month, which was Examind & Approovd of 30 Fowles at 18 each 2 5 10 Goats a[t] 10/ ead 5 562 Beef a[t] 25/ p C 7 6 64 Porke a[t] 1/6 p lb 6 12 37 Butter a[t] 1/2 p [...] 1 17 56 Eggs a[t] 1 4 64 Bottles of Milk 4 p Bottle 1 1 4 30 Days Greens 12 p day 1 10 42 Gall Arrack 6/4 p Gall 13 6 12 Bottles Port Wine 2/6 p Bottle 1 10 8 D[o] Madera Wine 1/ p Bottle 4 7 7 d[o] of Ale 1/3 8 9 120 Sugar 1/6 p lb 3 6 Sugar Candy 1/ 6 2 Gall Vinegar 4/ p Gall 8 27 Bread 1/3 p [...] 7 10½ 60 Flour 1/3 p lb 17 6 5 Tea 7/6 p lb 1 17 6 30 Soape 1/5 p lb 2 2 6 4 Ducks 18 ead 1 6 98 Veale 6 p lb 2 9 12 Peic English Beef 1/8 ead 18 6 D[o] Bengall Pork 1/ 9 3000 Lemmons 2/6 p 100 3 15 6 30 Bread more a[t] 1/3 p lb 7 6 Totall £ 57 6 11½ Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Signd p Willi[m] Slaughter Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: M[r] Byfeilds Acc[o] for Nob[r] Also Capt Goodwins Acc[o] Expence of y[e] Gen[l] Table for Nob[r] | Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expense for the month of November. The council examined and approved it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his account of store goods sold and delivered out during November. The council also examined and approved it. Mr Slaughter then brought in and delivered the following account of the expense of the general table for the same month. The council examined and approved it. 30 fowls at 18d each, £2 5s 0d 10 goats at 10s each, £5 0s 0d 562 beef at 25s per [...], £7 0s 6d 64 pork at 1s 6d per pound, £6 12s 0d 37 butter at 1s per pound, £1 17s 0d 56 eggs at 1s each, £0 4s 8d 64 bottles of milk at 4d per bottle, £1 1s 4d 30 days' greens at 12d per day, £1 10s 0d 42 gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £13 6s 0d 12 bottles port wine at 2s 6d per bottle, £1 10s 0d 8 madeira wine at 1s per bottle, £4 7s 0d 7 ale at 1s 3d, £0 8s 9d 120 sugar at 1s 6d per pound, £3 0s 0d 6 sugar candy at 1s, £0 6s 0d 2 gallons vinegar at 4s per gallon, £0 8s 0d 27 bread at 1s 3d per pound, £0 7s 10½d 60 flour at 1s 3d per pound, £0 17s 6d 5 tea at 7s 6d per pound, £1 17s 6d 30 soap at 1s 5d per pound, £2 2s 6d 4 ducks at 18d each, £0 6s 0d 98 veal at 6d per pound, £2 9s 0d 12 pieces English beef at 18d each, £0 18s 0d 6 pieces Bengal pork at 1s, £0 9s 0d 3,000 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £3 15s 6d 30 bread more at 1s 3d per pound, £0 7s 6d Total signed by William Slaughter, £57 6s 1½d The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The three accounts brought in together give the monthly reckoning of the Company's establishment, Byfield's live-stock book covering the plantations and herds, Goodwin's store account the goods sold from the warehouse, and Slaughter's table account the Governor's provisioning, each examined and passed in the same sitting. This routine of parallel monthly accounts shows the bookkeeping discipline restored after the long arrears, the chief overseer, the storekeeper and the steward each answerable for a separate branch of expenditure. The table account for November closes at £57 6s 1½d, below October's £80 2s 6d, the difference reflecting reduced quantities of the costliest lines, the arrack down from 54 to 42 gallons and the port wine from 60 bottles to 12. The same imported staples recur, arrack the largest single charge, with sugar candy appearing as a refined confection and veal listed alongside the salt English beef and Bengal pork. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. The unit against the 562 beef is not legible and is marked accordingly, the quantity most probably reckoned in pounds as with the butter, sugar and other commodities priced per pound. | |
262 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 12 day of Dec[r] 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approved of M[r] Byfeild Reports Pursuant to the Order of last Consultati- on that James Vaughn has been and Seen M[r] Ryders Cattle that he made an Offer of to Us But that the Honble Comp[a] in case of Missing the Seasons, would be overstockt they haveing at this time 251 head, which is as many as Possible the Pastures can keep a live in case of dry weather And Since the planters have a Generall Liberty to sell all Sorts of Provisions to the Shipping as Mentiond in the last General Lett[r] para the 18 We cannot take them of him Ordrd That the Secretary by Letter give M[r] Ryder Notice that he has Liberty to Dispose of them to Shipping or otherwise most to his Advantage Rende- ring the Creditt thereof to the Honble Company The following Petitions were presented Viz[t] The Petition of Giles Hayse Gunners Mate, Setting forth therein that he haveing a wife and family to Mainteine and being Destitute of any Lands to make Plantation on, Did some time Since Apply himself to the Govern[r] for a grant of that Peice of the Honble Comp[s] Margin Notes: M[r] Byfeilds Report ab[o] M[r] Cattle offerd by M[r] Ryder reasons why not bought all planters may sell Pro- visions to y[e] Shipping M[r] Ryder to have Notice he may sell his Cattle to best Advan- tage Rend[g] y[e] Cr[t] to y[e] Hon[ble] Co[a] Giles Hayse Petition | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Tuesday 12 December 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield reported, under the order of the previous consultation, that James Vaughan had been to see Mr Ryder's cattle. Vaughan found that Ryder had offered the council 11 head. The council declined to take them, since the Company already held 251 head, as many as the pastures could keep alive in dry weather should the seasons fail. The planters now had general leave to sell all kinds of provisions to the shipping under paragraph 18 of the last general letter, so the council could not take the cattle from Ryder. The council ordered the secretary to write to Ryder, telling him he was free to dispose of the cattle to the shipping or otherwise to his best advantage, and to render the credit of the proceeds to the Company. The following petitions were then presented. The petition of Giles Hays, gunner's mate, set out that he had a wife and family to maintain and no land of his own on which to make a plantation. He had some time before applied to Governor Johnson for a grant of a piece of the Company's land [...] Interpretations The council's refusal of Ryder's cattle turned on the limits of its own pasture and a change in the planters' selling rights. The Company already held 251 head, the most its grazing could carry through a failed dry season, so it had no room for more, while paragraph 18 of the directors' general letter had given the planters general liberty to sell provisions directly to the shipping. This removed the council's former role as the forced buyer of a debtor's stock, Ryder now directed to sell his cattle to the ships or otherwise and credit the proceeds, the Company taking the value through the books without taking the animals. The moderate climate of the island, subject to dry spells that thinned the herds, set the practical ceiling on what stock the Company could keep. The matter closes the deferred question of Ryder's payment in kind, raised at the consultation of 23 November 1721 and carried through the specification and inspection of the beasts, the council ultimately accepting none of the cattle and leaving Ryder to realise them himself. Hays's petition opens the same application Governor Johnson had treated with suspicion at the consultation of 5 December 1721, when he required Hays to clear his indirect dealing over Company land before any grant could proceed. The plea of a family to keep and no land of his own was the standard ground on which the landless sought grants of the Company's waste, the gunner's mate now bringing the formal petition the Governor had earlier said he must. | |
263 | Dec[r] with his Comp[s] as Land calld the Sugar Can Plantation Scituate in Sandy bay, But he haveing Since had an Offer made him by John Harding of about thirteen Acres of Leasd Land and three Acres of free land w[th] Some Provisions togeather and a House ready Built thereon was the more Will- ing to Embrace such an Advantagious an Offer much more than the five Acres calld the Sug[ar] Cane Plantation (as afores[d]) coud be in many Years But thro his Inadvertency did not Acquaint the Goo[er] therewith in the asks pardon manner he ought, And therefore Humbly asks Pardon for his fault Praying to be Allowed as Tennant under John Harding for the land Offerd him, which he hopes will be very much for the Good of his family Read &c Granted after being Checkt for his Unhandsome Treatment as Entire in Consultation of the 5 Inst[t] in John Hardings Petition Jonathan Higham Jun[r] Presented his Petition Setting forth That he haveing for Some years past been Imployed in the Honble Companys Service as a Stone Sitter and being now out of Such Imployment the said Work being now at an End Humbly prays to become Tennant for the said Honble Comp[a] for that 5 Acres of Land calld the Sugar Cane Plantation, which Joseph Coles Quitted when he went off the Island, and there being Some Yamins on the said Land is very Desirous to Buy them as they shall be Vallued or thought to be Worth Read &c Referd till next Consultation day and Ordered That the said Petitioner do then Attend that We may hear what he Margin Notes: Apology for Desiring to Rent y[e] Sug[ar] Cane plant[n] he formerly treating without offer- ing to his & desiring to be made Ten[t] to Harding Granted after Checkt Jon[a] Higham Pet[r] pray[g] y[e] 5 Acres of Sug[ar] Cane plant[n] & to Buy the Provisions Ord[r] to attend next Consult[n] day | Giles Hays's petition continued. The land he had sought was the Company's parcel called the Sugar Cane plantation in Sandy Bay. He had since had an offer from John Harding of about 13 acres of leased land and 3 acres of free land, together with some provisions and a house already built on it. Hays was the more willing to embrace so advantageous an offer, much better than the 5 acres of the Sugar Cane plantation could prove for many years. Through inadvertence he had not told Governor Johnson of this in the proper manner, and he asked pardon for his fault. He prayed to be admitted as tenant under John Harding for the land offered him, which he hoped would be very much for the good of his family. The council granted it, after he had been checked for his improper dealing, as recorded in the consultation of the fifth of this month, in John Harding's petition. Jonathan Higham junior presented his petition. He set out that he had for some years past been employed in the Company's service as a stone layer, and was now out of that employment, the work having ended. He asked to become tenant to the Company for the 5 acres of land called the Sugar Cane plantation, which Joseph Coles had quitted on leaving the island. There being some yams on the land, he was very willing to buy them at whatever value they should be thought worth. The council referred the matter to the next consultation day, and ordered Higham to attend then, so it might hear what [...] Interpretations Hays's grant resolves the irregular dealing Governor Johnson had refused to act on at the consultation of 5 December 1721, the council admitting Hays as Harding's tenant only after rebuking him for negotiating two parcels at once without disclosure. The 13 acres of leased land with 3 of freehold and a built house were the holding Harding had asked leave to dispose of after Matthew Mudge withdrew, so the two petitions close together, Hays taking the land Harding wished to let and abandoning his claim to the smaller Sugar Cane parcel. Higham's petition shows a skilled Company servant seeking land as his employment ended, the stone layer turning to a plantation tenancy when the works that had kept him were finished. The 5 acres he sought were the same Sugar Cane plantation Hays had given up, vacated by Joseph Coles on his departure for India, the parcel thus passing from one applicant to the next within a single sitting. Higham's offer to buy the standing yams at valuation reflects the standing practice of compensating the outgoing holder or the Company for crops already in the ground, the yams being the island's staple provision and a real asset attached to the land. | |
264 | he has further to Say, We thinking it not for his Advantage to grant his desire Island St Helena By the Worsh[p] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Govern[r] and Councill An Advertizem[t] Pursuant to Instructions sent Us from the Honble Comp[a] We hereby give Notice That on Tuesday the 2 of Jan[ry] 1721 a Consultation will be Held at the Plantation House, where all worke Accounts & all others will be Audited and Satisfaction made by Bank Bills for which upon Applycation to the Govern[r] any Person may have Either money or Bills on the Honble Company And all Such Persons as have been Allowed to Transfere Shall have Bank Bills for Such Sume as they would Transfere This is likewise to give further Notice to all Planters that find Dyett to any of the Garrison That at the Expiration of Each quarter they Shall receive a quarters diett money by Bank Bills to the Vallue as formerly, And that all Arrears over and above Such dyett money & other Necessaries Shall be paid to Each Souldier at the Expiration of Every year or other times, or times, as Shall be thought proper by the Gov[er] and Councille Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 6 day of Dec[r] 1721 & Signd p ord[r] of y[e] Gov[er] & Council Jn[o] Alexander Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: Reckoning day Appointed Bank Bills offerd for pay- m[t] & to be given out Instead of Transfers Sold[rs] diett money to be p[d] in Bills quarterly overplus due to y[e] Sold[rs] at Discretion | The reference to Higham's petition closed. The council thought it not to his advantage to grant his request. An advertisement was issued under the authority of Governor Johnson and the council. Following instructions sent from the Company, the council gave notice that a consultation would be held at the plantation house on Tuesday 2 January 1722. There all labour accounts and all others would be audited and satisfaction made by bank bills. On application to the Governor, any person might have either money or bills on the Company. Everyone who had been allowed to transfer would receive bank bills for whatever sum they wished to transfer. The advertisement gave further notice to all planters who supplied diet to any of the garrison. At the end of each quarter they would receive a quarter's diet money in bank bills to the value, as before. All arrears over and above such diet money, and other necessaries, would be paid to each soldier at the end of every year, or at such other times as the Governor and council thought proper. The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 6 December 1721 and signed by order of the Governor and council by John Alexander. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The advertisement sets a fixed audit day on which the Company's outstanding obligations would be discharged in its own paper currency, the labour accounts settled by bank bills and creditors offered the choice of money or bills. This formalises the redemption regime behind the recalls of paper already ordered, the bank bills serving as the medium in which wages, transfers and diet were paid, the holders able to convert their credits at the appointed reckoning. Following the directors' instructions ties the measure to the Company's drive to bring its accounts to a true state, the audit closing the year's labour reckoning under controlled conditions. The diet arrangement shows how the garrison was provisioned through the planters and paid in paper. Planters who fed soldiers were reimbursed quarterly in bank bills to the value of the diet supplied, while each soldier's arrears and other necessaries were settled annually, the timing left to the Governor's discretion. This structured the flow of credit between the Company, the planters and the garrison so that food, wages and paper money moved in a fixed cycle, the same diet-money mechanism long used to provision the soldiers from the island's own produce. | |
265 | Dec[r] Island St Helena At a Court Held According to the Adjournm[t] of the 16 of Nob[r] last on Thues- day the 14 of Dec[r] 1721 At the Sessions House in James Valley Near Union Castle Edward Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Pres[t] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Jn[o] Alexander [...] Jn[o] Goodwin [...] in Council Then the Court was opened According to the Usuall Manner, and those Persons Appointed for Jurors are as follows 1 Orlando Bagley foreman 2 Joshua Johnson 3 James Tovy 4 John French 5 Richard Beale 6 Francis Wrangham 7 Jonathan Doveton 8 Isaac Wood 9 William Seale 10 Sutton Beavch 11 Edmund Nichols 12 Stephen Lufkin Who were all Sworn John Long Plaintiff, and John Lacy Deffendent were Called and did Appear Then the Declaration of John Long planter Enterd in the Court Holden the 16 Nob[r] 1721 was read over The Deed of Gift wherein Mentiond was Produced in Court and read The Witnesses thereto John Alexander, Francis Frangham and Margin Notes: Jn[o] Long Plaint[ff] a[t] Jn[o] Lacy Defft a[t] Jn[o] Long Plaintiff Declared &c Deed of Gift read | A court was held at the sessions house in James Valley near Union Castle on Thursday 14 December 1721, under the adjournment of 16 November last. Governor Johnson sat as first in council, with Edward Byfield second, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The court was opened in the usual manner. The following persons were appointed as jurors. 1: Orlando Bagley, foreman 2: Joshua Johnson 3: James Vesey 4: John French 5: Richard Beale 6: Francis Wrangham 7: Jonathan Doveton 8: Isaac Wood 9: William Seale 10: Sutton Isaack 11: Edmund Nichols 12: Stephen Lufkin These were all sworn. John Long the plaintiff and John Lacy the defendant were called and appeared. The declaration of John Long, planter, entered at the court held on 16 November 1721, was then read over. The deed of gift mentioned in it was produced in court and read. The witnesses to it were John Alexander, Francis Funge [...] Interpretations The court resumes the cattle and money cause between Long and Lacy adjourned a month earlier at the court of 16 November 1721, the delay having turned on the illness of Lacy's wife Elizabeth, whose deed of gift of 2 March 1715 stood at the heart of the dispute. The reconvened bench reads back the original declaration and produces the deed itself, the document now examined in court rather than merely recited, with its subscribing witnesses identified to prove its execution. The jury is largely the same body empanelled at the November court, Orlando Bagley again foreman, the substitution of Sutton Isaack for the earlier Tom Seale being the only change in the twelve. This continuity in the panel across an adjourned cause reflects the small pool of substantial planters and officers from whom juries were drawn, the same names recurring through the island's trials, Bagley having served foreman at the trial of the slave Sultan on 14 April 1721 and at the public hearing of Thomas Free's complaints across October 1721. | |
266 | and John Long were called and Sworne Who Say they Saw M[r] Lacy Signe, Seal, and Deliver the Deed in Court Produced M[r] Lacy Says the Deed was Antidated, and that there was no Such Deed as This 2 of March Specifyed in John Longs Declaration M[r] Lacy being Sworn Says the Deed of Gift was made and Sigid the Sunday after Capt[n] Mashborne was Buried which was on the 5 day of Aprill Whereas the Deed of Gift bears date on the 2 of March before M[r] Tovey Sworn Says it was on Sunday when the Deed of Gift was Executed, and thinks twas the Sunday after Capt[n] Mashborne was Buried for it was done at her House Capt[n] Alexander and Frange Says they Believe it was on a Sunday when the Deed was Executed John Long Sayes that the 2 of March when the Deed was Executed was on a Wednsday M[r] Powell & Richard Gurling Sworne Saith that they Desird Charles Steward to take Care of the Heifer & Increase and to Mark them, and that if Tom Steward had livd, they should have Expected the whole Stock, & the fifty Pounds Charles Steward Sworne Says his Mother in law M[rs] Lacy Soone after the death of his father, desird him to make Choice of a Heifer out of Her Stock for his Brother Tom Steward and another Heifer for John Long Jun[r] and that he markt the Increase of the Heifer he had made Choice of for Thomas Steward of a Distinct marke for him the Said Thomas Steward M[rs] Margin Notes: Evidence all Sworne Exam[n] relating to the Deed of Gift M[r] Powell & Gurling Deposition about the 2 Heifers given by M[r] Lacy Cha Steward Deposition | The witnesses to the deed of gift, John Alexander, Francis Funge and John Long, were called and sworn. They said they saw Mrs Lacy sign, seal and deliver the deed, which was produced in court. Mr Lacy said the deed was antedated, and that there had been no deed of 2 March such as the one specified in John Long's declaration. Mrs Lacy, being sworn, said the deed of gift was made and signed on the Sunday after Captain Mashborne was buried, which was on 5 April. The deed bore the earlier date of 2 March. Mr Tovey, sworn, said it was on a Sunday when the deed was executed, and thought it was the Sunday after Captain Mashborne was buried, for it was done at his house. Captain Alexander and Funge said they believed it was on a Sunday when the deed was executed. John Long said that 2 March, when the deed was executed, fell on a Wednesday. Mr Powell and Richard Gurling, sworn, said they had asked Charles Steward to take care of the heifer and its increase, and to mark them. Had Thomas Steward lived, they would have looked for the whole stock and the £50 0s 0d. Charles Steward, sworn, said that soon after his father's death his mother-in-law, Mrs Lacy, had asked him to choose a heifer out of her stock for his brother Thomas Steward, and another heifer for John Long junior. He had marked the increase of the heifer chosen for Thomas Steward under a distinct mark for him. Interpretations The cause now turns on the true date of the deed of gift, the validity of the grant resting on when it was executed. Lacy alleged it was antedated, denying any deed of 2 March, while his own wife, the donor, swore it was made the Sunday after Captain Mashborne's burial on 5 April, more than a month after the date it carried. The conflict between the written date and the witnesses' recollection went to the heart of the instrument's good faith, an antedated deed being open to challenge as fraudulent, so the court took sworn evidence from every person present at the signing to fix the real occasion. The testimony divides on the kind of evidence each witness could give. The subscribing witnesses spoke to the act of signing at Mashborne's house on a Sunday, while Long produced the calendar point that 2 March 1715 fell on a Wednesday, not a Sunday, the discrepancy tending to confirm that the deed could not have been executed on the day it bore. Captain Mashborne's burial, the fixed event to which the witnesses anchored their memory, places the signing in early April 1715, Mashborne having died on 31 March 1715 after about three weeks' sickness. Powell and Gurling's evidence connects the gift to the Steward orphans' estate they administered, their expectation of the whole stock and the £50 0s 0d on Thomas Steward's survival showing the reversionary structure of the settlement, the same estate accounted for at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721. Charles Steward's account establishes the marking of the cattle under distinct brands, the mechanism by which the gifted heifers and their increase were kept separate and identifiable within the wider herd. | |
267 | Dec[r] M[rs] Shreve Sworne Saith that a little time after M[r] Steward dyed his widdow now M[rs] Lacy told Her this Depo: that her late Husband Steward Desird her to Consider his Child Tom, and that She intended to give him fifty Pounds & a Heifer, and in Case of his death She would give it to John Longs Son John M[rs] Long Sworne Saith that She heard her Sister now M[rs] Lacy tell Capt[n] Haswell before She was Married to him, She would give Thomas Steward her Son fifty Pounds & a Heifer with which he Seemd very well Satisfied and Sayed She might do what She pleasd in it The Gentlemen of the Jury widdrew (after the Severall Evidence were Sumend up) and Stayd about half an Houre Then returned their Verdict That they found for the Deffend[t] the Deed of Gift being Esteemd Void by its being Antidated and Executed in Such a Claudestine manner Ordered by the Court That M[r] Lacy do pay the Charges of the last Court And M[r] Long to pay the Charges of this Present Court Then the Court was Adjourned Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: M[rs] Shreve Deposition ab[o] y[e] 50 M[rs] Longs Deposition ab[o] y[e] same Jurys Verdict Plaintiff Cast | Mrs Shreeve, sworn, said that a little time after Mr Steward died, his widow, now Mrs Lacy, told her that her late husband Steward had asked her to provide for his child Tom. She intended to give him £50 0s 0d and a heifer, and should he die, she would give it to John Long's son John. Mrs Long, sworn, said she had heard her sister, now Mrs Lacy, tell Captain Haswell before she married him that she would give Thomas Steward her son £50 0s 0d and a heifer. He had seemed very well satisfied with this, and said she might do as she pleased in it. The jurors withdrew after the several pieces of evidence had been summed up. They stayed about half an hour, then returned their verdict. They found for the defendant, the deed of gift being void by reason of its being antedated and executed in such a secret manner. The court ordered that Mr Lacy pay the charges of the previous court, and that Mr Long pay the charges of the present court. The court was then adjourned. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The verdict struck down the deed of gift on the ground of antedating, the jury holding that an instrument carrying a false date and executed secretly could not stand. This resolves the cause against Long and the Steward children he represented, the reversionary settlement of the £50 0s 0d and the heifers failing not on its substance but on the manner of its making, the discrepancy between the written date of 2 March and the proven signing in early April 1715 fatal to the document. The decision shows the weight the court placed on the formal regularity of a deed, a defect in dating and delivery overriding the clear intention of the donor that every witness had confirmed. The women's testimony established the donor's purpose beyond doubt, Mrs Shreeve and Mrs Long both recalling the widow's settled intention to provide for her son Thomas and, failing him, for John Long's son. Mrs Long's account that Captain Haswell had approved the gift before marrying the widow bears on the central legal question decided at the earlier court of 16 November 1721, where Governor Johnson had ruled the claim sank into Haswell's general estate because the parties had relied on his security rather than enforce the gift in his lifetime. The division of costs reflects a measured apportionment of fault, Lacy charged with the previous court's expense for the adjournment his wife's absence had caused, and Long with the present court's, the losing party bearing the cost of the hearing he had brought. This split shows the court allocating the burden of delay and defeat separately, each side answering for the proceeding it had occasioned. | |
268 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 19 day of Dec[r] 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Proceedings of the last Court were read & Approov- ed of On fryday last the 15 Instant Arrived the Ship Sunderland Capt[n] Hutcheson Comander from Mocho M[r] Powell Presented two Bills of Sale Sigind by John Lacy & Elizabeth Lacy his wife One for 16 [...] Acres of free Land, and 4 Acres of Leased Land, & M[rs] Orchards life in 4 [...] Acres of free Land more which the said Eliz Lacy hath her life time in, now Sett & made Over to the Orphans of Charles Steward Deceased The other Bill of Sale is for 14 [...] Acres of Gumwood Land, two & half Acres of Cabbage tree Land and the half of two dwelling Houses which M[rs] Lacy had likewise her life in and sold to Charles Steward (Eldest Son of Charles Steward Dec[d] Desiring the said two Bills of Sale may be Registerd Granted and Ordered to be Registerd Accordingly Island St Helena By the Worsh[p] Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Govern[r] & Council An Advertizement This Margin Notes: two Bills of Sale Pre- sented by M[r] Powell for free & Leasd Land Eliz Lacy my[?] Life hath time & half of 2 Houses Desiring a Registry thereof | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 19 December 1721. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The proceedings of the previous court were read and approved. On Friday last, the fifteenth of this month, the ship Sunderland arrived, Captain Hutcheson commander, from Mocha. Mr Powell presented two bills of sale signed by John Lacy and Elizabeth Lacy his wife. The first was for 16½ acres of free land and 4 acres of leased land, together with Mrs Orchard's life interest in 4½ acres of free land more, which Elizabeth Lacy held for her own life and had now settled and made over to the orphans of Charles Steward, deceased. The second bill of sale was for 1½ acres of gumwood land, 2½ acres of cabbage tree land and the half of two dwelling houses, which Mrs Lacy likewise held for her life and had sold to Charles Steward, the eldest son of Charles Steward, deceased. The petitioners asked that the two bills of sale be registered. The council granted it and ordered them registered accordingly. An advertisement was issued under the authority of Governor Johnson and the council. [...] Interpretations The two bills of sale settle the Lacy land on the Steward children only weeks after the court voided the deed of gift made for the same family. Elizabeth Lacy, the donor whose antedated deed had failed at the court of 14 December 1721, here conveys her life interest in two blocks of land and a share of two houses to her late husband's orphans and eldest son, achieving by registered bills of sale what the defective deed could not. This shows the parties redrawing the failed gift as a clean conveyance, the property reaching the intended beneficiaries through instruments the council would recognise, the registration giving them the security the earlier deed lacked. The land is described by its tree cover, gumwood and cabbage tree ground denoting the indigenous wooded zones whose timber type marked elevation and soil quality, the distinction carrying real weight in valuing island holdings. The Charles Steward whose orphans and eldest son take the land is the deceased planter whose much-litigated estate runs through the record, accounted for at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721, the conveyances now folding the disputed cattle settlement into the wider provision for his children. The arrival of the Sunderland from Mocha marks the call of a Red Sea trader, Mocha on the Yemen coast being the principal source of the Company's coffee, the ship touching at the island on its homeward passage for refreshment. | |
269 | Dec[r] This is to give Publick Notice That all Planters & others are at Liberty to Dispose of what Stock & Provisions they Raise to any Shipping that Shall touch here Those that are Indebted to the Honble Comp[a] rendering Us the Creditt towards Lessening their Debts This to remaine in full force Untill We shall See cause to the Contrary by the Peoples abuseing or Misapplying this Indulgence hereby designd Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 15 day of Dec[r] 1721 And Sigud p Jn[o] Alexander Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 2 Day of Jan[ry] 1721 at Union Castle In James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approov[d] of We met this day and Settled Accompts with the French Ship Named the Triton That Arrived herein monday the 25 of Decem[r] last in the Evening from Mocho Margin Notes: Liberty given all planters to sell all sorts of provisions y[e] Cr[t] in y[e] y[e] Co[a] by those Indebted French Ship Arrival | The advertisement gave public notice that all planters and others were free to dispose of whatever stock and provisions they raised to any shipping that touched at the island. Those indebted to the Company were to render the council the credit towards reducing their debts. This liberty was to remain in full force until the council saw cause to the contrary, should the people abuse or misapply the indulgence now intended. The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 15 December 1721 and signed by John Alexander. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 2 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The council met this day and settled accounts with the French ship named the Triton, which had arrived on Monday 25 December last in the evening, from Mocha. [...] Interpretations The advertisement makes general and permanent the selling liberty already cited in particular cases, the planters now free to sell all stock and provisions to any visiting ship, with debtors required to credit the Company towards their debts. This formalises the change worked by paragraph 18 of the directors' general letter, which had removed the council's role as forced buyer of a debtor's goods, the same paragraph invoked at the consultation of 12 December 1721 when the council declined Ryder's cattle. The reservation of a power to withdraw the indulgence on abuse shows the council retaining control, the liberty held conditional on the planters not exploiting it against the Company's interest. The settlement of accounts with the French ship Triton records the controlled reception of a foreign vessel at the island, the visit reckoned and the charges for refreshment and supply settled before departure. French ships calling at St Helena were admitted on agreed terms of port, water and provisions, the same framework set out for earlier French callers, the Triton having come in from Mocha on the homeward coffee route like the English Sunderland noted four days earlier at the consultation of 19 December 1721. | |
270 | On the 22 of the last Month The Gov[er] Acquainted us that Van Oosten Belonging to the Accomptants office had the Day before brought him the Ballance of Every Per- sons Accompt to the 25 of Septemb[r] last in Order to be sent Home and that thereby it did Appear He had Given himself Creditt for the Last six months at £10 p Annum Sallary Notwithstanding In Consultation of the 14 day of Novemb[r] Upon his Petition for an Additi- on to his Sallary and to be Settled in M[r] Ormstons Station as Accomptant He was Calld in and told we could not But that upon his closer Application to Bussiness and better Behaviour for time to come there might be an oppertunity to give him Encouragement We went into the office, and found it appeard so in the Books and for his Notorious fraud In Entring more to his Creditt then was his Due we took Ten pounds off of his Accompt and Dismissd him from the Office Capt[n] Cason brought in Bank Bills to the Vallue of twenty five pounds which Sume he desired might be Added to the Eight Hundred Seventy five pounds Mentiond in the Consulta- tion of the 17 of Oct[r] last to be Lodged in the Honble Comp[s] hand at the comeing Interest pursuant to their 70 Par[a] as in their Generall Letter by the Drake in his favour Which We have received and Allowed of as we are further Directed in the 7 Par[a] of the said Letter Ordered That Capt[n] Goodwin Enter the same to his Account M[r] Margin Notes: Gov[er] Comp[t] ag[t] Vanosten for a fraud of 10 p Annum more y[n] he was Ever Allowed the p[r] [...] took from his Acc[o] & Dismiss[d] of Office £ 25 4[?] Bills bro[t] in by Capt Cason added to his 875 at Interest Ent[r] to his Acc[o] | Governor Johnson reported that on 22 December last Van Oosten, of the accountant's office, had the day before brought him the balance of every person's account to 25 September last, to be sent home. From this it appeared that Van Oosten had credited himself with the last six months' salary at £40 0s 0d per year, despite what had passed at the consultation of 14 November. On his petition there for an addition to his salary and to be settled in Mr Ormston's place as accountant, he had been called in and told the council could not grant it. He had then been told that on closer application to business and better conduct in future there might be an opportunity to encourage him. The council went into the office and found from the books that this was so. For his plain fraud in entering more to his credit than was due, the council took £10 0s 0d off his account and dismissed him from the office. Captain Cason brought in bank bills to the value of £25 0s 0d. He asked that the sum be added to the £875 0s 0d noted in the consultation of 17 October last, to be lodged in the Company's hand at the usual interest under paragraph 2 of the directors' general letter brought by the Drake in his favour. The council received and allowed it, as further directed by paragraph 7 of the letter. It ordered Captain Goodwin to enter the sum to Cason's account. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Van Oosten's dismissal closes the question of the accountant's office left hanging since his rejected petition at the consultation of 14 November 1721. Having been refused the post and Ormston's salary, he nonetheless entered the £40 0s 0d annual pay to his own credit in the very balance sent home, and the council, on finding the false entry in the books, penalised him £10 0s 0d and turned him out. This shows the bookkeeper's power to defraud through the accounts he kept, and the council's check upon it, the discovery coming precisely because the year's balance was being made up for transmission home, part of the wider drive to bring the records to a true state. The same Van Oosten had earlier been warned against negligence at the consultation of 27 September 1721 when his foul books were found so erased they had to be recopied. Cason's deposit illustrates the Company acting as banker to its departing servants, the £25 0s 0d in bank bills added to the £875 0s 0d already lodged and held at interest under the directors' express authority. Lieutenant Thomas Cason had long sought this arrangement, having served sixteen years and lost his family and sold his estate, his case ordered represented to the directors at the consultation of 12 January 1720 for want of any safe investment on the island. The general letter by the Drake now answered that representation, paragraphs 2 and 7 sanctioning the holding of his money at the common interest, the Drake being the ship that had brought the directors' letter of 31 May 1721 restoring Joseph Ormston to the accountant's office. | |
271 | Jan[ry] M[r] Byfeild desired he might have Bills of Exchange on the Honble Comp[s] for the Sum of Sixty Pound he haveing Creditt due to him in their Books of Accounts hire, Which was accordingly drawn & Sigind Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Memorand[m] Thus far hath been Copyd and Sent p Ship Sunderland Capt Will Hutchinson Comand[r] Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thursday the 4 day of Jan[ry] 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Pres[t] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approved of We mett this day in Order to the makeing up & Settling Accounts with Capt[n] William Hutchinson Comander of the Sunderland the Ballance discharged by Creditt on Edward Johnson Esq[r] M[r] Gabriel Powell desired he might have Bills of Exchange on the Honble Comp[s] for the Sume of One Hundred thirty one Pounds he haveing Creditt Due to him in their Books of Accounts here which was accordingly Granted and Sigind bearing date this day Indent Margin Notes: Bills of Exch[e] to M[r] Byfeild for 60 Capt Hutch- inson Acc[o] Settled Bills of Exch[e] granted M[r] Powell for £ 131 | Mr Byfield asked that he might have bills of exchange on the Company for the sum of £60 0s 0d, having that credit due to him in their books of account. The bills were drawn and signed accordingly. A memorandum recorded that the consultations thus far had been copied and sent by the ship Sunderland, Captain William Hutcheson commander. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Thursday 4 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The council met this day to make up and settle accounts with Captain William Hutcheson, commander of the Sunderland, the balance discharged by credit on Edward Johnson. Mr Gabriel Powell asked that he might have bills of exchange on the Company for the sum of £131 0s 0d, having that credit due to him in their books of account. The council granted it, and the bills were drawn and signed, dated this day. An indent [...] Interpretations The bills of exchange drawn for Byfield and Powell show how credit standing in the Company's island books was converted into instruments payable in England. A servant or planter with a balance in his favour could draw a bill on the Company, the paper transferring his island credit into a sterling claim realisable at home, the means by which money was effectively remitted off an island with no coin to export. Byfield drew here in his private capacity as a councillor with a personal balance, while Powell, the foremost landholder, drew the larger sum of £131 0s 0d against his own credit. The memorandum and the settlement with the Sunderland record the despatch of the consultation record home and the discharge of the ship's account before departure. The consultations were copied and sent by the Sunderland, the homeward Indiaman from Mocha noted arriving at the consultation of 19 December 1721, the vessel carrying both the council's proceedings and Captain Hutcheson's settled account, the balance met by credit on the Governor rather than coin. This routine shows the island's correspondence and accounting moving home on the same shipping that called for refreshment. | |
272 | Indent of Stores wanted on the Island St Helena Sent for per Ship Sunderland Brasiers Ware 2 dozen Tea Kettles Sorted 4 ditto Iron Snuffers 2 ditto Small Kettles from 1 to 2 & 3 Gallons Cuttlery Ware 12 doz Pockett knives & forks Sorted 6 d[o] Clasp Pruncing knives 10 d[o] Shoe knives 3 Setts Shoemakers Tooles 12 Gross Aul Blades Sorted 12 ditto Tacks d[o] Haberdashery Ware 10 fine Ounce thread Sorted 2 fine Flourishing thread 20 fine colided Browose 5 M[?] Large Needles 100 Twine 100 Shoe Thread [...] Gross Holland Tape Sorted 1 Gross Ferritting Sorted 6 doz Ivory Combs 1 Gross Galloon 1 Gross Thimbles for women Small 2 doz p[r] Sumes for Women 2 d[o] of Stayes 3 d[o] Bodice | An indent of stores wanted on the island of St Helena was drawn up, to be sent for by the ship Sunderland. Brazier's ware 2 dozen tea kettles, assorted 4 dozen iron snuffers 2 dozen small kettles, from 1 to 2 and 3 gallons Cutlery ware 12 dozen pocket knives and forks, assorted 6 dozen clasp pruning knives 10 dozen shoe knives 3 sets shoemaker's tools 12 gross awl blades, assorted 12 gross awl handles, assorted Haberdashery ware 10 pounds fine ounce thread, assorted 2 pounds fine flourishing thread 20 pounds fine coloured brown thread 5 thousand large needles 100 pounds twine 100 pounds shoe thread ½ gross Holland tape, assorted 1 gross ferreting, assorted 6 dozen ivory combs 1 gross galloon 1 gross thimbles for women, small 2 dozen pairs of stays for women 2 dozen pairs of stays 3 dozen bodices Interpretations The indent is the island's annual requisition of manufactured goods from England, the council ordering the stock the Company's store would sell to the garrison and inhabitants over the coming year. It illustrates the island's total dependence on imported manufactures, every metal tool, sewing material and article of clothing carried out by the Indiamen, the Sunderland taking the order home on her homeward passage. The goods are grouped by trade for the suppliers' convenience, brazier's ware, cutlery and haberdashery each forming a separate heading. Several of the listed wares would be unfamiliar to a modern reader. Brazier's ware meant goods of beaten brass and iron, here cooking kettles and the snuffers used to trim candle wicks. Ferreting was a narrow tape of cotton or silk used for binding and edging, and galloon a close-woven braid or ribbon for trimming garments and furnishings. Flourishing thread was a fine decorative thread for ornamental needlework, while ounce thread was sewing thread sold by weight. Stays were the stiffened bodices that shaped and supported women's dress, the bodices a related outer garment, both staple items of the period's clothing shipped ready-made. The requisition follows the audit and account-settling that occupied the council through the winter, the ordering of stores depending on a true reckoning of what the warehouse held, the storekeeper Captain Goodwin having reported the stores insecure and disordered at the consultation of 8 August 1721. | |
273 | Jan[ry] Hatts 2 doz fine Cloth Hatts for Men 5 ditto Ord[r] ditto 2 d[o] Ord[r] for Boys 1 d[o] fine d[o] Gold & Silver Trim for the 2 doz fine Hatts Hosiers Ware 28 fine Worsted very much wanted 300 p[r] Strong Ord[r] Stockings for Labouring people 100 p[r] fine Releeups for Men 50 p[r] fine Stockings for Women 100 p[r] Ord[r] ditto for d[o] 150 p[r] Youths Ord[r] d[o] Iron Mongers Ware 3 Doz Chaffing Dishes 2 D[o] Box Irons & Heaters 4 D[o] Stock Locks Sorted 3 D[o] Closett d[o] 6 D[o] Chest & Box d[o] 2 d[o] Till d[o] 1000 d[o] 4 Nayles at 2000 d[o] 6 d[o] 1000 d[o] 8 d[o] 2000 d[o] 10 d[o] 2000 d[o] 20 d[o] 200 Pick Axes from 5 to 7 ead 40 Double Headed Mauls from 15 to 25 ead 12 doz Small H Hinges 12 d[o] Dovetails 100 Shodd Shovels | The indent of stores continued. Hats 2 dozen fine cloth hats for men 5 dozen ordinary cloth hats for men 2 dozen ordinary hats for boys 1 dozen fine hats for boys Gold and silver trim for the 2 dozen fine hats Hosier's ware 28 pounds fine worsted, very much wanted 300 pairs strong ordinary stockings for labouring people 100 pairs fine roll-ups for men 500 pairs fine stockings for women 100 pairs ordinary stockings for women 150 pairs ordinary stockings for youths Ironmonger's ware 3 dozen chafing dishes 2 dozen box irons and heaters 4 dozen stock locks, assorted 3 dozen closet locks 6 dozen chest and box locks 2 dozen till locks 1,000 fourpenny nails 2,000 sixpenny nails 1,000 eightpenny nails 2,000 tenpenny nails 2,000 twentypenny nails 200 pickaxes, from 5 to 7 pounds each 40 double-headed mauls, from 15 to 25 pounds each 12 dozen small hinges 12 dozen dovetail hinges 100 shod shovels Interpretations The continued indent extends the island's annual requisition into clothing, hosiery and hardware, the order distinguishing grades of goods by the rank and use of those who would buy them. Fine cloth hats for men stand against ordinary ones, and fine stockings for women against the strong ordinary stockings ordered in bulk for labouring people, the store stocking each class of the island's population from the same shipment. The gold and silver trim ordered for the fine hats marks them as goods for the better sort, the trimming adding distinction to the dearer article. Several terms denote goods now unfamiliar. Worsted was a smooth woollen yarn spun from combed long-staple wool, used for knitting and weaving, here much wanted for stockings. Roll-ups were men's stockings rolled and gartered above the knee in the fashion of the day. Among the ironmonger's ware, box irons were hollow smoothing irons heated by a separate slug of metal called a heater slipped inside, chafing dishes were vessels holding burning coals to keep food warm at table, and stock locks were heavy wooden-cased locks for doors. The nails are ordered by the old penny sizes, the fourpenny to twentypenny denoting length rather than price, and the mauls were heavy two-headed hammers for driving wedges and stone work. The hardware reflects the island's continuing construction and stone work, the pickaxes, mauls and shovels supplying the fortification and building labour, while the locks of every size answer the insecurity of the Company's stores and buildings that the storekeeper had laid before the council at the consultation of 8 August 1721, when he reported boards sliced through and goods exposed where they might be taken. | |
274 | Tin Ware 5 doz Coffe Potts Sorted 6 d[o] Sauce Pans Sorted 3 d[o] Watering Potts 1 d[o] Party Pans 2 d[o] Lanthorns 4 d[o] Round & Square Puding Pans Sorted 3 d[o] Lamps Pewterers Ware 3 doz Porringers 6 d[o] Chamber Potts 4 d[o] Basons Sorted Plumbers Ware 1 Ton of Pigg Lead in Ingotts Fishing Tackling Double the quantity of Hooks & Lines sent by y[e] Drake N[o] 1 to 10, the other 4 N[o] being too Large Provisions viz[t] 20 Puncheons of Beef 5 Hogs[d] of Bread 20 Casks of Flower 2 Casks of Pease for the Gen[l] Table 100 Starch Shoes viz[t] 100 pair Womens Calves Shoes 50 p[r] Womens Spanish d[o] 100 p[r] of Boys & Girles | The indent of stores continued. Tin ware 5 dozen coffee pots, assorted 6 dozen sauce pans, assorted 3 dozen watering pots 1 dozen patty pans 2 dozen lanthorns 4 dozen round and square pudding pans, assorted 3 dozen lamps Pewterer's ware 3 dozen porringers 6 dozen chamber pots 4 dozen basins, assorted Plumber's ware 1 ton of pig lead in ingots Fishing tackle Double the quantity of hooks and lines sent by the Drake, marked number 1, the other 4 numbers being too large Provisions 20 puncheons of beef 5 hogsheads of bread 20 casks of flour 2 casks of peas for the general table 100 pounds starch Shoes 100 pairs women's calves' leather shoes 50 pairs women's Spanish leather shoes 100 pairs for boys and girls Interpretations The closing sections of the indent cover household tin and pewter, lead, fishing gear, salt provisions and footwear, completing the island's yearly order for goods it could not make. The fishing tackle entry shows the council learning from experience, doubling the order for the smaller number 1 hooks and lines that proved serviceable from the Drake's last supply and rejecting the four larger sizes as unsuitable, the gear feeding the boats that supplied the slaves at the plantations and fortifications. The Drake was the ship that had brought the directors' general letter of 31 May 1721. Several wares carry period-specific meaning. Tin ware here means goods of tinplate, thin iron sheet coated with tin, the watering pots being garden cans and the patty pans small moulds for baking individual pastries. Lanthorns were lanterns, the older spelling reflecting the horn panes once used in place of glass. Porringers were small bowls with handles for soup or porridge, and pig lead was lead cast in rough ingots for the plumber to melt and work, the metal used for piping, glazing bars and weights. Spanish leather was a fine tanned goatskin used for the better grade of shoe, set here against the commoner calves' leather. The provisions ordered show the garrison and the Governor's table still partly victualled from England despite the island's own cattle, the salt beef in puncheons and the bread in hogsheads supplementing local supply, while the peas reserved for the general table mark the distinction maintained between the Governor's provisioning and the common stores, the same table whose monthly expense the steward accounted at each consultation. | |
275 | Jan[ry] Stationary Ware 6 Legers of 3 quire ead of Royall Paper 6 Journals of 2 qu[ire] ead of d[o] 4 Books of 6 qu[ire] ead for Consultations 3 Blank d[o] of 3 qu[ire] ead for other Uses 6 Blank d[o] of 2 qu[ire] for Sundry Uses 2 Rheams of Post Paper 1 ditto of Demy Royall 1 ditto of Royall 1 Gett Redfish 5000 Good quills very much wanted 1 Doz Brazile Rulers [...] Rheam Blue Paper Turnary Ware 1 doz Hair Brooms 1 d[o] Scrubbing d[o] 1 d[o] Shoe ditto Woolen Goods 6 Peic fine Padusoll 50 p[r] Kersies of Cloth Coll[r] for the Blacks 40 p[r] Du Royes Timber &c 20 p[r] fir Timber of 18 & 20 foot Long for Girders 60 Beamfilts for Joice 40 Spars 100 Lifters 1000 Yellow Deals 500 foot of Plank for wharfing to repair the Crane 1000 Billetts for Pick Ax helves | The indent of stores continued. Stationery ware 6 ledgers of 3 quires each, of royal paper 6 journals of 2 quires each, of royal paper 4 books of 6 quires each, for consultations 3 blank books of 3 quires each, for other uses 6 blank books of 2 quires each, for sundry uses 2 reams of pot paper 1 ream of demy royal paper 1 ream of royal paper 1 [...] red fish 5,000 good quills, very much wanted 1 dozen Brazil rulers ½ ream blue paper Turnery ware 1 dozen hair brooms 1 dozen scrubbing brooms 1 dozen shoe brooms Woollen goods 6 pieces fine flannel 50 pairs kersey cloth, sorted for the slaves 10 pairs duroys Timber 20 pieces fir timber of 18 to 20 foot long, for girders 60 baulks for joists 40 spars 100 rafters 1,000 yellow deals 500 foot of plank for wharfing, to repair the crane 1,000 billets for pickaxe handles Interpretations The stationery order reveals the scale of record-keeping the island's administration required, the ledgers, journals and consultation books ordered in bulk, each ruled on royal paper of a fixed quire count, alongside the five thousand quills wanted to write them. This material underpinned the bookkeeping discipline pressed through 1721, the council answering the directors' demand for true accounts sent home, the consultation books being the very volumes in which these proceedings were entered. Paper grades were distinguished by sheet size, demy and royal being the larger and pot a smaller common writing paper, the Brazil rulers being ruling sticks of hard Brazil wood for lining the account pages. The woollen and timber lines serve the island's two standing needs of clothing its slaves and maintaining its works. Kersey was a coarse ribbed woollen cloth, cheap and hard-wearing, ordered here in quantity for the slaves' clothing, while duroy was a stout woollen stuff for outer garments. The timber order specifies fir for girders, baulks for joists and yellow deals, the sawn softwood boards imported because the island's own scarce wood was reserved and protected, the five hundred foot of plank wanted to repair the crane that the great surf had broken, reported at the consultation of 7 March 1717 as ruined and not to be repaired for less than 100 pounds. The provision for the slaves' clothing falls to the chief overseer's charge, the made-up garments having long been the responsibility of the storekeeper Captain Bazett under the order of the consultation of 7 January 1716, the raw kersey now indented to keep that supply furnished. | |
276 | Gunners Stores 12 Demy Cannon 6 Whole Culvering 10 12 Pounders 36 Demy Culvering 12 Sakers 10 Minion 30 Falcon With Field Carriages for ditto & two Setts of Wheels for Each Carriage 30 Ladles for ditto 100 Spunge Staves for d[o] 200 Tompeons for d[o] 12 Trommers for d[o] 100 Crows of Iron for d[o] 200 Hand Crow Leavers for d[o] 200 Spunge Heads for d[o] 100 Cases of Wood for Carthages for d[o] 2 Double Blocks w[th] Brass Sheves for Gyns 100 Parchment Skins 1000 Match 12 Tannd Hides 200 Sheep Skins 24 Basketts 6 Bouge Barrels 20 Rheams Cartridge Paper 6 Muscovy Lights 50 Powder Horns 100 Primeing Irons 100 Linstocks 50 Wires 24 Bitts 1000 Flints 200 Musquett Rodds 10 p[r] Red Bunting 10 d[o] White d[o] 20 Blew d[o] All very much wanted | The indent of stores continued. Gunner's stores 12 demi-cannon 6 whole culverins 10 twelve-pounders 36 demi-culverins 12 sakers 10 minions 30 falcons These ordered with field carriages for each, and two sets of wheels for each carriage 30 ladles for the guns 100 sponge staves for the guns 200 tampions for the guns 12 [...] for the guns 100 iron crows for the guns 200 hand crow levers for the guns 200 sponge heads for the guns 100 cases of wood for cartridges for the guns 2 double blocks with brass sheaves for guns 100 parchment skins 1,000 pounds match 12 tanned hides 200 sheep skins 24 baskets 6 budge barrels 20 reams cartridge paper 6 Muscovy lights 50 powder horns 100 priming irons 100 linstocks 50 wires 24 bits 1,000 flints 200 musket rods [...] dozen red bunting [...] dozen white 20 dozen blue, all very much wanted Interpretations The gunner's stores form the largest and most specialised part of the indent, the council ordering a complete train of ordnance and all its attendant equipment to maintain the island's defences. The guns are listed by descending weight of shot, from the heavy demi-cannon and culverins down through sakers and minions to the light falcons, each class throwing a smaller ball, the field carriages and spare wheels ordered so the lighter pieces could be moved between batteries. This wholesale requisition reflects the strategic importance of St Helena as a fortified refreshment station guarding the homeward route, the defence of the road being a recurring preoccupation, sharpened by the pirate reports and the management of the road as a defensive position at the consultation of 28 December 1720. Much of the equipment carries technical meaning particular to the period's gunnery. Tampions were wooden plugs stopping the muzzle against damp and spray, sponge staves and heads the rammers for cleaning and loading, and ladles the long scoops for charging a gun with loose powder. Linstocks were forked staves holding the lighted match to fire the piece, budge barrels small covered powder kegs for safe carriage to the guns, and Muscovy lights probably sheets of mica or isinglass used as transparent windows in lanterns near powder. The match was the slow-burning cord that carried fire to the touch hole, ordered here by the thousand pounds. The bunting in red, white and blue marks the ordering of signal and ensign flags, the coloured cloth made up into the colours flown over the forts and used to signal shipping, the same flag honours recorded in the gunner's monthly accounts. The whole order answers the standing concern for the magazine, the restored gunner John French having taken his inventory of it in the summer of 1721, the indent now furnishing the stores his account would track. | |
277 | Jan[ry] 1000 Wat of Nayles from 3 to 6 d[o] Coopers Tooles 1 Sett Smiths Indent 12 Rubbers 12 Hand files 6 doz of files Sorted 1 of Borax 6 Small Hand Vices Some Drill Bow Strings 6 Drill Boxes 6 doz of file handles 1 Standing Vice about 40 d[o] weight 1 Sledge Hammer about 8 d[o] d[o] 6 Hand Hammers Garrison Stores 60 Granadoes Coats w[th] 60 Caps 40 Plain ditto 100 Hatts 1 Gross Spare Naves for the Bayonetts long & deep then those Sent us by the Drake 50 Fire Arms with Bayonetts 100 Belts 50 Pouches 3 Drums w[th] Spare heads & Cord 200 p[r] White Stockings Such as Sent p the Drake Surgeons Medicines &c 50 Bolts Hollands Duck 200 Peic of Ticking for Bedds A List | The indent of stores continued. 1,000 pounds of nails, from 3 to 6 penny Cooper's tools, 1 set Smith's indent 12 rubbers 12 hand files 6 dozen files, assorted 1 pound of borax 6 small hand vices some drill bow strings 6 drill bows 6 dozen file handles 1 standing vice of about 40 pounds weight 1 sledge hammer of about 8 pounds weight 6 hand hammers Garrison stores 60 grenadier coats with 60 caps 40 plain coats with 40 caps 100 hats 1 gross spare blades for the bayonets, longer and deeper than those sent by the Drake 50 firearms with bayonets 100 belts 50 pouches 3 drums with spare heads and cords 200 pairs white stockings, such as were sent by the Drake Surgeon's medicines 50 bolts Holland duck 200 pieces of ticking for beds A list [...] Interpretations The garrison stores order clothes and arms the soldiers from England, the grenadier and plain coats with their caps, the firearms and bayonets, the drums and the belts furnishing a complete re-equipment of the company. The detail of the bayonet blades shows the council correcting a previous supply, ordering them longer and deeper than those the Drake had brought, just as the fishing hooks had been adjusted by experience of the last shipment. This practical refinement of repeat orders runs through the indent, the council shaping each year's requisition against the fitness of what came before, the Drake being the ship that carried the directors' general letter of 31 May 1721. The smith's indent supplies the tools to maintain the island's ironwork, the files, vices, drills and hammers equipping the forge on which the upkeep of guns, locks and fittings depended. A standing vice was a heavy bench vice fixed to a post, and the drill bows the simple tools that spun a drill bit by a cord wound round it, the bow strings ordered as the wearing part. Borax was used as a flux in soldering and brazing metal, a necessary consumable for the smith's finer joining work. The Holland duck and bedding ticking listed under the surgeon's medicines point to the equipping of the sick quarters as much as the supply of drugs, duck being a strong plain linen and ticking the stout striped fabric cased over flock or feathers to make mattresses. The provision answers the standing concern for the island's medical establishment, the surgeons' stores and discipline having been brought under close control after Cholmondley Cevill's theft from the medicinal stores, the daily medicine book ordered kept from the consultation of 29 August 1719. | |
278 | A List of the Present Eaters are Viz[t] The Govern[r] & Councill 4 Capt[n] & Ensigne 2 M[r] Hawkes & M[r] Wrangham 2 M[r] Houditch 1 Usually one or two Planters or their wives Sometimes more Some times fewer, but one time w[th] another Thee at least 2 In Shipping time the Comanders & Cheif Supra Cargoes almost Constantly, the other Gentlemen & Officers & Supra Cargoes of y[e] Note at least 5 John Bazell Marshall & Houshold Servants 7 On Sundays & Publick dayes Clerk, Schoolmaster, & Drummer when at the Plantation, the two Overseers, at least 4 Musick 1 Black Servants attending all Offices 14 In Shipping time the Coxswaine, & Some of the Boats Crew and Servants Attending their Masters 5 The Marshes & Gunners Mate on duty 2 On All Publick Occasions Uncertaine 49 Edw[d] Johnson Edward Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island | A list of the present eaters at the Company's table was set out. The Governor and council: 4 Captain and ensign: 2 Mr Hawkes and Mr Wrangham: 2 Mr Houlditch: 1 Usually one or two planters or their wives, sometimes more and sometimes fewer, but at least three at one time: 2 In shipping time the commanders and chief supercargoes almost constantly, and the other gentlemen and officers of passage of note, at least: 5 John Bazett, the marshal, and household servants: 7 On Sundays and public days the clerk, schoolmaster and drummer, and when at the plantation the two overseers, at least: 4 Music: 1 Black servants attending all offices: 14 In shipping time the coxswain and some of the boats' crews, and servants attending their masters: 5 The matross and gunner's mate on duty: 2 On all public occasions, uncertain: [...] Total: 49 The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The list reckons the standing charge on the Governor's table by counting every person regularly fed at the Company's cost, the total of 49 setting the scale against which the steward's monthly provisioning accounts were to be judged. This explains the size of the table expense recorded at each consultation, the household embracing not only the council and senior officers but the marshal, the servants, the musicians and the fourteen black servants attending the various offices, the whole establishment victualled from the same stores. The count formalises who had a claim on the table, distinguishing the constant eaters from those present only in shipping time. The fluctuation between ordinary and shipping seasons shapes the whole reckoning, the numbers swelling when ships lay in the road as commanders, supercargoes and passengers of note were entertained, along with the coxswain and boats' crews. This shows the island's role as a refreshment station built into its very housekeeping, the table expanding to receive the homeward shipping, the same surge in demand that lay behind the council's concern to keep the planters able to sell provisions to the ships. Supercargoes were the merchants aboard each Indiaman who managed the trading cargo, ranking among the principal guests at the Governor's board. The provision of music as a separate head, and its inclusion among the regular eaters, marks the maintenance of a small musical establishment for the Governor's table and for public occasions, a touch of ceremony kept up even on a remote station, the musician fed alongside the clerk, schoolmaster and drummer who attended on Sundays and public days. | |
279 | Jan[ry] Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thursday the 11 day of Jan[ry] 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approov[d] of This day We mett to adjust Accompts with the People for the last three months Ending the 25 of December On the 5 Instant Sailed the Sunderland in Company with the Triton the french Ship Mentiond in Consultati- on of the 2 of this month The Gunner brought in his Acco[t] for Dec[r] last which was Examind Approovd, and is as follows 1721 Dec[r] y[e] 6 Revue day in Exercifeing the Garrison Expend Guns Fale 7 ditto y[e] 15 An Alarme 4 4 4 D[o] 7 Arrived the Sunderland 9 9 9 D[o] 24 An Alarme 4 4 4 D[o] 25 An Alarme the Ships Standing to Windward 4 4 4 D[o] Arrived a french Ship Namd y[e] Triton 7 7 7 the Severall Guards Expence 10 Axelhead 8 Trucks 2 Spunge Staves 3 Sheep Skins 3 Cartridge Paper 3 Musquett Balls 6 Flints 25 Match 25 Tot 21 25 16 3 3 1 2 8 28 26 45 [...] | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Thursday 11 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The council met this day to adjust accounts with the people for the last three months, ending 25 December. On the fifth of this month the Sunderland sailed, in company with the Triton, the French ship noted in the consultation of 2 January. The gunner brought in his account for December. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows, reckoned across guns, falconets and powder. 5 December, a review day in exercising the garrison, expended: 7 [...] 15 December, an alarm: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder [...] December, arrived the Sunderland: 9 guns, 9 falconets, 9 [...] powder 24 December, an alarm: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder 25 December, an alarm, the ships standing to windward: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder 25 December, arrived a French ship named the Triton: 7 guns, 7 falconets, 7 [...] powder The several guards, expended: 10 [...] Axletrees: 8 Trucks: 2 Sponge staves: 3 Sheep skins: 3 Cartridge paper: 2 quire Musket balls: 3 Flints: 6 Match: 25 Total: 21 guns, 25 falconets, 16 [...], 3 [...], 3 [...], 1 [...], 2 [...], 8 [...], 28 [...], 28 [...], 26 [...], 45 pounds Interpretations The quarterly account adjustment shows the council settling its reckoning with the inhabitants for the three months to 25 December, the same year-end audit announced for payment in bank bills under the advertisement of the consultation of 12 December 1721. The departure of the Sunderland and the Triton together records the two ships, English and French, leaving in company, the homeward Indiaman and the French Mocha trader having both called for refreshment within days of each other. The gunner's account again records the powder spent on salutes and signals, the arrival of each ship and the repeated alarms answered by gunfire, the 21-gun honours marking the more important callers. The alarms of 15, 24 and 25 December, with the ships standing to windward, point to unidentified sail approaching the road and the garrison standing to its guns, the same defensive vigilance that had drawn the council to manage the road against strange shipping at the consultation of 28 December 1720. The grand totals line carries more figures than the visible column headings of guns, falconets and powder, the additional columns covering the axletrees, trucks, sponge staves, sheep skins, cartridge paper, musket balls, flints and match itemised below, each total inheriting the unit of the store it sums. Several of those units are not legible in the heading row and are marked accordingly, only the guns, the falconets and the closing 45 pounds of match being recoverable with confidence. The gunner is John French, the restored master gunner whose monthly accounts were entered through 1721. | |
280 | Transferrs Viz[t] Philip Slaughter Sold to Jn[o] Worrall for a quarters diett 1 16 Thomas Gardner Copy[d] to Thomas Allis for Ditto 1 16 Margaret M[c]Burninn Orphan haveing Creditt due Transferd to Isaac Wood for Severall Necessarys 9 9 Henry Mutton Mob[d] to Joseph Bates for a quarters diett 1 16 William Addis Sold to ditto for d[o] 1 16 Samuel Drifton Sold to Thomas Allis for D[o] 1 16 John French Sold to Stewards Orphans for ditto 1 13 John Martin Van Oosten to Jonath[n] Doveton for ditto 2 16 Thomas Swindle Sold 1 John Dixon Copy[d] 1 16 John Hubbard d[o] 2 10 Robert Wallington d[o] 3 William Wilkinson Sold 2 William Lee D[o] 1 16 George Livey Drumm[r] 2 4 Isaac Hugarson 1 16 Richard Crosbey 1 16 Francis Tunge 4 10 John Myus 1 16 John Whaley 1 16 Thomas Hayse 1 16 William Simpson 1 16 Thomas Easthope 1 16 Joseph Stapler 2 Edmund Bodley 1 17 John Orchard To ditto for diett To Gabriel Powell for Diett Richard | Several transfers were entered as follows. Philip Slaughter, soldier, to John Worral for a quarter's diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Gardner, corporal, to Thomas Allis for a quarter's diet, £1 16s 0d Margaret Burnham, orphan, having credit due, transferred to Isaac Wood for several necessaries, £9 9s 0d Henry Mutton, matross, to Joseph Bates for a quarter's diet, £1 16s 0d William Addis, soldier, to Joseph Bates for a quarter's diet, £1 16s 0d Samuel Dufton, soldier, to Thomas Allis for a quarter's diet, £1 16s 0d John French, soldier, to Steward's orphans for a quarter's diet, £1 13s 0d John Martin Van Oosten to Jonathan Doveton for a quarter's diet, £2 16s 0d Thomas Swindle, soldier, for diet, £1 0s 0d John Dixon, corporal, for diet, £1 16s 0d John Hubbard, corporal, for diet, £2 10s 0d Robert Wallington, corporal, for diet, £3 0s 0d William Wilkinson, soldier, for diet, £2 0s 0d William Lee, corporal, for diet, £1 16s 0d George Livesey, drummer, for diet, £2 4s 0d Isaac Fergusson, for diet, £1 16s 0d Richard Crosby, for diet, £1 16s 0d Francis Funge, for diet, £4 10s 0d John Myers, for diet, £1 16s 0d John Whaley, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Hays, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 16s 0d William Simpson, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Easthope, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 16s 0d Joseph Stapler, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £2 0s 0d Edmund Bodley, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 17s 0d John Orchard, to Richard [...] Interpretations The transfers record the quarterly settlement of the soldiers' diet through the Company's books, each man's diet charge moved from his account to the planter who had fed him. This is the bookkeeping side of the provisioning system the advertisement of the consultation of 12 December 1721 had set out, the planters reimbursed for feeding the garrison by a credit transferred in bank bills, the standard quarter's diet running to about £1 16s 0d a head. The entries show the flow of credit between soldier, Company and victualling planter, the diet money never passing in coin but discharged by these paper transfers at the year-end audit. The recurrence of Gabriel Powell as the recipient of a whole block of these diet credits marks him as a principal victualler of the garrison as well as the island's foremost landholder, several soldiers quartered and fed at his charge, their diet money assigned to him. Margaret Burnham's transfer stands apart from the diet entries, her credit as an orphan made over to Isaac Wood for necessaries, the larger sum of £9 9s 0d reflecting an accumulated balance drawn down rather than a single quarter's board, her interest tracing to the insolvent Burnham estate settled through the sale and provision ordered from the consultation of 25 August 1719. | |
281 | Jan[ry] Richard Ray 1 16 Jonathan Higham Jun[r] 3 8 Samuel Thornbrough 4 10 Richard Tinsley 3 John Aldridg 5 10 6 Andrew Bergue 9 13 To Gabriell Powell for Diett Arthur Bradley to Robert Gurling for diett 6 17 6 Church Wardens desired Thomas Watts might have for bringing up & Maintaining a Parish Child y[e] Sume of 20 Thomas Watts being in Creditt To Will[m] Seale 5 13 Ditto To Margarett Tovey 1 10 Ditto To Jn[o] Young 3 William Penny To John Young 15 Jonathan Higham Sen[r] to ditto 1 16 John Young To Benjamin Hawkes 3 William Penny to Martha Robinson for diett 1 12 John William Shyphz to Rich[d] Gurling for ditto 2 10 Michael Allen to ditto for ditto 2 Thomas Burnnum to Benj[a] Pledged for d[o] 1 16 Cus[m] of Custom to Ditto for 3 Alarms 15 Jonathan Higham Sen[r] to Bridgett Coles for diett 4 Joseph Whaley Jun[r] to Ditto for d[o] 3 11 Caleb Davis to ditto for d[o] 2 John Higham to ditto for d[o] 2 11 John Hauson to ditto for d[o] 2 11 Gilbert Sinwick to ditto for d[o] 2 6 Philip Slaughter to Sutton Isaack for ditto 1 16 John Hayse to ditto for d[o] 1 16 | The transfers continued. Richard Ray, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £1 16s 0d Jonathan Higham junior, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £3 8s 0d Samuel Thornbrough, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £4 10s 0d Richard Tinsley, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £3 0s 0d John Aldrick, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £5 10s 6d Andrew Bergue, to Gabriel Powell for diet, £9 13s 0d Arthur Bradley, to Robert Gurling for diet, £6 17s 6d The churchwardens asked that Thomas Watts might have, for bringing up and maintaining a parish child, the sum of £20 0s 0d Thomas Watts, being in credit, to William Seale, £5 13s 0d Thomas Watts, to Margaret Tovey, £1 10s 0d Thomas Watts, to John Young, £3 0s 0d William Penny, to John Young, £0 15s 0d Jonathan Higham senior, to John Young, £1 16s 0d John Young, to Benjamin Hawkes, £3 0s 0d William Penny, to Martha Robinson for diet, £1 12s 0d John William Pfyfer, to Richard Gurling for diet, £2 10s 0d Michael Allen, to Richard Gurling for diet, £2 0s 0d Thomas Burnham, to Benjamin Pledger for diet, £1 16s 0d Clerk of customs, to Benjamin Pledger for 3 alarms, £0 15s 0d Jonathan Higham senior, to Bridget Coles for diet, £4 0s 0d Joseph Whaley, to Bridget Coles for diet, £3 11s 0d Caleb Davis, to Bridget Coles for diet, £2 0s 0d John Higham, to Bridget Coles for diet, £2 11s 0d John Hanson, to Bridget Coles for diet, £2 11s 0d Gilbert Sinsnick, to Bridget Coles for diet, £2 6s 0d Philip Slaughter, to Sutton Isaack for diet, £1 16s 0d John Hays, to Sutton Isaack for diet, £1 16s 0d Interpretations The transfers continue the year-end settlement of diet credits, the same paper assignment of each soldier's board to the planter who fed him, run through the Company's books in place of any cash payment. The list shows the victualling of the garrison spread across many households, Gabriel Powell, Bridget Coles, Richard Gurling, John Young and Sutton Isaack each taking the diet money of several men, the planters effectively functioning as the island's boarding-keepers and reimbursed in bank bills at the audit. Bridget Coles appears prominently as a victualler, the widow administering her late husband's estate since the grant at the consultation of 4 July 1721 and now drawing diet credits for the men she boarded. The churchwardens' request for £20 0s 0d to Thomas Watts marks the parish's provision for a pauper child, the maintenance of a dependent infant charged to the parish funds and paid through the same transfer system. This shows the council administering poor relief alongside the garrison accounts, the cost of rearing a parish child met by a fixed allowance, the churchwardens being the elected officers responsible for the parish's charitable charges. Watts then assigned portions of his own credit onward to Seale, Margaret Tovey and Young, the paper passing from hand to hand to discharge debts down a chain without coin ever moving. The widow Margaret Tovey's appearance among the recipients connects to the intestate estate of the disgraced former secretary Antipas Tovey, his widow having taken administration at the consultation of 25 July 1721 to face his creditors, the small credit assigned to her here serving to meet some part of those claims. | |
282 | Henry Johnson to Benjamin Quarlee for diett 1 16 Thomas Clew to Bridgett Bazell for diett 6 Henry Coates to ditto for d[o] 1 4 Solomon Purling haveing Creditt to John Tcoates 13 6 Stephen Aldwart to ditto 6 Thomas Burnnum to ditto 6 Acco[t] of Custom for 3 Alarms to Joseph Stapler 15 Jonathan Higham Jun[r] to Samuel Price 12 John Higham to ditto 12 The Petition of John Martin Van Oosten was now Presented Setting forth therein That being Sensible of his many faults, he Humbly Acknowledges them and Especially that for w[ch] d[o] he was Discharged the Accomptants Office and knowing himself thro his ill behaviour, Unworthy of the Encouragem[t] he might otherwise been in Some hopes of and at this time in a Straveing Condition, Humbly Submitts to Our Clemency & goodness and that We would once more Restore him to his former Employ w[th] Assurances of his future Honesty & Diligence therein Endea- vour by his Deportment to regain the favour he has Justly lost and heartily asks Pardon & forgiveness for his too many faults hopeing for a grant of this his Humble request And &c Granted with a caution to Apply himself Close to the Business of the Office and to Act Honestly therein, & in every Respect better Behaviour then he had done M[r] Slaughter brought In and Deliverd an Account of the Expence of the General Table for the Month of December last, which was Examind, Approoved, and is as follows 23 fowles Margin Notes: Martin Van Oostens Petition upon Acknow[ledg] ing his fault & asking pardon & promises to amend admitted to his former Employ & Cautiond | The transfers continued. Henry Johnson, to Benjamin Eweele for diet, £1 16s 0d Thomas Clew, to Bridget Bazett for diet, £1 16s 0d Henry Coates, to Bridget Bazett for diet, £1 6s 0d Solomon Purling, having credit, to John Twaites, £13 6s 0d Stephen Stoddart, to John Twaites, £0 6s 0d Thomas Burnham, to John Twaites, £0 6s 0d Clerk of customs, for 3 alarms, to Joseph Stapler, £0 15s 0d Jonathan Higham junior, to Samuel Price, £0 12s 0d John Higham, to Samuel Price, £0 12s 0d The petition of John Martin Van Oosten was then presented. He set out that, being conscious of his many faults, he humbly acknowledged them, and especially that for which he had been dismissed from the accountant's office. Holding himself unworthy through his ill conduct of the encouragement he might otherwise have had, he was nonetheless in some hopes, and at this time in a poor condition. He submitted to the council's clemency and goodwill, asking that he be once more restored to his former employment, and promising by his future honesty and diligence to prove that he deserved to regain the favour he had justly lost. He asked pardon for his many faults and hoped for a grant of his request. The council granted it, on condition that he apply himself closely to the business of the office, act honestly in it, and in every respect conduct himself better than he had done. Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the general table for the month of December. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows. 23 fowls [...] Interpretations Van Oosten's restoration reverses his dismissal of only nine days earlier, the council readmitting to the accountant's office the man it had turned out at the consultation of 2 January 1722 for entering £40 0s 0d of salary to his own credit without authority. The reversal turned on his written submission and acknowledgement of the fraud, the council exacting a confession and a promise of better conduct as the price of mercy, the same pattern by which it had restored other disgraced servants on penitence. His plea of being in a poor condition reflects the dependence of a dismissed officer on the Company's favour, no other livelihood being open to him on the island. This closes the long uncertainty over the accountant's place, the office having passed through Antipas Tovey's neglect, Joseph Ormston's tenure and Van Oosten's misconduct across these years. The transfers complete the quarterly diet settlement, the assignment of soldiers' board to the victualling planters, the widow Bridget Bazett joining Powell, Coles and the others as a keeper of the garrison's men, her credits set against the diet of those she fed. Solomon Purling's larger transfer of £13 6s 0d marks an accumulated balance made over to John Twaites rather than a single quarter's diet, the paper credit passing to discharge a standing debt. | |
283 | Jan[ry] 28 fowles at 18 each 2 2 10 Goats 10/ ea 5 830 Beef 25/ p C 10 7 6 365 Porke 6 p 9 2 6 1 Sheep 1/4 ea 1 4 5 Roasting Pigs 5/ ea 1 5 6 Peices Salt Beef 1/6 p 9 6 Peices Salt Porke 1/6 p 9 40 Butter 1/ p lb 2 62 Bottles Milk 4 p Bottle 1 8 31 Dayes Greens 12 p Day 1 11 55 Gall Arrack 6/4 p Gall 17 8 4 13 Bottles Port Wine 2/6 p Bottle 1 12 6 90 Bottles Madera d[o] 1/ p Bottle 4 10 2 Bottles Sherry 2/6 p Bottle 5 8 Bottles Ale 1/3 d[o] 10 140 Sugar 6 p lb 3 10 6 Candy 1/ p lb 6 1 Quart Sweet Oyle 3/ p qut 3 1 Gall[on] Venegar 4 17 Bread 1/3 p lb 2 4 9 28 Flower 1/3 p lb 17 6 2 Tea 7/6 p lb 2 12 6 2 Pippins 1/2 p lb 2 30 Soaped 1/5 p lb 2 2 6 56 Eggs 1 ead 4 8 4900 Lemmons 2/6 p 100 6 2 6 18 Tamerind 4 p lb 5 4 6 Plumbs 6 p lb 3 14 Currants 6 p lb 7 20 Candles 6 p lb 5 p Will[m] Slaughter 183 6 3 | The steward's account of the expense of the general table for December continued. 28 fowls at 18d each, £2 2s 0d 10 goats at 10s each, £5 0s 0d 830 beef at 25s per [...], £10 7s 6d 365 pork at 1s 6d, £9 2s 6d 1 sheep at 1s 4d each, £1 4s 0d 5 roasting pigs at 5s each, £1 5s 0d 6 pieces salt beef at 1s 6d per [...], £0 9s 0d 6 pieces salt pork at 1s 6d per [...], £0 9s 0d 40 butter at 1s per pound, £2 0s 0d 62 bottles milk at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 8d 31 days' greens at 12d per day, £1 11s 0d 55 gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £17 8s 4d 13 bottles port wine at 2s 6d per bottle, £1 12s 6d 90 bottles madeira at 1s per bottle, £4 10s 0d 2 bottles sherry at 2s 6d per bottle, £0 5s 0d 8 bottles ale at 1s 3d, £0 10s 0d 140 sugar at 6d per pound, £3 10s 0d 6 candy at 1s per pound, £0 6s 0d 1 quart sweet oil at 3s per quart, £0 3s 0d 1 gallon vinegar, £0 4s 0d 170 bread at 1s 3d per pound, £2 4s 9d 29 flour at 3d per pound, £0 7s 6d 5 tea at 7s 6d per pound, £2 2s 6d 2 pippins at 12d per pound, £0 2s 0d 30 soap at 1s 5d per pound, £2 2s 6d 56 eggs at 1s each, £0 4s 8d 4,900 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £6 2s 6d 18 tamarind at 4d per pound, £0 5s 4d 6 plums at 1s per pound, £0 3s 0d 14 currants at 6d per pound, £0 7s 0d 20 candles at 6d per pound, £0 5s 0d Total, signed by William Slaughter, £83 6s 3d Interpretations The December table account closes the year's provisioning at £83 6s 3d, the highest of the three monthly accounts and reflecting the heavier consumption of the Christmas season, the arrack again the single largest line at 55 gallons and the madeira up sharply to 90 bottles. The roasting pigs, sherry and the dried fruits of tamarind, plums and currants mark the festive provisioning, set against the staple salt beef and pork that supplemented the fresh meat. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. Several items reflect the imported luxuries of the Governor's board. Tamarind was the sour pulp of an East Indian tree fruit, carried from the Company's Indian settlements and used to flavour drinks and dishes, while currants and plums were the dried vine fruits shipped from the Mediterranean for sweet cookery. Pippins were a keeping apple, the small quantity here an imported delicacy on an island that grew little orchard fruit, and sugar candy a refined crystallised confection. The lemons in great quantity were the island's own citrus, grown for the homeward shipping against scurvy and consumed at the table in season. The unit against the 830 beef and the salt provisions is not legible and is marked accordingly, the quantities most probably reckoned in pounds as with the butter, sugar and other commodities priced per pound. | |
284 | Pursuant to the Petition of Jonathan Higham Jun[r] Enterd in Consultation of the 12 of Dec[r] last the Sugar Cane Plantati- on therein Mentiond was Lett to him he Paying the Sume of thirty five Pounds for the Provisions Capt[n] Goodwin brought In his Account of Stores Sold and Deliverd out of the Stores in the Month of Dec[r] last which was Examind and Approoved of M[r] Byfeild brought In likewise his Acco[t] of the Honble Comp[s] live Stock, and Expence for the P[t] Month of Dec[r] last, which was Examind, Approovd of Edw[d] Johnson Edward Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 16 day of Jan[ry] 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approved of John Harding Planter brought and presented this day Severall Deeds of Sale for Lands &c desireing they might be Registerd, which he hath Purchased from time to time All without the time Limited by the Laws Therefore he was Advised to gett a Joint Petition Signed by each Party Margin Notes: Sug[ar] Cane Plantation lett to Jona Higham Jan 35 for y[e] Provis[ns] Cap[t] Goodwin Acc[o] for Dec[r] M[r] Byfeild Acc[o] for Dec[r] Approovd Jn[o] Harding presented Sev[ll] Bills of Sale for Lands Bill at being | Following the petition of Jonathan Higham junior, entered at the consultation of 12 December last, the Sugar Cane plantation mentioned in it was let to him. He was to pay the sum of £35 0s 0d for the provisions on it. Captain Goodwin brought in his account of stores sold and delivered out of the stores during December. The council examined and approved it. Mr Byfield likewise brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expense for December. The council examined and approved it. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Tuesday 16 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. John Harding, planter, brought in and presented this day several deeds of sale for lands, asking that they be registered. He had bought them from time to time, all outside the period allowed by law. He was therefore advised to obtain a joint petition signed by each party [...] Interpretations The grant of the Sugar Cane plantation to Higham closes the contest over the parcel that had run through the December sittings. The council had thought it not to his advantage at the consultation of 12 December 1721, but with Giles Hays having taken Harding's larger holding instead, the 5 acres fell to Higham, who now took them on paying £35 0s 0d for the standing crop. This payment for the provisions follows the practice of compensating for the yams and produce already in the ground, the outgoing value attached to the land settled in cash before the new tenant entered, the parcel having been vacated by Joseph Coles on his departure for India. Harding's deeds expose again the recurring failure to register land transfers within the month the law allowed, the same defect cured for Henry Francis, Powell and Wrangham at the consultation of 21 November 1721. The council's advice that Harding obtain a joint petition signed by each party shows the established route to retrospective validation, the seller's concurrence being the safeguard required before the council would confirm a late registration, the same procedure by which earlier lapsed conveyances had been put right. | |
285 | Jan[ry] being the Party from whome he made those Purchases testifying their desire that those Writings might be Registerd Notwith- standing his Default in not bringing them to be Registerd in Due time, and that no Advantage may be taken on Either Side, to be Presented to Us at the next Consultation Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 23 day of Jan[ry] 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approovd of Samuel Price was Sumoned at the Complaint of M[r] Wrangham for Refuseing to pay him fifty Shillings that he owd him Several years putting him off from time to time with only fair Promises & not makeing him the least Satis- faction, the Said Price appeard & owns the debt but alledges he is not able to make Payment at Present but if M[r] Wrangham will bear with him he is willing to worke it out at his Trade as Soon as Possible Upon which M[r] Wrangham Sayd if the Said Price would Promise now to make Shoes for him & his family as Margin Notes: M[r] Wrangham Complain[t] ag[t] Sam[l] Price for a debt Prices reply proposals | John Harding's matter closed. The joint petition was to be signed by each of the parties from whom he had made the purchases, testifying their wish that the deeds be registered notwithstanding his default in not bringing them in within the time allowed. This was so that no advantage might be taken on either side. The petition was to be presented at the next consultation. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Tuesday 23 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Samuel Price was summoned on the complaint of Mr Wrangham, who charged him with refusing to pay 50s owed to him for several years. Price had put him off from time to time with only fair promises and given him no satisfaction at all. Price appeared and acknowledged the debt, but said he was not able to pay it at present. Should Wrangham bear with him, he was willing to work it out at his trade as soon as possible. Wrangham then said that if Price would now promise to make shoes for him and his family [...] Interpretations The Harding matter sets out the safeguard the council required for retrospective registration, the concurrence of every seller testifying to the lapsed deeds. The joint petition signed by each party protected both buyer and seller against later challenge, ensuring no one could afterwards exploit the missed deadline, the same protective procedure applied to the conveyances confirmed for Francis, Powell and Wrangham at the consultation of 21 November 1721. The phrase that no advantage be taken on either side captures the council's concern that the cure not become a means of unsettling a completed bargain. The Price and Wrangham complaint shows a debt being discharged through skilled labour rather than money, the shoemaker Price proposing to work off his 50s by making shoes for his creditor's family. This reflects the island's chronic shortage of coin, a tradesman's debt settled in the produce of his own craft, the council serving as the forum in which such an arrangement was negotiated and recorded. Francis Wrangham was an established planter and fence contractor named through the record, here pursuing a small standing debt that the council helped resolve by converting it into a labour obligation. | |
286 | as often as they had Occasion he is willing then to try him a little longer which the Said Price very readily Promised to Comply with, and was Discharged Accordingly John Harding according to Order of the last Consul- tation brought in and deliverd this day the following Petition To &c That whereas the Subscribers hereunto held at Sundry times past, Sold Alienated and Sett over unto the Said John Harding of the P[t] Island planter Severall Parcells of Lands &c and had Sigid & delivered him Sundry Writings for the Same, and He haveing fully Satisfyed & Contented Each of them for the said Lands Do therefore, & the better to ascertain him his Title thereto, Humbly request the Said Sundry Writings made & deliver as aforesaid may be Registerd in form Notwithstanding the Limitted time in the Law for Registering all Bargains & Sales is Elapsd and that no Advantage may be taken on Either Side for Such a Neglect And &c Jan[ry] 23 1721 Joseph Bates John Young Rich Harding & Lidia Harding her Mark Ordered That all the Writings now produced by the Said John Harding & Sigud by the Severall persons Sub- scribed to the above Petition be Registered Accordingly Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island Margin Notes: to make paym[t] Jn[o] Harding presented the Joynt Petition of those who had Lately bought Land Praying a Registry thereof Ord[r] to be Regist[d] | The Price and Wrangham matter closed. As often as Wrangham had occasion, Price was willing to serve him, asking only a little longer to comply. Price readily promised to do so, and was discharged accordingly. John Harding, under the order of the previous consultation, brought in and delivered this day the following petition. It set out that the subscribers had at various times past sold and made over to Harding, planter, several parcels of land, and had signed and delivered him deeds for the same. Harding had fully satisfied and contented each of them for the lands, and they therefore asked, the better to confirm his title, that the deeds made and delivered to him be registered, notwithstanding that the period allowed by law for registering all bargains and sales had elapsed, so that no advantage might be taken on either side for the neglect. The petition was dated 23 January 1722 and signed by Joseph Bates, John Young, Richard Harding and Lydia Harding by her mark. The council ordered that all the deeds now produced by Harding, signed by the several persons subscribed to the petition, be registered accordingly. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The Harding petition completes the retrospective registration begun at the consultation of 16 January 1722, the sellers jointly testifying to their satisfied bargains so the late deeds could be confirmed. The instrument follows exactly the form the council had advised, every grantor subscribing his acknowledgement that he had been paid and wished the conveyance registered, the concurrence curing the missed deadline and protecting Harding's title. Lydia Harding's signature by mark shows a party unable to write subscribing in the accepted way, her mark carrying the same force as a signature. The discharge of Price on his renewed promise to serve Wrangham closes the small debt by a binding undertaking of future labour, the council accepting the shoemaker's word and a little more time in place of the 50s he could not pay. This shows the council's willingness to settle a petty obligation by securing performance rather than compelling payment a debtor lacked the means to make, the same practical accommodation it extended throughout to debtors who could offer labour or goods in place of coin. | |
287 | Jan[ry] Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 30 day of Jan[ry] 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approovd of The Docter brought in and Deliverd his Book of Medicines Expended Since the 28 Nob[r] last which was Examind and Approovd of M[r] Byfeild Reports that Ellin wife of Leo belonging to the fortifications was Deliverd of a Girle named Megg Since last Consultation day M[r] Powell made Complaint against M[r] Lacy for Putting him off from time to time and Refuseing to pay him fifty pound that he has owd him Some Considerable time the Said Lacy being hereupon Sumond & now Present Sayes he has an Acco[t] Depending with the Orphans of Charles Steward and haveing Some other mony Standing out that will become due in Aprill next will Settle Acco[ts] with M[r] Powell and make him Satisfaction therewith M[r] Slaughter brought In an Account of the Expence of the Generall Table for the P[t] present month of Jan[ry] which was Examind, Approoved, and is as follows 375 Beef Margin Notes: a girle borne this week M[r] Powells Complaint ag[t] M[r] Lacy for a debt of 50 M[r] Lacys proposalls to make paym[t] Gun[rs] Acc[o] Expence for Jan[ry] | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 30 January 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The doctor brought in and delivered his book of medicines expended since 23 November last. The council examined and approved it. Mr Byfield reported that Ellin, wife of Leo, belonging to the fortifications, had this week been delivered of a girl named Megg, since the previous consultation day. Mr Powell made a complaint against Mr Lacy for putting him off from time to time and refusing to pay him the 50s that he had owed for a considerable time. Lacy, being summoned and now present, said he had an account pending with the orphans of Charles Steward. Having some other money standing out that would become due in April next, he would then settle his account with Powell and satisfy him. Mr Slaughter brought in an account of the expense of the general table for January. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows. 375 beef [...] Interpretations The birth of the girl Megg to the slave couple Ellin and Leo records the increase of the Company's labour force, the children of the slaves at the fortifications counted and noted as Company stock, following the boy Tom born at the plantation house at the consultation of 5 December 1721 and the death of the infant Mercy at the Hutts at the consultation of 22 November 1721. The careful entry of each birth and death among the slaves reflects their standing as the Company's most valuable property and the close accounting kept of its rise and fall. Powell's complaint over the unpaid 50s connects to the cattle and money cause decided against Long at the court of 14 December 1721, Lacy now pressed by Powell for a small standing debt and pleading his pending account with the Steward orphans. Lacy's answer that money owed to him would fall due in April, with which he would satisfy Powell, shows a debtor deferring payment against expected receipts, the council recording the promise rather than compelling immediate settlement. The doctor's medicine book, brought in under the daily-record regime imposed after Cholmondley Cevill's theft from the medicinal stores from the consultation of 29 August 1719, continued in routine examination. | |
288 | 375 Beef at 25/ p C 4 13 9 152 Porke a[t] 6 p 3 16 10 Goats a[t] 10/ ead 5 2 Turkys a[t] 6 ea 12 13 fowles a[t] 1/6 ead 19 6 13 Ducks a[t] 1/6 ead 19 6 4 Eggs 1 ead 3 62 Bottles Milk 4 p Bottle 1 8 36 Butter 1/ p lb 1 16 31 Days Greens a[t] 1/ p day 1 11 40 Gallons Arrack a[t] 6/4 p Gall 12 13 4 13 Bottles Madera Wine a[t] 1/ p Bottle 6 11 9 Bottles Port d[o] 2/6 p [...] 1 2 6 3 ditto Sherry 2/6 p d[o] 7 6 9 ditto Ale 1/3 p d[o] 11 3 2 quarts Sweet Oyle 12/ p Gall 6 2 d[o] Vinegar 4/ p Gall 2 80 Sugar 1/6 p lb 2 6 Sugar Candy 1/ p lb 6 24 Soape 1/5 p lb 1 14 3 Tea 7/6 p lb 1 2 6 40 Flower 1/ p lb 10 90 Bread 1/3 p lb 1 2 6 12 p[r] Salt Beef 1/6 p 18 60 Tamarind 1/4 p 1 4 Currants 6 p lb 3 5 Plumbs 9 p lb 3 9 60 Candles 1/6 p 4 10 6 p[r] Salt Porke 1/6 p 9 Sigud p Will[m] Slaughter 56 4 2 Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island Margin Notes: the Sev[ll] Particulars | The steward's account of the expense of the general table for January continued. 375 beef at 25s per [...], £4 13s 9d 152 pork at 1s 6d per pound, £3 16s 0d 10 goats at 10s each, £5 0s 0d 2 turkeys at 6s each, £0 12s 0d 13 fowls at 1s 6d each, £0 19s 6d 13 ducks at 1s 6d each, £0 19s 6d 4 eggs at 1s each, £0 3s 5d 62 bottles milk at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 8d 36 butter at 1s per pound, £1 16s 0d 31 days' greens at 12d per day, £1 11s 0d 40 gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £12 13s 4d 13 bottles madeira wine at 1s per bottle, £6 11s 0d 9 bottles port at 2s 6d per bottle, £1 2s 6d 3 sherry at 2s 6d per bottle, £0 7s 6d 9 ale at 1s 3d, £0 11s 3d 2 quarts sweet oil at 12d per quart, £0 6s 0d 2 gallons vinegar at 4s per gallon, £0 8s 0d 80 sugar at 6d per pound, £2 0s 0d 6 sugar candy at 1s per pound, £0 6s 0d 24 bread at 1s per pound, £1 14s 0d 3 tea at 7s 6d per pound, £1 2s 6d 40 flour at 3d per pound, £0 10s 0d 90 bread at 3d per pound, £1 2s 6d 12 pieces salt beef at 1s 6d per piece, £0 18s 0d 60 tamarind at 4d per pound, £1 0s 0d 4 currants at 6d per pound, £0 3s 0d 5 plums at 9d per pound, £0 3s 9d 60 candles at 6d per pound, £4 10s 0d 6 pieces salt pork at 1s 6d per piece, £0 9s 0d Total, signed by William Slaughter, £56 4s 2d The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The January table account closes at £56 4s 2d, falling back from the December figure as the Christmas surplus passed, the arrack down to 40 gallons and the festive dried fruits and roasting pigs much reduced. The same imported staples recur, the arrack the largest single charge, with salt beef and pork supplementing the fresh meat and the madeira, port and sherry maintaining the wine supply of the Governor's board. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. The provisioning continues to mix the island's own produce with imported goods, the fresh beef, goats, fowls and greens drawn from local supply, while the wines, spirits, sugar, tea and dried fruits came out by the Indiamen. Tamarind appears again in quantity, the sour Indian fruit pulp carried from the Company's eastern settlements, alongside the currants and plums shipped from the Mediterranean for sweet cookery. The two turkeys mark a delicacy of the table, the birds raised on the island and counted as a superior provision. The unit against the 375 beef is not legible and is marked accordingly, the quantity most probably reckoned in pounds as with the butter, sugar and other commodities priced per pound. | |
289 | Feb[ry] Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Saturday the 3 day of Febuary 1721 At Union Castle in James Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Govern[r] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of On Wednsday the 31 of Jan[ry] last Arrived the Ship Aislabie Capt[n] Henry Wilson Comander from Mocha Out last from the Cape M[r] Byfeild brought In and Deliverd his Acco[t] of the Honble Comp[s] live Stock and Expence for the Month of Jan[ry] last, which was Examind and Approovd of Capt[n] Goodwin Likewise brought In and Deliverd his Acco[t] of Stores Sold and Deliverd out for the Same Month which was Also Examind and Approovd of We made up the Ship Aislabies Acco[t] and sent a Copy thereof in the Packett this day Seald up against the Sailing of the Said Ship Memorand[m] Thus far hath been Copyed out and sent Home p Ship Aislabie Capt[n] Henry Wilson Comander who Saild hence the 3 Feb[ry] 1721 Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: Aislabies Arrival M[r] Byfeilds Acc[o] for Jan[ry] also Capt Goodwin Acc[o] for Dec[r] Copy of Ship Aislabies Acc[o] sent home | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Saturday 3 February 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Wednesday 31 January last the ship Aislabie arrived, Captain Henry Wilson commander, from Mocha, but last from the Cape. Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his account of the Company's live stock and expense for January. The council examined and approved it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his account of stores sold and delivered out for the same month. The council also examined and approved it. The council made up the Aislabie's account and sent a copy of it home in the packet, sealed up this day against the ship's sailing. A memorandum recorded that the consultations thus far had been copied and sent home by the ship Aislabie, Captain Henry Wilson commander, who sailed on 3 February 1722. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The arrival and rapid despatch of the Aislabie shows the island's correspondence and accounting timed to the movement of the shipping, the council making up the ship's account and sealing a copy of the consultations into the homeward packet against her sailing the same day she was cleared. The Aislabie came in from Mocha by way of the Cape, another homeward trader on the Red Sea coffee route calling for refreshment, like the Sunderland and the French Triton that had touched and sailed in the preceding weeks. The settlement of the ship's account before departure follows the standing practice by which each visiting vessel's charges for refreshment and supply were reckoned and discharged, the balance carried home in bills or credit rather than coin. The memorandum recording the transmission of the consultation record marks the close of this run of proceedings sent home, the council's register moving home on the same shipping that supplied the island's only link with the directors, the bookkeeping and the correspondence travelling together in the sealed packet. | |
290 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 13 day of Feb[ry] 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of On Saturday the 3 Instant Saild hence the Ship Aislabie Capt[n] Henry Wilson Comander for England Yesterday We had an Alarm for one Ship, which passing by We Ordered our Boat to be Mand and Desired Capt[n] Goodwin to goe on Board & make Enquiry after the Honble Comp[s] Shiping, it was a Danish from the Cape in 15 days, on board a Dutch Genleman was Passenger told Captain Goodwin that he did goe Passenger in July last on Board one of the Honble Comp[s] Ships from Batavia to Maddrass called the Little King George Capt[n] William Warden Comander M[r] English and Tempest both well But M[r] Gainer the third Supra Cargoe was Dead, that they were halfe Loaden with Pepper, the Same Genleman Sayd that the Monmouth Capt[n] Kinmeist was Dispatched for England from Madrass on the 15 day of Sept[r] last whilst he was there, and that She had not been at the Cape The Docter brought In his Book of Medicines Ex- pended Since the 30 of Jan[ry] last which was Examind and Approovd of The Margin Notes: Ship Aislabie Departure a Danish Ship passd by Boat Sent on Board News of Some Engl[h] East Ind[a] Ships in India Docter Acc[o] for Feb[ry] | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 13 February 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Saturday the third of this month the ship Aislabie sailed, Captain Henry Wilson commander, for England. Yesterday the council had an alarm for a single ship passing by. It ordered the boat to be manned and asked Captain Goodwin to go on board and make enquiry after the Company's shipping. The ship proved to be a Dane from the Cape in 15 days. A Dutch gentleman aboard, a passenger, told Captain Goodwin that he had gone as passenger in July last on one of the Company's ships from Batavia to Madras, called the Little King George, Captain William Warden commander. Mr English and Tempest were both well, but Mr Garnier the third supercargo was dead. The ship was half loaded with pepper. The same gentleman said the Monmouth, Captain Kinneir, had been despatched for England from Madras on 15 September last, he being there at the time, and that she had not yet been at the Cape. The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended since 30 January last. The council examined and approved it. Interpretations The alarm and the boarding of the passing Dane illustrate the island's standing function as an intelligence post on the homeward route, the council manning its boat to question any passing sail for news of the Company's shipping. The Dutch passenger's report carried word of vessels and men across the eastern trade, the fate of the Little King George's supercargoes and the movement of the Monmouth reaching the directors only through such chance encounters in the road, the island gathering and relaying maritime intelligence that no other channel could supply. The defensive alarm and the enquiry went together, the same gunfire that warned the garrison serving also to bring the stranger to for questioning. The detail of the ships and their officers shows the close interest the council kept in the Company's eastern commerce, the loading of pepper, the death of a supercargo and the despatch of an Indiaman all noted for transmission home. Supercargoes were the merchants who managed each ship's trading cargo, their health and succession material to the Company's business, the report of Mr Garnier's death and the welfare of English and Tempest the kind of personnel news the directors relied on the island to forward. The doctor's medicine book continued under the daily-record regime imposed after the theft from the medicinal stores from the consultation of 29 August 1719. | |
291 | Feb[ry] The Gunner brought In and Deliverd his Acco[t] of Gunnirs Stores Expended in the month of Jan[ry] last which was Examind, Approovd & is as follows 1721 Jan[ry] y[e] 3 At the Vice Roy of Goa Entering the Castle Guns 21 Fale 4 16 27 d[o] y[e] 4 At his going on Board 21 4 16 27 d[o] y[e] 7 Departed the Sunderland for Engl[d] & the french Ship 9 9 9 d[o] y[e] 15 A Double Alarm for 2 Ships that passed by 6 6 6 d[o] y[e] 19 An Alarm for one Ship 4 4 4 d[o] y[e] 31 Arrived the Aislabie Capt[n] Wilson 9 9 9 Ditto Deliverd to Capt[n] Alexander 2 Deliverd to Thom Allis for Alarms 1 Expended on Exercise day last 7 Deliverd for the Guards 10 Musquett Balls 2 Musquett Rodds 18 Flints 24 Match 14 Tot 14 24 18 2 70 2 8 60 100½ The Petition of John Worrall Planter was presented Setting forth therein that He haveing formerly Purchased five Acres of free Land & about twelve Acres of Leased Land with a House & Plantation thereon of his Brother William Worrall desired a Warrant might be granted to the Surveyor for measureing the Same he not knowing the Boundaries thereof, And likewise for about Seven Acres of other Leased Land granted him about Seven Years Since, but has had no Lease & therefore prays he may Margin Notes: Gun[rs] Acc[o] for Jan[ry] Jn[o] Worrall desires a Warr[t] for the Surveying his Lands & desires a Lease for 7 years | The gunner brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended during January. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows, reckoned across guns, demi-culverins, sakers, falconets and powder. 3 January, at the viceroy of Goa's entering the castle: 21 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falconets, 27 [...] powder 4 January, at his going on board: 21 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 16 falconets, 27 [...] powder 5 January, departed the Sunderland for England, and the French ship: 9 guns, 9 falconets, 9 [...] powder 19 January, a double alarm for 2 ships that passed by: 6 guns, 6 falconets, 6 [...] powder 31 January, an alarm for one ship: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder 31 January, arrived the Aislabie, Captain Wilson: 9 guns, 9 falconets, 9 [...] powder Delivered to Captain Alexander: 2 [...] Delivered to Thomas Allis for alarms: 1 [...] Expended on exercise day last: 7 [...] Delivered for the guards: 10 [...] Musket balls: 2 Musket rods: 18 Flints: 24 Match: 14 Total: 14 guns, 24 [...], 18 [...], 2 [...], 70 [...], 2 [...], 8 [...], 60 [...], 100½ [...] The petition of John Worrall, planter, was presented. He set out that he had formerly bought 5 acres of free land and about 12 acres of leased land, with a house and plantation on it, from his brother William Worrall. He asked that a warrant be granted to the surveyor to measure the same, not knowing the boundaries. He also asked the like for about 7 acres of other leased land granted to him about seven years before, for which he had no lease, and therefore prayed that he might [...] Interpretations The gunner's account records the ceremonial honours paid to a distinguished foreign visitor, the viceroy of Goa, the head of Portuguese India, received with a 21-gun salute on entering the castle and again on his departure. This marks the island's diplomatic role on the eastern route, the full honours of state extended to so high a personage as the viceroy passing homeward, the same grade of salute reserved for the most important callers. The departures of the Sunderland and the French ship together, and the arrival of the Aislabie, are noted with their lesser salutes, alongside the alarms answered through the month. The double alarm of 19 January for two passing ships shows the garrison's continued vigilance against unidentified sail, the gunfire serving both to warn the island and to bring strangers to for enquiry, the same watchfulness that ran through the winter's alarms and the boarding of the passing Dane at the consultation of 13 February 1722. Worrall's petition seeks to regularise holdings whose bounds and tenure had never been formally fixed, the purchased land unmeasured and the older parcel held seven years without any lease. This illustrates the loose state of much island tenure, land occupied and bought without survey or written grant, the planter now seeking a surveyor's warrant to establish his boundaries and a lease to secure his title, the same want of formal registration that ran through the run of late-deed petitions of the winter. Several units in the totals line are not legible and are marked accordingly, the grand totals carrying more figures than the visible column headings, only the guns recoverable with confidence among them. The gunner is John French, the restored master gunner whose monthly accounts were entered through this period. | |
292 | may have one for the remainder of the term of twenty one years as usual And &c The Petitioner haveing formerly Petitiond about the Severall Parcells of Land now mentiond Ordered that the Orders of Council then made be Examined into, and they the Said Worrall to have his Answer John Long Planter presented this day the Last Will & Testament of William Postley Deceased (in march last) Desiring the Same might be prooved which was Accordingly done by the Oaths of Benja[m] Cleaverlee John Hodgkinson and Walter Morris Ordered That the Said Will now Produced be received and Approovd of Accordingly, and Enterd into a Book for that Purpose Van Oosten was calld to bring in the Books of Accounts, to See in what forwardness they were, the Ballances of the Last Year were Enterd in the new Books for 1721 He was Reprimanded for his Neglect of the Office and told that He had been Severall times before reprooved, but that if he did not behave himself better, it could no longer be borne, He promised to take a Parti- cular Care to mind the business Upon the Complaint of William Beale against Joseph Bates Corporal for Strikeing & abuseing him with ill Language, the Said Bates was Sumoned who now Appearing Says that M[r] Beale did Scandalize his Young Child (Since Dead) and Margin Notes: former Orders to be Lookt into & y[e] answer Will Postleys Will prooved Books of Acc[o] Examind Van Oosten reprimanded for neglect Will Beales Complt ag[t] Jos Bates | John Worrall's petition closed. He asked that he might have a lease for the remainder of the term of twenty-one years, as usual. Since the petitioner had earlier applied about the several parcels of land now mentioned, the council ordered that the orders of council then made be examined, and Worrall to have his answer afterwards. John Long, planter, presented this day the last will and testament of William Postley, deceased, made in March last, asking that it be proved. This was done by the oaths of Benjamin Cleverlee, John Hodgkinson and Walter Morris. The council ordered that the will now produced be received and approved, and entered into a book kept for that purpose. Van Oosten was called to bring in the books of account, so the council might see what state they were in. The balances of the last year had been entered in the new books for 1721. He was reprimanded for his neglect of the office and told that he had been reproved several times before, but that if he did not behave better it could no longer be borne. He promised to take particular care to mind the business. On the complaint of William Beale against Joseph Bates, corporal, for striking and abusing him with bad language, Bates was summoned. He now appeared and said that Beale had scandalised his young child, since dead [...] Interpretations Worrall's request for a lease on the standard twenty-one-year term shows the island's regular tenure for the Company's leased land, the planter seeking to convert his unsecured occupation into a proper holding. The council's referral to examine its earlier orders before answering reflects the care taken not to grant afresh what may already have been settled, the same caution against confused or doubled grants that ran through its land business. Van Oosten's fresh reprimand exposes the council's continuing struggle with the very accountant it had twice disciplined and once dismissed, the office still imperfectly kept despite his restoration at the consultation of 11 January 1722. The repeated warnings, each met with a promise of amendment, show the council bound to an unsatisfactory officer for want of any better, the bookkeeping on which the year's reckoning depended kept under constant pressure. The entry of the last year's balances in the new 1721 books marks the carrying forward of the accounts the council had laboured to bring to a true state. The proving of William Postley's will follows the standard probate procedure, the instrument established by the sworn oaths of three witnesses and entered in the register kept for wills, the council acting as the island's probate authority. Postley was the discharged marshal of earlier years, his will now proved and recorded. The Beale and Bates complaint opens a case of assault aggravated by the slander of a dead child, the corporal pleading provocation, the same Joseph Bates who had served as marshal and been disciplined for concealing a fugitive at the consultation of 16 September 1718. | |
293 | Feb[ry] and telling him of it, and asking him the Reason why he did So, they agreed to Meet up in the Valley to fight and that M[r] Beale went up first and he following after they went to Boxing and happend to gett the better But did after- wards Shake hands & were good friends Price was at the Said Beals owne Choice whether he cobuld meet Bates to fight him or to Refuse and not makeing any Compl[t] at the time Bates did abuse him We think he had no Cause of Complaint afterwards he haveing taken his owne Satisfaction and therefore we Advised them to be Reconcild to each other & to live friendly Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 20 day of Feb[ry] 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approoved of James Vaughn Acquainted Us that He had agreed with M[r] Doveton (who was Nominated by Thomas Leech to Vallue his Black men Slave named Frank, foe the Sume of twenty five Pound, which We Ordered him to do, He being the only fellow fit for the Service of the Long Boat, and will be of great Service to Margin Notes: cause of their quarrel admonished to live friendly & discharged Frank a Bl[k] bought for the use of y[e] Long Boat of Tho Leech | The Beale and Bates matter closed. Bates had told Beale of the slander against his dead child and asked him the reason he had done so. The two then agreed to meet in the valley to fight. Beale went up first and Bates followed after, and they went to boxing, Bates happening to get the better. Afterwards they made hands and were good friends. Beale had been at his own choice whether to meet Bates and fight him, or to refuse and make no complaint, at the time Bates abused him. The council held that he had no cause of complaint afterwards, having taken his own satisfaction. It therefore advised the two to be reconciled and to live as friends, and discharged the matter. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Tuesday 20 February 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. James Vaughan reported that he had agreed with Mr Doveton, who had been nominated by Thomas Leech to value his black man slave named Frank, for the sum of £25 0s 0d. The council ordered him to do so, Frank being the only fellow fit for the service of the long boat and of great service [...] Interpretations The council's handling of the Beale and Bates fight treats a settled quarrel as needing no further remedy, the two men having resolved their dispute by an agreed bout and then made peace. The reasoning that Beale had taken his own satisfaction by choosing to fight, and so could not afterwards complain, shows the council declining to punish a private brawl freely entered and already reconciled, the parties simply advised to remain friends. This reflects a pragmatic approach to minor violence among the inhabitants, the court conserving its authority for matters not settled between the parties themselves. The valuation of the slave Frank illustrates the formal appraisal by which slaves were priced for transfer or service, an independent valuer nominated to set the worth before the council acted. Frank's value of £25 0s 0d and his being the only man fit for the long boat show the premium placed on a skilled and able slave, the boat service feeding the slaves at the plantations and fortifications being essential work, the same fishery whose hazards and importance ran through the record. Thomas Leech, the owner, brought the slave forward for valuation under the council's order. | |
294 | Service to the Honble Comp[a], and save the Hire for the future We have been Oblige to give his Master for above this Year past Richard Beale made Complaint against John Long planter for Committing daily Trespasses on his Land that Joyns with the Said Longs by frequently throwing downe Walls and leaving Gaps his Cattle & Hoggs thereby getting into the Said Beals Pasture & doing daily Damage, and when he told him of it, the Said Long Sent his Black Immediatly to fetch Water out of the Said Beals Land tho he had forbid him Severall times; Upon which the Said Long was Sumoned & being now Present Says that he has fetcht Water there for Some time that the place where M[r] Beale Complains lies downe daily and is used by Severall People, as a foot way besides his After Severall debates on both Sides, Ordered That M[r] Powell, M[r] Wrangham & M[r] Ryder be Appointed and Desired to goe and View the Water and Water Course and also the Wall over which M[r] Long fetches Water, and to make their Report next Consultation day Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Rich Beale Complt ag[t] Jn[o] Long for Trespass persons Appointed to view y[e] Water Course &c & to make a Report | The valuation of the slave Frank closed. He would be of great service to the Company, and would save the hire the council had been obliged to pay his master for the past year and more. Richard Beale made a complaint against John Long, planter, for committing daily trespasses on his land, which adjoined Long's. Long frequently threw down the fences and left gaps, his cattle and hogs thereby getting into Beale's pasture and doing daily damage. When Beale told him of it, Long immediately sent his slave to fetch water out of Beale's land, though he had forbidden him several times. Long, being summoned and now present, said he had fetched water there for some time, and that the place where Beale complained lay open daily and was used by several people as a footway besides himself. After several arguments on both sides, the council ordered that Mr Powell, Mr Wrangham and Mr Ryder be appointed to go and view the water and watercourse, and also the wall over which Long fetched water, and to make their report at the next consultation day. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The transfer of Frank to the Company turns on a calculation of cost against hire, the council buying the slave outright to save the rent it had paid Leech for his use over the past year, the purchase cheaper in the long run than continued hiring. This shows the economic reasoning behind the Company's acquisition of skilled slaves, the same logic Governor Pyke had urged at the consultation of 12 May 1719 when he claimed that buying slaves had cut the price of hired labour and saved the Company some £700 0s 0d a year. The Beale and Long complaint revives the standing dispute over water rights and boundaries between adjoining holders, John Long's neglect of his fences and his use of a watercourse across Beale's land raising the same questions of access and trespass that recur through the record. Long is the contentious Sandy Bay planter whose blocking of a watercourse out of Thomas Swallow's land was complained of at the consultation of 22 December 1720, the council again referring the matter to three viewers to inspect the ground and report. The reference to a committee of planters to view and report was the council's regular method of resolving boundary and water disputes, fact-finding on the spot preferred to a ruling on conflicting testimony. The defence that the place lay open and was used by others as a footway raises a claim of common use against Beale's assertion of private right, the council deferring judgment until the viewers established the true state of the ground and the watercourse. | |
295 | Feb[ry] Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 27 day of Feb[ry] 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of On Sunday last the 25 Inst[t] Arrived here the two following Ships Viz[t] the Morrice Capt[n] Eustace Peacock Comander & the Macclesfield Capt[n] Robert Hudson Comander both from China, and brought Us on Acco[t] of the Honble Comp[a] the following Goods Viz[t] By the Morrice Tale m C C 1 Chest Bohea Tea of 100 Single Catty Catty 17 [...] Canisters w[t] gross Tare of Chest & Lead 82 Tale p Peull including Canisters &c Nett 90 a 30 27 1 Chest Single of 100 Single Catty Catty 185 Canisters w[t] gross Tare of Lead & Chest 83 Tale including Canisters w[t] Nett 102 a 20 plus 20 4 1 Box Sewing Silk of 20 Catty at 5 p Catty 30 Ja Tale Charges of Merchandize 77 4 5 8 1 8 Totall 83 2 1 8 | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 27 February 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Sunday last, the twenty-fifth of this month, two ships arrived, the Maurice, Captain Eustace Peacock commander, and the Macclesfield, Captain Robert Hudson commander, both from China. They brought in their account of the following Company goods. By the Maurice, the goods from China priced in taels, mace and candareens. 1 chest bohea tea of 100 catties single, at 17½ mace per catty, with canisters at 20 gross, the tare of chest and lead 82 taels, net 90 taels and 30 [...], 27 taels 1 chest singlo of 100 catties single, at 1 tael 85 mace per catty, with canisters at 20 gross, the tare of lead and chest 83 taels, net 102 taels at 20 mace, including canisters, 20 taels 4 mace 1 box sewing silks of 20 catties, at 5 taels per catty, 30 taels Charges of merchandise, 5 taels 8 mace 1 candareen Total, 83 taels 2 mace 1 candareen The record was signed by Edward Byfield [...] Interpretations The arrival of the Maurice and the Macclesfield together from China brought a cargo of tea and silk for valuation and entry, the goods priced in the Chinese money of account in which the Canton trade was reckoned before conversion to sterling. The two ships are China Indiamen on the homeward passage, calling at the island with the Company's consigned goods, the same China trade that had supplied the bohea and singlo teas and the silk repriced at the consultation of 21 November 1721. The Maurice had earlier carried home the great slave census of 25 March 1719. The goods themselves are the staples of the Canton trade, bohea the common darker tea and singlo a green tea, both reckoned by the catty, the Chinese weight of about a pound and a third, while the sewing silks were fine thread silk for needlework. The canisters were the lined tea chests in which the leaf was packed against damp, the tare being the deducted weight of the chest, lead lining and canisters so that the net weight of tea alone could be priced. The whole was valued in taels, mace and candareens, the Chinese units of account, the tael divided into ten mace and the mace into ten candareens. The pricing follows the careful method of reckoning gross against net and adding the charges of merchandise, the council entering the cargo at its China cost before the markup of freight, insurance and interest would be applied for sale at the island, the same procedure used for the earlier China goods. | |
296 | By the Macclesfield Viz[t] Ta m C C 1 Chest Bohea Tea of 100 Canisters w[t] Nett 92 Catty a[t] 3 276 Charges Merchandize 9 1 1 Chest Single Tea of 100 Canisters w[t] Nett 100 Catty a[t] 2 20 29 3 5 Charges Merchandize 1 3 1 3 1 Box Sewing Silk of 20 Catty Nett a[t] 1/5 30 21 3 1 3 Charges Merchandize 1 8 4 8 31 8 4 8 Tot 82 6 6 6 Ordered That Orders be Deliverd to the two Comanders to Send on Shore the goods they have on Board their Ships Consigned to Us on Acco[t] of the Honble Company M[r] Powell had this day a Lease Sigid & deliverd to him for twelve Acres of the Honble Comp[s] Land calld Taylors ground, for the terme of twenty one years at the Usual Rent Commencing from the 25 day of March last past The Said Powell Presented this day a Bill of Sale for twenty Acres of Land he bought of Richard Beale formerly Anthony Beals, Desireing the Same might be Registerd Ordered it be Registerd Accordingly John Long planter was Summoned to Appear this day before Us for Neglecting his Duty on the last double Alarme made for the two Ships now in the Road, Notwithstanding the Publick Advertizement Issued out the week before (a Margin Notes: ord[r] for delivery of goods Lease granted to M[r] Powell for 12 Acres Land He prays the Registry of 20 Acres free Land ordered Jn[o] Long Sumond for Neglect of Duty | The account of the China goods continued. By the Macclesfield, priced in taels, mace and candareens. 1 chest bohea tea of 100 catties, with canisters at 20, at 3 mace, net 276 taels, charges of merchandise 19 taels 5 mace, total 9 taels 1 [...] 1 chest singlo tea of 100 catties, with canisters at 20, net 100 catties at 2 mace, 20 taels, charges of merchandise 1 tael 3 mace 1 candareen, total 29 taels 3 mace 5 candareens 1 box sewing silk of 20 catties net, at 1 tael 5 mace, 30 taels, charges of merchandise 1 tael 8 mace 4 candareens 8 [...], total 21 taels 3 mace 1 [...] Charges of merchandise, 31 taels 8 mace 4 candareens 8 [...] Total, 82 taels 6 mace 6 candareens The council ordered that orders be delivered to the two commanders to send on shore the goods on board their ships consigned to the Company. Mr Powell had this day a lease signed and delivered to him for 12 acres of the Company's land, called Taylor's Ground, for the term of twenty-one years at the usual rent, commencing from 25 March last. Powell presented this day a bill of sale for 20 acres of land he had bought from Richard Beale, formerly Anthony Beale's. He asked that it be registered. The council ordered it registered accordingly. John Long, planter, was summoned to appear this day for neglecting his duty on the last double alarm made for the two ships now in the road, notwithstanding the public advertisement issued out the week before [...] Interpretations The China goods of the Macclesfield complete the valuation of the two ships' cargoes, the same bohea, singlo and sewing silk priced in the Chinese money of account and entered at their Canton cost. The figures stand as entered in taels, mace and candareens, with no reconciliation of the column, several denominations illegible and marked accordingly. The order to land the consigned goods follows the standard reception of a Company cargo, the commanders directed to send ashore the goods bound for the island's stores. Powell's lease of Taylor's Ground and his registration of the Beale purchase show the foremost landholder continuing to enlarge his estate, the 12 acres taken on the standard twenty-one-year term from Lady Day and a further 20 acres added by purchase. The Beale land traces through the Beale orphans' partition, the 60 acres granted to the brothers Richard and Anthony at the consultation of 7 June 1715, Powell now buying a parcel of it. His holdings were already the largest on the island, charged at the consultation of 19 February 1719 with at least 290 acres. The summons of John Long for neglecting his duty on the alarm exposes the obligation of every inhabitant to turn out for the defence of the island, the double alarm for the two China ships requiring the planters to their posts under the standing advertisement. Long's failure, set against the published order of the week before, marks a breach of the militia duty on which the island's security depended, the same contentious planter whose water and boundary disputes ran through the winter's consultations now answering for a default in the common defence. | |
297 | Feb[ry] to warne every body to give their due Attendance on Each Alarme, or to be Prosecuted as defaulters, He alleadged he Stayd to gett Some Tea before he came from Home, he was the only Person amongst the Defaulters who did not Wait on the Govern[r] when they came downe Desireing to be Excused this time by reason of the Distance of their Habitations & the Quick comeing in of the Ships & promised to be very Diligent for the future they were forgiven, He was asked why he did not come to the Govern[r] as the Rest had done He answered he was all the day in Company w[th] two Strangers at his Mothers House in the Valley; He was fined 5/ & a Warrant was Ordered for Levying the Same to the Use of the Honble Company Capt[n] Goodwin Reports that he has Saved out all the Bohea Tea brought us by Capt[n] Gorden and therefore desires to know what price he shall Sell that as brought by the Essex Capt[n] Sommers On perusal of the Invoice by the Essex We find it to be the Same with that by Capt[n] Gorden both as to quantity, quality & Charges therefore Ordered to be Sold out at the Same Price Viz[t] Bohea Tea at 6/ the Catty Single d[o] a[t] 2/ ditto China Cups a[t] 1/6 each Sneakers a[t] 1/6 ead Bowles a[t] 2/6 ead Sewing Silk a[t] 18 p Ce Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: Longs frevilos Excuses & being y[e] only Defaulter fined 5/ Tea Servd out Prices of y[e] China Cargoe | The summons of John Long continued. The advertisement had warned everyone to give their attendance on each alarm, or be prosecuted as defaulters. Long pleaded that he had stayed to fetch some tea before he came from home. He was the only person among the defaulters who did not wait on the Governor when they came down, asking to be excused this time by reason of the distance of his dwelling and the quick coming in of the ships, and promising to be very diligent in future. The others were forgiven. Long was asked why he had not come to the Governor as the rest had done. He answered that he had been all day in company with two strangers at his mother's house in the valley. He was fined 5s, and a warrant ordered for levying it to the use of the Company. Captain Goodwin reported that he had served out all the bohea tea brought in by Captain Gordon. He asked what price he should set on that brought by the Essex, Captain Sommers. On examining the invoice by the Essex, the council found it the same as that by Captain Gordon, both in quality and in the charges. It therefore ordered the tea sold at the same prices, as follows. Bohea tea at 6s per catty Singlo tea at 21s per catty China cups at 1s each Saucers at 6d each Bowls at 2s 6d each Sewing silk at 18s per catty The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Long's treatment exposes the obligation of militia attendance enforced against the one defaulter who failed to make his submission, the others forgiven on their excuses but Long fined for not waiting on the Governor as the rest had done. His plea of distance and the quick arrival of the ships was the kind of excuse the council accepted from the penitent, but his separate failure to present himself, compounded by his having spent the day with strangers at his mother's house rather than at his post, marked him out for the small penalty. This shows the council enforcing the common defence duty by distinguishing the contrite from the negligent, the fine a token of discipline rather than a heavy punishment, levied on the same contentious planter whose disputes ran through the winter. The repricing of the Essex tea follows the council's method of matching new cargo to established prices, the invoice compared with the earlier consignment by Captain Gordon and found identical in quality and charges, so the same rates were carried across. This shows the orderly valuation of the Company's goods, the prices set once against a benchmark cargo and applied to later arrivals of like quality, the same China staples and the same rates as those fixed at the consultation of 21 November 1721. The Essex was a China ship, the goods entering the island's stores for sale at the standard advance. | |
298 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 6 day of March 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of M[r] Byfeild brought in and Deliverd his Acco[t] of the Honble Comp[s] live Stock & Expence for the Month of Feb[ry] last which was Examind & Approovd of Capt[n] Goodwin likewise brought in his Acco[t] of Stores Sold and Deliverd out in the Said Month of Feb[ry] which was also Examind and Approovd of M[r] Slaughter brought In and Deliverd his Acco[t] of the Expence of the General Table for the Month of Feb[ry] last which was Examind, Approovd, & is as follows 1065 of Beef at 25/ p 100 13 6 3 3 Goats a[t] 10/ ead 1 10 1 Turkey a[t] 6 6 4 Dunghill fowles a[t] 1/6 ead 6 2 Ducks a[t] 1/6 ead 3 65 Eggs a[t] 1 ead 5 5 56 Bottles Milk a[t] 4 p Bottle 18 8 29 Butter a[t] 1/6 p 1 9 6 28 Days Greens a[t] 12 p Day 1 8 46 Gall Arrack a[t] 6/4 p Gall 14 11 4 139 Bottles Madera Wine a[t] 1/ p Bottle 6 19 6 D[o] Port a[t] 2/ p Bottle 15 2 D[o] Sherry 2/6 p 5 Carried over 14 13 2 Margin Notes: M[r] Byfeilds Acc[o] for Feb[ry] Storekeepers Acc[o] for d[o] the Stewards Acc[o] of Table Expence d[o] the Particulars | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 6 March 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his account of the Company's live stock and expense for February. The council examined and approved it. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his account of stores sold and delivered out during February. The council also examined and approved it. Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered his account of the expense of the general table for February. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows. 1,065 beef at 25s per 100, £13 6s 3d 3 goats at 10s each, £1 10s 0d 1 turkey at 6s, £0 6s 0d 4 dunghill fowls at 1s 6d each, £0 6s 0d 2 ducks at 1s 6d each, £0 3s 0d 65 eggs at 1s each, £0 5s 5d 56 bottles milk at 4d per bottle, £0 18s 8d 29½ butter at 1s 6d per pound, £4 9s 6d 28 days' greens at 12d per day, £1 8s 0d 46 gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £14 11s 4d 13 bottles madeira wine at 1s per bottle, £6 19s 0d 6 port at 2s 6d per bottle, £0 15s 0d 2 sherry at 2s 6d per bottle, £0 5s 0d Carried over, £14 13s 2d Interpretations The three monthly accounts brought in together continue the restored routine of parallel reckoning, the chief overseer's live-stock book, the storekeeper's store account and the steward's table account each examined and passed in the same sitting. This regular discipline of separate monthly accounts marks the bookkeeping order maintained after the long arrears, each branch of the Company's expenditure answered for by its own officer at every consultation. The February table account opens with a heavy charge for beef, the 1,065 reckoned by the hundred at 25s, the largest meat line of the recent accounts. The dunghill fowls are the ordinary farmyard birds, distinguished from finer poultry, and the milk, eggs and greens drawn from local supply, while the arrack, madeira, port and sherry continue the imported drink of the Governor's board. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column, the running total carried over to the next page. The unit against the 29½ butter is given as the pound at 1s 6d, the beef priced explicitly by the hundred, so the quantities here are more fully unit-marked than in earlier accounts where the headings were illegible. | |
299 | March Brought Over 14 13 2 2 flasks of ffrench Wine 2/6 p flask 5 6 Bottles of Ale 1/3 p bottle 7 6 1 quart of Sweet Oyle 3 1 [...] Gall[on] Vinegar 4/ p Gall[on] 6 30 Sugars 6 p 15 20 Brazile d[o] 12 p 1 6 Sug[ar] Candy 1/ p lb 6 24 Soaple 1/5 p lb 1 14 1000 Lemmons 2/6 p C 1 5 6 [...] Tea 7/6 p lb 2 8 9 40 Flowr 1/ p lb 10 130 Bread 1/ p lb 1 12 6 6 Peces Salt Beef 1/6 p 9 6 D[o] Pork 1/6 p 9 2 Currants 9 p lb 1 6 8 Plumbs 9 p lb 6 70 Candles 1/6 p 5 5 Tot 59 6 5 The Gunner brought In his Acco[t] of Gunnirs Stores Expended in the Month of Feb[ry] last which was Examind Approovd, and is as follows 1721 Feb[ry] y[e] 2 Deliverd to John Defountaine Guns Fald Gall½ d[o] y[e] 3 Departed the Ship Aislabie for England 13 13 13 d[o] y[e] 7 Expended at Exercise of the Garrison 9 d[o] y[e] 12 An Alarme 4 4 4 18 To answer the Sallute of a Dane Ship Staff by 5 5 5 Deliverd To M[r] Slaughter ½ d[o] y[e] 25 A double Alarme 6 6 6 Arrived the Morrice & Macclesfield 20 1 4 15 38 Carried Over 48 1 4 4376 [...] | The steward's account of the expense of the general table for February continued, carrying forward the running total of £14 13s 2d. 2 flasks of French wine at 2s 6d per flask, £0 5s 0d 6 bottles of ale at 1s 3d per bottle, £0 7s 6d 1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d ½ gallon vinegar at 4s per gallon, £0 6s 0d 30 sugar at 6d per pound, £0 15s 0d 20 Brazil sugar at 12d per pound, £1 0s 0d 6 sugar candy at 1s per pound, £0 6s 0d 24 soap at 1s 5d per pound, £1 14s 0d 1,000 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £1 5s 0d 6½ tea at 7s 6d per pound, £2 8s 9d 40 flour at 3d per pound, £0 10s 0d 130 bread at 1s 3d per pound, £1 12s 6d 6 pieces salt beef at 1s 6d per piece, £0 9s 0d 6 pieces pork at 1s 6d per piece, £0 9s 0d 2 currants at 9d per pound, £0 1s 6d 8 plums at 9d per pound, £0 6s 0d 20 candles at 6d per pound, £0 5s 0d Total, £59 6s 5d The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores expended during February. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows, reckoned across guns, demi-culverins, sakers, falconets and powder. 2 February, delivered to John Desfountaine: ½ [...] 3 February, departed the ship Aislabie for England: 13 guns, 13 falconets, 13 [...] powder [...] February, expended at exercise of the garrison: 9 [...] 12 February, an alarm: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder 12 February, to answer the salute of a Dutch ship's flag, by [...]: 5 guns, 5 falconets, 5 [...] powder 18 February, delivered to Mr Slaughter: ½ [...] 25 February, a double alarm: 6 guns, 6 falconets, 6 [...] powder 25 February, arrived the Maurice and Macclesfield: 20 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 15 falconets, 38 [...] powder Carried over: 48 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 43 falconets, 76 [...] powder Interpretations The February table account closes at £59 6s 5d, the imported drink and provisions again dominating, the tea, sugars, wines and dried fruits carried out by the shipping set against the local meat, milk and greens. The Brazil sugar is the unrefined or partly refined sugar from the Portuguese plantations of Brazil, distinguished from the finer white sugar and the crystallised candy, all three appearing on the same account. The French wine in flasks marks the variety of drink kept for the Governor's board. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. The gunner's account records the salutes and alarms of the month, the departure of the Aislabie and the arrival of the Maurice and Macclesfield marked by their honours, and the exchange of salutes with a Dutch ship whose flag the garrison answered with gunfire. This courtesy of flag and salute between the island and a foreign vessel shows the diplomatic forms observed even with the ships of a rival trading power, the same protocol of mutual salute extended to the Dutch as to the French callers. The double alarm of 25 February for the two China ships drew the garrison to its guns before the vessels were recognised. The grand totals carried over reckon each column down the account, the figures inheriting the unit of the store they sum, several of the column headings not legible and marked accordingly, only the guns, the demi-culverin, the sakers and the falconets recoverable with confidence. The gunner is John French, the restored master gunner whose monthly accounts were entered through this period. | |
300 | Brought Over 48 1 4 4376 For the Severall Guards Expended 8 Musquett Rodds 6 Musquett Balls 6 Cartridge Papers 2 Axelhead 4 Spunge Staves 2 Flints 2 Match 40 14 Sigud Jn[o] French 14 40 2 2 4 6 6 48 1 4 4384 Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Saturday the 10 day of March 1721 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read & Approoved of We mett this Day to Settle & make up the Acco[ts] of the Ships Morrice and Macclesfield M[r] Powell haveing Creditt due to him in the Books of Accounts here desires he may have Bills of Exchange on the Honble Comp[a] for the Sume of One Hundred Seventy one pounds which Margin Notes: Ships Acc[o] Settled Bills of Exch[e] for 171 to M[r] Powell | The gunner's account of stores expended during February continued, carrying forward the running total. For the several guards, expended: 8 [...] Musket rods: 6 Musket balls: 6 Cartridge paper: 2 quire Axletrees: 2 Sponge staves: 2 Flints: 40 Match: 14 Total, signed by John French: 14 guns, 40 [...], 2 [...], 2 [...], 4 [...], 6 [...], 48 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 43 [...], 84 [...] The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Saturday 10 March 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The council met this day to settle and make up the accounts of the ships Maurice and Macclesfield. Mr Powell, having credit due to him in the books of account, asked that he might have bills of exchange on the Company for the sum of £171 0s 0d, which [...] Interpretations The gunner's account closes the February reckoning, the totals line summing each column down the page, every figure carrying the unit of the store it totals. Several of the column headings are not legible and the figures fall under units that cannot be recovered with confidence, only the guns, the demi-culverin and the sakers being clear among the grand totals, the rest marked accordingly. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. The settlement of the Maurice and Macclesfield accounts follows the standard reckoning with each visiting ship, the charges for refreshment and supply made up and discharged before the vessels left, the two China Indiamen whose cargoes had been valued at the consultation of 27 February 1722. The making-up of the ships' accounts and the despatch of the consultations home moved together on the same shipping. Powell's request for bills of exchange shows the foremost landholder again converting his island credit into a sterling claim payable in England, the £171 0s 0d drawn against his balance in the Company's books. The bill of exchange was the means by which credit held on the island could be remitted home, the planter or servant with a favourable balance drawing on the Company for a sum realisable in London, the same instrument Powell had used for £131 0s 0d at the consultation of 4 January 1722. | |
301 | March which We granted him and bears date this day We Likewise Sigid three Bills of Exchange for the Ballance of Capt[n] Peacocks Acco[t] Amounting to thee Sume of Two Hundred Eighty Six pounds twelve Shillings and Sixpence, as Appeares by his Account now sent We haveing lost Our Long Boat from her Moarings in a very great Storme, And meeting with this Oppertunity have bought Another of Capt[n] Hudson with all her Necessary Furniture as Appeares by his account in the Packetts Thus farr hath been Copyd & Sent Home p the Morrice Capt[n] Peacock Comder Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 20 day of March 1721 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Govern[r] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of Pursuant to a Complaint made by Jack one of the Honble Comp[s] Blacks against John Long of this Island Planter for Refuseing to pay him forty Shillings for taking his Black fellow named Cloyce who was Runaway according to the Order of Councill for the Encouragem[t] of the Speedy Apprehending all Runaway Blacks John Long appeard according to a Summons and Says that his Black was So Beat and Bruised by the Said Jack Margin Notes: Bills of Exch[e] for £ 286 12 6 Capt Peacock Long Boat bought Jn[o] Long Compl[t] of by a Bl[k] Jack Longs plea | Powell's request for bills of exchange closed. The council granted him the £171 0s 0d, the bills dated this day. The council likewise signed three bills of exchange for the balance of Captain Peacock's account, amounting to £286 12s 6d, as appeared by his account now sent. Having lost the long boat from her moorings in a very great storm, and meeting with this opportunity, the council bought another from Captain Hudson, with all her necessary furniture, as appeared by his account in the packet. A memorandum recorded that the consultations thus far had been copied and sent home by the Maurice, Captain Peacock commander. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Tuesday 20 March 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Following a complaint made by Jack, one of the Company's slaves, against John Long, planter, for refusing to pay him 40s for taking up his runaway slave named Cloice, under the order of council for the encouragement of the speedy apprehending of all runaway slaves, John Long appeared under a summons. He said that his slave had been so beaten and bruised by Jack [...] Interpretations The purchase of a new long boat after the loss of the old one in a storm shows the council seizing a passing opportunity to replace essential equipment, buying the boat with its furniture from Captain Hudson of the Macclesfield while the ship lay in the road. The long boat was the vessel that supplied the slaves at the plantations and fortifications and supported the loading of shipping, its loss a serious want, the same boat service whose hazards and importance ran through the record, the recently valued slave Frank having been bought as the only man fit for it at the consultation of 20 February 1722. The bills of exchange for Powell and for Captain Peacock's account illustrate the two directions of the remittance system, Powell drawing his island credit home and the council settling the ship's account by bills payable in England. The balance of £286 12s 6d to Peacock was discharged in three bills on the Company, the means by which a ship's reckoning was met without coin, the Maurice carrying both the bills and the consultation record home. The complaint of the slave Jack against Long invokes the runaway reward established by the council, the 40s due to whoever took up an absent slave being charged to the slave's master under the law settled at the consultation of 13 June 1721. That Jack, himself a slave, claimed the reward shows the recaptures often falling to the Company's own slaves, the reward payable to the taker regardless of his status, Long now resisting payment on the ground that his runaway Cloice had been beaten in the taking. | |
302 | Jack that he has not been able to do him any Service this Six months, and therefore thinks it very hard also to pay forty Shillings, He being askt how he knew it Proceeded from the Blows he then receivd, answered the Surgeon told him So Jack in answer Says the fellow is Poxed and that his Indisposi- tion proceeds from that, John Long owns his Black was Cloyst and has Promised to bring the Surgeon next Consultation day The Govern[r] Offerd to Exchange a Black Boy of his own named Pompey about twelve years of Age a Lusty Lad & no ways Aitraining who in time will make away good hand for the Long Boat the Boys Inclinations being that way, for Jack the Honble Comp[s] Boy who was Returned in the last List of the Blacks among the Children under ten years of Age We think it can be no Prejudice to the Honble Company agreed to it M[r] Wrangham acquainted Us that He with M[r] Powell and M[r] Ryder according to Appointm[t] of Consultation of the 20 Feb[ry] had been and viewed the Water in Dispute between Rich Beale & John Long, and that they had Desired him to make a Report of it this day Viz[t] That the Water in John Longs ground was Drinkable but that the Water in M[r] Beals ground was Better M[r] Beale & M[r] Long were Present M[r] Beale Consented that M[r] Long should En- joy the Said Water So long as he was not Prejudiced thereby M[r] Long Promised to Maintaine the fence at his own proper Cost & Charge Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Margin Notes: Longs Black Poxed Gov Exchange a Boy for another of y[e] H Co[a] Report ab[o] Complt of M[r] Beale ag[t] Jn[o] Long how agreed by both partys | John Long's plea continued. He said his slave had not been able to do him any service for the past six months, and so he thought it very hard to pay the 40s as well. Asked how he knew the disability came from the blows the slave had then received, he answered that the surgeon had told him so. Jack, in answer, said the slave had smallpox, and that his disability came from that. Long acknowledged that his slave had smallpox, and promised to bring the surgeon at the next consultation day. Governor Johnson offered to exchange a black boy of his own, named Pompey, about twelve years of age, a lusty lad and in no way ailing, who in time would make a good hand for the long boat, the boy's inclinations running that way, for Jack, the Company's boy who was returned in the last list of the slaves among the children under ten years of age. The council thought it could be no prejudice to the Company, and agreed to it. Mr Wrangham reported that he, with Mr Powell and Mr Ryder, under the order of the consultation of 20 February, had viewed the water in dispute between Richard Beale and John Long, and had been asked to make a report this day. The water in Long's ground was drinkable, but the water in Beale's ground was better. Beale and Long being present, Beale consented that Long should enjoy the water so long as he was not prejudiced by it. Long promised to maintain the fence at his own cost. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The dispute over the reward turned on the cause of the slave's disability, Long resisting payment of the 40s on the ground that the beating had cost him six months' service, while Jack attributed the disability to smallpox. Long's own admission that his slave had smallpox, against his earlier reliance on the surgeon's word that the blows were to blame, undercut his defence, the matter held over for the surgeon's evidence. This shows the council weighing competing accounts of a slave's injury to decide whether the reward was due, the smallpox connecting to the visitation that had broken out among the slaves of the Mercury in 1717 and recurred on the island. The Governor's exchange of his boy Pompey for the Company's boy Jack illustrates the appraisal and swapping of slaves between the Governor and the Company on terms of no prejudice, the older and abler Pompey offered for the younger Jack with an eye to the long boat service, the council satisfied the trade cost it nothing. This follows the form of earlier such exchanges approved as no way detrimental, the boy chosen for his fitness for the boat that the council had just troubled to replace. The water dispute between Beale and Long closed by the viewers' report and the parties' agreement, the committee of three planters having inspected the ground under the order of the consultation of 20 February 1722 and found both sources drinkable. The settlement, Beale permitting Long the water on no prejudice and Long undertaking to keep the fence, shows the council's preferred resolution of boundary and water quarrels by on-the-spot view and negotiated agreement rather than a contested ruling, the same method applied throughout to the recurring disputes of the contentious Sandy Bay planter. | |
303 | March Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Monday the 26 day of March 1722 At the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of This day We calld over and took a new List of the Honble Companys Blacks In Order to Prepare and Settle the Annual List to be Sent Our Honble Masters Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Wensday the 4 day of Aprill 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander & Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation read and Approovd of The present Church Wardens & Overseers of the high ways According to an Advertizem[t] Issued out for the Nominateing four Persons for Church Wardens & Six of the Like Persons foe Overseers of the high ways, that We might make Choice & Appoint two of the four persons for Church Wardens, & three of the Six for overseers Margin Notes: List of y[e] H Co[a] Blacks taken Church War- dens p[r]sented | The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Monday 26 March 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The council this day called over and took a new list of the Company's slaves, to prepare and settle the annual list to be sent to the directors. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Wednesday 4 April 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The present churchwardens and overseers of the highways, under an advertisement issued for the nominating of four persons for churchwardens and six like persons for overseers of the highways, presented their nominees. From these the council might choose and appoint two of the four for churchwardens, and three of the six for overseers [...] Interpretations The taking of a fresh list of the Company's slaves marks the annual census of the labour force prepared for transmission home, the directors requiring a yearly account of the Company's holding of slaves. This regular reckoning follows the great slave census of 25 March 1719 sent home by the Maurice and the count of the Company's slaves to 25 March signed at the consultation of 23 May 1721, the list maintained as the standing record of the Company's most valuable property and the basis of its requests for more hands. The nomination of churchwardens and highway overseers shows the island's parish and local government renewed by an annual election, the inhabitants nominating candidates from whom the council made the final choice. This two-stage process, the freeholders proposing and the council appointing, gave the inhabitants a voice in choosing their parish and road officers while reserving the decision to the Governor and council, the same procedure recorded at earlier parish elections. The churchwardens administered the parish charities and the highway overseers called out the inhabitants and their slaves for road labour, both offices central to the island's local administration. | |
304 | Overseers to Succeed the present Parish Officers they brought In the following List of them Viz[t] Church Willi[m] Seale & Wardens Isaac Leech for the East Division Ditto Jn[o] Bagley Sen[r] & Orlando Bagley Sen[r] for the West Overseers John Pinting & Giles Smith for the East Division Ditto Ralph Orme & Rich[d] Mason for the West Ditto John Harding & John Long for the South Ordered That William Seale & Orlando Bagley be Appointed Church Wardens for the Ensuing Year And That Giles Smith Ralph Orme & John Long be appointed Overseers of the high ways for the Said Year Further Ordered That the Church Wardens and Overseers of the Said high ways for the Year past be Sumoned to attend on Wensday next in Order to their makeing up their Acco[t] and Likewise the New Church Wardens & Overseers to be also Sumond at the Same time in Ord[r] to their being Sworne & Invested in their Said Offices This day We Compyaird and finished the new List of our Honble Masters Blacks with the List taken last year Ordered it be Copyzed fair to be Sent Home Accordingly M[r] Byfeild brought in and Deliverd his Monthly Acco[t] the Honble Comp[s] live Stock & Expence for the Month of March last, which was Examind & Approovd of And Margin Notes: Severall persons to Succeed Parish Officers Appointed Old & New Officers to attend Blacks List Examd M[r] Byfeilds Acc[o] for March | The present parish officers brought in their list of persons to succeed them, as follows. Churchwardens for the east division: William Seale and Isaac Leech Churchwardens for the west: John Bagley senior and Orlando Bagley senior Overseers for the east division: John Pinting and Giles Smith Overseers for the west: Ralph Orme and Richard Mason Overseers for the south: John Harding and John Long The council ordered that William Seale and Orlando Bagley be appointed churchwardens for the coming year, and that Giles Smith, Ralph Orme and John Long be appointed overseers of the highways for the same year. The council further ordered that the churchwardens and the highway overseers for the past year be summoned to attend on Wednesday next, to make up their accounts, and that the new churchwardens and overseers be summoned at the same time to be sworn and invested in their offices. The council this day compared and finished the new list of the Company's slaves with the list taken last year, and ordered it copied fair to be sent home accordingly. Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his monthly account of the Company's live stock and expense for March. The council examined and approved it. Interpretations The parish election shows the council selecting its officers from a slate of nominees divided by district, two churchwardens chosen from the four proposed and three highway overseers from the six, each division of the island represented. This two-stage method gave the freeholders the nomination and the council the appointment, the same procedure by which parish and road officers had long been chosen. The churchwardens managed the parish charities and poor relief, while the highway overseers called out the inhabitants and their slaves to maintain the roads, both offices essential to the island's local government. The summoning of the outgoing officers to render their accounts and the incoming ones to be sworn marks the orderly handover of the parish charges, the old officers held to a final reckoning and the new bound by oath before taking up their duties. This accountability at the change of office reflects the council's concern that the parish funds and the road labour be properly managed, the transition formalised by audit and investiture. The comparison of the new slave list with the previous year's completes the annual census, the count checked against the last return before being copied fair for the directors. This regular reckoning of the Company's slaves, recording the rise and fall of the labour force over the year, follows the standing practice of the annual list sent home, the same census prepared at the consultation of 26 March 1722 and now finished for transmission. | |
305 | April And Likewise a General Acco[t] of the Same for the whole Year past Ending the 31 of March 1722 which was Also Examind and Approovd of M[r] Byfeild Reports that Ellin Caesars wife (one of the House Wendus) was Deliverd of a Boy on fryday last, & is Named Jack Capt[n] Goodwin Says that he being Employed for this fortnight past, in takeing an Inventory of the Remaining Stores, has prevented his bringing In the last Months Acco[t] of Stores Sold & Deliverd out, But that he has given into the Accomptants Office the Collections for the last Month, So that it is no hinderance to the Peoples Accounting, & will Endeavour in a fortnights time more to bring in a fair Copy of the Remaining Inventory, and also of the Said Months Account M[r] Slaughter brought In and Deliverd an Acco[t] of the Expence of the General Table for the Month of March last which was Examind, Approovd, as is as follows To 12 fowles at 18 each 18 7 Goats a[t] 10/ ead 3 10 702 of Beef a[t] 25/ p 100 8 15 6 12 p[r] Salt Beef a[t] 18 p 18 12 p[r] Salt Pork a[t] 18 p 16 17 Butter a[t] 12 p 17 60 Bottles Milk a[t] 4 p Bottle 1 31 days Greens a[t] 12 p Day 1 11 6 Turkeys a[t] 6/ ead 1 16 10 Ducks a[t] 18 ead 15 Carried Over 20 18 6 Margin Notes: Gen[l] Acc[o] for a year a Bl[k] Boy born Storekeepers Excuse why coud not bring in his Monthly Acc[o] yet no hinderance to accounting The Stewards Acc[o] for March the Particulars | Byfield likewise delivered a general account of the live stock and expense for the whole year past, ending 31 March 1722. The council examined and approved it. Byfield reported that Ellin, Caesar's wife, one of the house slaves, had been delivered of a boy on Friday last, named Jack. Captain Goodwin said that being employed for the past fortnight in taking an inventory of the remaining stores, he had been prevented from bringing in the last month's account of stores sold and delivered out. He had given the collections for the last month into the accountant's office, so that it was no hindrance to the people's accounting, and would try within a fortnight to bring in a fair copy of the remaining inventory, together with the month's account. Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered an account of the expense of the general table for March. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows. 12 fowls at 18d each, £0 18s 0d 7 goats at 10s each, £3 10s 0d 702 beef at 25s per 100, £8 15s 6d 12 pieces salt beef at 18d per piece, £0 18s 0d 12 pieces salt pork at 18d per piece, £0 18s 0d 17 butter at 12d per pound, £0 17s 0d 60 bottles milk at 4d per bottle, £1 0s 0d 31 days' greens at 12d per day, £1 11s 0d 6 turkeys at 6s each, £1 16s 0d 10 ducks at 18d each, £0 15s 0d Carried over, £20 18s 6d Interpretations The year-end general account marks the close of the Company's financial year on 25 March, the live-stock and expense reckoning made up for the whole twelve months past, the annual summary drawn from the monthly accounts. This yearly close, ending 31 March 1722, completes the cycle of bookkeeping the council had laboured to restore, the year's account sent home alongside the slave list and the consultations as part of the standing record rendered to the directors. The birth of the boy Jack to the slave couple Ellin and Caesar continues the recording of the slaves' increase, the children of the house slaves counted as Company stock, following the girl Megg born to Ellin and Leo at the consultation of 30 January 1722 and the boy Tom at the plantation house. The careful entry of each birth reflects the slaves' standing as the Company's most valuable property and the close accounting kept of its rise. Goodwin's explanation for the missing store account shows the inventory of the remaining stores taking precedence over the routine monthly reckoning, the storekeeper occupied a fortnight in counting the stock while ensuring the people's accounting was not delayed by lodging the collections in the accountant's office. This points to the stocktaking that followed the storekeeper's report of insecure and disordered stores at the consultation of 8 August 1721, the inventory now in hand as part of bringing the Company's goods to a true account. The figures of the table account stand as entered, the running total carried over to the next page. | |
306 | Brought Over £ 20 18 6 2 Kidds at 5/ ead 10 60 Gallons Arrack a[t] 6/4 p Gall 19 136 Bottles Madera Wine a[t] 1/ p Bottle 6 16 2 Bottles Port d[o] 2/6 p Bottle 5 1 Bottle Sherry 2 6 2 flasks French Wine 2/6 ead 5 1 qut Sweet Oyle 12/ p Gall 3 1 [...] Gall Vinegar 4/ p Gall 6 4 Pepper 1/ p 4 80 Sugar 6 p lb 2 35 Brazile D[o] 1/ p 1 15 9 Sug[ar] Candy 1/ p 9 24 Soape 1/5 p 1 14 400 Lemmons 2/6 p 10 6 Tea 7/6 p lb 2 8 9 38 Flower 1/3 p 9 6 114 Bread 1/3 p lb 1 9 9 2 Currants 9 p 1 10½ 8 Plumbs 9 p 6 70 Candles 1/6 p 5 5 Tot £ 64 18 10½ The Gunner brought In and Deliverd his Account of Gunnirs Stores Expended in the Month of March last which was Examind, Approovd, and is as follows A[n] Margin Notes: Gun[rs] Acc[o] for March | The steward's account of the expense of the general table for March continued, carrying forward the running total of £20 18s 6d. 2 kids at 5s each, £0 10s 0d 60 gallons arrack at 6s 4d per gallon, £19 0s 0d 136 bottles madeira wine at 1s per bottle, £6 16s 0d 2 bottles port at 2s 6d per bottle, £0 5s 0d 1 bottle sherry, £0 2s 6d 2 flasks French wine at 2s 6d each, £0 5s 0d 1 quart sweet oil at 12d per quart, £0 3s 0d 1½ gallon vinegar at 4s per gallon, £0 6s 0d 4 pepper at 12d per pound, £0 4s 0d 80 sugar at 6d per pound, £2 0s 0d 35 Brazil sugar at 12d per pound, £1 15s 0d 9 sugar candy at 1s per pound, £0 9s 0d 24 soap at 1s 5d per pound, £1 14s 0d 400 lemons at 2s 6d per 100, £0 10s 0d 6 tea at 7s 6d per pound, £2 8s 9d 38 flour at 3d per pound, £0 9s 6d 114 bread at 1s 3d per pound, £1 9s 9d 2½ currants at 9d per pound, £0 1s 10½d 8 plums at 9d per pound, £0 6s 0d 70 candles at 6d per pound, £5 5s 0d Total, £64 18s 10½d The gunner brought in and delivered his account of gunner's stores expended during March. The council examined and approved it. It ran as follows. Interpretations The March table account closes at £64 18s 10½d, the arrack again the largest single line at 60 gallons and the madeira up to 136 bottles, the imported drink and provisions continuing to dominate the Governor's board. The Brazil sugar from the Portuguese plantations stands beside the finer white sugar and the crystallised candy, all three on the same account, while the dried fruits, wines and spirits came out by the shipping against the local meat, milk and greens. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the column. The candles at 70 pounds form an unusually heavy charge of £5 5s 0d, the lighting of the Governor's establishment and the offices a standing expense met from the table account, the candles among the larger lines of the month. The lemons in quantity were the island's own citrus grown for the homeward shipping against scurvy, the rest of the provisions imported through the Company's eastern and Mediterranean trade. The full provisioning of the Governor's table is reckoned here for the year's last month before the financial close on 25 March, the steward's account completing the cycle of monthly table reckonings rendered through the year, each examined and passed at its consultation as part of the restored bookkeeping discipline. The gunner's account that follows continues the parallel record of the magazine's expenditure, kept by John French, the restored master gunner. | |
307 | April 1722 March y[e] 15 An Alarm for a Ship Passed by Guns 4 Fald 4 D[o] y[e] 2 Deliverd to Thom Allis to Alarm Sandy bay D[o] y[e] 6 Deliverd to Capt[n] Goodwin D[o] Deliverd to Eunghe Slaughter D[o] y[e] 7 being Exercise day of y[e] Garrison 9 D[o] y[e] 8 To Answer y[e] Sallute at the Goo[er] Returne from On Board the Morrice & Macclesfield 23 4 4 15 59 D[o] y[e] 11 At the Departure of D[o] Ships 22 1 4 17 30 For the Worship[ll] Govern[r] Use ½ Sent to Plantation House 2 The Sev[ll] Guards Expence Musquett Rodds 8 Musquett Balls 4 Cartridge Paper 3 Flints 50 Match 14 42 5 8 36 118½ 14 50 3 4 8 Capt[n] Goodwin Reports that he has Servd out all the Bohea Tea brought by the Essex and therefore Desires the Price of those Cargoes brought Us from China by the Carnaevon & Saeum may be Sett on them Upon Examineing the Invoice of Each Ship We find the Bohea Tea is Charged Six Tale less & the Single four Tale less than that Sold out last by the Essex Howevere Ordrd to be Sold at the Same Price of Six Shillings p Catter for the Bohea & four Shillings for the Single the China Ware Silk at the Prices Enterd in Consultation of the 27 Feb[ry] last This Report was to been Enterd in Consultation of Margin Notes: Tea by y[e] Essex servd out Prime brought Sold at y[e] in Cap[t] Peacock old Prices of the 20 of March last but by Misstake was Omitted Ordered That an Advertizement be this day Published to give Notice that We intend to Sitt in Consulta- tion on Wednsday Thursday & fryday the 11 12 13 for the Settling & makeing up Acco[ts] with all persons to the 25 of March last past Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday y[e] 10 day of Aprill 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approovd of On Sunday last a Double Alarm was made for two french Ships from China came into our Road for Refreshm[t] not having toucht at any port since they came from Canton they told us that the Cadogan and Frances two of our Ships Saild from Canton fifteen days before them On the comeing in of the Ships We Ordered an Advertizement to be Published to forbid all persons disposing any Provisions to the Ships without licence for the Same beeing for the better to Enable us to provide for our Ships since the Disapointment of y[e] rains We Margin Notes: days Appointed to Reckon on two french Ships arrival Ord[r] to forbid y[e] Supplying these Ships w[th] Provisions | The gunner's account of stores expended during March ran as follows, reckoned across guns, demi-culverins, sakers, falconets and powder. 1 March, an alarm for a ship passed by: 4 guns, 4 falconets, 4 [...] powder 2 March, delivered to Thomas Allis to alarm Sandy Bay: 1 [...] 6 March, delivered to Captain Goodwin: 5 [...] 6 March, delivered to ensign Slaughter: 1 [...] 7 March, exercise day of the garrison: 9 [...] 8 March, to answer the salute at the Governor's returning from on board the Maurice and Macclesfield: 23 guns, 4 demi-culverins, 4 sakers, 15 falconets, 59 [...] powder 11 March, at the departure of the said ships: 22 guns, 1 demi-culverin, 4 sakers, 17 falconets, 30 [...] powder For the Governor's use: 5½ [...] Sent to the plantation house: 2 [...] The several guards, expended: 10½ [...] Musket rods: 8 Musket balls: 4 Cartridge paper: 3 quire Flints: 50 Match: 14 Total: 14 guns, 50 [...], 3 [...], 4 [...], 8 [...], 49 [...], 5 [...], 8 [...], 36 [...], 118½ [...] Captain Goodwin reported that he had served out all the bohea tea brought by the Essex. He asked what prices should be set on the cargoes brought from China by the Carnarvon and Sarum, so they might be sold. On examining the invoice of each ship, the council found the bohea tea charged 6 taels less, and the singlo 4 taels less, than that sold out last by the Essex. It nonetheless ordered them sold at the same prices, 6s and upwards for the bohea and 4s for the singlo, the China ware and silk at the prices entered in the consultation of 27 February last. This report was to be entered in the consultation [...] Interpretations The gunner's account records the heaviest run of salutes of the recent months, the Governor received with a 23-gun salute on returning from his visit aboard the two China ships and the vessels honoured again on their departure, alongside the alarms and the exercise of the garrison. This marks the ceremony attending the Governor's dealings with the homeward shipping, the full honours exchanged as he went and returned, the Maurice and Macclesfield being the China Indiamen whose accounts and cargoes had occupied the council through late February and March. The repricing of the Carnarvon and Sarum tea follows the council's established method of holding new cargo to a benchmark price, the invoices found cheaper than the Essex consignment yet the tea sold at the same rates, the China ware and silk priced as fixed at the consultation of 27 February 1722. This shows the council maintaining stable selling prices across successive arrivals regardless of small differences in the China cost, the goods entering the island's stores at the standard advance. The Carnarvon had earlier carried home the great census of families, lands and slaves of 5 June 1721. The grand totals reckon each column down the account, every figure inheriting the unit of the store it sums, several of the column headings not legible and marked accordingly, only the guns recoverable with confidence among them. The gunner is John French, the restored master gunner whose monthly accounts were entered through this period. | |
308 | of the 20 of March last but by Misstake was Omitted Ordered That an Advertizement be this day Published to give Notice that We intend to Sitt in Consulta- tion on Wednsday Thursday & fryday the 11 12 13 for the Settling & makeing up Acco[ts] with all persons to the 25 of March last past Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday y[e] 10 day of Aprill 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approovd of On Sunday last a Double Alarm was made for two french Ships from China came into our Road for Refreshm[t] not having toucht at any port since they came from Canton they told us that the Cadogan and Frances two of our Ships Saild from Canton fifteen days before them On the comeing in of the Ships We Ordered an Advertizement to be Published to forbid all persons disposing any Provisions to the Ships without licence for the Same beeing for the better to Enable us to provide for our Ships since the Disapointment of y[e] rains We Margin Notes: days Appointed to Reckon on two french Ships arrival Ord[r] to forbid y[e] Supplying these Ships w[th] Provisions | Goodwin's report closed. It was to be entered in the consultation of 20 March last, but by mistake had been omitted. The council ordered an advertisement published this day to give notice that it intended to sit in consultation on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth, for settling and making up the accounts with all persons to 25 March last. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at Union Castle in James Valley on Tuesday 10 April 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Sunday last a double alarm was made for two French ships from China, which came into the road for refreshment. Not having touched at any port since they came from Canton, they told the council that the Cardogan and Frances, two of the Company's ships, had sailed from Canton fifteen days before them. On the coming in of the ships, the council ordered an advertisement published to forbid all persons disposing of any provisions to the ships without licence. This was the better to enable the island to provide for the Company's own ships, since the disappointment of the rains [...] Interpretations The arrival of the two French China ships shows the island serving as a refreshment station for the vessels of a rival trading power, the French admitted into the road and bringing intelligence of the Company's own ships, the Cardogan and Frances, sailed from Canton fifteen days ahead of them. This relay of maritime news through a foreign caller marks the island's standing function as an information post on the homeward route, the council learning the movement of its ships from whatever vessel touched, the same gathering of intelligence that ran through the winter's encounters. The advertisement forbidding the sale of provisions to the ships without licence reverses, for the moment, the general selling liberty proclaimed at the consultation of 15 December 1721, the council reasserting control over the island's produce to secure supply for the Company's own shipping. This shows the conditional nature of that liberty, granted with a reserved power to withdraw it on cause, the council now restricting sales to the visiting ships because a failure of the rains threatened the island's provisions. The moderate climate of the island, dependent on its seasonal rains for the yam and cattle on which both garrison and shipping fed, made any drought a direct threat to the food supply. The double alarm answered the two French ships before they were known, the gunfire bringing them to and warning the garrison, the same defensive vigilance the council kept against all unidentified sail entering the road. | |
309 | April We Ordred the Reckoning with the people which was to have been to morrow be put of untill Monday next and that advertizem[t] be accordingly Published to give notice to all y[e] people thereof Captain Goodwin brought in his Acco[t] of Stores Sold and Deliverd out for the Month of march past which was Examind & Approovd of Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Monday, Tues- day and Wensday y[e] 16 17 & 18 dayes of Aprill 1722 at the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] John Alexander John Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approovd of On Saturday the two french Ships mentiond in the last Consultation Saild hence The Garrison Workmen and all the people came & reckoned before us and were all paid of in Bank Bills and Small money in Bills which order to the better Circulation thereof and to prevent further Transfers and our keeping any other Acco[t] then of the Garrison & an Order made that all persons for the future who Shall Dispose of any Pro- visions or other necessarys of any kind to the Honble Company Shall appear at the next Consultation after the Delivery of their Goods and receive their money for the Same & all Workmen every three months The Margin Notes: Reckoning put off Storekeepers Acc[o] for March French Ships Departure all persons paid off in Bills Provisions to be to be p[d] for next Consult[n] day Workmen at 3 mo end | The council ordered that the reckoning with the people, which was to have been the next day, be put off until Monday next, and that an advertisement be published to give notice of this to everyone. Captain Goodwin brought in his account of stores sold and delivered out for March. The council examined and approved it. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth of April 1722. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Saturday the two French ships noted in the previous consultation sailed. The garrison labourers and all the people came and were reckoned with, and were all paid off in bank bills and small money, the better to circulate it and to prevent further transfers and the keeping of any other accounts of the garrison. An order was made that all persons who in future supplied any provisions or other necessaries of any kind to the Company should appear at the next consultation after the delivery of their goods to receive their money for the same, and all labourers every three months [...] Interpretations The settlement of the garrison and people in bank bills and small money marks the council's effort to clear the year's accounts through actual payment rather than the running transfers that had built up. Paying everyone off in paper and coin, rather than carrying their balances forward, was meant to circulate the currency and close the chains of credit that had complicated the books, the same reform behind the year-end audit announced at the consultation of 12 December 1721. This shows the council moving from a system of perpetual book-credit toward prompt cash settlement, the better to keep the accounts clear. The new order requiring suppliers to appear at the next consultation after delivering their goods, and labourers to be paid quarterly, formalises a regular cycle of payment to replace the accumulation of unsettled credits. By fixing when each creditor was to be paid, the council aimed to prevent the long arrears and tangled transfers that had marked the disordered accounts, the same discipline that had driven the audit and the calling-in of paper through the winter. This regular settlement of provisions and labour reflects the wider drive to bring the Company's bookkeeping to a true and current state, the perpetual transfers giving way to dated payment. The departure of the two French China ships closes their refreshment call, the vessels having brought intelligence of the Company's own shipping at the consultation of 10 April 1722 before sailing on. | |
310 | April The Gov[er] Acquainted us that when he sent the Widdow Coulson the Ballance of her acco[t] in Bank Bills she fell into such a passion and Spoke such Disrespectfull words of the Honble Company that may be of ill consequences if not taken notice of, Therefore Ordered that she be Summond to answer for the Same the first Con- sultation that shall be held at y[e] Castle John Long according to Constellation of the 20 of march brought John Hoskinson Surgeon Who on Oath said that he had put John Longs Black fellow under a Salivation for the Pox but that he did beleive he was Bruised by the Blows he Received from the Honble Companys fellow Jack We Ordred that law for the forty Shillings Should be maintaind but that by reason of the Damage done by the Honble Companys fellow, John Long, should pay the Honble Companys fellow but twenty Shillings Orderd That an Advertizement be published to give notice that on Thursday the 26 Instant will be held a Court for Orphans and hearing any other Business The Petition of Joshua Johnson ffree Planter Humbly Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner standing in Some Necessity for more land then he now has in possesion for and towards the better Support and maintainance of himself and family And Thomas Hoskinson haveing about five acres that He Rents of the Honble Company being in Sandy bay Valley formerly grantee to Gilbert Sinswick) is very desireous to assigne his lease for the Same to your Petitioner, He being not able to fence and mannure it, and will rather be of Prejudice than any advantage to him And therefore your Petitioner Humbly Prays to be Accepted as Tennant to the Honble Company for the land aforesaid Which Hopes will be of great Service to him if granted and no Detriment to any other Person Margin Notes: Gov[er] Report ag[t] y[e] Widdow Coulson Summons Ord[r] Surgeons Report of Jn[o] Longs Bl[k] Ord[r] to pay 20/ for the Bl[k] Jack taking him Court Appointed Jos Johnson prays to be- come Tenn[t] for 5 Acres Land in poss[n] of Tho Hoskinson | Governor Johnson reported that when he sent the widow Coulson the balance of her account in bank bills, she fell into such a passion and spoke such disrespectful words of the Company that they might be of ill consequence if not noticed. The council therefore ordered that she be summoned to answer for it at the first consultation held at the castle. John Long, under the order of the consultation of 20 March, brought in John Hoskinson, surgeon, who said on oath that he had put Long's slave under a salivation for the smallpox, but that he had been bruised by the blows he received from the Company's slave Jack. The council ordered that the law for the 40s should be maintained, but that by reason of the damage done by the Company's slave, Long should pay the Company only 20s. The council ordered an advertisement published to give notice that on Thursday the twenty-sixth of this month a court would be held for orphans and for hearing any other business. The petition of Joshua Johnson, free planter, set out that he stood in some need of more land than he then held, for the better support of himself and his family. Thomas Hoskinson had about 5 acres he rented from the Company in Sandy Bay Valley, formerly granted to Gilbert Sinsnick, and was very willing to give up his lease for it to Johnson, being unable to fence and manure it and likely to be more prejudiced than advantaged by it. Johnson therefore asked to be accepted as tenant to the Company for the land, which he hoped would be of great service to him if granted and no detriment to any other person [...] Interpretations The widow Coulson's summons illustrates the council's treatment of disrespectful words against the Company as a punishable matter, her outburst on receiving payment in bank bills rather than coin held capable of ill consequence if left unanswered. This shows the sensitivity of the council to any public reflection on the Company's authority, the same concern that had brought Van Oosten to the pillory for slandering Ann Hodgkinson and others through the record, the widow now called to answer for her words. Her objection to the paper payment also reflects the unpopularity of the bank bills, the inhabitants preferring coin to the Company's currency. The settlement of the runaway reward at half the usual sum shows the council apportioning the cost between the parties, the law for the 40s upheld in principle but Long charged only 20s because the Company's slave Jack had injured his runaway in the taking. This balances the master's duty to pay the reward against the damage done to his property in the capture, the surgeon's oath establishing that the slave had been both under treatment for smallpox and bruised by the blows. The matter closes the dispute opened at the consultation of 20 March 1722, the reward established at the consultation of 13 June 1721 now enforced at a reduced rate to reflect the harm. Johnson's petition shows the transfer of a Company leasehold from a tenant unable to maintain it to one seeking more land, Thomas Hoskinson surrendering the parcel he could not fence or manure and Joshua Johnson asking to take it up. This illustrates the practical working of the leasehold system, a holding passing from a tenant for whom it was a burden to one for whom it was an advantage, the council's grant turning on the land being put to better use without prejudice to any other holder. | |
311 | April Person which Submitts to Your Worships & Council[s] Prudence Consideration Aprill y[e] 16 1722 And as &c Granted Joshua Johnson Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held for Orphans and to hear any other Business on Thursday y[e] 26 of April 1722 at the Plantation House Edw[d] Johnson Esq[r] Gov[er] Edw[d] Byfeild [...] Pres[t] Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin The Last Consultation Read and Approovd of On Saturday last the 21 Instant We had a Double Alarm for 17 Sail of Dutch Ships, one of them came near y[e] Road and Captain Goodwin being Sent in one of four Boates Went on Board her They Informed him there were two outward bound Ships at the Cape Bound for Mocha and that two others homeward bound had been there and gone about a fortnight before they Sailed But could not give any Margin Notes: Granted 17 Dutch Ships passed by News of Some Eng[h] Ships | Joshua Johnson's petition closed. He submitted it to the council's consideration. The petition was dated 16 April 1722 and made in the name of Joshua Johnson. The council granted it. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The Governor and Council of St Helena met at the plantation house on Thursday 26 April 1722, sitting for orphans and to hear any other business. Governor Johnson presided, with Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Saturday last, the twenty-first of this month, the council had a double alarm for 17 sail of Dutch ships. One of them came near the road, and Captain Goodwin, being sent in one of the boats, went on board her. The crew informed him that there were two outward-bound ships at the Cape, bound for Mocha, and that two others, homeward bound, had been there and gone about a fortnight before they sailed. They could not give any [...] Interpretations The grant of the leasehold to Joshua Johnson completes the transfer from Thomas Hoskinson, the council accepting the new tenant for the Sandy Bay parcel its former holder could not maintain. This shows the routine working of the leasehold system, the council readily approving the passage of land from a burdened tenant to a willing one where the holding would be better used and no other holder prejudiced. The double alarm for a fleet of 17 Dutch sail shows the scale of shipping that could appear off the island and the vigilance the garrison kept, the large body of vessels of a rival trading power drawing the island to its guns before any could be identified. Captain Goodwin's boarding of one ship to gather news continues the island's role as an intelligence post, the Dutch crew supplying word of outward and homeward shipping at the Cape, the same relay of maritime intelligence that ran through the season's encounters with passing vessels. The appearance of so many Dutch ships together points to the convoy practice of the period, the vessels of the Dutch East India Company sailing in company for mutual protection on the long passage, the island observing and questioning them as they passed. The court sitting for orphans marks the council's standing oversight of the estates of the island's fatherless children, the same jurisdiction exercised at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721, the day's business opening with the report of the Dutch fleet before turning to the orphans' affairs. | |
312 | any acco[t] What Ships they were But by what we Tearied by the two french Ships Mentioned in Consultation of the 10 instant We take to be the two Ships from Canton who we beleive are passed by this Island and that they had been from thence Twenty two Dayes Sarah Southen upon Summons appeard and the debt She owes the Honble Company being one Hundred Eighteen pounds ten Shillings and two pence three farthings was demanded which She Refused and Sayed that it was none of her Debt but M[r] Southens debt and that if We can find any of M[r] Southens Effects they must be liable and not any thing that is hers, Which is new Plea, for She never before disowned the debt but has Sespend the debt a nee he wrt off which We look upon as a new invention to cheat y[e] Honble Company Ordred That a Proper Method be taken for Security of the Said Debt The following Petitions were Presented Viz[t] The Petition of Henry Francis Desireing to become Tennant to the Honble Company for about one acre of Land adjoyning to his own Plantation Granted The Petition of Joshua Johnson Humbly Sheweth That forasmuch as your Petitioner having (upon a former Petition) been favour'd with a grant of five acres of the Honble Companys Wast land Scituate in Sandy bay Valley formerly Granted to Gilbert Sinswick who Obtained leave to dispose of his Interest in the Same, Your Petitioner Humbly prays a lease may be granted him for the above five acres for the Term of Twenty one Years The Said Land being very Rockey and requireing abundance of hard Labour and will Improve it by Margin Notes: Sarah Southen refuses to pay Her debt Order to Secure it Hen Francis prays to be Ten[t] for 1 Acre Land Jos Johnson prays a lease for 21 years a lease | The report of the Dutch fleet closed. The crew could give no account of what ships those were. But from what the council had learned by the two French ships noted in the consultation of the tenth of this month, it took the two homeward vessels to be the two ships from Canton that had passed the island, which had been twenty-two days from there. Sarah Southen, on a summons, appeared. The debt she owed the Company, being £118 10s 2¾d, was demanded. She refused, saying it was none of her debt but Mr Southen's, and that if the council could find any of Mr Southen's effects, they must be liable, and not anything that was hers. This was a new plea, for she had never before disowned the debt but had said it would be worked off, which the council looked upon as a new device to cheat the Company. The council ordered that a proper method be taken to secure the debt. The following petitions were presented. Henry Francis asked to become tenant to the Company for about 1 acre of land adjoining his own plantation. The council granted it. The petition of Joshua Johnson set out that, on a former petition, he had been granted 5 acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay Valley, formerly granted to Gilbert Sinsnick, who had obtained leave to dispose of his interest in it. Johnson asked that a lease be granted him for the 5 acres for the term of twenty-one years. The land was very rocky and required a great deal of hard labour, and he would improve it [...] Interpretations Sarah Southen's repudiation of the debt exposes a contested liability between husband and wife, she now claiming the £118 10s 2¾d was her husband's alone and that only his effects could be charged. The council's reading of this as a device to defraud, given that she had earlier acknowledged the debt and promised to work it off, shows the difficulty of recovering a large sum from a debtor who shifted the liability onto an absent or insolvent spouse. Sarah Southen is the contriver convicted of the seditious libel against the chaplain Jones, sentenced to the pillory at the general sessions of 28 January 1720, her dealings with the Company having run through the record. The order for a proper method to secure the debt points to the council moving to attach property or take a bond before the claim could be evaded. Johnson's renewed petition completes his acquisition of the Sandy Bay parcel, the formal lease now sought for the 5 acres he had been granted, the land formerly Gilbert Sinsnick's. His plea that the ground was rocky and needed hard labour was the kind of representation by which a tenant sought favourable terms, the difficulty of the holding urged in support of the grant. This follows the transfer of leaseholds from former holders that ran through the spring, the same parcel passing to a tenant willing to improve it. The identification of the two homeward ships shows the council piecing together the movement of the Company's shipping from the reports of successive callers, the French ships' intelligence of the Canton vessels matched against the sighting of the homeward sail, the island reconstructing the traffic of the route from fragments gathered in the road. | |
313 | April by planting fruit trees and building a Convenient House thereon And as in Duty &c Aprill y[e] 26 1722 Joshua Johnson Ordred that his requested be granted and the lease to commence from the 25 of March last The Petition of Samuel Price Humbly Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner was favour'd Some time Since with the grant of about two acres of the Honble Companys Wast land lying in Sandy bay Valley but finding his present Circumstances will not allow of a Constant attendance to look after and fence in the Same and that if he Should neglect his trade it would be of great Prejudice to him, Humbly prays leave to dispose of his Interest in the Said Land and that he would be pleasd to Accept of Jona- thon Higham Junr as Tennant thereto Who is very desireous thereof And as in Duty &c Aprill y[e] 26 1722 Samuel Price This land being formerly granted for the goods of his children We dont think it proper to allow him dispose of it Upon Complaint of Doctor Beale Thom & Rich Swallow wore Sumond for money they owe him for phisick and attendance Viz Thom Swallow Ten pounds Eighteen Shillings eight pence half penny and Rich Swallow forty Shillings who appeard M[rs] Swallow for her Husband (who is Sick) and after Reckoning desird time to make payment a months time was given Rich Swallow and a weeks time to Thomas Swallow The Old Church Wardens Viz Gabriel Powell and John French appeard according to Summons, And haveing made up their Accounts for the year past were discharg[d] Orlando Bagley Sen[r] and William Seale Church Margin Notes: to plant fruit & build a House Lease granted Sam Price prays leave to dispose of his Leasd Land to Jon[a] Higham rejected & why Will Beale Complt ag[t] Tho & Rich Swallow the time for payment Old Church Wardens Dis- charged | Joshua Johnson's petition closed, his improvement of the land to be made by planting fruit trees and building a convenient house on it. The petition was dated 26 April 1722 and made in the name of Joshua Johnson. The council ordered his request granted, the lease to commence from 25 March last. The petition of Samuel Price set out that he had some time before been granted about 2 acres of the Company's waste land in Sandy Bay Valley. Finding that his present circumstances would not allow a constant attendance to look after and fence the land, and that neglecting his trade would be of great prejudice to him, he asked leave to dispose of his interest in it. He prayed that the council would accept Jonathan Higham junior as tenant in his place, Higham being very willing to take it. The petition was dated 26 April 1722 and made in the name of Samuel Price. The council rejected the request. The land having been formerly granted for the good of Price's children, the council did not think it proper to allow him to dispose of it. On the complaint of Doctor Beale, Thomas and Richard Swallow were summoned for money they owed him for medicine and attendance. Thomas Swallow owed £10 18s 6½d, and Richard Swallow 40s. Mr Swallow appeared for her husband, who was sick. After reckoning, Richard Swallow was given a month's time to make payment, and Thomas Swallow a week's time. The old churchwardens, Gabriel Powell and John French, appeared under a summons. Having made up their accounts for the past year, they were discharged. Orlando Bagley senior and William Seale [...] Interpretations The refusal of Price's request to dispose of his land marks a limit on the transfer of leaseholds, the council declining to let him alienate a parcel granted for the benefit of his children. This contrasts with the grants it readily approved where a tenant simply could not maintain his holding, the difference being that Price's land was charged with a trust for his children, which the council would not let him defeat by sale. This shows the council protecting the interests of dependent children against a parent's wish to convert their provision to his own use, the same protective concern it exercised over orphans' estates throughout. The successful grant to Joshua Johnson, by contrast, completes his lease of the Sinsnick parcel, his undertaking to plant fruit and build a house being the kind of improvement the council favoured, the term running from the Lady Day quarter as usual. The two petitions together show the council distinguishing between transfers it would and would not allow, turning on whether the land carried an obligation to others. The Swallow debts to Doctor Beale illustrate the recovery of a physician's fees through the council, the sums owed for medicine and attendance demanded and time given for payment. William Beale, the surgeon, is the practitioner who had pressed his medical claims through the record, here pursuing two debtors with the council's backing. The discharge of the old churchwardens Powell and French on rendering their accounts completes the handover of the parish office begun at the consultation of 4 April 1722, the outgoing officers held to a final reckoning before release. | |
314 | Church Wardens for the present year also Appeard and were sworn to perform the office of Church Wardens according to their Instructions Edm[d] Nichols John Harding and John Purling overseers of the Highways for the year past did Likewise Appear and haveing passed their acco[t] with us they were Discharged John Long Giles Smith and Ralph Orme The new Overseers for the Present year Appeard and wore Sworne accordingly Mes[rs] Powell & Gurling Executers to the Estate of Charles Steward brought in and Delivverd the following acco[t] of Stewards Orphans which was Examind and Approovd of and is as follows Viz[t] 19 Acres of free land 24 [...] Ditto Hired Half a House at y[e] Fort 3 men Blacks 2 Black Girls 5 Blacks 7 Cows 6 Calves 6 Heifers 2 Bullocks 4 Yearlings 25 Head Belonging to the Joint Stock 5 Sows 12 Piggs 6 Barrows 16 Shoats 39 Great and Small 6 Cows 1 Calf 5 Heifers 2 Bullocks 1 Yearling 13 Head belonging to the Seperate Stock Yamins 35000 1 Black Margin Notes: new Offic[r] Sworn[d] Old Overseers Discharg[d] new ones Sworne Cha Steward Orph[s] Acc[o] | The new churchwardens for the present year also appeared and were sworn to perform the office according to their instructions. Edmund Nichols, John Harding and John Purling, overseers of the highways for the past year, likewise appeared. Having passed their accounts, they were discharged. John Long, Giles Smith and Ralph Orme, the new overseers for the present year, appeared and were sworn accordingly. Mr Powell and Mr Gurling, executors to the estate of Charles Steward, brought in and delivered the following account of the Steward orphans' estate. The council examined and approved it. 19 acres of free land 24 acres of hired land Half a house at the fort 3 black men and 2 black girls, 5 blacks 7 cows, 6 calves, 6 heifers, 2 bullocks and 4 yearlings, 25 head belonging to the joint stock 5 sows, 12 pigs, 6 barrows and 16 shoats, 39 great and small 6 cows, 1 calf, 5 heifers, 2 bullocks and 1 yearling, 13 head belonging to the separate stock, with 1 black Yams, 35,000 Interpretations The swearing of the new churchwardens and overseers and the discharge of the old completes the annual renewal of the parish and highway offices, the handover formalised by the outgoing officers passing their accounts and the incoming ones taking their oath. John Long, the contentious Sandy Bay planter, appears here sworn as a highway overseer for the year, the same man who only weeks before had been fined for neglecting his militia duty and was party to the water and reward disputes, now charged with calling out the inhabitants and their slaves to the roads. The Steward orphans' account renders the children's whole estate before the council sitting for orphans, the land, house, slaves, cattle and yams set out under the executors' charge, the council overseeing the property of the fatherless. The division of the cattle into joint stock and separate stock reflects the distinct interests within the estate, the herds kept under different heads of ownership and reckoned apart. This continues the standing oversight exercised at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721, where Powell and Gurling rendered the same orphans' account, the yearly reckoning of the stock recording the rise and fall of the estate. The detailed enumeration of the swine by their several kinds, sows, pigs, barrows and shoats, shows the precision with which the orphans' stock was counted, a barrow being a castrated boar and a shoat a young weaned pig, each class named so the whole could be vouched. The estate is that of the murdered planter Charles Steward, whose much-litigated affairs ran through the record, the disputed cattle of the Lacy deed of gift decided at the court of 14 December 1721 belonging to the same wider inheritance. | |
315 | April 1 Black Boy dead belonging to the Estate 1 Cow 3 Calves 1 Yearling 5 Head dead belonging to the Seperate Stock 2 Cows 3 Yearlings 5 Head dead of the main Stock The Said Charles Stewards Estate Viz[t] Debtr To the Honble Company 8 13 10½ To James Ryder 2 6 To y[e] Seperate Stock 33 1 6 To Gabriel Powell 41 19 5½ To Rich Gurling 4 15 9 To Orlando Bagley Sen[r] 12 To Walter Morris 18 To Rich Beale 10 To Mary Tacknald 6 £ 91 5 9 Creditr By John Long 19 4 6 Mary Shreve 15 5 6 Joshua Johnson 9 3 Margarett Tovey 14 3 10 Francis Tunge 22 17 9 Mary Conoway 15 Thomas Free 1 3 2 Jonathon Higham Sen[r] 11 2 Charles Steward 263 11 5 Captain Goodwin 15 6 6 Edm[d] Nichols 1 Thomas Swallow 1 17 Richard Mason 11 Andrew Bergue 1 8 3 By Jn[o] Nichols Estate 8 19 6 £ 366 4 5 The Said M[r] Powell and M[r] Johnson Executers to the Estate of John Nichols Sen[r] deced brought in and Deliverd the following Acco[t] of his Orphans which was Examind and Approovd of and is as follows Viz[t] The whole Estate 730 2 9½ Debts due from y[e] Estate 321 15 11 Clear Estate £ 408 10 10½ The Margin Notes: Jn[o] Nichols Orph[s] Acc[o] | The Steward orphans' account continued, recording the losses since the last reckoning. 1 black boy dead, belonging to the estate 1 cow, 3 calves and 1 yearling, 5 head dead belonging to the separate stock 2 cows and 3 yearlings, 5 head dead of the main stock The debtor and creditor account of Charles Steward's estate stood as follows. On the debtor side, the estate owed: To the Company, £8 13s 10¼d To James Ryder, £0 2s 6d To the separate stock, £33 1s 6d To Gabriel Powell, £41 19s 5¼d To Richard Gurling, £4 15s 9d To Orlando Bagley senior, £0 12s 0d To Walter Morris, £0 18s 0d To Richard Beale, £0 10s 0d To Mary Tacknald, £0 6s 0d Total, £91 5s 3d On the creditor side, the estate was owed: By John Long, £19 4s 6d By Mary Shreve, £15 5s 6d By Joshua Johnson, £0 9s 3d By Margaret Tovey, £14 3s 10d By Francis Funge, £22 17s 9d By Mary Conaway, £0 15s 0d By Thomas Free, £1 3s 2d By Jonathan Higham senior, £11 2s 0d By Charles Steward, £263 11s 6d By Captain Goodwin, £15 6s 6d By Edmund Nichols, £0 1s 0d By Thomas Swallow, £1 17s 0d By Richard Mason, £0 11s 0d By Andrew Bergue, £1 8s 3d By John Nichols's estate, £8 19s 6d Total, £366 4s 0d Mr Powell and Mr Johnson, executors to the estate of John Nichols senior, deceased, brought in and delivered the following account of his orphans' estate. The council examined and approved it. The whole estate, £730 2s 9½d Debts due from the estate, £321 15s 11d Clear estate, £408 10s 10½d Interpretations The debtor and creditor account renders the full financial state of the Steward orphans' estate, the sums it owed set against the much larger sums owed to it, the creditor side of £366 4s 0d far exceeding the debtor side of £91 5s 3d. This shows the estate solvent and in credit, the executors accounting to the council for every debt and claim under its oversight of the orphans' property, the same yearly reckoning rendered at the Court for Orphans of 29 March 1721. The figures stand as entered, with no reconciliation of the columns. Many of the names recur from the wider business of the council, the debts owed to the estate spread across the island's planters and officers. John Long, the contentious Sandy Bay planter, owed the largest single sum after the internal Steward entry, while Margaret Tovey, widow of the disgraced secretary, and Francis Funge appear among the substantial debtors, the estate's credits reaching into many households. The internal charge of £263 11s 6d by Charles Steward marks a sum carried within the estate's own accounts, probably the eldest son's interest, the same Charles Steward who gave evidence on the marked cattle at the court of 14 December 1721. The Nichols orphans' account, rendered by Powell and Johnson as executors, shows the same method applied to a second estate, the whole valued against its debts to yield the clear estate of £408 10s 10½d. This parallel accounting marks the council's systematic oversight of the orphans' estates at the annual court, each set of executors held to a full reckoning of the property in their charge, the deaths of the stock recorded alongside the standing assets so the council might track the estate's rise and fall. | |
316 | April The Said M[r] Johnson and M[r] James Greentree (who is Sick) Executers to the Estate of Robert Addis Orphans brought in and deced of their Estate which was Examind and Approovd of and is as follows Viz[t] To Mary & Joanas Board 14 0 0 To the Honble Comp[a] for Revew d[o] 15 3 14 15 3 By Cred[t] Last year 63 4 7 3 Bullocks Sold 16 16 9 £ 79 15 4 Clear Estate £ 64 19 11 1 Bull 7 Cows 4 Bullocks 2 Stears 4 Calves 18 Head of Cattle 3 Bullocks Sold 1 Heifer & 1 Calfe dead 3 Increase M[r] Doveton & M[r] Gurling Executers to the Estate of Robert Leech brought in and Deliverd an acco[t] of his Orphans which was Examined Approovd of and is as follows Viz[t] Rich Leech bound an Apprentice to Rob[t] Gurling Rob[t] Leech to Giles Smith Thomas Leech to Ralph Ormes Mary Leech to John Long Due to them in the Honble Comp[s] Books 77 18 5½ M[rs] Orchard who has the Care of the Eldest daughter of Christopher Hill deceasd appeard with her Ordred She Continue with her the Ensuing Year An Error appearing in Hardings Orphans acco[t] was now Returned and ordred to be brought in again next Consultation day James Ryder brought in and presented a Bill for Twenty five pounds, six Shillings and Eight pence due to him from the two younger Orphans of Daniell Griffith, from the 1 of 8b[r] 1790 to the 1 of this Margin Notes: Addis Orph[s] Acc[o] Rob Leech Orph[s] Acc[o] Sarah Kelly to continue w[th] M[rs] Orchard Error in Hardings Orph[s] Acc[o] James Ryder Allowed | Mr Johnson and Mr James Greentree, who was sick, executors to the estate of Robert Addes's orphans, brought in and delivered an account of their estate. The council examined and approved it. It stood as follows. On the debtor side: To Mary and Joanas, for board, £14 0s 0d To the Company, for revenue at 6s 3d, £0 3s 3d Total, £14 15s 3d On the creditor side: By credit last year, £63 4s 7d By 3 bullocks sold, £16 10s 9d Total, £79 15s 4d Clear estate, £64 19s 11d The stock stood as follows. 1 bull, 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 2 steers and 4 calves, 18 head of cattle 3 bullocks sold, 1 heifer and 1 calf dead, 3 increase Mr Doveton and Mr Gurling, executors to the estate of Robert Leech's orphans, brought in and delivered an account of their estate. The council examined and approved it. It stood as follows. Richard Leech bound apprentice to Robert Gurling Robert Leech to Giles Smith Thomas Leech to Ralph Orme Mary Leech to John Long Due to them in the Company's books, £77 18s 5½d Mrs Orchard, who had the care of the eldest daughter of Christopher Hell, deceased, appeared with her. The council ordered that she continue with her for the coming year. An error appearing in Harding's orphans' account, it was now returned and ordered to be brought in again at the next consultation day. James Ryder brought in and presented a bill for £25 6s 8d, due to him from the two youngest orphans of Daniel Griffith, from 1 December 1720 to [...] Interpretations The Addes orphans' account follows the same form as the others rendered at this sitting, the debtor and creditor sides reckoned to a clear estate of £64 19s 11d, the executors accounting to the council for the stock and the credit in the Company's books. The record of the cattle by their kinds, with the bullocks sold, the heifer and calf dead and the three increase noted apart, shows the precise tracking of the herd's gains and losses over the year, the same exactness applied to all the orphans' stock under the council's oversight at the annual court. The Leech orphans' account records the binding of the children as apprentices to the island's planters, Richard, Robert, Thomas and Mary Leech each placed with a master while their joint credit of £77 18s 5½d stood in the Company's books. This shows the council's provision for fatherless children by apprenticeship, the orphans bound to trades and households where they would be maintained and taught, the same charitable but profitable scheme applied to other orphans through the record. Mary Leech is bound to John Long, the planter whose disputes ran through the season, the children distributed among the substantial holders. The continuation of Mrs Orchard's care of Christopher Hell's daughter and the deferral of Harding's account for an error show the council's attentive management of the orphans' affairs, each child's keeping reviewed yearly and any flawed reckoning sent back for correction. Ryder's bill against the Griffith orphans connects to the long-settled affair of Thomas Free and the Griffith children, Ryder having had the care of that estate, the sale of Free's holding and the provision for the orphans settled at the consultation of 15 November 1720, the bill now claiming his charges for the two youngest from 1 December 1720. | |
317 | April for Boarding this Instant for Board and Severall necessarys which he had Credit for accordingly out of the Estate of Griffiths Orphans which is yet unsettled by reason of Frees affairs which yet are unadjusted Samuell Jossey Guardian to Jane Flurhus brought and Deliverd an acco[t] of her Stock of Cattle which was Examind and Approovd and is as follows 3 Cows 1 Bull 1 Heifer 2 Calves 7 Head of Cattle 1 Cow Sold to a Ship Since last acco[t] 4 and one Calfe dead Isaac Wood Executer to the Estate of Thomas Burnnam Orphans Appeard with two Boys one dwells with him the other with Pripin Wills Bound out by Indentures till they come of age M[r] Wrangham Executer to the Estate of Marg[t] Sich deceasd brought in an Acco[t] of her Granddaughter Eliz Sich Orphen which was Examind Approovd and is as follows Viz[t] 70 Acres free Land 8 Acres D[o] Hired of the Honble Company 1 House in the Countrey 1 Ditto at y[e] Fort 1 Black Girle 1 Feather Bed 1 Table 6 Rattan Stooles 1 Chest of Drawers 2 Cows 2 Yearlings 1 Calfe 5 Head of Cattle 1 Silv[r] Porringer 3 D[o] Custers 1 Snuff Box 2 Gold Rings Debts due fr[m] Sundry Viz[t] p James Ryder 7 3 8 p Fra[s] Wrangham 23 2 4 p Benj[a] Cleverlee 2 £ 32 6 Debts due to Sundry Viz[t] To y[e] Honble Comp[a] 4 18 To M[rs] Siches Estate 9 10 To M[r] Tacknalds Orph[s] 2 £ 15 18 Ordred Margin Notes: 2 Orph[s] of Griffith Jane Flurhus Orph[s] Acc[o] Burnhams Orph[s] Spec out to Apprentice Eliz Sich Orph[s] Acc[o] | James Ryder's bill closed. It was for board and several necessaries he had supplied this present time to the two youngest orphans of Griffith. He was to be credited for it out of the Griffith orphans' estate, which was yet unsettled by reason of Free's affairs still being unadjusted. Samuel Jessey, guardian to Jane Flurkus, brought in and delivered an account of her stock of cattle. The council examined and approved it. It stood as follows. 3 cows, 1 bull, 1 heifer and 2 calves, 7 head of cattle 1 cow sold to a ship since the last account, and one calf dead Isaac Wood, executor to the estate of Thomas Burnham, appeared with the two boys. One dwelt with him, the other with Pipin Wills, both bound out by indentures until they came of age. Mr Wrangham, executor to the estate of Margaret Sich, deceased, brought in an account of her granddaughter Elizabeth Sich, orphan. The council examined and approved it. It stood as follows. 70 acres of free land 8 acres of land hired from the Company 1 house in the country, 1 house at the fort, 1 black girl, 1 feather bed, 1 table, 6 rattan stools, 1 chest of drawers 2 cows, 2 yearlings and 1 calf, 5 head of cattle 1 silver porringer, 3 custards, 1 snuff box, 2 gold rings The debts due from the estate to sundry persons stood as follows. To James Ryder, £7 3s 8d To Francis Wrangham, £23 12s 4d To Benjamin Cleverlee, £2 0s 0d Total, £32 16s 0d The debts due to the estate from sundry persons stood as follows. To the Company, £4 8s 0d To Mr Sich's estate, £9 10s 0d To Mr Tacknald's orphans, £2 0s 0d Total, £15 18s 0d Interpretations The Griffith orphans' account remains unsettled because of the unfinished business of Thomas Free, Ryder's charges for the two youngest children to be met from an estate still in suspense. This ties the orphans' provision to the long affair of Free and the Griffith children, the seizure and sale of Free's holding settled at the consultation of 15 November 1720, the estate's accounts not yet closed despite the children being provided for. Ryder, who held the care of the estate, accounts here for his maintenance of the youngest orphans. The several orphans' accounts continue the council's systematic oversight of the fatherless at the annual court, each guardian rendering the stock and estate in his charge. The Burnham boys bound out by indenture until majority show the standard apprenticeship by which orphan children were placed and maintained, the same provision applied to the Leech children. The Burnham estate traces to the long insolvency settled from the consultation of 25 August 1719, the boys now provided for under indentures. The Sich orphan's account is the fullest, listing not only land, slaves and cattle but household goods and plate, the silver porringer, custards, snuff box and gold rings marking the modest valuables of a substantial island family. The custards were probably small silver cups or dishes for the dessert of that name, the plate counted among the estate's assets alongside the land and stock. The debtor and creditor sides show the estate solvent, the executor Francis Wrangham himself the largest creditor, the council overseeing the whole reckoning so the granddaughter's inheritance might be preserved and accounted. | |
318 | April Ordred That M[r] Lacy bring in and Deliver an Acco[t] of Capt[n] Haswells Estate that we may know what part be- longs to his orphan (a Girl) by Tuesday next, which he promises to Comply with The Gov[er] Reported that Serjant Young complaind to him that Andrew Bergue y[e] Cooper Entertaind Company at his House at Unseasonable Hours that y[e] last night as he went the Rounds he found Company at his House and his doors open Viz[t] Rich Gurling and John How & two Strangers a Sd Selling Liquer without Licence John How owid that he had Severall times been drinking at y[e] Coopers house and that he owed him four Pounds most of it was for Liquors The Govern[r] had before Convicted and find him Ten Shillings and for his Continuance in Selling Liquors contrary to Law we fine him now forty Shillings To the Use of the Lords Proprietors Whereas upon the 21 Instant Credible Information was Given the Gov[er] that Severall persons had turnd great number of Hoggs into the Great Wood Since the Late Rains and had there- by Rooted up and Distroyd most of the young Grass that would otherwise in a fortnights time have been good Pasturage for all sorts of Cattle Wherefore it was Ordred that an Advertizement be forthwith Issued out forbiding all persons turning any more Hoggs into the great wood without publick leave and that those persons who have so unadvisedly Turnd in their Hoggs as aforesaid be ordred to fetch them out within Twenty four hour after the date hereof Upon the Penalty of being fined at the Discression of the Gov[er] and Councill Dated y[e] 21 of Aprill 1722 Margin Notes: M[r] Lacy to bring an Acc[o] of Cap[t] Haswells Estate Gov[er] Report of a Complt made him ag[t] y[e] Cooper fined 40/ Hoggs turnd into y[e] great wood too Early all persons to fetch y[m] out & forbid turn[g] any more | The council ordered that Mr Lacy bring in and deliver an account of Captain Haswell's estate, so it might know what part belonged to his orphan, a girl, by Tuesday next. Lacy promised to comply. Governor Johnson reported that Sergeant Young had complained to him that Andrew Bergue, the cooper, entertained company at his house at unseasonable hours. The night before, as Young went the rounds, he found company at Bergue's house and his doors open, namely Richard Gurling and John How, with two strangers, and liquor being sold without licence. John How acknowledged that he had several times been drinking at the cooper's house, and that he owed Bergue £4 0s 0d, most of it for liquor. The Governor had earlier convicted and fined Bergue 10s, and for his continuance in selling liquor contrary to the law now fined him 40s, to the use of the Lords Proprietors. On the twenty-first of this month credible information was given to Governor Johnson that several persons had turned a great number of hogs into the Great Wood since the late rains, and had thereby rooted up and destroyed most of the young grass that would otherwise have made good pasturage for all kinds of cattle within a fortnight. The council therefore ordered an advertisement issued forbidding all persons to turn any more hogs into the Great Wood without public leave. Those who had so turned in their hogs were ordered to fetch them out within twenty-four hours of the date of the advertisement, on penalty of a fine set at the discretion of the Governor and council. The advertisement was dated 21 April 1722. Interpretations The order that Lacy account for Captain Haswell's estate connects the orphans' court to the much-litigated Haswell inheritance, the council requiring a reckoning of what part belonged to Haswell's daughter. This ties to the chain of marriages running through the estate, Elizabeth Lacy having been the widow of Charles Steward and then of Captain George Haswell before marrying Lacy, the same tangled succession that produced the deed of gift voided at the court of 14 December 1721. Haswell died intestate about 22 June 1718, his estate the subject of repeated accounting under the council's oversight. The fining of the cooper Bergue for unlicensed liquor selling shows the council enforcing the victualling licence system against a repeat offender, the penalty raised from 10s to 40s for his continued retailing without licence. This illustrates the regulation of drink on the island, the sale of liquor confined to licensed houses and the unlicensed trade punished by escalating fines, the same Andrew Bergue who was the Company's only cooper and had been disciplined for assault and unlawful company through the record. The complaint came through the sergeant's night rounds, the garrison's patrol serving to police the disorderly houses. The advertisement against turning hogs into the Great Wood answers a direct threat to the island's pasturage, the swine rooting up the young grass that the late rains had brought on. This shows the council protecting the grazing on which all the island's cattle depended, the order to remove the hogs within a day reflecting the urgency of preserving the new growth after a season of drought. The Great Wood was the upland forest reserve long protected against timber destruction, the order of 25 August 1719 having forbidden the cutting of its green wood, the same reserve now guarded against the damage of the hogs. | |
319 | A List of the Honble Companys Blacks their names ages Employments and Qualitys at y[e] Severall plantations &c Taken March y[e] 26 1722 Names Ages Employments Qualitys At Plantation House Men Slaves 1 Joshua 21 Plantation Good 2 Robin 26 Ditto Good 3 Stepney 31 D[o] Good as to work but troy[?] & some to be sent of yearling[?] 4 Dick Price 26 D[o] Good 5 Peter 29 D[o] D[o] 6 Lavie 31 D[o] D[o] 7 Jack Cook 33 D[o] D[o] 8 Charles 29 D[o] D[o] 9 Caesar 19 D[o] D[o] 10 Benjamin 19 D[o] D[o] 11 Titus 19 D[o] D[o] 12 Machet 26 D[o] D[o] 13 Esaue 17 D[o] Indifferent 14 Favanius 17 D[o] Good 15 Stephen 33 D[o] D[o] 16 Drake 26 D[o] D[o] 17 Frank 28 D[o] D[o] 18 Harry 15 D[o] Indifferent 19 Emanuell 21 D[o] Indifferent 20 Lewis 25 D[o] Sichley 21 Hannibal 31 D[o] Good 22 Merriman 81 D[o] Good 23 Pompey 26 D[o] very Sichly 24 Savncy 19 attending on y[e] Surgery & Surgeon Each day very Bad 25 Harry 30 Tanner very Good 26 Jaffey 23 D[o] Good 27 Jack 27 Butcher very Good 28 Sam 27 D[o] very Good 29 Ben 28 Gardner Good | A list of the Company's slaves, their names, ages, employments and qualities, taken on 26 March 1722. At the plantation house, the men slaves. 1: Joshua, 21, plantation, good 2: Robin, 26, plantation, good 3: Stepney, 31, plantation, good as to work but a rogue, and some to be sent to Bencoolen 4: Dick Price, 26, plantation, good 5: Peter, 29, plantation, good 6: Lacrie, 31, plantation, good 7: Jack Cook, 33, plantation, good 8: Charles, 29, plantation, good 9: Caesar, 19, plantation, good 10: Benjamin, 19, plantation, good 11: Titus, 19, plantation, good 12: Machet, 26, plantation, good 13: Esaue, 17, plantation, indifferent 14: Favanius, 17, plantation, good 15: Stephen, 33, plantation, good 16: Drake, 26, plantation, good 17: Frank, 28, plantation, good 18: Harry, 15, plantation, indifferent 19: Emanuell, 21, plantation, indifferent 20: Lewis, 25, plantation, sickly 21: Hannibal, 31, plantation, good 22: Merriman, 31, plantation, good 23: Pompey, 26, plantation, very sickly 24: Savncey, 19, attending the surgery and exercising the guard, very bad 25: Harry, 30, tanner, very good 26: Jaffey, 23, plantation, good 27: Jack, 27, butcher, very good 28: Sam, 27, butcher, very good 29: Ben, 28, gardener, good Interpretations The slave list is the annual census of the Company's labour force prepared for the directors, recording each slave by name, age, employment and quality, the same yearly account compiled at the consultation of 26 March 1722 and finished for transmission at the consultation of 4 April 1722. This document shows the Company's most valuable property reckoned in detail, the men graded by their fitness for work and assigned to the plantation, the trades or the guard, the assessment of each as good, indifferent, sickly or bad governing his worth and use. The annotations attached to individual slaves reveal the close management of the workforce, Stepney marked as a capable worker but a rogue fit to be sent to Bencoolen, the troublesome slaves transported to the Sumatran settlement to be rid of them, the same disposal applied to the twenty marked for Bencoolen on the Drake in the autumn of 1721. The grading of quality determined which slaves were kept, which set to skilled trades and which removed, the council managing the force by appraisal and transfer. The variety of employments shows the slaves trained to the island's necessary trades, the tanner, the butchers and the gardener supporting the settlement's economy alongside the mass of plantation hands. Frank, the slave valued at £25 0s 0d and bought as the only man fit for the long boat at the consultation of 20 February 1722, appears here at the plantation, while Pompey, the boy the Governor exchanged for the Company's boy Jack at the consultation of 20 March 1722, is entered as very sickly. The reckoning of each slave's quality and age formed the basis of the Company's continual requests to the directors for more able-bodied hands. | |
320 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Plantation Cont[d] Men Slaves 30 Joseph 31 Gardner Good 31 Scipio 26 D[o] D[o] 32 Daniel 31 D[o] Indifferent 33 George 17 D[o] Good for nothing 34 Peter 16 D[o] Indifferent 35 Limehouse 19 D[o] Under a Salivation 36 Toney 19 D[o] Run away 37 Dick 19 D[o] Poxed 38 Mordeu 51 To y[e] Com[s] fish & Boat Good 39 Corridon 27 D[o] Good 40 Tom 21 D[o] Indifferent 41 Barroe 36 D[o] D[o] 42 Martin 23 D[o] Good 42 Men Slaves at Plan[t] House Plant[a] House Continued Women Slaves 1 Kathrine 26 Plantation Sichly 2 Susanna 31 D[o] Good 3 Abigall 25 D[o] very Bad 4 Hellen 23 D[o] very Good 5 Bridgett 25 D[o] very Good 6 Magdelena 23 D[o] Indifferent 7 Bess 25 D[o] sometimes at y[e] Taylors D[o] 8 Sarah 23 D[o] D[o] 9 Mary 16 D[o] Good 10 Agness 19 D[o] Good 11 Patt 13 D[o] Good for nothing 12 Great Sarah 31 D[o] very bad much Poxed 13 Grace 23 D[o] Good 14 Pricella 21 D[o] Good | The list of the Company's slaves continued. The plantation house men slaves. 30: Joseph, 31, gardener, good 31: Scipio, 26, gardener, good 32: Daniel, 31, gardener, indifferent 33: George, 17, gardener, good for nothing 34: Peter, 16, gardener, indifferent 35: Limehouse, 19, gardener, under a salivation 36: Toney, 19, gardener, run away 37: Dick, 19, gardener, has smallpox 38: Mordeu, 51, the Company's fish boat, good 39: Corridon, 27, the Company's fish boat, good 40: Tom, 21, the Company's fish boat, indifferent 41: Barroe, 36, the Company's fish boat, good 42: Martin, 23, the Company's fish boat, good These were the 42 men slaves at the plantation house. The plantation house women slaves. 1: Kathrine, 26, plantation, sickly 2: Susanna, 31, plantation, good 3: Abigail, 25, plantation, very bad 4: Hellen, 23, plantation, very good 5: Bridgett, 25, plantation, very good 6: Magdelena, 23, plantation, very good 7: Bess, 25, sometimes at the Taylors, indifferent 8: Sarah, 23, plantation, indifferent 9: Mary, 16, plantation, good 10: Agnes, 19, plantation, good 11: Patt, 13, plantation, good for nothing 12: Great Sarah, 31, plantation, very bad, much has smallpox 13: Grace, 23, plantation, good 14: Pricilla, 21, plantation, good Interpretations The continuation of the slave census records the remaining men and the women of the plantation house, each entered by name, age, employment and quality in the same form as before, the annual list completed for the directors. The grading of every slave as good, indifferent, sickly or bad governed the assessment of the workforce, the quality marks running alongside the employments to give the Company a full account of the fitness of its labour. The annotations again reveal the management of the force by appraisal and disposal, several slaves marked as run away, under a salivation or having smallpox. The salivation was the mercury treatment given for the smallpox, the slaves under it withdrawn from work while they recovered, the same visitation that had run through the season and lay behind the reward dispute over Long's runaway Cloice. The marking of slaves as good for nothing or very bad identified those the Company found little use for, the assessment shaping which hands were kept and which removed. The separate listing of the women, distinguished from the men and reckoned apart, shows the gendered division of the workforce, most set to the plantation while one, Bess, was sometimes at the tailors. The women bore the children counted as Company stock, the births of Megg, Tom and Jack recorded through the winter and spring, their value to the Company lying both in their labour and in the increase of the slave force. The inclusion of children as young as thirteen marks the reckoning of the whole holding regardless of age, the council's continual requests for more able-bodied slaves resting on this full account of those it held. | |
321 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Plan[t] House continued Women Slaves 15 Rebecca 21 Plantation Poxed 16 Margarett 21 D[o] Sichly 17 Caesar Lewis wife 20 D[o] very much poxd good for nothin 18 Old Mary 46 Wash Woman Good 19 Maryhes Daugh 24 D[o] D[o] 20 Margarett 23 D[o] D[o] 21 Mary Gruer 33 D[o] D[o] 22 Sarah 23 D[o] Helper Indifferent 23 Saba 31 Belonging to y[e] Dairy Good 24 Sarah 17 D[o] Indiff[t] 25 Grace 26 Looks after y[e] poultry D[o] 26 Sarah 17 D[o] Good for little 27 Mercy 23 Sometimes makes Big Linnen Indiffrent 28 Betty Myers 26 Plantation D[o] 29 Betty Robins 27 D[o] Good for Little 30 Nanny 23 D[o] Indiffrent 30 Women Slaves At Perkins Men Slaves 1 Quncy 33 Plantation very Sick 2 Hector 26 D[o] Good 3 Islington 25 D[o] Good 4 Anthony 41 D[o] Sichly 5 Peter 31 D[o] Good 6 Caleb 17 D[o] D[o] 7 Toney 21 D[o] Indiffrent 8 Daniel 21 D[o] Lame 8 men Slaves Women at Perkins 1 Betty Times 26 Plantation very Indiffrent 2 Hellen 23 D[o] Poxed 2 Women Slaves | The list of the Company's slaves continued. The plantation house women slaves. 15: Rebecca, 21, plantation, has smallpox 16: Margaret, 21, plantation, sickly 17: Caesar Lewis's wife, 20, plantation, very much has smallpox, good for nothing 18: Old Mary, 46, washerwoman, good 19: Mary, her daughter, 24, washerwoman, good 20: Margaret, 23, washerwoman, good 21: Mary Gruer, 33, washerwoman, good 22: Sarah, 23, washerwoman's helper, indifferent 23: Saba, 31, belonging to the dairy, good 24: Sarah, 17, belonging to the dairy, indifferent 25: Grace, 26, looks after the poultry, indifferent 26: Sarah, 17, looks after the poultry, good for little 27: Mercy, 23, sometimes makes big linen, indifferent 28: Betty Myers, 26, sometimes makes big linen, indifferent 29: Betty Robin, 27, plantation, good for little 30: Nanny, 23, plantation, indifferent These were the 30 women slaves at the plantation house. At Perkins's, the men slaves. 1: Ouvey, 33, plantation, very sick 2: Hector, 26, plantation, good 3: Islington, 25, plantation, good 4: Anthony, 41, plantation, sickly 5: Peter, 31, plantation, good 6: Caleb, 17, plantation, good 7: Toney, 21, plantation, indifferent 8: Daniel, 21, plantation, lame These were the 8 men slaves at Perkins's. At Perkins's, the women slaves. 1: Betty Times, 26, plantation, very indifferent 2: Hellen, 23, plantation, has smallpox These were the 2 women slaves at Perkins's. Interpretations The completion of the plantation house women and the listing of the Perkins's slaves continue the annual census, the labour force reckoned plantation by plantation with each slave's name, age, employment and quality. The grouping by station shows the Company's slaves distributed across its several holdings, the largest body at the plantation house and a smaller gang at Perkins's, the same plantation whose Company term had expired in July 1721 and whose 5-acre division was lodged in the Secretary's office at the consultation of 17 October 1721. The women's employments reveal the domestic and dairy economy of the plantation, the washerwomen, the dairy hands and the poultry keepers supporting the establishment alongside the plantation labourers. The making of big linen was the laundering or weaving of coarse cloth, the women set to the household's necessary work, the assessment of each as good, indifferent or good for little governing her use. The prevalence of smallpox among the women, several marked as having it, reflects the visitation that ran through the season and bore on the council's business throughout the spring. The naming of slaves by their relationship to others, Old Mary's daughter and Caesar Lewis's wife, shows the family connections recorded within the workforce, the slaves' kinship noted even as they were reckoned as property. This census, distributed across the plantation house and Perkins's, formed the full account of the Company's holding on which its requests to the directors for more hands depended, the careful grading of quality and the notation of sickness, lameness and flight giving the directors a true picture of the fitness of the labour the island held. | |
322 | Names Ages Employments Quality At y[e] Hutts Men Slaves 1 John Figura 31 Plantation Indiffrent 2 Horsham 26 D[o] Pretty Good 3 Caesar 20 D[o] Sichly 4 Sam 17 D[o] Good 5 Harry 19 D[o] Indiffrent 6 Will Banjar 21 D[o] Sichly 7 Belvardstach 23 D[o] very Sichly 8 Ding 21 D[o] Good for little 8 men Slaves y[e] works Women Slaves 1 Allice 21 Plantation Indiffrent 2 Ringy Bell 83 D[o] Good for Nothing 3 Sarah 26 D[o] Good 3 Women Slaves y[e] works At y[e] Peak Men Slaves 1 Augustine 31 Plantation Good 2 Sultan 19 D[o] D[o] 3 Joseph 17 D[o] D[o] 3 men Slaves y[e] works 1 Jenny 21 D[o] D[o] 1 woman Slave y[e] works Men Slaves at y[e] Fortifications 1 Dick 28 Stone layer & Cutter Indiffrent 2 Ned 27 D[o] Good but very Sichly 3 Stephen 31 Stone Layer Good 4 Burnham 25 D[o] Indiff[t] 5 Cremona 26 D[o] Good but Sichly 6 Simon 19 D[o] Good 7 Alley 31 Smith Good but Sichly 8 Dublin | The list of the Company's slaves continued. At the Hutts, the men slaves. 1: John Figura, 31, plantation, indifferent 2: Horsham, 26, plantation, pretty good 3: Caesar, 20, plantation, sickly 4: Sam, 17, plantation, good 5: Harry, 19, plantation, indifferent 6: Will Banjar, 21, plantation, sickly 7: Belvards Jack, 23, plantation, very sickly 8: Ding, 21, plantation, good for little These were the 8 men slaves at the works. At the Hutts, the women slaves. 1: Allice, 21, plantation, indifferent 2: Bingy Bell, 33, plantation, good for nothing 3: Sarah, 26, plantation, good These were the 3 women slaves at the works. At the Peak, the men slaves. 1: Augustine, 31, plantation, good 2: Sultan, 19, plantation, good 3: Joseph, 17, plantation, good These were the 3 men slaves at the works. At the Peak, the women slaves. 1: Jenny, 21, plantation, good This was the 1 woman slave at the works. At the fortifications, the men slaves. 1: Dick, 28, stone layer and cutter, indifferent 2: Ned, 27, stone layer and cutter, good but very sickly 3: Stephen, 31, stone layer, good 4: Burnham, 25, stone layer, indifferent 5: Cremoua, 26, stone layer, good but sickly 6: Simon, 19, stone layer, good 7: Alley, 31, smith, good but sickly 8: Dublin [...] Interpretations The census continues through the Hutts, the Peak and the fortifications, the Company's labour distributed across its plantations and its building works. The slaves at the Hutts and the Peak were set to the plantation, raising the yams that fed the workforce, while those at the fortifications were the skilled stone layers, cutters and smiths who maintained the island's defences. This division shows the two great calls on the Company's slaves, the provision of food and the upkeep of the works, the same demands that ran through the council's continual hiring of the planters' slaves to advance both. The grading of the fortification slaves as good but sickly recurs through this part of the list, the skilled hands valued for their trades yet often unwell, the smallpox and other sickness thinning the workforce. The stone layers and cutters were the craftsmen on whom the repair of the forts and the building of the storehouses depended, their skill making them the more valuable and their illness the more felt, the same want of able hands that drove the Company's requests to the directors. The notation of slaves by their former owners or origins, Belvards Jack and Will Banjar, records the provenance of the labour, the slaves drawn from various sources and retaining the marks of their acquisition. The Peak and the Hutts were the established plantations whose yam stocks and slave housing ran through the record, the slaves' house at the Hutts reported so decayed at the consultation of 19 September 1721 that a new one was to be built, the gangs listed here being those it sheltered. | |
323 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Fortification Contin[d] Men Slaves 8 Dublin 27 Smith Indiffrent 9 Jack 26 Carpenter Good 10 Daniel 19 D[o] Indiff[t] 11 Will 21 Belong[g] to y[e] long boat D[o] 12 Knockwell 25 D[o] D[o] 13 Jemmy 22 D[o] D[o] 14 Black Heath 24 D[o] Sichly 15 Frank 31 D[o] Good 16 Cupido 26 D[o] Poxed 17 Pompey 26 D[o] Labourer Indiff[t] 18 Dich 23 D[o] Sichly 19 Brackett 31 Belonging to y[e] fort fishing boat Good 20 Banjar 41 D[o] very Bad 21 Leander 21 D[o] Indiff[t] 22 Porteus Jack 23 D[o] D[o] 23 Marcus 23 D[o] D[o] 24 Mungo 36 At y[e] Lime Kiln very Bad 25 Soldier 21 D[o] Indiff[t] 26 Benjamin 41 Gard at y[e] Fort Good 27 Chatham 21 D[o] Sichly 28 Harry 21 D[o] Good 29 Tom 23 D[o] very Lame 30 Jn[o] Portug[l] 51 D[o] Good for nothing 31 Jacob 41 Taylor Good 32 Boston 33 D[o] Good 33 Ben 26 Labourer Good 34 Pompey 26 D[o] Indiff[t] 35 Diamond 23 D[o] Sichly 36 Moses 24 D[o] Bad 37 Michaell 26 D[o] always y[e] Yaws 38 Abdella | The list of the Company's slaves continued. At the fortifications, the men slaves. 8: Dublin, 27, smith, indifferent 9: Jack, 26, carpenter, good 10: Daniel, 19, carpenter, indifferent 11: Will, 21, belonging to the long boat, indifferent 12: Knockwell, 25, belonging to the long boat, indifferent 13: Jemmy, 22, belonging to the long boat, indifferent 14: Black Heath, 24, belonging to the long boat, sickly 15: Frank, 31, belonging to the long boat, good 16: Cupido, 26, belonging to the long boat, has smallpox 17: Pompey, 26, labourer, indifferent 18: Dick, 23, labourer, sickly 19: Brackett, 31, belonging to the fort fishing boat, good 20: Banjar, 41, belonging to the fort fishing boat, very bad 21: Leander, 21, belonging to the fort fishing boat, indifferent 22: Porteus Jack, 23, belonging to the fort fishing boat, indifferent 23: Marcus, 23, belonging to the fort fishing boat, indifferent 24: Mungo, 36, at the lime kiln, very bad 25: Soldier, 21, at the lime kiln, indifferent 26: Benjamin, 41, gardener at the fort, good 27: Chatham, 21, gardener at the fort, sickly 28: Harry, 21, gardener at the fort, good 29: Tom, 23, gardener at the fort, very lame 30: John Portuguese, 51, gardener at the fort, good for nothing 31: Jacob, 41, tailor, good 32: Boston, 33, tailor, good 33: Ben, 26, labourer, good 34: Pompey, 26, labourer, indifferent 35: Diamond, 23, labourer, sickly 36: Moses, 24, labourer, bad 37: Michael, 26, looks after the yams, good Interpretations The fortification slaves continue through the skilled and labouring hands, the smith, carpenters, tailors, gardeners and boat crews who served the island's defences and supply. The long boat and the fort fishing boat each had their own gang, the slaves manning the vessels that fed the workforce and supported the shipping, the same boat service whose loss in a storm had obliged the council to buy a new long boat at the consultation of 20 March 1722. Frank, the slave bought as the only man fit for the long boat at the consultation of 20 February 1722, appears here among its crew. The grading of the boat crews and labourers shows the recurring sickness and disability that weakened the force, several marked sickly, very bad, lame or having smallpox. Brackett, who appears here as good on the fort fishing boat, had earlier been left with a broken arm in a dangerous condition when a boat was staved at the consultation of 16 May 1721, the hazards of the fishery falling on the slaves who manned it. The assessment of each hand's quality governed the Company's use of him and its sense of what labour it could command. The notation of slaves by origin or former owner, John Portuguese, Porteus Jack and Banjar, records the varied provenance of the labour, the slaves drawn from many sources and bearing the marks of their acquisition. The lime kiln gang supported the building works by burning the stone for mortar, the trades and services listed here showing the slaves trained to every necessary craft of the settlement, the whole reckoned for the directors so the Company might judge the fitness and number of the hands it held. | |
324 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Fortification Contin[d] 38 Abdalla 27 Labourer Sichly 39 Leo 22 D[o] D[o] 40 Adams 21 D[o] D[o] 41 Clois 24 D[o] D[o] 42 Simon 26 D[o] Bursten 43 Sambo 31 D[o] Good but Sichly 44 Jack Pyrate 23 D[o] Sick 18 months & Still continu[g] 45 Noah 24 D[o] D[o] 46 Monro 25 In y[e] Garden Indiff[t] 47 Daniel 21 Labo[r] & paint[r] D[o] 48 Nathan 25 D[o] almost Dead 49 Jupiter 29 D[o] Poxed 50 Dutch 21 D[o] Indiff[t] 51 Solomon 23 D[o] Good 52 David 23 D[o] D[o] 53 James 21 D[o] Indiff[t] 54 Drury Lane 24 D[o] Sichly 55 Joseph 23 D[o] Indiff[t] 56 Job 26 D[o] D[o] 57 Blake 21 D[o] Poxd 58 Harry 23 D[o] Indiff[t] 59 Will 24 D[o] Good 60 Plato 26 D[o] D[o] 61 Cato 23 D[o] Indiff[t] 62 James 20 D[o] Sichly 63 Lewis 23 D[o] D[o] 64 Cloice 24 D[o] D[o] 65 Rotherhith 28 D[o] Deaf and Sichly 66 Jeffrey 29 D[o] Good 67 Blackwall 31 D[o] & Sawyer D[o] 68 Tower hill | The list of the Company's slaves continued. At the fortifications, the men slaves. 38: Abdalla, 27, labourer, sickly 39: Leo, 22, labourer, sickly 40: Adams, 21, labourer, sickly 41: Clois, 24, labourer, sickly 42: Simon, 26, labourer, has a rupture 43: Sambo, 31, labourer, good but sickly 44: Jack Pyrate, 23, labourer, sick 18 months and still continues 45: Noah, 24, labourer, good but sickly 46: Monro, 25, in the garden, indifferent 47: Daniel, 21, labourer and paints, indifferent 48: Nathan, 25, labourer, almost dead 49: Jupiter, 29, labourer, has smallpox 50: Dutch, 21, labourer, indifferent 51: Solomon, 23, labourer, good 52: David, 23, labourer, good 53: James, 21, labourer, indifferent 54: Drury Lane, 24, labourer, sickly 55: Joseph, 23, labourer, indifferent 56: Job, 26, labourer, indifferent 57: Blake, 21, labourer, has smallpox 58: Harry, 23, labourer, indifferent 59: Will, 24, labourer, good 60: Plato, 26, labourer, good 61: Cato, 23, labourer, indifferent 62: James, 20, labourer, sickly 63: Lewis, 23, labourer, good 64: Cloice, 24, labourer, good 65: Rotherhith, 28, labourer, deaf and sickly 66: Jeffrey, 29, labourer, good 67: Blackwall, 31, labourer and sawyer, good Interpretations The fortification slaves continue through a long roll of labourers, the great body of unskilled hands who carried the stone, dug and built at the island's defences. The recurring grades of sickly, indifferent and good but sickly run through the whole list, the workforce much weakened by illness, several slaves marked with smallpox, ruptures or near death. This reflects the toll of disease and hard labour on the gang, the same want of able hands that drove the Company's continual requests to the directors for more able-bodied slaves, the annual census recording an annual mortality among the slaves of 8 to 10 in every hundred noted in the great census of 25 March 1719. The persistence of long sickness appears starkly in Jack Pyrate, marked sick for 18 months and still continuing, and Nathan, entered as almost dead, the census recording not only present fitness but the chronic invalids the Company carried at a loss. The grading of each hand's quality governed the reckoning of the workforce's true strength, the many sickly and good for nothing slaves reducing the effective labour far below the headcount, the same distinction the council had long drawn between its whole holding and its good hands. The slave named Cloice appears here at the fortifications, the same runaway whose recapture by the Company's slave Jack produced the reward dispute with John Long settled at the consultation of 26 April 1722. The naming of slaves by London place names, Drury Lane, Rotherhith and Blackwall, marks the custom of assigning such names to the workforce, the slaves stripped of their own names and reckoned by the labels their owners gave them, the whole roll forming the Company's account of the hands it held for the directors' information. | |
325 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Fortifications contin[d] Men Slaves 68 Tower Hill 22 Labourer Sichly 69 Jerry 33 D[o] D[o] 69 men Slaves y[e] works 1 Old Mary 46 midwife Good 2 Mercy Jacobs wife 23 makes Bla Cloath Indiff[t] 2 Women Slaves y[e] work House Blacks Men Slaves 1 Caesar 27 Serv[s] in the House Good 2 Caesar 23 D[o] Indiff[t] 3 Navaro 50 D[o] Good 4 Toney Myers 33 D[o] Cook Indiff[t] 5 Ballo 25 D[o] & Cook Good 6 Jansey 20 Candle maker Good 7 Mercury 24 looks after y[e] Distiling Indiff[t] 7 men Slaves Women Slaves 1 Ellin 30 in the House Good work won't but Lasy 2 Sarah 22 D[o] very Sick for 9 months past 3 Betty 19 D[o] Good 4 Ellin 21 D[o] Indiff[t] 4 House Slaves Men Slaves 1 Old Will 2 Sampson 3 Tony Price 4 Chan Cha 5 Aron 6 Anthony 7 Pawpa 8 Ballo 8 men Slaves Women Slaves 1 Old Megg 2 Muta 3 Sarah 4 Casmire 5 Mercy 6 Velch 7 Dinah Super Annualed 7 Women Slaves Past their Labour | The list of the Company's slaves continued. At the fortifications, the men slaves. 68: Tower Hill, 22, labourer, sickly 69: Jerry, 33, labourer, sickly These were the 69 men slaves at the works. At the fortifications, the women slaves. 1: Old Mary, 46, midwife, good 2: Mercy, Jacob's wife, 23, makes black cloth, indifferent These were the 2 women slaves at the works. The house slaves, the men slaves. 1: Caesar, 27, serves in the house, good 2: Caesar, 23, serves in the house, indifferent 3: Navaro, 50, serves in the house, good 4: Tony Myers, 33, serves in the house and cook, indifferent 5: Ballo, 25, serves in the house and cook, good 6: Jansey, 20, candle maker, good 7: Mercury, 24, looks after the distilling, indifferent These were the 7 men slaves. The house slaves, the women slaves. 1: Ellin, 30, in the house, good worker but lazy 2: Sarah, 22, in the house, very sick for 9 months past 3: Betty, 19, in the house, good 4: Ellin, 21, in the house, indifferent These were the 4 house slaves. The men slaves past their labour. 1: Old Will 2: Sampson 3: Tony Price 4: Chan Cha 5: Aron 6: Anthony 7: Pawpa 8: Ballo These were the 8 men slaves, superannuated and past their labour. The women slaves past their labour. 1: Old Megg 2: Muta 3: Sarah 4: Casmire 5: Mercy 6: Velch 7: Dinah These were the 7 women slaves, superannuated and past their labour. Interpretations The census closes the fortification labourers and turns to the house slaves and the aged, completing the full account of the Company's holding for the directors. The house slaves served the Governor's establishment, the cooks, candle maker and the man who looked after the distilling supporting the table whose monthly expense the steward accounted, while the women kept the house. The midwife Old Mary stands among the fortification women, her office essential to the increase of the slave force, the same midwife whose value the planters had recognised when they offered to buy her at the consultation of 12 May 1719. The separate listing of the superannuated slaves, the men and women past their labour, reveals the Company carrying its aged hands as a standing charge, the old slaves no longer able to work yet still maintained. This shows the lifetime obligation the Company bore for its slaves, the workforce reckoned not only by its effective hands but by the dependants it supported, the aged counted apart so the directors might see the true burden of the holding. The distinction between the working force and those past labour was the same the council drew throughout in measuring the Company's real strength against its whole number. The notation of one woman as makes black cloth and another as very sick for nine months marks the close recording of each slave's employment and condition, the census tracking not only the able but the long invalid. The naming of the house slaves and the aged by familiar names, Old Will, Old Megg and the rest, records the long service of those grown old in the Company's hands, the whole list, from the youngest plantation hand to the superannuated, forming the complete reckoning on which the Company's management of its labour and its requests for more depended. | |
326 | Names Ages Employments Qualitys Boys Girls 1 Harry 1 Betty 2 Jack 2 Mercy 3 Jack 3 Betty 4 Robin 4 Betty 5 Tim 5 Margarett 6 Gabriel 6 Mary 7 Tony 7 Margarett 8 Stephen 8 Margarett 9 Jack 9 Hannah 10 Tom 10 Megg 11 John 11 Sarah 12 Mercy 13 Ellin 14 Magdelena 15 Mary 16 Betty 17 Patt w[th] M[rs] Tovey 28 Children from 1 week to 5 years old 1 Will 9 years of age 2 Sam 8 3 Sam 6 1 Dick 11 years 2 Harry 10 5 Boys not fit for Labour but keeps Goats out of the plantation Totall Boys 2 from 6 to 10 year old 11 from one week to 5 16 Boys Totall Girls 18 Ditto from 1 week to 54 Totall men At Plant[t] House 42 Perkins 8 Hutts 8 Peak 3 At y[e] Fortifications 69 House Blacks 7 Super Annualed 8 Totall 145 Totall Women Slaves At plantat[t] House 30 Perkins 2 Hutts 3 Peak 1 D[o] Fortifications 3 At y[e] Castle 4 Super Annualed 7 Totall 50 Edw[d] Johnson Edw[d] Byfeild Jn[o] Alexander Jn[o] Goodwin | The list of the Company's slaves continued. The children, boys and girls. The boys: 1: Harry 2: Jack 3: Jack 4: Robin 5: Tim 6: Gabriel 7: Tony 8: Stephen 9: Jack 10: Tom 11: John The girls: 1: Betty 2: Mercy 3: Betty 4: Betty 5: Margaret 6: Mary 7: Margaret 8: Margaret 9: Hannah 10: Megg 11: Sarah 12: Mercy 13: Ellin 14: Magdelena 15: Mary 16: Betty 17: Patt, with Mrs Tovey These were the 28 children, from 1 week to 5 years old. Five boys not yet fit for labour, but who keep the goats out of the plantation. 1: Will, 9 years old 2: Sam, 8 3: Sam, 6 Dick, 7 Harry, 10 A summary of the whole was set out as follows. The total boys: 3 from 6 to 10 years old, and 11 from 1 week to 5 years old, making 16 boys The total girls: 18, from 1 week to 5 years old The total men slaves: at the plantation house 42, Perkins's 8, the Hutts 8, the Peak 3, at the fortifications 69, house slaves 7, superannuated 8, total 145 The total women slaves: at the plantation house 30, Perkins's 2, the Hutts 3, the Peak 1, at the fortifications 3, at the castle 4, superannuated 7, total 50 The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The census closes with the children and the summary totals, completing the annual account of the Company's whole slave holding for the directors. The infants from one week to five years old were counted as the future labour force, the increase of the slaves recorded with the same care as the working hands, the births of Megg, Tom and Jack noted through the winter and spring appearing here among the children. The careful enumeration of every slave from the newborn to the superannuated gave the directors the full reckoning of the property the island held. The five boys not yet fit for labour but set to keep the goats out of the plantation show the slaves put to light work from an early age, the children employed in herding before they were strong enough for the harder labour. This reflects the Company's use of its whole force, even the young set to useful tasks, the boys guarding the crops against the straying goats that threatened the island's provision. The summary totals reckon the Company's holding at 145 men and 50 women, with the boys and girls counted apart, the whole distributed across the plantation house, Perkins's, the Hutts, the Peak, the fortifications and the castle. This was the document on which the Company's labour policy turned, the count of the able hands against the sickly, the aged and the children determining the true strength of the workforce and the basis of the continual requests to the directors for more able-bodied slaves. The patt entered with Mrs Tovey marks a child kept by the widow of the disgraced former secretary, the slave girl placed in her household yet counted among the Company's stock, the full census signed by the council as the settled record of the island's labour sent home. | |
327 | Margin Notes: does not apply here as plain text - it should be the bold heading. Let me give the full corrected transcription: Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Sa= turday the 5th day of May 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Johnd Byfeld 2d Prest John Alexander 3d John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approbd of Yesterday arrived the London Capt Upton the Grantham Capt Fields and the Greenwich Captn Barnes Who Succeeded Capt Kerby) all from Bombay but last from the Cape./ We Received by the Greenwich from Bombay the following Goods Vizt Three Bales Vizt 1 Bale Cuttanees and allejars 10 Corge Vizt Cuttanees 5 Corge Vizt No 1.2.10 att 90 Rups p Co 225 .. 2.2 .. att 150 Do p Do 210 .. 3 .. 10 att 160 Do p Ditto 80 .. .. 54 .. 515 Rebate 6 p Ct 30 .. 484. 6 Allejars 5 Corge Vizt 3 .. 18 att 97 .. 32 p Corge 380 .. 16 1 .. 2 att 100 110 .. Co 5 .. 490 .. 16 Rebate 2 p Ct .. 9 .. 52 480 .. 28 Package 10 p ware Cloth 7 .. 52 .972 22 Margin Notes: Ships arrival Goods from Bombay | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Saturday 5 May 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The London under Captain Upton, the Grantham under Captain Field and the Greenwich under Captain Barnes, who had succeeded Captain Kerby, arrived the previous day, all from Bombay but last from the Cape. The council received the following goods from Bombay by the Greenwich. Three bales: One bale of cuttanees and allejars, 10 corge. Cuttanees, 5 corge: Number 2 to 10, 9 pieces at 90 rupees per corge, 225 rupees. Number 2 to 2, 1 piece at 150 rupees per corge, 210 rupees. Number 3 to 10, 8 pieces at 160 rupees per corge, 80 rupees. Number 5, [...]. Total 515 rupees. Rebate 6 per cent, 30 rupees, leaving 484 rupees 6 [...]. Allejars, 5 corge: Number 3 to 18, 16 pieces at 97 rupees 32 [...] per corge, 380 rupees 16 [...]. Number 1 to 2, 1 piece at 100 rupees, 110 rupees. Total 5 corge, 490 rupees 16 [...]. Rebate 2 per cent, 9 rupees 52 [...], leaving 480 rupees 28 [...]. Packaging, 10 [...] wax cloth, 7 rupees 52 [...], making 972 rupees 22 [...]. One bale Interpretations The three ships arrived together from Bombay but had last touched at the Cape, the standing pattern by which the homeward East India trade gathered at the island for refreshment before the final Atlantic passage. The Greenwich under Captain Barnes had changed commanders during the voyage, Barnes having succeeded Captain Kerby, the kind of mid-voyage replacement the council routinely recorded for its shipping register. The goods were entered in Bombay's money of account, rupees subdivided for the corge, a unit of twenty pieces used across the Indian textile trade. Cuttanees were a fine striped or mixed cotton-and-silk cloth of western India, and allejars a striped cotton or silk fabric of similar origin, both staples of the Bombay export lists priced by the corge for resale. The rebate deducted at six per cent on the cuttanees and two per cent on the allejars functioned as a standing trade allowance against the invoice value, a discount applied before the packaging charge was added to reach the bale's total. The wax cloth charged for packaging protected the textiles against damp on the sea passage, its cost carried into the final figure. | |
328 | Brot over .. 972 22 1 Bale of Pallumpores qt 5 Corge Vizt No 1 Pallumpores Bundle 1 .. 14 att 140 p long 4 .. 12 broad Co p 3 .. 12 238 .. No 2 .. 1 .. 10 long 3 .. 13 .. 3 att 95 Rup p Corge 142 .. 32 .. 3 nessermance Co 16 long 8 .. 6 broad 2 .. 12 att 37 Rup p Corge 66 .. 38 447 .. 6 Rebate 6 p Ct 26 .. 53 420 .. 17 Package 7 .. 29 427 46 1 Bale Quilts Containing 50 Vizt 68 Pallumpores long 3 .. 12 broad 2 .. 12 att 32 Rs p Corge .. 108 .. 15 32 Pallumpores long 3 .. 6 broad 2 .. 12 att 27 Rs p Corge .. 43 .. 13 Rups .. 152 .. Rebate 6 p Ct .. 9 .. 8 Rs .. 142 .. 56 .. Cotton 3 md .. 13 .. 39 .. Tape 3 .. 4 making 27 .. 32 .. 30 .. 36 .. Package with 2 Buttys .. 9 .. 38 .. 295 86 Custom 2 p Ct on 1696 .. 43 31 60 1628 .. 41 We Recd the following Letter from Bombay Worshipl Sr &c Your Letter of the 9th of Sept p Hartford via Madrass reached us the 5th of Aprill 1721 We therein observe the notice you give us of the Ships arrival and Departure with your and hope you will continue the like on all occasions./ Margin Notes: Lettr from Bombay p Greenwich | Brought over, 972 rupees 22 [...]. One bale of pallampores, 5 corge: Number 1, pallampores, bundle 1, 14 pieces at 140 [...] long 4 [...] 12 [...] broad, [...] 12, 238 rupees [...]. Number 2, 1 to 10, long 3 [...] 15 [...] 3 [...] at 95 rupees per corge, 142 rupees 32 [...]. 3 naffermance [...], long 6 [...] broad 3 [...] 6 [...]: 2 to 12 at 37 rupees per corge, 66 rupees 38 [...]. Total 447 rupees 6 [...]. Rebate 6 per cent, 26 rupees 53 [...], leaving 420 rupees 17 [...]. Packaging, 7 rupees 29 [...], making 427 rupees 46 [...]. One bale of quilts containing 50 pieces: 68 pallampores, long 3 [...] 12 [...] broad 2 [...] 12 [...], at 32 rupees per corge, 108 rupees 15 [...]. 32 pallampores, long 3 [...] 6 [...] broad 2 [...] 12 [...], at 27 rupees per corge, 43 rupees 13 [...]. Total 152 rupees [...]. Rebate 6 per cent, 9 rupees 8 [...], leaving 142 rupees 56 [...]. Cotton, 3 maunds, 13 rupees 39 [...]. Tape, 3 to 4, making 27 rupees 32 [...], 30 rupees 36 [...]. Packaging with 2 dutties, 9 rupees 38 [...], making 295 rupees 86 [...]. Custom 2 per cent on 1,596 rupees 43 [...], 31 rupees 60 [...]. Total 1,628 rupees 41 [...]. The council received the following letter from Bombay. The letter addressed the Governor and council of St Helena. It acknowledged that the council's letter of 9 September, sent by the Hartford by way of Madras, had reached Bombay on 5 April 1721. The Bombay government observed the notice the council had given of the ships' arrivals and departures, and hoped the council would continue to do the same on every occasion. Interpretations The textile invoice from Bombay closed at a grand total of 1,628 rupees 41 [...], the running figure carried forward from the cuttanees and allejars and built up through the further bales of pallampores and quilts before customs was added. The two per cent customs charge was assessed on a value of 1,596 rupees 43 [...], levied after the trade rebates had been deducted from each bale. Pallampores were painted or printed cotton bed-coverings of the western Indian coast, exported in quantity for the European and colonial market and graded here by length and breadth and priced by the corge of twenty pieces. The quilts in the final bale were finished bed-covers of the same painted cotton, counted as fifty pieces across two sizes. Dutties, charged in the packaging, were coarse cotton cloths used as outer wrappers to shield the finer goods on the sea passage, and the maund was the standard Indian weight by which the loose cotton was reckoned. The Bombay government's letter, brought to St Helena by the Hartford by way of Madras, confirms the island's role as a reporting post for the Company's eastern settlements. The council's habit of recording and forwarding each ship's arrival and departure supplied Bombay with intelligence of the homeward traffic, and the request that the practice continue shows how far the presidencies depended on the island for news of shipping. | |
329 | May. The Small quantity of Rice and Grain at present, upon the Island prevents our Sending you any in these Ships, nor could we were it otherwise Suply you with the Quantity you Desire we cannot but offer it as our opinion, that you would be much better Servd from the Bay and at Cheaper Rates than we can from hence./ What you write further with Respect to our Supplying you with piece Goods, We observe, and Shall send no more than what you Indent for, By the Greenwich you will receive three Bales of Piece Goods, amounting as p Invoice and Bill of Loading Enclosed, Rups one Thousand Six Hundred twenty Eight, and Forty one Pieces Indented for By Govr Pyke and Councill ij last Season, Which we hope will come safe, We have not to add but to wish you Success in our Honble Masters affairs and are Bombay Castle. Worshipl Sr & Srs Janry 7th 1721 your very Humble Servants Cha: Boone Wm Phipps Geo: Taylor Hexn King Robt Nicolin Geo: Percivall John Sarron Robt Cowan Robt Sutton Upon Compairing the Invoice with the Bill of Loading We find therein Mentiond [...] 50 Corge Instead of 50 Quilts as in the aforesaid Invoice and therefore Orderd That Exception be made therto on the back of the Said Bill of Loading according ly./ The Gunner brought in the following accot of Gunners Stores now Remaining and his Monthly Accot for Aprill Last which Margin Notes: a mistake in the Bill of Loading Gunrd Gopt allso | The Bombay government explained that the small quantity of rice and grain on the island at present prevented it from sending any by these ships. It could not otherwise supply the council with the quantity desired, but offered its opinion that the island would be far better served from Bengal and at cheaper rates than from Bombay. On the council's further request concerning piece goods, the Bombay government undertook to send no more than the council indented for. By the Greenwich the council would receive three bales of piece goods, amounting as per the enclosed invoice and bill of lading to 1,628 rupees, and 41 pieces had been indented for by Governor Pyke and his council the previous season, which the Bombay government hoped would arrive safely. It had nothing more to add but wished the council success in the Honourable Masters' affairs. The letter was sent from Bombay Castle on 7 January 1721, subscribed as from the council's very humble servants and signed by Charles Boone, William Phipps, George Taylor, Alexander King, Robert Nicolin, George Percivall, John Sarron, Robert Cowan and Robert Sutton. On comparing the invoice with the bill of lading, the council found 50 corge mentioned in it instead of 50 quilts as stated in the invoice. It therefore ordered that an exception be noted to that effect on the back of the bill of lading. The gunner brought in the following account of the gunner's stores now remaining, together with his monthly account for the previous April. Interpretations The Bombay government's redirection of the island's supply toward Bengal reflected the comparative cheapness of rice and grain shipped from the Bay of Bengal, the established source for the island's provisioning when its own harvests fell short. The advice was practical rather than a refusal, Bombay pleading its own scarcity while pointing the council to the cheaper and more reliable market. The signatories were the president and council of Bombay Castle, headed by Charles Boone as governor, the body that directed the Company's western Indian presidency and corresponded with the island as one station to another. Their undertaking to send no more piece goods than the island indented for shows the standard practice by which each settlement ordered against a fixed requisition rather than receiving open consignments, the indent of Governor Pyke and his council from the previous season governing the quantity supplied. The discrepancy between the invoice and the bill of lading, 50 corge written for 50 quilts, was a clerical error in the shipping papers that the council corrected by endorsing an exception on the back of the bill of lading. This preserved the council's position against any later claim, the endorsed bill standing as the formal record that the goods received did not match the document as drawn. | |
330 | which were both Examind and approvd and is as follows./ Names of Particulars Expence What Recd Remains since last Acco Iron Ordinance 142 142 Iron Round Shott 6.971 6.971 Double Head or Handshott 547 547 Barrills of Ponder 207 13 Barrills 8 .. 66 6 Barrills 198 .. 84 Match 362 168 197 391 Cartridge Paper 4 Rm 2 8 Qr 10 Rm 6 Spunge Heads 330 35 295 Ramer Hedds 336 47 288 Ramer Heads 120 14 108 Cartuch Cases 123 1 122 Ponder Hornes 108 108 Pole axes 24 24 Flints 7000 427 6572 Wormes 17 17 Ladles 30 2 28 Tomphins 88 88 Spunge Staves 84 9 75 Sheep Skins 78 21 57 Hand Spikes or levers 46 46 Beds 123 1 122 Quines 180 180 Cartuche Boxes 77 77 Trucks 300 11 289 Axletrees 68 11 57 Blunderbuses 36 36 Margin Notes: The Charge 1 first | Both accounts were examined and approved, and ran as follows. The account set out the charge first, then the names of the particulars, the expense, what had been received since the last account, and the remainder. Iron ordnance, charge 142, remaining 142. Iron round shot, charge 6,971, remaining 6,971. Double-headed or hand shot, charge 547, remaining 547. Barrels of powder, charge 207, expended 13 barrels 8 [...] 66 [...], received 6 barrels [...], remaining 199 barrels 8 [...] 84 [...]. Match, charge 362 pounds, expended 168 pounds, received 197 pounds, remaining 391 pounds. Cartridge paper, charge 4 reams 2 [...], expended 8 [...], received 10 [...], remaining 6 reams 6 [...]. Spunge heads, charge 330, expended 35, remaining 295. Rammer heads, charge 336, expended 47, remaining 288 [...]. Rammer heads, charge 120, expended 14, remaining 108. Cartouche cases, charge 123, expended 1, remaining 122. Powder horns, charge 108, remaining 108. Pole axes, charge 24, remaining 24. Flints, charge 7,000, expended 427, remaining 6,572. Worms, charge 17, remaining 17. Ladles, charge 30, expended 2, remaining 28. Tompions, charge 88, remaining 88. Spunge staves, charge 84, expended 9, remaining 75. Sheepskins, charge 78, expended 21, remaining 57. Hand spikes or levers, charge 46, remaining 46. Beds, charge 123, expended 1, remaining 122. Quoins, charge 180, remaining 180. Cartouche boxes, charge 77, remaining 77. Trucks, charge 300, expended 11, remaining 289. Axletrees, charge 68, expended 11, remaining 57. Blunderbusses, charge 36, remaining 36. 14 pistols Interpretations The gunner's account followed the standing five-column form the council had required of the office, setting the original charge against expenditure, fresh receipts and the balance remaining, so the state of the magazine could be read at a glance. John French had taken the gunner's stores into his charge by a full inventory of the magazine and ordnance on 13 June 1721, and these monthly returns continued that accounting discipline. Several of the listed items were the working gear of muzzle-loading artillery rather than munitions. Spunge heads and staves cleared and damped the bore between firings, rammer heads drove home the charge, worms drew out residue, ladles measured loose powder, and tompions plugged the muzzle against damp. Beds and quoins were the timber and wedge that set a gun's elevation, trucks the small wheels of its carriage, and axletrees the carriage axles, so the inventory recorded not only powder and shot but the whole apparatus of keeping the island's guns serviceable. The double-headed shot, blunderbusses and cartouche boxes mark the mix of heavy and small-arms equipment held in one store. Cartouche cases and boxes held made-up cartridges, match served as the slow-burning ignition for the guns, and the sheepskins and cartridge paper were the consumable materials of charge-making, the steady monthly expenditure of match, flints and paper measuring the routine drill and alarm firing the garrison maintained. | |
331 | May. The Charge at Names of Par-The Expence What Recd The Remains first. ticulars since last Acco Pistolls 14 14 Lead Shott 1510 61 1449 Boudge Barrs 2 2 Givins & 1 Block 2 .. 1 Union flaggs 2 2 The Gunners Accot for the month aps Aprill 4th Being muster day of the Garrison 8 8 A Double Alarm 6 6 6 Do Arrivd 2 ffrench Ships from India 15 1 3 14 33 13 To Captain Goodwin 14 Departed the 2 ffrench Ships 14 1 4 9 32 21 a Double alarm for 17 Sail of Dutch Ships 6 6 6 Do To answer the Salute of one ij did Salute ij Fort 7 7 7 26 To John Lefountain Expence of the Gaurds 9 Musquett Balls 3 Flints Cartuche Paper 50 21 Scowring Rodds 6 Match 21 21 6 21 50 8 51 2 7 42 102 Signd John French Mr Slaughter brought In the following account of the Expence of the Generall Table for the Month of Aprill last which was Examind & approvd and is as follows./ Beef 671 a 2 .. 5 p Ct 8 7 9 Goates 9 a 10 4 10 Turkeys 5 a 6 1 10 Card over £ 14 7 9 Margin Notes: Monthly Acco for Aprill The Steward Acco of Genll Table for Aprl | The account continued under the same headings of charge, particulars, expense, receipts and remainder. Pistols, charge 14, remaining 14. Lead shot, charge 1,510, expended 61, remaining 1,449. Budge barrels, charge 2, remaining 2. Aprons of lead and 1 block, charge 2, expended 1, remaining 1. Union flags, charge 2, expended 2. The gunner's account for the month of April, the powder reckoned in falcons across the named stations of the Great Fort, Banks's, James Fort [...], Field's [...] and the Powder Room [...]. 4 April, being muster day of the garrison, expended 8. 8 April, a double alarm, expended 6 at one station and 6 at another, 6 in all [...]. The same day, on the arrival of 2 French ships from India, expended 15 at one station, 1, 3, 14, total 33. 13 April, to Captain Goodwin [...]. 14 April, on the departure of the 2 French ships, expended 14, 1, 4, 9, total 32. 21 April, a double alarm for 17 sail of Dutch ships, expended 6 and 6, total 6. The same day, to answer the salute of one that did salute the fort, expended 7, total 7. 26 April, to John Le Fountain, total 9. The expense of the guards, comprising musket balls 3, flints 50, cartridge paper 21, scouring rods 6 and match 21, was entered against the stations. The column totals stood at 21 pounds of match, 6 scouring rods, 21 [...] of cartridge paper, 50 flints, 8 musket balls, 51 falcons, 2 falcons, 7 falcons and 42 falcons, making 102 falcons of powder fired in all. The account was signed by John French. William Slaughter brought in the following account of the expense of the General Table for the previous April, which was examined and approved. Beef, 671 pounds at 25 [...] per hundredweight, £8 7s 9d. Goats, 9 at 10 [...], £4 10s 0d. Turkeys, 5 at 6 [...], £1 10s 0d. Carried over, £14 7s 9d. Interpretations The gunner's monthly powder account recorded the ceremonial and defensive firing of the island's batteries, the charges set out station by station across the Great Fort, Banks's, James Fort, Field's and the Powder Room. The salutes mark the island's diplomatic routine, powder spent to greet arriving ships, return a foreign vessel's salute and acknowledge the departure of the two French ships, while the double alarms for unidentified sail show the same guns serving warning and defence. The visit of 17 sail of Dutch ships on 21 April drew a double alarm, the standing response to a large unknown squadron approaching the road. The Union flags expended in full were the colours flown at the forts, struck from the inventory as worn out and replaced, while budge barrels were the lidded leather-topped casks for carrying loose powder safely to the guns. The aprons of lead were the sheets laid over a gun's vent to keep the touch-hole dry, consumable items whose steady loss the account tracked alongside the shot and match. William Slaughter's General Table account covered the victualling of the Governor's table and the establishment dining at the Company's charge, the beef priced by the hundredweight and the goats and turkeys by the head. The beef bought at 25 shillings the hundredweight reflected the recovered state of the island's herds, the meat drawn from the Company's own stock and the planters to feed the table through the month. | |
332 | Brot over .. 14 7 9 Fowles 22 a 1/6 1 13 Eggs 11 11 Bottles of milk 60 a 4 1 Days Greens 31 a 1 1 11 Gallans Arrack 58 a 6/4 18 7 4 Bottles of Madora Wine 114 a 1/ 5 14 Do Sherry 2 a 2/6 5 Flasks ffrench Wine 7 a 2/6 17 6 Bottles ale 7 a 1/3 8 9 Quarts Sweet Oyle 3 a 8/9 p Galln 6 6¾ Gallons of Vinegar 4 a 4/ 16 Sugar 120 a 1 6 Sugar Candy 8 8 Soape 24 a 1/5 1 14 Bushl Salt 2 a 3/3 6 6 of Tea 6 a 7/6 2 5 Flower 24 a 3 6 Bread 139 a 3 1 14 9 Pieces Salt Beef 7 a 1/6 10 6 Do Pork 16 a 1/6 1 4 Kidd 1 Lemmons 2000 a 2/6 p 100 2 10 Pepper 2 a 1/ 2 Signd Wilbn Slaughter £ 62 13 6¾ Capt Goodwin brought in an Inventory of the Remaining Stores on the Island to the 25 of March last and also his Collections of the monthly Accots for the month of Aprill Last Orderd that the Inventory be Reexamind to prevent the least mistake Margin Notes: Remaing Stores on the Island in pavt for Aprl | The General Table account continued, the charges set against their quantities and rates. Brought over, £14 7s 9d. Fowls, 22 at 1s 6d each, £1 13s 0d. Eggs, 11 [...], 11d. Bottles of milk, 60 at 4d each, £1 0s 0d. Days' greens, 31 at 1s each, £1 11s 0d. Arrack, 58 gallons at 6s 4d per gallon, £18 7s 4d. Bottles of Madeira wine, 114 at 1s each, £5 14s 0d. Bottles of sherry, 2 at 2s 6d each, 5s 0d. Flasks of French wine, 7 at 2s 6d each, 17s 6d. Bottles of ale, 7 at 1s 3d each, 8s 9d. Quarts of sweet oil, 3 at 8s 9d per gallon, 6s 6¾d. Gallons of vinegar, 4 at 4s each, 16s 0d. Sugar, 120 pounds at 1s each, £6 0s 0d. Sugar candy, 8 [...], 8s 0d. Soap, 24 at 1s 5d each, £1 14s 0d. Bushels of salt, 2 at 3s 3d each, 6s 6d. Tea, 6 pounds at 7s 6d each, £2 5s 0d. Flour, 24 at 3d each, 6s 0d. Bread, 139 at 3d each, £1 14s 9d. Pieces of salt beef, 7 at 1s 6d each, 10s 6d. Pieces of salt pork, 16 at 1s 6d each, £1 4s 0d. Kid, 1, [...]. Lemons, 2,000 at 2s 6d per 100, £2 10s 0d. Pepper, 2 at 1s each, 2s 0d. The account was signed by William Slaughter, total £62 13s 6¾d. Captain Goodwin brought in an inventory of the remaining stores on the island to 25 March last, together with his collection of the monthly accounts for the previous April. The council ordered the inventory re-examined to prevent the least error. Interpretations The arrack at 6s 4d per gallon was the single heaviest item on the table, the distilled spirit of the eastern trade bought in bulk and forming the standing drink of the establishment. Set beside the Madeira wine, sherry, French wine and ale, the account shows a table provisioned mostly by import, the imported liquor and wine far outweighing the fresh local produce of fowls, eggs, milk and greens. The lemons, entered at 2,000 and priced by the hundred, were grown on the island and supplied in quantity, a defence against the scurvy that afflicted the crews of the homeward ships. Their bulk purchase for the General Table reflects the island's settled role as a place where vitamin-bearing fresh fruit could be taken aboard, the lemon groves a recognised asset the council protected through its fines on those who destroyed the trees. The re-examination ordered on Captain Goodwin's inventory of stores to 25 March continued the council's tightened control over the storekeeper's accounting. Goodwin had been continued as storekeeper and councillor under Governor Johnson at the change of government of 13 June 1719, and the direction to recheck the figures shows the standing caution the council applied to the yearly stock-taking on which the home accounts depended. | |
333 | May. mistake In order to be sent home by the Cadogan Capt Hill now we are in Daily Expectation of by the accot we have from these Ships that he was at the Cape./ A State of the Island for the year 1721 was likewise brought In, Orderd it be Reexamind for the same Reason./ Mr Byfeld brought in his monthly Accos of the Honble Comps live Stock for the month of Aprill last which was Examind and approvd of./ William Beale Appeard according to Summons at the Complaint of William Stephens, for over charging him when He lay Sick at his House, and produced Dr Beals Bill which We Examind and found it to be a very Extravagant Charge and therefore Orderd the Said Stephens to pay him only two Shillins p day, for the time he lodgd at Beales House and nothing for Physick the Said Stephens being then in the Honble Comps Service Grace Coulson Appeard according to Summons for Speaking words Highly Reflecting on the Honble Company our Masters as In Consultation of the 16th 17 & 18 days of Aprill Last. She Sayes She did not Rightly understand the nature of the Bank Bills that was brought her and in her Passion might Speak Such Words which She is very Sorry, for, and asks pardon for her fault, In Consideration of her great age, and Submitting her Self We admonished her with a Caution for the future and then Discharged Her. Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Thus farr has been Copyed and sent home p Ship London Margin Notes: Inventory to be reexamind & sent home A State of the Isld Ratio 1721 Mr Byfelds Acct for Aprill Complt agt Wm Beale Ordr thereon Grace Coulson Appeard checkt & Discharged | The inventory was to be re-examined and sent home by the Cardigan under Captain Hill, now in daily expectation from the accounts the council had from these ships that he was at the Cape. A state of the island for the year 1721 was also brought in. The council ordered it re-examined for the same reason. Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock for the previous April, which was examined and approved. William Beale appeared in answer to a summons, on the complaint of William Stephens, for overcharging him while he lay sick at Beale's house. Beale produced Doctor Beale's bill, which the council examined and found to be a very extravagant charge. The council therefore ordered Stephens to pay him only 2 shillings a day for the time he had lodged at Beale's house, and nothing for medical treatment, Stephens being then in the Honourable Company's service. Grace Coulson appeared in answer to a summons for speaking words that reflected severely on the Honourable Company, the council's masters, at the consultation of 16, 17 and 18 April last. She said she had not properly understood the nature of the bank bills brought to her, and might in her anger have spoken such words, for which she was very sorry. She asked pardon for her fault. In consideration of her great age, and on her submitting herself, the council admonished her with a caution for the future and then discharged her. The record to this point was copied and sent home by the London. It was subscribed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The overcharging complaint turned on the rate Beale could levy for lodging a sick Company servant, the council cutting the bill to 2 shillings a day and striking out the charge for medical treatment altogether. Stephens being in the Company's service, his care was a matter the council regulated directly, refusing to let a private householder profit from a sick man on the establishment by pressing an inflated account on him. Grace Coulson's offence lay in disparaging the bank bills, the island's own paper currency, the council treating words against the Company's money as a reflection on the masters themselves. The bank bills had lately been called in by the advertisement of 23 November 1721 so the Company's liability could be reckoned, and Coulson's confusion over their nature sits against that recall, public doubt of the paper being exactly what the council feared. Her great age and submission earned a caution rather than punishment, the same indulgence the council had shown other elderly offenders. The endorsement copying the record to this point and sending it home by the London marks the close of the homeward packet, the consultations sealed and despatched by the first available ship so the directors should have a continuous account of the island's affairs. The London had arrived from Bombay last from the Cape on 4 May 1722, and carried the record back on her onward passage to England. | |
334 | Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 8th Day of May 1722 at union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2d Prest Josin Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of Yesterday Departed hence the London the Grantham & the Greenwich for England. George Lendon of this Island Marshall upon Oath Sayeth that Yesterday about four of the Clock in the afternoon upon the Receipt of the protest of the Govr and Council against Capt John Barnes (Which He the Said Geo: Lendon did then Read) Did go in a Yaul with Solomon Stirling Michael Allen John French and John Whaley along Side the Ship Greenwich who lay then at an Anchor in the Road and Calld to Capt Barnes and told him He had an order from the Govr to Speah with Him and told him he had a paper to delivr to him upon which Capt Barnes forbid him coming on Board his Ship and after wards threatned and Said come on Board of me if you dare and at your Peril and orderd him to be gone, which was the reason he did not Deliver the Said Protest not knowing how ill he might be treated if he had Persisted./ Michael Allen Solomon Stirling and John French Depose that they went in the Yaul with the Said George Lendon and when they came along side the Ship Greenwich Geo: Lendon Calld to the Capt and told him He wanted to Speak with Him from the Govr and Councill the Capt forbid him to come on Board the Ship then the Said George Lendon Shewd him a paper that He Margin Notes: Ships Departe hence Geo Lendon his Depon agt Capt Barnes Mich: Allen &c | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 8 May 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The London, the Grantham and the Greenwich departed for England the previous day. George Lendon, marshal of the island, stated on oath that the previous day about four in the afternoon, on receiving the protest of the Governor and council against Captain John Barnes, which Lendon then read, he went in a yawl with Solomon Pirling, Michael Allen, John French and John Whaley alongside the Greenwich, which lay at anchor in the road. He called to Captain Barnes and told him he had an order from the Governor to speak with him and a paper to deliver. Captain Barnes forbade him to come aboard his ship and afterwards threatened him, saying come aboard me if you dare and at your peril, and ordered him to be gone. That was the reason Lendon did not deliver the protest, not knowing how he might be treated if he had persisted. Michael Allen, Solomon Pirling and John French stated that they went in the yawl with George Lendon, and that when they came alongside the Greenwich Lendon called to the captain and told him he wished to speak with him from the Governor and council. The captain forbade him to come aboard the ship. George Lendon then showed him a paper that [...]. Interpretations The marshal's sworn account records the failed service of a formal protest, the council's instrument for laying a grievance against a ship's commander on the record before the matter went home to the directors. Captain Barnes's refusal to let the marshal aboard the Greenwich, and his threat to repel him, blocked the delivery, so the council took depositions to establish that the protest had been duly attempted and prevented only by the captain's defiance. George Lendon held the office of marshal, the island's executive officer for serving process and carrying out the council's orders, and his oath gave the attempt the standing of a sworn return. The corroborating statements of the boat's crew, Michael Allen, Solomon Pirling and John French, were taken to confirm the marshal's account, the council building a documented case that the fault lay wholly with Barnes. The Greenwich under Captain Barnes had succeeded Captain Kerby during the voyage and arrived from Bombay last from the Cape on 4 May 1722, sailing for England the day before this consultation. The protest the marshal carried arose from the dealings over her Bombay cargo, the council moving to record its complaint against the commander even as his ship lay ready to depart, so the grievance should not leave the island unattested. | |
335 | May. He had to Deliver to him then the Captain bid him be gone and Threatened him and Said come on board at your Peril The Petition of Gilbert Sisnick Sheweth That forasmuch as your Petitioner, finding his doing duty in the Gaurd to be some Hindrance to his Sup plying his Customers with Shoes which they often want and having servd the Honble Company about Eight years Humbly prays to be dischargd their Service for the Reason above, which He proposes to be more for His advantage, than if he was to Reverse in the Said Service. and as in Duty &c Gilbert Sisnick Granted and never to be Employed in the Honble Comps Service any more, The Govr Sayeth the Reason of this petition is, Because he cannot be admitted to doe Duty when He pleases on Hire as often as he had a mind to it, Which if it be Indulgd will Render the Garrison very uncertain./ Mr Byfeld Reports that there is one Girl and one Boy Born belonging to ij Honble Company ij Girl Plantation House of a Wench agnes named Megg the Boy of Atlee at ij Hutts named Phill./ Copy of a Protest against Capt John Barnes. Whereas our Honble Masters the Honble United Company in their Instructions to us have orderd that all Ships in their Service at their arrivall here Shall deliver one Barrill of Serviceable Gunpowder as part of their Port Duties Which you Capt John Barnes Contrary to the Said Instructions and your Charter party have and do positively Refuse to Comply with. Wherfore We the Govr and Councill of the Island of St Helena Do Margin Notes: Gilbt Sisnick discharged./ why he Petitiond a Boy & Girle Born Protest agt Capt John Barnes | George Lendon had a paper to deliver to the captain. The captain then told him to be gone and threatened him, saying come aboard at your peril. Gilbert Sinsnick petitioned the council. He set out that his duty in the guard hindered his supplying his customers with shoes, which they often wanted, and that he had served the Honourable Company about eight years. He asked to be discharged from their service for that reason, proposing that he would be of more advantage to the Company so employed than if he remained in their service. The petition was subscribed by Gilbert Sinsnick. The council granted the discharge, on condition that he never be employed in the Honourable Company's service again. Governor Johnson observed that the reason for the petition was that Sinsnick could not be admitted to do duty when he pleased and to absent himself as often as he had a mind to it, which, if indulged, would leave the garrison very uncertain. Mr Byfield reported that there were one girl and one boy born and belonging to the Honourable Company at the plantation house. The girl was the child of a wench named Megg, and the boy the child of Ailes at the Hutts, named Phill. A copy of the protest against Captain John Barnes followed. The protest set out that the Honourable Masters, the Honourable United Company, had ordered in their instructions to the council that all ships in their service, on arrival at the island, should deliver one barrel of serviceable gunpowder as part of their port duties. Captain John Barnes, contrary to those instructions and to his charter party, had and did positively refuse to comply. The Governor and council of the island of St Helena therefore [...]. Interpretations Gilbert Sinsnick's discharge turned on the conflict between garrison duty and his trade as a shoemaker, the council releasing him only on the strict condition that he never be re-employed. Governor Johnson read the petition as an attempt to keep the privileges of Company service while shirking its obligations, and the permanent bar was the council's answer, a man who would not keep regular guard being no use to a garrison that depended on a fixed and certain watch. The island's want of shoemakers, the soldiers often going barefoot, lay behind Sinsnick's claim that he served the Company better at his last than under arms. The report of the two Company-born children, the girl of the wench Megg at the plantation house and the boy Phill of Ailes at the Hutts, recorded fresh additions to the Company's own slave stock. Children born to the Company's slave women became the Company's property and were entered in its registers, the labour force renewing itself by birth as well as by purchase, and the council noting each new child against the station where its mother served. The protest against Captain Barnes states the legal ground of the council's grievance, the standing instruction that every Company ship deliver a barrel of serviceable gunpowder as a port duty on arrival. This was a fixed levy that replenished the island's magazine from the homeward shipping, written into the commanders' charter parties, and Barnes's flat refusal breached both the directors' orders and his own contract. The formal protest preserved the council's claim for the directors' judgement, the documented refusal standing as evidence against the commander once the matter reached England. | |
336 | Do in the Name of the Honble United Company of Merchts of England Trading to the East Indies Protest against you the Said Captain John Barnes, for Refusing to deliver the Said Barrill of Gunpowder as aforesd and do hereby Charge you the Summ of Six pounds Sixteen Shillings and Sixpence in Lieu thereof, being the Same that all other Ships pay, Which you are and ought to pay to ij Said Honble United Company, out of Your Freight and Demorage for your Ship Greenwich, by your Self and ownr ers thereof, Witness our Hands this 7 of May 1722 Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Do Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | The protest, made in the name of the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, was entered against Captain John Barnes for refusing to deliver the barrel of gunpowder. The council charged him the sum of £6 16s 6d in lieu of it, being the same that all other ships paid, which he was and ought to pay to the Honourable United Company out of the freight and demurrage for his ship the Greenwich, by himself and the owners of it. It was witnessed under the council's hands on 7 May 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The protest fixed a money charge of £6 16s 6d in place of the barrel of gunpowder Captain Barnes had refused to deliver, the council converting the unfulfilled port duty into a debt recoverable against the ship. By setting the sum at the rate all other commanders paid, the council framed the levy as a standing and uniform charge rather than a penalty, so the demand should stand on the same footing as every regular port duty when it came before the directors. The charge was laid against the ship's freight and demurrage, the earnings the Greenwich and her owners would draw on the voyage, giving the Company a fund out of which to satisfy the debt at home. Naming both Barnes and the owners spread the liability beyond the commander to the ship's proprietors, the council ensuring the sum could be recovered whoever ultimately bore the cost. | |
337 | Island St Helena A List of Families Lands & Neat Cattle on Secrets Office between the 12th & 22d days of March Under what heads. Whites & Blacks Persons Names (vizt) Capt Jno Alexander Whites: Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys 4. Girles 7. Blacks: FreeBlacks 7. Men 3. Women 4. Girles 3. Totall 17. Capt Jno Goodwin Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 5. Blacks: FreeBlacks 1. Men 9. Women 3. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 18. Lieut Thom: Cason Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Ens: Willm Slaughter Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2. John French Gunr Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 4. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 9. Willm Beale Surg: Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 5. Isa: Wood & 1 Orphan Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: FreeBlacks 5. Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 10. John Young Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Robt Wallington Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Willm Simpson Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Isaac Leech & Gunr Whites: Women 1. Maidens 3. Boys 1. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Giles Hayse & males Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Tho: Watts qu: Gunr & 1 Orph: Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Joseph Bates Carpr Whites: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 3. Edmd Bodley & Mountress: Jno Orchard & 1 Orph Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Saml Thornbrough Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Ebenezr Leech Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Mattus Mudge Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Thom: Cleeo Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Frans Frunge Armo: & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 4. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 2. Women 2. Totall 4. Andw Bergue Coopr Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Caleb Davis Coxswain Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Jno Des Fountaine Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Thom: Hayse Whites: Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys 4. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Totalls Whites: Men 21. Maidens 5. Boys 21. Girles 20. Totall 67. Blacks: FreeBlacks 1. Men 42. Women 11. Boys 20. Girles 9. Totall 83. | Island of St Helena. A list of families, lands and neat cattle, brought into the secretary's office between the 12 and 22 March 1722. The table set the persons under two heads, whites and blacks. The white columns ran men, women, youths, maidens, boys, girls and total. The black columns ran free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and total. Captain John Alexander had 1 white woman, 2 white boys, 4 white girls, totalling 7 white people, with 7 black men, 3 black women, 4 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 17 black people. Captain John Goodwin had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 3 white maidens and [...], totalling 5 white people, with 1 free black, 9 black men, 3 black women, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 18 black people. Lieutenant Thomas Cason had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Ensign William Slaughter had 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 3 white girls, totalling [...] white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. John French, gunner, had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 3 white boys and [...], totalling 5 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 9 black people. William Beale, surgeon, had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people. Isaac Wood and 1 orphan had 1 white woman, 2 white youths and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. John Young had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. Robert Wallington, grouped with John Young under a brace, had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. William Stimpson had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Isaac Leech, gunner, had 1 white woman, 3 white boys, 1 white girl and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Giles Hayse, grouped under a brace marked males, had 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Thomas Watts, gunner, and 1 orphan, had 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with no black household entered. Joseph Bates, corporal, had 1 white boy and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. Edmund Bodley Montross had no household entered. John Orchard and 1 orphan had 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Samuel Thornbrough had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Ebenezer Leech had 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Matthias Mudge had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Thomas Cleeo had 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Francis Funge, junior, and 1 orphan, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 4 white girls and 6 [...], totalling 6 white people, with 2 black men, 2 black women and 4 [...], totalling 4 black people. Andrew Bergue, cooper, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling [...] white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. Caleb Davis, coxswain, had 1 white man, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. John Des Fountaine had 1 white woman and 1 white girl, totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Thomas Hayse had 1 white woman, 2 white boys, 4 white girls and [...], totalling 7 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. The column totals stood at 21 white men, [...] white women, 5 white youths, 2 white maidens, 21 white boys, 20 white girls, totalling 67 white people, with 1 free black, 42 black men, 11 black women, 20 black boys, 9 black girls, totalling 83 black people. Interpretations The annual list of families, lands and cattle was the island's standing census, brought into the secretary's office each March to ground the church rate, the labour levy and the report home. The page opens with the garrison and civil establishment in rank order, the councillors Alexander and Goodwin first, then the lieutenant, ensign, gunner and surgeon, before passing to the corporals, gunners and free inhabitants, the same administrative spine the rate rolls followed. The two-head division between whites and privately owned blacks measured the island's settler households and their slaves together, each master answering for the whole of his family. The braces grouping Wallington under Young and the trade and rank tags, gunner, cooper, coxswain and montross, fixed each man's place on the establishment, a montross being a gunner's assistant who helped serve and maintain the artillery. The orphan lines, where a householder stood charged with a dependent child, marked the estates the council kept under its protective jurisdiction, the orphans boarded in settled families and counted against them in the return. | |
338 | the Said Island for the Year 1721 As was Deliverd into the Secrets Office According to An Advertizemt Published for that purpose. Neat Cattle & Lands Capt Jno Alexander Neat Cattle: Cowes 15. Heifers 4. Yearlings 1. Cultrod 12. Totall 32. Lands: Acres Free 24½. Acres Hired 30. Totall 54½. Capt Jno Goodwin Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 12. Bullocks 1. Heifers 4. Yearlings 3. Cultrod 10. Totall 31. Lands: Acres Free 158. Acres Hired 17½. Totall 175½. Lieut Thom: Cason Ens: Willm Slaughter Neat Cattle: Cowes 2. Yearlings 2. Cultrod 4. Totall 3. Lands: Acres Hired 3. Totall 3. John French Gunr Neat Cattle: Cowes 6. Heifers 3. Steers 1. Yearlings 4. Cultrod 2. Totall 16. Lands: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 26. Totall 36. Willm Beale Surg: Lands: Ground in Jams Valley 8 feet Isa: Wood & 1 Orphan Neat Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 14. Heifers 10. Steers 10. Cultrod 14. Totall 50. Lands: Acres Free 83. Acres Hired 30. Totall 113. Ground in Jams Valley 30 feet. John Young Robt Wallington Willm Simpson Neat Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 1. Cultrod 2. Totall 5. Isaac Leech & Gunr Neat Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 6. Steers 4. Yearlings 2. Cultrod 6. Totall 19. Lands: Acres Free 5. Acres Hired 8. Totall 13. Giles Hayse & males Neat Cattle: Cowes 3. Heifers 2. Cultrod 3. Totall 8. Tho: Watts qu: Gunr & 1 Orph: Joseph Bates Carpr Neat Cattle: Cowes 5. Bullocks 2. Heifers 1. Cultrod 3. Totall 11. Lands: Acres Free 12. Acres Hired 1. Totall 13. Edmd Bodley & Mountress: Neat Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Yearlings 1. Totall 3. Lands: Acres Hired 16. Totall 16. Jno Orchard & 1 Orph Neat Cattle: Cowes 1. Bullocks 1. Yearlings 1. Totall 3. Lands: Acres Hired 8. Totall 8. Saml Thornbrough Ebenezr Leech Neat Cattle: Cowes 1. Cultrod 1. Mattus Mudge Neat Cattle: Cowes 2. Steers 1. Yearlings 2. Cultrod 2. Totall 7. Thom: Cleeo Frans Frunge Armo: & 1 Orph: Neat Cattle: Cowes 3. Steers 1. Heifers 2. Cultrod 2. Totall 8. Lands: Acres Hired 15. Totall 15. Andw Bergue Coopr Neat Cattle: Cowes 1. Cultrod 1. Totall 2. Caleb Davis Coxswain Jno Des Fountaine Neat Cattle: Bullocks 3. Yearlings 3. Cultrod 3. Totall 9. Thom: Hayse Neat Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 2. Steers 1. Cultrod 3. Totall 11. Lands: Acres Free 30. Totall 30. Bryans Child Land. Totalls Neat Cattle: Bulls 4. Cowes 82. Bullocks 5. Heifers 30. Steers 19. Yearlings 14. Cultrod 66. Totall 230. Lands: Acres Free 322½. Acres Hired 154½. Totall 477. Ground 38. | The cattle and land table for the year 1721 followed the same names in the same order. The neat cattle columns ran bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns ran acres free, acres hired and total, with a further column for ground in James Valley. Captain John Alexander had 15 cows, 4 heifers, 1 yearling and 12 calves, totalling 32 neat cattle, with 24½ acres free and 30 acres hired, totalling 54½ acres. Captain John Goodwin had 1 bull, 12 cows, 1 bullock, 4 heifers, 3 yearlings and 10 calves, totalling 31 neat cattle, with 158 acres free and 17½ acres hired, totalling 175½ acres. Lieutenant Thomas Cason had no cattle and no land entered. Ensign William Slaughter had 2 cows, 2 yearlings and 4 calves, totalling [...] neat cattle, with 3 acres hired, totalling 3 acres. John French, gunner, had 6 cows, 3 heifers, 1 steer, 4 yearlings and 2 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 26 acres hired, totalling 36 acres. William Beale, surgeon, had no cattle entered, with the margin noting 8 feet of ground. Isaac Wood and 1 orphan had 2 bulls, 14 cows, 10 heifers, 10 steers and 14 calves, totalling 50 neat cattle, with 83 acres free and 30 acres hired, totalling 113 acres, and 30 feet of ground in James Valley noted. John Young had no cattle and no land entered. Robert Wallington had no cattle and no land entered. William Stimpson had 2 cows, 1 heifer, 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle, with no land entered. Isaac Leech, gunner, had 1 bull, 6 cows, 4 steers, 2 yearlings, 6 calves, totalling 19 neat cattle, with 5 acres free and 8 acres hired, totalling 13 acres. Giles Hayse had 3 cows, 2 heifers, 3 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle, with no land entered. Thomas Watts, gunner, and 1 orphan had no cattle and no land entered. Joseph Bates, corporal, had 5 cows, 2 bullocks, 1 heifer, 3 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle, with 12 acres free and 1 acre hired, totalling 13 acres. Edmund Bodley Montross had 1 cow, 1 heifer, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with 16 acres hired, totalling 16 acres. John Orchard and 1 orphan had 1 cow, 1 bullock, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with 8 acres hired, totalling 8 acres. Samuel Thornbrough had no cattle and no land entered. Ebenezer Leech had 1 cow and 1 calf, totalling 1 neat cattle, with no land entered. Matthias Mudge had 2 cows, 1 heifer, 2 steers, 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle, with no land entered. Thomas Cleeo had no cattle and no land entered. Francis Funge, junior, and 1 orphan had 3 cows, 1 heifer, 2 steers, 2 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle, with 15 acres hired, totalling 15 acres. Andrew Bergue, cooper, had 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle, with no land entered. Caleb Davis, coxswain, had no cattle and no land entered. John Des Fountaine had 3 cows, 3 yearlings, 3 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with no land entered. Thomas Hayse had 5 cows, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 3 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle, with 30 acres free, totalling 30 acres, the margin noting the Bryans' child's land. The column totals stood at 4 bulls, 82 cows, 5 bullocks, 30 heifers, 19 steers, 14 yearlings, 66 calves, totalling 220 neat cattle, with 322½ acres free, 154½ acres hired, totalling 477 acres, and 38 feet of ground in James Valley. Interpretations The cattle and land table completes the property side of the census, the herds graded by age and sex and the holdings split between free and hired acres, so the council could read each household's stock and ground at one view. The split between acres free and acres hired separated land a planter owned outright from Company land held on lease, the rent-bearing portion the council watched against the holder's ability to manure and stock it. The James Valley column, entered in feet rather than acres, measured the small town plots within the principal settlement, where ground was reckoned by the foot for house and yard rather than by the acre of the country plantations. The margin note of the Bryans' child's land against Thomas Hayse marks a parcel held in trust for an absent or orphan heir, the same protective practice recorded in the register at 5 June 1721, where parcels held for others were entered against the household that managed them. The heaviest holdings fell on the two councillors at the head of the list, Alexander with 54½ acres and Goodwin with 175½ acres, and on Isaac Wood with a herd of 50 and 113 acres, against the many garrison and trade households carrying no land and only a beast or two. The contrast measures the gulf between the established planters and the soldiers and craftsmen living chiefly on their pay, the register furnishing the documentary base on which the church rate and the labour levy were apportioned by holding size. | |
339 | Under what heads & Whites Blacks Persons Names viz. Brought Over Whites: Men 21. Maidens 5. Boys 21. Girles 20. Totall 67. Blacks: FreeBlacks 1. Men 42. Women 11. Boys 20. Girles 9. Totall 83. Samuel Doveton Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. William Coales Whites: Maidens 2. Totall 2. Thom: Eastings Jno Knipe & 1 Orphan Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Maidens 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 3. Benjamn Pledgerd & Mr Servt Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Women 2. Totall 2. Steph: Craife Pledgerd Jno Curling & 1 Orphn Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6. Rich: Swallow Junr Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Willm Bramhum Stephen Audward Jno Auldrick Freman Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Thomas Allis Plantr Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 4. Boys 1. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Totall 4. Rich: Alexandrs Orph: Robt Addis Orph: Bridgett Bazett Wido: Whites: Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 4. Women 3. Boys 3. Totall 10. Jno Bagley Senr & Apprentice Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 10. Blacks: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Orlando Bagley & Mr Dwought Whites: Men 1. Women 2. Maidens 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 9. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 7. Jno Bagley Junr Whites: Boys 1. Totall 1. Richard Beals Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Totall 2. Robert Bell Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 2. Women 3. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 7. Arthur Bradley Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 3. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 3. Bridgett Coles Wido: Whites: Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 3. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 9. Benjamn Cleaverlee Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 4. Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Gilbert Cotgraves Orph: John Coulson Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Mary Conaway Wid: Whites: Women 1. Girles 1. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Mr Jean: Came & Son Rich: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Blacks: FreeBlacks 7. Men 6. Boys 2. Totall 15. Grace Coulson Wido: Whites: Women 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Women 3. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 9. Ignathn Doveton Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 8. Women 3. Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 19. Jaymes Draper & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 2. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 9. Blacks: Men 3. Totall 3. Henry Francis Whites: Men 1. Girles 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 5. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 9. Jane Flukers Orph: Totalls Whites: Men 14. Women 14. Youths 3. Maidens 20. Boys 47. Girles 41. Totall 166. Blacks: FreeBlacks 8. Men 90. Women 33. Boys 45. Girles 23. Totall 199. | The list of families continued under the same heads, whites and blacks. The white columns ran men, women, youths, maidens, boys, girls and total. The black columns ran free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and total. Brought over: 21 white men, [...] white women, 5 white youths, 2 white maidens, 21 white boys, 20 white girls, totalling 67 white people, with 1 free black, 42 black men, 11 black women, 20 black boys, 9 black girls, totalling 83 black people. Samuel Doveton had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. William Coales had 2 white maidens and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Thomas Eastings had no household entered. John Knipe and 1 orphan had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys, 1 white girl and 6 [...], totalling 6 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people. Benjamin Pledger and 1 maidservant had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black boys, totalling 2 black people. Stephen Craith Pledger had no household entered. John Gurling and 1 orphan had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. Richard Swallow, junior, had no white household entered, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. William Branham had no household entered. Stephen Audward had no household entered. John Auldrick, freeman, had 1 white man, 1 white boy and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Thomas Allis, planter, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 4 white boys, 1 white girl and 7 [...], totalling 7 white people, with 3 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 4 black people. Richard Alexander's orphan had no household entered. Robert Addis's orphan had no household entered. Bridget Bazett, widow, had 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 4 black men, 3 black women and 3 black boys, totalling 10 black people. John Bagley, senior, and 1 apprentice had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens, 4 white boys, 1 white girl and 10 [...], totalling 10 white people, with 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. Orlando Bagley and 1 maidservant had 1 white man, 2 white women, 2 white boys, 3 white girls and 1 [...], totalling 9 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people. John Bagley, junior, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Richard Beale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men, totalling 2 black people. Robert Bell had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 2 white girls and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 2 black men, 3 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people. Arthur Bradley had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 3 white girls and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. Bridget Coles, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy, 2 white girls and 6 [...], totalling 6 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people. Benjamin Cleaverlee had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. Gilbert Cotgrave's orphan had no white household entered, with no black household entered. John Coulson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Mary Conaway, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Mrs Frances Carne and her son Richard had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 7 free blacks, 6 black men and 2 black boys, totalling 15 black people. Grace Coulson, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Jonathan Doveton had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens, 1 white boy, 2 white girls and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 1 black man, 3 black women, 2 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 9 black people. James Draper and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white maidens, 2 white boys, 3 white girls and 9 [...], totalling 9 white people, with 8 black men, 3 black women, 5 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 19 black people. Henry Francis had 1 white man, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 3 black men, totalling 3 black people. Jane Flurkus's orphan had 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 5 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people. The column totals stood at 14 white men, 41 white women, [...] white youths, 9 white maidens, 20 white boys, 47 white girls, totalling 41 [...] white people, with 16 free blacks, 6 [...], 8 black men, 90 black women, 33 [...], 45 black boys, 23 black girls, totalling 199 black people. Interpretations The second page of the census carries the brought-over totals from the establishment households and continues through the free inhabitants, the planters and widows entered alphabetically after the garrison and civil officers. The orphan and maidservant tags fixed the dependents lodged in each household, the council counting the orphan estates it held in trust against the families that maintained them, as with Knipe, Gurling, Draper and the several orphan lines standing for absent or under-age heirs. The largest slave-holdings on the page fell on the established planter families, Draper with 19 black people, Frances Carne with 15 and Bazett's widow with 10, against the many smaller households holding a single man or none. The contrast reflects the concentration of labour in the hands of the leading planters, whose plantations required the most hands, while the soldiers and lesser freemen kept few or no slaves. Frances Carne's entry of seven free blacks, the only such cluster on the page, marks the freed people attached to her household, a rare category the census set apart from the owned slaves in its own column. The free black population was small and individually noted, the seven under Carne standing well above the scattered single entries elsewhere, the figure distinguishing those no longer held as property from the labouring slaves counted beside them. | |
340 | Blacks Cattle Lands Brought Over Blacks: Women 11. Boys 20. Girles 9. Totall 83. Cattle: Bulls 4. Cowes 82. Bullocks 5. Heifers 30. Steers 19. Yearlings 14. Calves 66. Totall 220. Lands: Acres Free 322½. Acres Hired 154½. Totall 477. Ground in Jams Valley 38 feet. Samuel Doveton Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1. William Coales Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 1. Calves 4. Totall 9. Lands: Acres Free 15. Acres Hired 5. Totall 20. Thom: Eastings Cattle: Cowes 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Jno Knipe & 1 Orphan Blacks: Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 2. Yearlings 2. Calves 4. Totall 12. Lands: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 29½. Totall 39½. Benjamn Pledgerd & Mr Servt Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 5. Yearlings 3. Calves 5. Totall 13. Lands: Acres Free 5. Totall 5. Steph: Craife Pledgerd Cattle: Cowes 5. Bullocks 3. Heifers 1. Steers 2. Calves 5. Totall 16. Jno Curling & 1 Orphn Blacks: Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6. Cattle: Cowes 7. Heifers 7. Steers 4. Calves 7. Totall 25. Lands: Acres Free 20. Acres Hired 16. Totall 36. Rich: Swallow Junr Blacks: Totall 1. Willm Bramhum Cattle: Cowes 3. Calves 3. Totall 6. Stephen Audward Cattle: Cowes 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Jno Auldrick Freman Thomas Allis Plantr Blacks: Women 1. Totall 4. Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 7. Lands: Acres Free 18. Acres Hired 30. Totall 48. Rich: Alexandrs Orph: Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 1. Yearlings 3. Calves 1. Totall 9. Robt Addis Orph: Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 4. Calves 1. Totall 18. Bridgett Bazett Wido: Blacks: Women 3. Boys 3. Totall 10. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 11. Bullocks 2. Heifers 8. Steers 4. Calves 12. Totall 38. Lands: Acres Free 35. Acres Hired 28½. Totall 63½. Jno Bagley Senr & Apprentice Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 2. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 8. Heifers 2. Calves 7. Totall 18. Lands: Acres Free 36. Acres Hired 3. Totall 39. Orlando Bagley & Mr Dwought Blacks: Men 1. Women 3. Boys 1. Totall 7. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 9. Yearlings 3. Calves 9. Totall 22. Lands: Acres Free 23. Acres Hired 76. Totall 99. Jno Bagley Junr Cattle: Cowes 3. Yearlings 3. Calves 4. Totall 10. Richard Beals Blacks: Totall 2. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 9. Bullocks 1. Steers 4. Yearlings 5. Calves 8. Totall 28. Lands: Acres Free 39. Totall 39. Robert Bell Blacks: Women 3. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 7. Cattle: Cowes 7. Bullocks 1. Heifers 3. Steers 2. Calves 7. Totall 20. Lands: Acres Free 20. Acres Hired 38. Totall 58. Ground in Jams Valley 56 feet. Arthur Bradley Blacks: Men 1. Totall 3. Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 4. Totall 11. Lands: Acres Free 30. Totall 30. Bridgett Coles Wido: Blacks: Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 9. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 20. Bullocks 2. Heifers 9. Steers 13. Yearlings 4. Calves 6. Totall 55. Lands: Acres Free 60. Acres Hired 51½. Totall 111½. Ground in Jams Valley 80 feet. Benjamn Cleaverlee Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 3. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 5. Gilbert Cotgraves Orph: Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 1. Steers 3. Calves 5. Totall 14. John Coulson Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 6. Steers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 2. Totall 10. Lands: Acres Free 15. Totall 15. Mary Conaway Wid: Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5. Lands: Acres Free 5. Acres Hired 30. Totall 35. Mr Jean: Came & Son Rich: Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 15. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 15. Heifers 1. Steers 6. Yearlings 2. Calves 15. Totall 40. Lands: Acres Hired 20. Totall 20. Grace Coulson Wido: Blacks: Women 3. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 9. Cattle: Cowes 15. Bullocks 3. Heifers 3. Steers 4. Calves 15. Totall 40. Lands: Acres Free 25. Acres Hired 5. Totall 30. Ignathn Doveton Blacks: Women 3. Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 19. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 18. Bullocks 5. Heifers 7. Steers 12. Calves 18. Totall 61. Lands: Acres Free 142¼. Acres Hired 17½. Totall 159¾. Ground in Jams Valley 48 feet. Jaymes Draper & 1 Orph: Blacks: Totall 3. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 6. Calves 6. Totall 12. Lands: Acres Free 23. Acres Hired 5. Totall 28. Henry Francis Blacks: Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 9. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 5. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 2. Totall 12. Lands: Acres Free 23. Acres Hired 27. Totall 50. Jane Flukers Orph: Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 3. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 7. Totalls Blacks: Women 33. Boys 45. Girles 23. Totall 199. Cattle: Bulls 14. Cowes 276. Bullocks 30. Heifers 89. Steers 70. Yearlings 39. Calves 229. Totall 747. Lands: Acres Free 866¾. Acres Hired 536½. Totall 1403¼. Ground 222. | The cattle and land table continued against the same names in the same order. The neat cattle columns ran bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns ran acres free, acres hired and total, with a further column for ground in James Valley. Brought over: 4 bulls, 82 cows, 5 bullocks, 30 heifers, 19 steers, 14 yearlings, 66 calves, totalling 220 neat cattle, with 322½ acres free, 154½ acres hired, totalling 477 acres, and 38 feet of ground in James Valley. Samuel Doveton had no cattle and no land entered. William Coales had 4 cows, 1 heifer, 4 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with 15 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 20 acres. Thomas Eastings had 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle, with no land entered. John Knipe and 1 orphan had 4 cows, 2 heifers, 2 yearlings, 4 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 29½ acres hired, totalling 39½ acres. Benjamin Pledger and 1 maidservant had 5 cows, 3 yearlings, 5 calves, totalling 13 neat cattle, with 5 acres free, totalling 5 acres. Stephen Craith Pledger had 5 cows, 3 bullocks, 1 heifer, 2 steers, 5 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle, with no land entered. John Gurling and 1 orphan had 7 cows, 7 heifers, 4 steers, 7 calves, totalling 25 neat cattle, with 20 acres free and 16 acres hired, totalling 36 acres. Richard Swallow, junior, had 3 cows, 3 calves, totalling 6 neat cattle, with no land entered. William Branham had 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle, with no land entered. Stephen Audward had no cattle and no land entered. John Auldrick, freeman, had 4 cows, 1 heifer, 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle, with 18 acres free and 30 acres hired, totalling 48 acres. Thomas Allis, planter, had 4 cows, 1 bullock, 3 calves, 1 calf, totalling 9 neat cattle, with no land entered. Richard Alexander's orphan had 1 bull, 7 cows, 4 bullocks, 1 heifer, 5 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle, with no land entered. Robert Addis's orphan had no cattle and no land entered. Bridget Bazett, widow, had 1 bull, 11 cows, 2 bullocks, 8 heifers, 4 steers, 12 calves, totalling 38 neat cattle, with 35 acres free and 28½ acres hired, totalling 63½ acres. John Bagley, senior, and 1 apprentice had 1 bull, 8 cows, 2 heifers, 7 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle, with 36 acres free and 3 acres hired, totalling 39 acres. Orlando Bagley and 1 maidservant had 1 bull, 9 cows, 3 yearlings, 9 calves, totalling 22 neat cattle, with 23 acres free and 76 acres hired, totalling 99 acres. John Bagley, junior, had 3 cows, 3 yearlings, 4 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle, with no land entered. Richard Beale had 1 bull, 9 cows, 1 bullock, 4 steers, 5 yearlings, 8 calves, totalling 28 neat cattle, with 39 acres free, totalling 39 acres. Robert Bell had 7 cows, 1 bullock, 3 heifers, 2 steers, 7 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle, with 20 acres free and 38 acres hired, totalling 58 acres, and 56 feet of ground in James Valley noted. Arthur Bradley had 4 cows, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 4 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle, with 30 acres free, totalling 30 acres. Bridget Coles, widow, had 1 bull, 20 cows, 2 bullocks, 9 heifers, 13 steers, 4 yearlings, 6 calves, totalling 55 neat cattle, with 60 acres free and 51½ acres hired, totalling 111½ acres, and 80 feet of ground in James Valley noted. Benjamin Cleaverlee had 3 cows, 1 calf, 1 calf, totalling 5 neat cattle, with no land entered. Gilbert Cotgrave's orphan had 5 cows, 1 bullock, 3 heifers, 5 calves, totalling 14 neat cattle, with no land entered. John Coulson had 6 cows, 2 steers, 1 yearling, 2 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle, with 15 acres free, totalling 15 acres. Mary Conaway, widow, had 2 cows, 1 bullock, 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle, with 5 acres free and 30 acres hired, totalling 35 acres. Mrs Frances Carne and her son Richard had 1 bull, 15 cows, 1 bullock, 6 heifers, 2 yearlings, 15 calves, totalling 40 neat cattle, with 20 acres hired, totalling 20 acres. Grace Coulson, widow, had 15 cows, 3 bullocks, 3 heifers, 4 steers, 15 calves, totalling 40 neat cattle, with 25 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 30 acres. Jonathan Doveton had 1 bull, 18 cows, 5 bullocks, 7 heifers, 12 steers, 18 calves, totalling 61 neat cattle, with 142¼ acres free and 17½ acres hired, totalling 159¾ acres, and 48 feet of ground in James Valley noted. James Draper and 1 orphan had 6 cows, 6 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle, with 23 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 28 acres. Henry Francis had 1 bull, 5 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 2 calves, totalling 12 neat cattle, with 23 acres free and 27 acres hired, totalling 50 acres. Jane Flurkus's orphan had 1 bull, 3 cows, 1 steer, 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle, with no land entered. The column totals stood at 14 bulls, 276 cows, 30 bullocks, 89 heifers, 70 steers, 39 yearlings, 229 calves, totalling 747 neat cattle, with 866¾ acres free, 536¾ acres hired, totalling 1,403¼ acres, and 222 feet of ground in James Valley. Interpretations The cattle and land table completes the property record for the free inhabitants, the herds graded by age and sex and the holdings split between owned and leased ground. The running totals carried the page's stock and acreage onto the brought-over figures from the establishment households, building toward the island-wide reckoning the council sent home each year. The largest holdings on the page fell on the leading planter families, Doveton with a herd of 61 and 159¾ acres, Bridget Coles with 55 cattle and 111¾ acres, and the orphan and widow estates of Bazett and Carne carrying 38 and 40 head. These concentrations measure the established plantations that supplied the bulk of the island's provisions, set against the many smaller households holding a beast or two and no land. The James Valley column, entered in feet against several town households, recorded the house and yard plots within the principal settlement, reckoned by the foot rather than the acre of the country plantations. The substantial town frontages of Bridget Coles at 80 feet and Doveton at 48 feet mark the leading families' holdings in the settlement itself, the orphan estates again entered against the households that managed them, the same protective practice the register followed for parcels held in trust. | |
341 | Under what Heads Whites Blacks Persons Names. (Vozt) Brought Over Whites: Men 14. Women 14. Youths 3. Maidens 20. Boys 47. Girles 41. Totall 166. Blacks: FreeBlacks 8. Men 90. Women 33. Boys 45. Girles 23. Totall 199. Thom: Frees Estate Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Facknalds Orphans Whites: Maidens 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. James Greenbee & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 4. Totall 10. Blacks: Men 3. Women 2. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 10. Benjamd Greenbee & 2 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 2. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 2. Richard Curling Whites: Men 1. Girles 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 4. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 9. Robert Curling Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 5. Griffiths Orph: Whites: Maidens 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Mary Harper Wid: Whites: Women 1. Totall 1. Dorothy Hayse do: Whites: Women 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Thom: Hodgkinson Whites: Women 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 1. Jonath: Higham Senr Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1. Jonath: Higham Junr Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Jno Harding Sistr & 2 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Sam: Jessey & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 3. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 9. Joshua Johnson Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Girles 2. Totall 5. Blacks: Men 4. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 9. Sutton Isaack Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Blacks: FreeBlacks 1. Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Jno Lacy & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 4. Blacks: Women 2. Boys 1. Totall 3. Thom: Leech & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Girles 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Francis Leech Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. James Leech Whites: Men 1. Totall 1. Jno Long & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Rich: Long Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Stephen Laskin Whites: Men 1. Maidens 1. Girles 2. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 2. Totall 2. Walter Morris Whites: Men 1. Girles 1. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Elizab: Marsh & 1 Orph: Whites: Women 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 3. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 8. Richard Mason Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 2. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Totall 3. Mary Nichols & Sisters Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 3. Edmd Nichols Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Girles 0. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 4. Elizabeth Ormston Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. Ralph Orme & Mr Servt Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 4. Totalls Whites: Men 36. Women 60. Youths 3. Maidens 32. Boys 70. Girles 72. Totall 273. Blacks: FreeBlacks 11. Men 124. Women 52. Boys 65. Girles 40. Totall 292. | The list of families continued under the same heads, whites and blacks. The white columns ran men, women, youths, maidens, boys, girls and total. The black columns ran free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and total. Brought over: 14 white men, 41 white women, 3 white youths, 20 white maidens, 47 white boys, 41 white girls, totalling 166 white people, with 8 free blacks, 90 black men, 33 black women, 45 black boys, 23 black girls, totalling 199 black people. Thomas Free's estate had 1 white man, 1 white woman and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Facknald's orphans had 1 white maiden and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. James Greentree and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys, 4 white girls and 10 [...], totalling 10 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 10 black people. Benjamin Greentree and 2 orphans had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 2 white girls and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black woman, totalling 2 black people. Richard Gurling had 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 3 black girls, totalling 9 black people. Robert Gurling had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 3 white girls and 2 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people. Griffith's orphans had 1 white boy and 1 [...], totalling 2 white people, with no black household entered. Mary Harper, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. Dorothy Hayse, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man and 1 black boy, totalling 2 black people. Thomas Hodgkinson had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Jonathan Higham, senior, had no white household entered, with 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person. Jonathan Higham, junior, had 1 white man and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. John Harding, his sister and 2 orphans had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy, 1 white girl and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. Samuel Jessey and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys, 3 white girls and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 3 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 3 black girls, totalling 9 black people. Joshua Johnson had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 2 white girls and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 4 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people. Sutton Isaack had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 3 white boys, 2 white girls and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 1 free black, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. John Lacy and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 2 black women and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people. Thomas Leech and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Francis Leech had 1 white man and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with no black household entered. James Leech had 1 white man and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. John Long and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white boy, 3 white girls and 7 [...], totalling 7 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people. Richard Long had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with no black household entered. Stephen Lathein had 1 white man, 1 white maiden and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 2 black men, totalling 2 black people. Walter Morris had 1 white man and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Elizabeth Marsh and 1 orphan had 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 3 black men, 1 black woman and 3 black girls, totalling 8 black people. Richard Mason had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys, 2 white girls and 6 [...], totalling 6 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 3 black people. Mary Nichols and her sisters had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 3 black people. Edmund Nichols had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 0 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 4 black people. Elizabeth Ormston had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black boy, totalling 1 black person. Ralph Orme and 1 maidservant had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 4 white girls, 1 white girl and 7 [...], totalling 7 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black boy, totalling 4 black people. The column totals stood at 36 white men, 60 white women, 3 white youths, 32 white maidens, 70 white boys, 72 white girls, totalling 273 white people, with 11 free blacks, 124 black men, 52 black women, 65 black boys, 40 black girls, totalling 292 black people. Interpretations The third page carries the census on through the remaining free inhabitants, the brought-over totals from the establishment and earlier planters set at the head and built up name by name to the running figure of 273 white and 292 black people. The orphan and sister tags again fix the dependents lodged in each household, the council counting the orphan estates it held in trust against the families that maintained them, as with the Greentree, Harding, Jessey, Lacy, Long and Marsh lines. The entry for Thomas Free's estate, listed as an estate rather than a living head of household, marks property the council had taken under its control. Free's land had been seized by warrant in the spring of 1720 for the Griffith orphans' sake and for his debt to the Company, and the separate Griffith's orphans line on the same page reflects the children whose estate Free had withheld, the two entries recording the divided property the council was administering. The larger slave-holdings fell on the established families, Greentree, Johnson, Jessey and Marsh each carrying eight or nine black people, against the many smaller households with a single man or none. The free black entries remained few and individually noted, the scattered single figures under Sutton Isaack and others standing apart from the owned slaves in their own column, the census keeping the freed people distinct from the labouring slaves counted beside them. | |
342 | Blacks Cattle Lands Brought Over Blacks: Boys 45. Girles 23. Totall 199. Cattle: Bulls 14. Cowes 276. Bullocks 30. Heifers 89. Steers 70. Yearlings 39. Calves 229. Totall 747. Lands: Acres Free 866¾. Acres Hired 536½. Totall 1403¼. Ground in Jams Valley 222. Thom: Frees Estate Lands: Acres Free 40½. Acres Hired 23¾. Totall 64¼. Facknalds Orphans Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 8. Bullocks 1. Yearlings 3. Calves 5. Totall 17. James Greenbee & 1 Orph: Blacks: Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 10. Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 15. Heifers 6. Calves 11. Totall 34. Lands: Acres Free 79. Acres Hired 83. Totall 162. Benjamd Greenbee & 2 Orph: Blacks: Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 3. Totall 3. Lands: Acres Free 22. Acres Hired 21. Totall 43. Richard Curling Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 9. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 14. Bullocks 5. Heifers 5. Yearlings 3. Calves 8. Totall 36. Lands: Acres Free 38. Acres Hired 11. Totall 49. Robert Curling Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 4. Heifers 2. Calves 3. Totall 9. Lands: Acres Free 20. Acres Hired 10. Totall 30. Griffiths Orph: Cattle: Cowes 3. Heifers 1. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 9. Mary Harper Wid: Dorothy Hayse do: Blacks: Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 2. Calves 3. Totall 3. Lands: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 15. Totall 25. Thom: Hodgkinson Blacks: Totall 1. Jonath: Higham Senr Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3. Jonath: Higham Junr Jno Harding Sistr & 2 Orph: Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 6. Heifers 4. Bullocks 8. Calves 2. Totall 20. Lands: Acres Free 34. Acres Hired 27. Totall 61. Sam: Jessey & 1 Orph: Blacks: Boys 3. Totall 9. Cattle: Cowes 10. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Steers 5. Calves 12. Totall 30. Lands: Acres Free 64½. Acres Hired 20½. Totall 85. Joshua Johnson Blacks: Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 9. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 10. Bullocks 2. Heifers 2. Steers 3. Calves 6. Totall 24. Lands: Acres Free 64. Acres Hired 33. Totall 97. Sutton Isaack Blacks: Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 6. Cattle: Cowes 7. Yearlings 2. Calves 7. Totall 16. Lands: Acres Free 24. Acres Hired 5. Totall 29. Jno Lacy & 1 Orph: Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 3. Cattle: Cowes 2. Bullocks 1. Calves 2. Totall 5. Thom: Leech & 1 Orph: Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 2. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Calves 2. Totall 7. Lands: Acres Free 10. Totall 10. Francis Leech Cattle: Cowes 4. Yearlings 1. Calves 3. Totall 8. James Leech Cattle: Cowes 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Jno Long & 1 Orph: Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 6. Bullocks 1. Heifers 4. Steers 2. Calves 2. Totall 15. Lands: Acres Free 11. Acres Hired 5. Totall 16. Rich: Long Blacks: Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 3. Bullocks 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 6. Lands: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 1. Totall 11. Stephen Laskin Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3. Walter Morris Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 3. Totall 8. Cattle: Cowes 13. Bullocks 2. Heifers 2. Steers 3. Calves 11. Totall 31. Lands: Acres Free 40. Acres Hired 9. Totall 49. Elizab: Marsh & 1 Orph: Blacks: Totall 3. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 6. Heifers 2. Calves 6. Totall 15. Lands: Acres Hired 17. Totall 17. Richard Mason Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 3. Cattle: Cowes 3. Steers 3. Calves 6. Totall 25. Lands: Acres Free 25. Totall 25. Mary Nichols & Sisters Blacks: Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 4. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 5. Heifers 4. Calves 1. Totall 11. Lands: Acres Free 12. Acres Hired 20. Totall 32. Edmd Nichols Blacks: Totall 1. Elizabeth Ormston Ralph Orme & Mr Servt Blacks: Totall 4. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 3. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 6. Lands: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 10. Totall 20. Totalls Blacks: Boys 65. Girles 40. Totall 292. Cattle: Bulls 21. Cowes 406. Bullocks 49. Heifers 133. Steers 87. Yearlings 49. Calves 321. Totall 1066. Lands: Acres Free 1380¾. Acres Hired 847¾. Totall 2228½. Ground 222. | The cattle and land table continued against the same names in the same order. The neat cattle columns ran bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns ran acres free, acres hired and total, with a further column for ground in James Valley. Brought over: 14 bulls, 276 cows, 30 bullocks, 89 heifers, 70 steers, 39 yearlings, 229 calves, totalling 747 neat cattle, with 866¾ acres free, 536¾ acres hired, totalling 1,403¼ acres, and 222 feet of ground in James Valley. Thomas Free's estate had no cattle entered, with 40½ acres free and 23¾ acres hired, totalling 64¼ acres. Facknald's orphans had 8 cows, 1 bullock, 3 yearlings, 5 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle, with no land entered. James Greentree and 1 orphan had 2 bulls, 15 cows, 6 heifers, 11 calves, totalling 34 neat cattle, with 79 acres free and 83 acres hired, totalling 162 acres. Benjamin Greentree and 2 orphans had 2 cows, 1 yearling, 3 calves, totalling 3 neat cattle, with 22 acres free and 21 acres hired, totalling 43 acres. Richard Gurling had 1 bull, 14 cows, 5 bullocks, 5 heifers, 3 yearlings, 8 calves, totalling 36 neat cattle, with 38 acres free and 11 acres hired, totalling 49 acres. Robert Gurling had 4 cows, 2 heifers, 3 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with 20 acres free and 10 acres hired, totalling 30 acres. Griffith's orphans had 3 cows, 1 heifer, 2 steers, 3 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with no land entered. Mary Harper, widow, had no cattle and no land entered. Dorothy Hayse, widow, had 1 cow, 2 heifers, 3 calves, totalling 3 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 15 acres hired, totalling 25 acres. Thomas Hodgkinson had no cattle and no land entered. Jonathan Higham, senior, had 1 cow, 1 heifer, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with no land entered. Jonathan Higham, junior, had no cattle and no land entered. John Harding, his sister and 2 orphans had 6 cows, 4 bullocks, 8 heifers, 2 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle, with 34 acres free and 27 acres hired, totalling 61 acres. Samuel Jessey and 1 orphan had 10 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 5 steers, 12 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle, with 64½ acres free and 20½ acres hired, totalling 85 acres. Joshua Johnson had 1 bull, 10 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 3 steers, 6 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle, with 64 acres free and 33 acres hired, totalling 97 acres. Sutton Isaack had 7 cows, 2 yearlings, 7 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle, with 24 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 29 acres. John Lacy and 1 orphan had 1 cow, 1 heifer, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with no land entered. Thomas Leech and 1 orphan had 6 cows, 4 bullocks, 8 heifers, 2 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle, with 34 acres free and 27 acres hired, totalling 61 acres. Francis Leech had 10 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 5 steers, 12 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle, with 64½ acres free and 20½ acres hired, totalling 85 acres. James Leech had 1 bull, 10 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 3 steers, 6 calves, totalling 24 neat cattle, with 64 acres free and 33 acres hired, totalling 97 acres. John Long and 1 orphan had 7 cows, 2 steers, 7 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle, with 24 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 29 acres. Richard Long had 2 cows, 1 bullock, 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle, with no land entered. Stephen Lathein had 2 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 2 calves, totalling 7 neat cattle, with 10 acres free, totalling 10 acres. Walter Morris had 4 cows, 1 steer, 3 yearlings, 8 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle, with no land entered. Elizabeth Marsh and 1 orphan had 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle, with no land entered. Richard Mason had 6 cows, 1 bullock, 4 heifers, 2 steers, 2 calves, totalling 15 neat cattle, with 11 acres free and 5 acres hired, totalling 16 acres. Mary Nichols and her sisters had 3 cows, 1 bullock, 1 heifer, 1 calf, totalling 6 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 1 acre hired, totalling 11 acres. Edmund Nichols had 1 bull, 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with no land entered. Elizabeth Ormston had 13 cows, 2 bullocks, 2 heifers, 3 steers, 11 calves, totalling 31 neat cattle, with 40 acres free and 9 acres hired, totalling 49 acres. Ralph Orme and 1 maidservant had 1 bull, 6 cows, 2 steers, 6 calves, totalling 15 neat cattle, with 17 acres hired, totalling 17 acres. The further entries closing the page carried 3 cows, 3 yearlings, 6 calves, totalling 6 neat cattle, with 25 acres free, totalling 25 acres, then 1 bull, 5 cows, 4 heifers, 1 calf, totalling 11 neat cattle, with 12 acres free and 20 acres hired, totalling 32 acres, and 1 bull, 3 cows, 1 bullock, 1 calf, 6 calves, totalling 10 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 10 acres hired, totalling 20 acres. The column totals stood at 21 bulls, 406 cows, 49 bullocks, 133 heifers, 87 steers, 49 yearlings, 321 calves, totalling 1,066 neat cattle, with 1,380¾ acres free, 847¾ acres hired, totalling 2,228½ acres, and 222 feet of ground in James Valley. Interpretations The cattle and land table closes the property record for the free inhabitants, the running totals carrying every household's stock and acreage onto the brought-over figures to a grand reckoning of 1,066 neat cattle and 2,228½ acres for the whole island. These island-wide totals were the figures the council sent home each year, the documentary base on which the church rate and the labour levy were apportioned by holding size. The largest holdings on the page fell on the established planter families, Greentree with a herd of 34 and 162 acres, Johnson with 24 head and 97 acres, and Jessey and Ormston each carrying about 30 cattle and substantial ground. These concentrations measure the leading plantations that produced the bulk of the island's provisions, set against the many smaller households holding a beast or two and no land. The entry for Thomas Free's estate carried land but no cattle, the parcel standing under the council's control after the seizure of the spring of 1720 for the Griffith orphans and for Free's debt to the Company. The acreage entered against the estate without stock marks the property the council was administering apart from any living household, the land held while the orphans' share was secured and the debt satisfied. | |
343 | Under what Heads. Whites Blacks Persons Names viz Brought Over Whites: Men 36. Women 60. Youths 3. Maidens 32. Boys 70. Girles 72. Totall 273. Blacks: FreeBlacks 11. Men 124. Women 52. Boys 65. Girles 40. Totall 292. Gabriel Powell & Jno Hodgkn Whites: Men 2. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 4. Girles 2. Totall 10. Blacks: Men 8. Women 3. Boys 3. Girles 5. Totall 19. Samuel Price Whites: Men 1. Boys 2. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 1. Thom: Greentree Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Girles 2. Totall 2. Blacks: FreeBlacks 1. Men 2. Women 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Martha Robinson Wid: Whites: Women 1. Boys 3. Totall 4. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 7. James Ryder Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 4. Women 2. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 8. Sarah Southen & Sam: Taylor Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Maidens 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 3. Boys 2. Totall 5. Mary Shreeve Wid: Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 2. William Seale Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 4. Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 6. Giles Smith & 1 Orph: Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 6. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 3. Thom: Sgallow Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 2. Totall 4. Blacks: FreeBlacks 2. Men 3. Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 7. Rich: Swallow Senr Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Youths 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5. Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Mary Swallow Junr Wid: Whites: Women 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Women 1. Totall 1. Charles Steward Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Totall 3. Stewards Orphans Whites: Maidens 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Men 3. Girles 2. Totall 5. Margtt Tovey Wid: Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Totall 4. Blacks: Men 4. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8. John Twaites Whites: Women 1. Maidens 4. Boys 2. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 2. John Swallow Whites: Men 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. James Vesey Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 1. Totall 4. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Ripin Witts & 1 Apprent Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Maidens 1. Totall 3. Blacks: Men 2. Women 1. Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 8. Francis Wraughham Whites: Women 1. Maidens 1. Boys 2. Girles 3. Totall 7. Blacks: Men 6. Women 2. Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 16. John Worrall Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 4. Totall 8. Blacks: Men 4. Women 2. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 9. William Worrall Whites: Men 1. Women 1. Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 5. Blacks: FreeBlacks 2. Men 2. Women 1. Totall 5. Mercy Whaley Wid: Whites: Women 1. Boys 1. Totall 2. Blacks: Men 1. Totall 1. Elizabeth Such Orph: Whites: Boys 1. Totall 1. Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Mary Sisnick Orph: Totall Whites: Men 52. Women 80. Youths 5. Maidens 40. Boys 96. Girles 103. Totall 376. Blacks: FreeBlacks 20. Men 181. Women 67. Boys 94. Girles 62. Totall 424. | The list of families continued under the same heads, whites and blacks. The white columns ran men, women, youths, maidens, boys, girls and total. The black columns ran free blacks, men, women, boys, girls and total. Brought over: 36 white men, 60 white women, 3 white youths, 32 white maidens, 70 white boys, 72 white girls, totalling 273 white people, with 11 free blacks, 124 black men, 52 black women, 65 black boys, 40 black girls, totalling 292 black people. Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkinson had 2 white men, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 4 white boys, 2 white girls and 10 [...], totalling 10 white people, with 8 black men, 3 black women, 3 black boys and 5 black girls, totalling 19 black people. Samuel Price had 1 white man, 2 white girls and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Thomas Greentree had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white girls and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 free black, 2 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 5 black people. Martha Robinson, widow, had 1 white woman, 3 white girls and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people. James Ryder had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 4 black men, 2 black women, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people. Sarah Southen and Samuel Taylor had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white maidens, 2 white boys, 1 white girl and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 3 black men and 2 black boys, totalling 5 black people. Mary Shreeve, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. William Seale had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys, 3 white girls and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black boy and 1 black girl, totalling 6 black people. Giles Smith and 1 orphan had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 1 white maiden, 2 white girls and 6 [...], totalling 6 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. Thomas Swallow had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 2 free blacks, 3 black men, 1 black woman and 1 black girl, totalling 7 black people. Richard Swallow, senior, had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white youth, 2 white boys, 1 white girl and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 1 black girl, totalling 1 black person. Mary Swallow, widow, had 1 white woman and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black woman, totalling 1 black person. Charles Steward had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 3 black people. Steward's orphans had 1 white maiden and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 3 black men and 2 black girls, totalling 5 black people. Margaret Tovey, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white girl and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 4 black men, 1 black woman, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people. John Twaites had 1 white woman, 4 white boys, 2 white girls and 7 [...], totalling 7 white people, with 1 black man and 1 black girl, totalling 2 black people. John Swallow had 1 white man, 1 white girl and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. James Vesey had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy, 1 white girl and 4 [...], totalling 4 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 3 black boys and 2 black girls, totalling 8 black people. Ripin Wills and 1 apprentice had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 3 [...], totalling 3 white people, with 2 black men, 1 black woman, 4 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 8 black people. Francis Wrangham had 1 white woman, 1 white maiden, 2 white boys, 3 white girls and 7 [...], totalling 7 white people, with 6 black men, 2 black women, 5 black boys and 3 black girls, totalling 16 black people. John Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys, 4 white girls and 8 [...], totalling 8 white people, with 4 black men, 2 black women, 2 black boys and 1 black girl, totalling 9 black people. William Worrall had 1 white man, 1 white woman, 2 white boys, 1 white girl and 5 [...], totalling 5 white people, with 2 free blacks, 2 black men and 1 black woman, totalling 5 black people. Mercy Whaley, widow, had 1 white woman, 1 white boy and 2 [...], totalling 2 white people, with 1 black man, totalling 1 black person. Elizabeth Sich's orphan had 1 white boy and 1 [...], totalling 1 white person, with 1 black girl, totalling 1 black person. Mary Sinsnick's orphan had no household entered. The column totals stood at 52 white men, 80 white women, 5 white youths, 40 white maidens, 96 white boys, 103 white girls, totalling 376 white people, with 20 free blacks, 158 black men, 67 black women, 94 black boys, 62 black girls, totalling 424 black people. Interpretations The final page of the family list closes the census, the brought-over totals from the establishment and earlier planters carried through the last households to the island-wide reckoning of 376 white and 424 black people. The orphan tags again mark the dependents lodged in each household and the estates the council held in trust, the Steward, Sich and Sinsnick orphan lines standing for under-age heirs counted against the families that maintained them or as estates in their own right. The heaviest slave-holdings on the page fell on the leading planters, Powell and Hodgkinson with 19 black people and Francis Wrangham with 16, against the many smaller households holding a single man or none. These concentrations reflect the labour the principal plantations required, the bulk of the island's privately owned slaves gathered in a few hands. The grand totals furnished the documentary base for the church rate, the labour levy and the report home, the figures of 376 settlers and 424 privately owned slaves measuring the whole free population and its labour force apart from the Company's own slaves and the garrison rank and file. The free black count of 20, set apart in its own column, distinguished those no longer held as property from the labouring slaves, the census keeping the two categories separate across every household on the island. | |
344 | Blacks Cattle Land Brought Over Blacks: Boys 65. Girles 40. Totall 292. Cattle: Bulls 21. Cowes 406. Bullocks 49. Heifers 133. Steers 87. Yearlings 49. Calves 321. Totall 1066. Land: Acres Free 1380¾. Acres Hired 847¾. Totall 2228½. Ground in Jams Valley 220. Gabriel Powell & Jno Hodgkn Blacks: Boys 3. Girles 5. Totall 19. Cattle: Bulls 2. Cowes 53. Bullocks 10. Heifers 19. Steers 16. Calves 41. Totall 141. Land: Acres Free 250½. Acres Hired 52. Totall 302½. Ground in Jams Valley 80 feet. Samuel Price Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Land: Acres Hired 2. Totall 2. Thom: Greentree Blacks: Men 1. Girles 1. Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 9. Heifers 5. Steers 3. Calves 3. Totall 20. Martha Robinson Wid: Blacks: Boys 3. Girles 1. Totall 7. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 12. Bullocks 3. Heifers 2. Steers 2. Calves 10. Totall 30. Land: Acres Free 10. Acres Hired 25. Totall 35. James Ryder Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 8. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Bullocks 2. Heifers 3. Steers 4. Calves 5. Totall 22. Land: Acres Free 31. Acres Hired 2½. Totall 33½. Sarah Southen & Sam: Taylor Blacks: Boys 2. Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 5. Steers 3. Calves 5. Totall 18. Land: Acres Free 29. Totall 29. Mary Shreeve Wid: Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 2. Land: Acres Hired 6. Totall 6. William Seale Blacks: Boys 1. Girles 1. Totall 6. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 12. Bullocks 6. Heifers 6. Calves 12. Totall 37. Land: Acres Free 40. Acres Hired 11½. Totall 51½. Giles Smith & 1 Orph: Blacks: Totall 3. Cattle: Cowes 4. Yearlings 3. Calves 2. Totall 9. Land: Acres Free 11. Totall 11. Thom: Sgallow Blacks: Boys 1. Totall 7. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 9. Heifers 4. Steers 2. Calves 3. Totall 19. Land: Acres Free 30. Acres Hired 29. Totall 59. Rich: Swallow Senr Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 3. Bullocks 2. Heifers 6. Totall 11. Mary Swallow Junr Wid: Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 1. Calves 1. Totall 2. Charles Steward Blacks: Totall 3. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 2. Steers 2. Calves 5. Totall 17. Land: Acres Free 20. Acres Hired 38. Totall 58. Stewards Orphans Blacks: Girles 2. Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 13. Bullocks 4. Heifers 11. Yearlings 5. Calves 7. Totall 40. Land: Acres Free 19½. Acres Hired 24¼. Totall 43¾. Margtt Tovey Wid: Blacks: Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 8. Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 1. Calves 3. Totall 9. Land: Acres Hired 36. Totall 36. John Twaites Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 2. Cattle: Cowes 3. Calves 2. Totall 5. Land: Acres Hired 12. Totall 12. John Swallow Blacks: Totall 1. James Vesey Blacks: Boys 3. Girles 2. Totall 8. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 5. Heifers 3. Steers 2. Totall 11. Land: Acres Free 20. Acres Hired 4. Totall 24. Ripin Witts & 1 Apprent Blacks: Boys 4. Girles 1. Totall 8. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 7. Heifers 2. Yearlings 1. Calves 6. Totall 16. Land: Acres Free 40. Totall 40. Francis Wraughham Blacks: Boys 5. Girles 3. Totall 16. Cattle: Bulls 1. Cowes 17. Bullocks 2. Heifers 11. Calves 12. Totall 43. Land: Acres Free 92. Acres Hired 30. Totall 122. John Worrall Blacks: Boys 2. Girles 1. Totall 9. Cattle: Cowes 5. Heifers 2. Calves 7. Totall 14. Land: Acres Free 17. Acres Hired 20. Totall 37. William Worrall Blacks: Totall 5. Cattle: Cowes 5. Yearlings 3. Calves 8. Land: Acres Hired 40. Totall 40. Mercy Whaley Wid: Blacks: Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 3. Bullocks 1. Heifers 2. Calves 2. Totall 8. Land: Acres Free 13. Acres Hired 10. Totall 23. Elizabeth Such Orph: Blacks: Girles 1. Totall 1. Cattle: Cowes 2. Heifers 1. Calves 2. Totall 5. Land: Acres Free 70. Acres Hired 8. Totall 78. Mary Sisnick Orph: Cattle: Cowes 1. Heifers 1. Calves 1. Totall 3. Land: Ground in Jams Valley 300 feet. Totall Blacks: Men 181. Women 67. Boys 94. Girles 62. Totall 424. Cattle: Bulls 30. Cowes 594. Bullocks 79. Heifers 217. Steers 120. Yearlings 64. Calves 450. Totall 1554. Land: Acres Free 2073¾. Acres Hired 1198. Totall 3271¾. Ground 380 feet. Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin | The cattle and land table continued against the same names in the same order. The neat cattle columns ran bulls, cows, bullocks, heifers, steers, yearlings, calves and total. The land columns ran acres free, acres hired and total, with a further column for ground in James Valley. Brought over: 21 bulls, 406 cows, 49 bullocks, 133 heifers, 87 steers, 49 yearlings, 321 calves, totalling 1,066 neat cattle, with 1,380¾ acres free, 847¾ acres hired, totalling 2,228½ acres, and 220 feet of ground in James Valley. Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkinson had 2 bulls, 53 cows, 10 bullocks, 19 heifers, 16 steers, 41 calves, totalling 141 neat cattle, with 250½ acres free and 52 acres hired, totalling 302½ acres, and 80 feet of ground in James Valley noted. Samuel Price had no cattle entered, with 2 acres hired, totalling 2 acres. Thomas Greentree had 9 cows, 5 heifers, 3 steers, 3 calves, totalling 20 neat cattle, with no land entered. Martha Robinson, widow, had 1 bull, 12 cows, 3 bullocks, 2 steers, 2 yearlings, 10 calves, totalling 30 neat cattle, with 10 acres free and 25 acres hired, totalling 35 acres. James Ryder had 1 bull, 7 cows, 2 bullocks, 3 heifers, 4 steers, 5 calves, totalling 22 neat cattle, with 31 acres free and 2½ acres hired, totalling 33½ acres. Sarah Southen and Samuel Taylor had 5 cows, 5 heifers, 3 steers, 5 calves, totalling 18 neat cattle, with 29 acres free, totalling 29 acres. Mary Shreeve, widow, had no cattle entered, with 6 acres hired, totalling 6 acres. William Seale had 1 bull, 12 cows, 6 bullocks, 6 heifers, 12 calves, totalling 37 neat cattle, with 40 acres free and 11½ acres hired, totalling 51½ acres. Giles Smith and 1 orphan had 4 cows, 3 yearlings, 2 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with 11 acres free, totalling 11 acres. Thomas Swallow had 1 bull, 9 cows, 4 heifers, 2 steers, 3 calves, totalling 19 neat cattle, with 30 acres free and 29 acres hired, totalling 59 acres. Richard Swallow, senior, had 3 cows, 2 bullocks, 6 heifers, totalling 11 neat cattle, with no land entered. Mary Swallow, widow, had 1 cow, 1 calf, totalling 2 neat cattle, with no land entered. Charles Steward had 1 bull, 7 cows, 2 heifers, 2 yearlings, 5 calves, totalling 17 neat cattle, with 20 acres free and 38 acres hired, totalling 58 acres. Steward's orphans had 13 cows, 4 bullocks, 11 heifers, 5 yearlings, 7 calves, totalling 40 neat cattle, with 19½ acres free and 24¼ acres hired, totalling 43¾ acres. Margaret Tovey, widow, had 5 cows, 1 heifer, 3 yearlings, 9 calves, totalling 9 neat cattle, with 36 acres hired, totalling 36 acres. John Twaites had 3 cows, 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle, with 12 acres hired, totalling 12 acres. John Swallow had no cattle and no land entered. James Vesey had 1 bull, 5 cows, 3 heifers, 2 steers, 11 calves, totalling 11 neat cattle, with 20 acres free and 4 acres hired, totalling 24 acres. Ripin Wills and 1 apprentice had 7 cows, 2 heifers, 1 steer, 6 calves, totalling 16 neat cattle, with 40 acres free, totalling 40 acres. Francis Wrangham had 1 bull, 17 cows, 2 bullocks, 11 heifers, 12 calves, totalling 43 neat cattle, with 92 acres free and 30 acres hired, totalling 122 acres. John Worrall had 5 cows, 2 heifers, 7 calves, totalling 14 neat cattle, with 17 acres free and 20 acres hired, totalling 37 acres. William Worrall had 5 cows, 3 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle, with 40 acres hired, totalling 40 acres. Mercy Whaley, widow, had 3 cows, 1 bullock, 2 heifers, 2 calves, totalling 8 neat cattle, with 13 acres free and 10 acres hired, totalling 23 acres. Elizabeth Sich's orphan had 2 cows, 1 heifer, 2 calves, totalling 5 neat cattle, with 70 acres free and 8 acres hired, totalling 78 acres. Mary Sinsnick's orphan had 1 cow, 1 bullock, 1 calf, totalling 3 neat cattle, with 300 feet of ground in James Valley noted. The column totals stood at 30 bulls, 594 cows, 79 bullocks, 217 heifers, 120 steers, 64 yearlings, 450 calves, totalling 1,554 neat cattle, with 2,073¾ acres free, 1,198 acres hired, totalling 3,271¾ acres, and 380 feet of ground in James Valley. The whole list of families, lands and neat cattle for the year 1721 was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The cattle and land table closes the property record for the island, the running totals carrying every household's stock and acreage to the grand reckoning of 1,554 neat cattle and 3,271¾ acres for the whole settlement. These island-wide figures, signed by the Governor and council, were the documentary base sent home each year and the ground on which the church rate and the labour levy were apportioned by holding size. The single heaviest holding fell on Gabriel Powell and John Hodgkinson, with a herd of 141 and 302½ acres, far above any other household and marking Powell as the island's foremost planter and cattle-owner. Francis Wrangham's 43 head and 122 acres and the Steward and Sich orphan estates of substantial ground stand next, the leading plantations and the protected orphan holdings together carrying the bulk of the island's wealth in stock and land. The James Valley column closed at 380 feet of town ground, the Powell and Hodgkinson frontage of 80 feet and the Sinsnick orphan's 300 feet making up most of the page's total. The orphan estates entered against the households that managed them, Sich's 78 acres and Sinsnick's town plot held without a living head, mark the property the council kept under its protective jurisdiction, the trust parcels counted into the island's wealth while the heirs' shares were preserved. | |
345 | May Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thurs day the 24 day of May 1722 at union Castle in James Valley./ Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of The Governrs Indisposition Hindered the Consulta tions of Tuesday ij 15 & 22 Instant./ On Thursday the 17th Instant We had an Alarm for a Single Ship Which provd the Cadogan Capt Hill from Canton but Last from the Cape where he left the Francis Capt Newsham Command: We recd by this Ship the Goods Specifyed in the following Invoice./ Tea Bohea Ta 28 .. 2 .. forone Chest Tale ma c c Tale ma c c marked B qt 100 wnett 9¼ at 3 p Catty 28 .. 2 .. Tea Single Ta 19 .. 6 .. for one Chest marked S qt 100 potts wnett 98 at 2 p Catty 19 .. 6 .. Sewing Silk Ta 30 for one Box marked A cont wnett 20 at Ta 1 .. 50 .. p Catty 30 .. China Ware Ta 35 .. 7 .. 7 .. for tive Chests N 3 .. 8 .. 4 Cont Vezt 240 Bowles, blew & white at pp T .. Co 6 3 15 .. 6 .. 240 Sneakers Do .. 1 .. 8 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 120 Bowles Do .. 6 .. 5 4 7 .. 8 .. 214 Sneakers Do .. 1 .. 8 3 .. 8 .. 5 .. 300 Large Cups Do .. L .. 4 4 .. 2 .. Charges Extr & ts proportion 7 1 .. 120 6 7 | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Thursday 24 May 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The Governor's illness prevented the consultations of Tuesday 15 and Tuesday 22 May. On Thursday 17 May an alarm was made for a single ship, which proved the Cardigan under Captain Hill, from Canton but last from the Cape, where he had left the Frances under Captain Newsham. The council received by this ship the goods set out in the following invoice. The China cargo was entered in taels, mace and candareens. Bohea tea, tare 28 [...] 2 [...], for one chest marked B, quantity 100 catties net weight, 94 [...] catties at 3 [...] mace per catty, 28 taels 2 mace. Singlo tea, tare 19 [...] 6 [...], for one chest marked S, quantity 100 catties net weight, 98 [...] catties at 2 [...] mace per catty, 19 taels 6 mace. Sewing silk, tare 30, for one box marked A, contents net weight 20 [...] catties at tare 1 tael 5 mace [...] mace per catty, 30 taels. China ware, tare 35 [...] 7 [...] 7 [...], for five chests numbered 3 to 84, contents as follows: Chest 3: 240 bowls, blue and white, at per piece [...] mace, gross 6, 15 taels 6 mace. 240 saucers of the same, 1 [...] 8 [...], 4 taels 3 mace 2 [...]. Chest 4: 120 bowls of the same, gross 6, 5 [...], 7 taels 8 mace. 214 saucers of the same, 1 [...] 4 [...] 8 [...], 3 taels 8 mace 5 [...]. 300 large cups of the same, 1 [...] 4 [...], 4 taels 2 mace. Charges and extras in proportion, 7 taels 1 mace 1 [...]. Total 120 taels 6 mace 7 [...]. Interpretations The China cargo was entered in the Canton money of account, the tael subdivided into mace and candareens, the standard reckoning for the Company's tea and porcelain trade from Canton. The goods came aboard the Cardigan, which had touched at the island on her homeward passage from Canton after parting from the Frances at the Cape, the council taking its consigned portion as the ship lay in the road. Bohea and singlo were the two grades of black and green tea the Company shipped from Canton, the bohea a common black tea and the singlo a green sort, each weighed by the catty and priced by the mace. The tare deducted for each chest was the weight of the packing allowed off the gross to reach the net weight charged, the standard allowance in the China tea accounts so the buyer paid only for the tea itself. The porcelain, the blue and white bowls, saucers and large cups packed in five numbered chests, was the other staple of the Canton trade, made to order for the European market and priced by the piece. Sold at the island for the garrison and the homeward ships, the China ware and tea furnished the council both with goods for its own table and with a parcel to resell, the whole invoice closing at 120 taels 6 mace 7 candareens before the homeward reckoning. | |
346 | The Surveyors, for this Present year Receivd their War rants and Instructions Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ij 29th day of May 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Josin Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and approved of. On fryday last the 25th Instant Saild hence the Cado gan Captain John Hill for England. This day about 7 a Clock We had a Double Alarm for four Ships nine Leagues off of Bry Gutt which are not yet Come In./ The Govr Reports that Joseph Bates of this Island Corpor: died on Saturday Last being the 26th Instant make a Complaint to him against Henry Johnson for abusing him in a most Egregious manner in Defaming him by tell ing Mrs Bridgt Cole whom the Said Bates at this time Court ed with an Intention to make his wife many falsitys and Roguerys of the said Bates which He was Intirely Ignorant of and may be very Prejudicial to the Said Bates, and by De livering a Parcell of Writen Papers a Copy of Part of which ij Said Bates Gave the Govr by which the Govr Perceived that therein Margin Notes: Cadogans departure Govr Report of Jo: Bates Complt agt Hen: Johnson | The surveyors for the present year received their warrants and instructions. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 29 May 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The Cardigan under Captain John Hill sailed for England the previous Friday, 25 May. About seven that morning a double alarm was made for four ships nine leagues off Dry Gut, which had not yet come in. The Governor reported that Joseph Bates, corporal of the island, had come to him the previous Saturday, 26 May, to complain against Henry Johnson for defaming him in an outrageous manner. Johnson had told Mrs Bridget Coles, whom Bates was at that time courting with intent to marry, many falsehoods and dishonest acts of Bates which Bates knew nothing of and which might be very damaging to him. Johnson had also delivered a parcel of written papers, a copy of part of which Bates gave the Governor, by which the Governor perceived that [...]. Interpretations The surveyors' receipt of their warrants and instructions marks the annual appointment of the highway officers, the men charged each year with directing the labour levy on the roads and watercourses. The warrants carried the council's authority to require labour from every household and to distrain on defaulters, the instructions setting out the duties for the coming year, the parish business closing the previous consultation before the new sitting opened. The double alarm for four ships off Dry Gut continued the standing defensive routine, the batteries warning the island whenever an unidentified squadron approached, the alarm pressed by the reports of pirates that had run since early 1720. The leagues' distance recorded the ships still well out to sea and not yet brought into the road, the council noting the approach against the security of the island's anchorage. Henry Johnson's defamation of Joseph Bates turned on the written papers Johnson had passed to Bridget Coles to break Bates's courtship of her. The matter came before the council because Bates held the rank of corporal in the garrison, his character a public concern the bench would protect, and the parcel of papers gave the slander a documentary form the Governor could examine. Bridget Coles, a widow of substance carrying one of the larger holdings on the island, was the object of the courtship Johnson sought to spoil, the dispute setting a soldier's reputation against a rival's written attack as the council moved to hear the complaint. | |
347 | May therein he not only Charges the Said Bates with Several Ro gueryes but also the Goverment with Conniveing at it them for which the Govr granted a Warrant to Ensigne Slaughter (the marshall being Sick) to Seize the Said Johnsons Papers and bring them to him by vertue of which Mr Slaughter went to Mr Henry Francis House where the Said Johnson did Lodge but found nothing belonging to the Said Johnson but one Desk the Key whereof Mr Francis had not Which Mr Slaughter brough to the Govr at the Plantation house. on Sunday after Church the Govr called Johnson to him and told him that upon Such an In formation he had granted a Warrant to Seize his papers therefor bid him unlock the Desk Johnson behaved himself Insolently before him and he had Commited him to Prison. Joseph Bates upon oath Deposes that Mrs Bridgett Cole told him that Henry Johnson had given her son Will: a Writen Paper a Copy of Part he Deliverd to the Govr and is as follows. That March the 26th 1714 in the 23 Year of his age your Petitioner Left England with the Ship Rochester in order to make a Voyage to India but the Discouraging Austerity of the Commander and the unmerited favours he Recd from Govr Pyke in Passing to St Helena Induced him to Stay upon the Said Island where from July in the year aforesaid to the date hereof your Petitioner has had the Happyness to Serve your Honr in the Severall Stations following. At the departure of two of your Honrs Servants namely Broom and Delarose who Run away August the 2 1714 in the Mercury Sloop Capt Henry machett Commander the Church being unprovided with a Clark which office had been performed by the Said Broom, and Mr Thomlinson your Honrs Chaplin being a person of a weak Consti tution was alowed as before the Choice of any one who might be able to assist him in his Duty by reading the Lessons to which your Margin Notes: Warrt to search Hen: Johnsons Desk & Seize Papers./ Johnson Commited to prison./ Substance of Johnsons Scripts to ij H: Co: | The papers not only charged Bates with several dishonest acts but also charged the government with conniving at them. The Governor therefore granted a warrant to Ensign Slaughter, the marshal being sick, to seize Johnson's papers and bring them to him. Slaughter went to Henry Francis's house, where Johnson lodged, but found nothing belonging to Johnson except one desk, the key of which Francis did not have. Slaughter brought the desk to the Governor at the plantation house. On Sunday after church the Governor called Johnson to him and told him that on such information he had granted a warrant to seize his papers, and told him to unlock the desk. Johnson behaved insolently before him, and the Governor committed him to prison. Joseph Bates stated on oath that Mrs Bridget Coles had told him Henry Johnson had given her son William a written paper, a copy of part of which Bates delivered to the Governor. It ran as follows. Johnson set out that on 26 March 1714, in the 23rd year of his age, he had left England on the Rochester to make a voyage to India. The discouraging harshness of the commander and the unmerited favours he received from Governor Pyke on the passage to St Helena had induced him to stay on the island. From July of that year to the present date he had had the good fortune to serve the Honourable Company in the following stations. On the departure of two of the Honourable Company's servants, Broom and Delarose, who had run away on 2 August 1714 in the Mercury sloop under Captain Henry Mackett, the church was left without a clerk, an office Broom had performed. Mr Thomlinson, the Honourable Company's chaplain, being of a weak constitution, was allowed as before the choice of anyone who might assist him in his duty by reading the lessons, to which [...]. Interpretations The warrant to search and seize Johnson's papers shows the council treating a private slander as a charge against the government itself, the papers alleging the administration had connived at Bates's supposed roguery. The Governor's authority to issue the warrant, deputed to Ensign Slaughter in the marshal's sickness, gave the seizure the force of law, and Johnson's committal to prison followed not the slander alone but his insolence and refusal before the Governor when called to account. The locked desk at Henry Francis's house, the key absent and the papers within, was the object the warrant reached, the written matter being the evidence the council needed to weigh the charge. The seizure of a man's private desk under the Governor's hand marks the reach of the council's process where a paper touched the government's own conduct, the document carrying more weight than spoken words because it could be examined and copied. The paper itself, framed by Johnson as his own petition or memorial, opens an account of his service from his arrival on the Rochester in 1714. The clerk's office he had taken up after the desertion of Broom and Delarose on the Mercury sloop marks the small civil posts the island filled from among its servants, the chaplain Thomlinson's weak health requiring an assistant to read the lessons. Johnson's recital of his stations was the standing form of a servant's plea for favour or office, the document setting out his merits even as it carried the slander of Bates the council had moved to suppress. | |
348 | your Petitioner was chosen by the Said Mr Thomlinson and approvd on by Govr Pyke who about 18 months after was pleased to add to My Business aforesaid the Employ of an Overseer In your Honrs Fortifications and both which was possesed by your Petitioner till the latter part of the year 1718 at that or about which time one Lucas Mason the Govrs Steward married and obtained Leave to Return to England, the Govr being in want of another Sent for your Petitioner from the works and told him if he would serve in the Station aforesaid till the Store Ship arrived in which he Expected to find a person to his mind he would then leave it to your Petitioner to goe with him to India or to stay as a writer up on the Said Island and hopeing to obtain both the favour of ij Honrs and your agents by a Diligent application to a business which had been very much neglected He thankfully Embraced the Latter Part of the Govrs Proposition and at the arrivall of the Ship Craggs by a Joint agreement between Govr Johnson Governt Pyke and the Gentlemen of the Councill your Petitioner was Pla ced In the Secretarys office and from thence after some continu ance Removed to Mr Ormston at that time Accomptant from whom his hopes was Encouraged By this concuring intimation that if he would assiduosly apply himself to business at that time so far behinde and So much wanted he would find both your Honrs Satisfaction and his own advantage, in answer to which your Petitioner promisd the utmost of His ability & has accordingly satt between the business of the two offices aforesd the greatest part of his time from before Light in ij morning till past five in the Evening and as this truth is known to all his Superiours here So it may in Some measure appear to your Honr by the fore part of ijr Journall for 1717 1718 and the whole Journall for 1719 which Books your Honrs have now in England and about so much more of the Said accounts upon this Island Copyed Margin Notes: his allegations./ | Johnson set out that he had been chosen by Thomlinson and approved by Governor Pyke, who about eighteen months later added to his duties the post of an overseer at the Honourable Company's fortifications. He held both offices until the latter part of 1718. At that time Lucas Mason, the Governor's steward, married and obtained leave to return to England, and the Governor, wanting another steward, sent for Johnson from the works. The Governor told him that if he would serve in the office until the store ship arrived, when he expected to find a man to his liking, he would then leave it to Johnson either to go with him to India or to stay as a writer on the island. Hoping to gain the favour of the Honourable Company and its agents by diligent application to business that had been much neglected, Johnson gladly accepted the latter part of the Governor's offer. On the arrival of the Craggs, by a joint agreement between Governor Johnson, Governor Pyke and the gentlemen of the council, Johnson was placed in the secretary's office. From there, after some time, he was moved to Mr Ormston, then accountant, who encouraged his hopes by intimating that if he would apply himself diligently to business so far behind and so much wanted, he would find both the Honourable Company's satisfaction and his own advantage. Johnson promised the utmost of his ability, and accordingly divided his time between the business of the two offices, attending the greater part of the day from before light in the morning until past five in the evening. As this was known to all his superiors on the island, it might in some measure appear to the Honourable Company from the earlier part of the journals for 1717 and 1718 and the whole journal for 1719, which books the Honourable Company now had in England, and from about so much more of the accounts on the island then being copied. Interpretations Johnson's memorial traces his rise through the island's civil and works posts, from church clerk to overseer at the fortifications and then to steward, the offices the Governor filled from among the servants as vacancies fell. The grant of the overseer's place under Governor Pyke and the later transfer to the stewardship on Lucas Mason's departure show how a willing servant could accumulate several charges, the administration relying on a handful of capable men to cover its scattered offices. The placement in the secretary's office and then under the accountant Ormston on the arrival of the Craggs in June 1719 marks the council's drive to clear the long arrears of the account books. Johnson's account of dividing his day between the two offices from before dawn until evening sets out his service against the neglect of the books that had drawn the directors' censure, his long hours offered as proof of his diligence at the very business the council most needed done. The reference to the journals for 1717, 1718 and 1719, the earlier books gone home to England and the rest still being copied on the island, ties Johnson's plea to the documentary record the directors could examine. The journals were the daily account books on which the home reckoning depended, and Johnson's appeal to them as evidence of his labour shows how a servant's claim to favour rested on the very records whose backlog and repair had occupied the council since Governor Pyke's time. | |
349 | May. Copyed by your Petitioner dureing his assistance in the Acco tants office the Latter part of his time has been Employed with Captain Alexander with whom he continued till ij 16th Septr 1721 at which time the Govr Sent for him out of the office and Said your Honrs Business being pretty well over he would advise him to keep a School in which he Should be Encouraged by some allowance from your Honr and Should find the Govr his frind that your Petitioner has Receivd Severall favours from ij Govr is a truth he has alwais thankfully acknowledged but he cannot think it any in turning him out of an Employ in which he thought himself very hapsy and in the Same Endeavours by all that was able to render himself worthy of it as may further appear by ij following Instances. There is in your Honrs Service one Jos: Bates a Corporal that has lately bought an Estate in the Countrey and keeps a punch House in James Valley whose ill principles are notoreious This Bates for the Value of a chest a few Books & was not only privy to but aideing and assisting the Said Broom and Delarose in their Escape on board the Sloop before mentioned when they were above one Hundred pounds Indebted to your Honr near Bates house your Petitioner Lodgd, for Some part of the year 1720 and passed by one morning to his Respec tive office the Said Bates was at his window drinking Tea and desired to speak with him whose request after a Smooth Intro duction was, that your Petitioner would make Secret Entrys of a parcell of such bad Bills, as he knew would not be accepted of in in Consultation, and for So doing he would give him a Considera Satisfaction, of which Knavery your Petitioner Detected this Bates before the Govr and Councill, the day he has forgott but in ij month of Novemr 1720, at Consultation held at your Honrs Plantation House, where the Govr had been, for some time before, the Govr Said Bates was a Villain and deservd to be Exposd Margin Notes: Information agt Jo: Bates ab: Bills./ | These accounts were copied by Johnson during his service in the accountant's office. The latter part of his time had been spent with Captain Alexander, with whom he continued until 16 September 1721. At that time the Governor sent for him out of the office and told him that, the Honourable Company's business being fairly well advanced, he advised him to keep a school, in which he should be encouraged by some allowance from the Honourable Company, and should find the Governor his friend. Johnson set out that he had always thankfully acknowledged the several favours he received from the Governor, but could not think it a favour to be turned out of an office in which he thought himself useful and in which he had done all he was able to make himself worthy of it. This, he said, might further appear by the following instances. There was in the Honourable Company's service one Joseph Bates, a corporal who had lately bought an estate in the country and kept a punch house in James Valley, whose bad principles were notorious. Bates, for the value of a chest and a few books, had not only been privy to but had aided and assisted Broom and Delarose in their escape aboard the sloop already mentioned, when they were above £100 indebted to the Honourable Company. Bates's house stood near the place where Johnson lodged for part of the year 1720, and one morning Johnson passed by to his respective office. Bates was at his window drinking tea and asked to speak with him, his request, after a smooth introduction, being that Johnson would make a secret entry of a parcel of bad bills he knew would not be accepted if openly stated in consultation, and for so doing would give him a considerable satisfaction. Johnson exposed this dishonesty before the Governor and council, the day of which he had forgotten, in November 1720, at a consultation held at the Honourable Company's plantation house, where the Governor had been for some time before. The Governor said Bates was a villain and deserved to be exposed. Interpretations Johnson's removal from the accountant's office to keep a school marks the close of his service in the books, the Governor offering a schoolmaster's place with a Company allowance as a settled provision once the accounts were brought up. The instruction of the island's youth had long been a charge the council wished to support, and the offer of an allowance shows the standing wish to keep a school, though Johnson read his removal as a slight rather than a favour after his labour on the accounts. The heart of the memorial is Johnson's counter-charge against Bates, the corporal he accused of soliciting a fraudulent entry of bad bills. The scheme turned on the council's control of which bills it would accept in consultation, Bates allegedly seeking to slip dishonoured paper through by a secret entry in the books in return for a bribe. Johnson's claim to have exposed the attempt before the Governor and council set his own honesty against Bates's, the written memorial answering the slander Bates had brought by charging Bates with the graver offence. The reference to the council's removal to the plantation house in November 1720 fixes the occasion Johnson cited, the sittings having been moved there from 1 November 1720 under Governor Johnson. Bates's keeping of a punch house in James Valley while holding the rank of corporal marks the mixed livelihoods of the garrison men, who supplemented their pay by trade and retail, the council later fining and prosecuting Bates over his unlicensed liquor and the Company's pewter found in his house. | |
350 | Expaid but Bates knows by what Scandalous means he holds an Exemption from the Rewards due to his Repeated villaines who was not so much as calld for to answer the charge abovesaid as may appear by the Consultation of the month and year before mentioned./ Here is one John Martin VanOosten alias Breary who came from the Cape in the Hartford sometime in aprill 1719 who was put into Mr Ormstons place at his dismission the said VanOosten had been Longer and better acquainted with Merchants Accompts then your Petitioner but upon closeing the Books for 1719 He found Van Oosten Erroneous in three Accounts Relating to his own account by two of which he had Clandestinly taken from your Honrs upwards of twelve pounds and by the third, from Giles Smith a poor Planter the Sume of four pounds your Petitioner acquainted the Govr with it provd the Same upon which his Ballance was altered by the Govrs Order Sometime after the Same VanOosten told your Petitioner he would take care he Should not continue Long in the office and Either by his own or the Secreet contrivance of Bates and his Interest he had the Satisfaction to See his desire Executed at the time and in ij manner before truely mentioned./ All which the said Bates said were Intirely false. William Cole Deposed that Henry Johnson gave him Severall Sheets of Written paper Stitcht together and one other Small parcell biding him to give them to his mother to peruse That he and his mother did read those that were Stitcht together and that the Little book which Mr Bates deliverd to the Govr was a Copyy of Part of what was written in those Sheets Stitcht together and that he had writ a line or two of it himself and he was by Isaac Leech when He copinyd the Rest./ Isaac. Margin Notes: Information agt Van Oosten. charges him to fraud./ Wm Coles Deposition. | Johnson set out that Bates knew by what scandalous means he held an exemption from the rewards due to those who exposed such villains. Bates was not so much called on to answer the charge already set out, as might appear by the consultation of the month and year already mentioned. Johnson further set out that John Martin Van Oosten, also called Breary, who had come from the Cape in the Hartford about April 1719, had been put into Mr Ormston's place on his dismissal. Van Oosten had been longer and better acquainted with merchants' accounts than Johnson, but on closing the books for 1719 Johnson found Van Oosten in error on three accounts relating to his own. By two of these he had secretly taken from the Honourable Company upwards of £12, and by the third he had taken £4 from Giles Smith, a poor planter. Johnson informed the Governor of it and proved it, on which Van Oosten's balance was altered by the Governor's order. Sometime after, Van Oosten told Johnson he would take care that Johnson should not continue long in the office, and either by his own contrivance or by the secret scheme of Bates and his interest, he had the satisfaction to see his desire carried out at the time and in the manner already mentioned. Bates said all this was entirely false. William Cole stated on oath that Henry Johnson had given him several sheets of written paper stitched together and one other small parcel, telling him to give them to his mother to read. Cole and his mother read those that were stitched together. The little book that Bates delivered to the Governor was a copy of part of what was written in those stitched sheets. Cole had written a line or two of it himself, and had been assisted by Isaac Leech when he copied the rest. Interpretations Johnson's charge against Van Oosten extends his memorial into a second accusation of fraud in the accounts, the errors in three of Van Oosten's own accounts said to have hidden upwards of £12 taken from the Company and £4 from a poor planter. The correction of Van Oosten's balance by the Governor's order shows the council's audit reaching even the accountant's office itself, the books checked against the entries so that a clerk's secret takings could be detected and reversed. Johnson cast the episode as the spring of Van Oosten's malice against him, tying his own removal to the resentment of the men whose dishonesty he had uncovered. Van Oosten, here named also as Breary, had come out on the Hartford about April 1719 and risen to the accountant's office on Ormston's suspension, the very post at the centre of the long struggle over the books. His repeated rejection, dismissal and restoration as accountant ran through the winter of 1721 into 1722, and Johnson's account of his threats marks the rivalries within the small accounting establishment on which the home reckoning depended. William Cole's deposition fixes the provenance of the written papers, tracing the slander from Johnson's stitched sheets through Cole and his mother to the copy Bates laid before the Governor. The council took the oath to establish how the document had passed and who had written it, Cole's admission that he and Isaac Leech had copied the matter showing the papers circulated by hand among several people. This traced chain of copying gave the council the evidence to fix Johnson as the author of the defamation it had moved to suppress. | |
351 | May. Isaac Leech Deposed that on Whitsunday Evening last he went to see his Aunt the Widow Cole when he went into the Room he Saw Mrs Cole her son Wm Johnson and Bates In a little while afterwards the son went out and the mother followed him, and Staid a Considerable time away, Insomuch that ij said Leech begune to be very uneasy thinking that some body had told Mrs Cole something of him that had made her angry with him, so that She and her son were gone out of the Room be cause he came in He the Said Leech after sometime went out into the yard (and if it had not Raind very much) would have gone home, afterwards Johnson came out to him He asked Johnson what was the matter with his Aunt and Couzen that he was very much Concerned and he was affraid that they were angry with him, because She and her son went out of the Room as soon He came in Johnson answered that he was Sure that she was not angry but that She was above Stairs a little Busy that he had given them a paper to read concerning Jos: Bates and told him ij he would be sent of the Island by ij next Store Ship presently after wards Wm Cole came to the Said Leech and presently after him him his mother they both spoke very kindly to him Mrs Cole desired him to goup Stairs with her where She told him she had a paper that Johnson had given to her son Relating to Mr Bates for her to peruse and she was affraid that she could not gett time for she beleived he would take it away with him in the morning Leech answord her if you please Aunt I will take a Coppy of it to night and accordingly he did take a Coppy of Same part of it which was the Same as Bates deliverd to the Govr and now lay on the Consultation Table./ Johnson owned that he Deliverd a paper to Wm Cole for his mother which was a Coppy of what he had Sent home to the Honble Company to prevent Her Entertaining of Bates and to Serve another Margin Notes: Isaac Leechs Deposition./ Johnsons replys./ | Isaac Leech stated on oath that the previous Whit Sunday evening he went to see his aunt the widow Cole. When he went into the room he saw Mrs Cole, her son William, Johnson and Bates. A little while afterwards the son went out and the mother followed him, staying away a considerable time. Leech grew very uneasy, thinking that somebody had told Mrs Cole something about him that had made her angry with him, so that she and her son had left the room because he came in. After some time Leech went out into the yard, and had it not been raining heavily, would have gone home. Johnson then came out to him. Leech asked Johnson what was the matter with his aunt and cousin, being much concerned and afraid they were angry with him, since she and her son had left the room as soon as he came in. Johnson answered that he was sure she was not angry, but that she was upstairs a little busy, and that he had given them a paper to read concerning Joseph Bates, telling him that Bates would be sent off the island by the next store ship soon afterwards. William Cole then came to Leech, and presently afterwards his mother. They both spoke very kindly to him. Mrs Cole asked him to go upstairs with her, where she told him she had a paper Johnson had given her son concerning Bates for her to read, and that she was afraid she could not get time, as she believed Johnson would take it away with him in the morning. Leech answered, if you please aunt, I will take a copy of it tonight. Accordingly he took a copy of part of it, which was the same as Bates delivered to the Governor and now lay on the consultation table. Johnson admitted that he delivered a paper to William Cole for his mother, which was a copy of what he had sent home to the Honourable Company, to prevent her entertaining Bates and to serve another [...]. Interpretations Isaac Leech's deposition adds the eyewitness account of the evening the paper changed hands, fixing the gathering at the widow Cole's house and the moment Johnson handed over his written attack on Bates. The detail of Leech's unease and his copying of the paper at his aunt's request shows how the document spread through the household by hand, the council taking each witness's oath to trace exactly how the slander reached the copy now before it. The disclosure that Johnson told Leech that Bates would be sent off the island by the next store ship marks the purpose behind the paper, Johnson seeking not merely to spoil the courtship but to drive Bates from the settlement. The threat ties the written matter to a concrete design against Bates, the council weighing the paper as the instrument of a campaign rather than an idle aspersion. Johnson's admission that the paper given to Cole was a copy of what he had sent home to the Honourable Company shows the slander aimed at two ends at once, to stop the widow Coles entertaining Bates and to lodge a charge against him with the directors. The memorial sent to England carried Johnson's accusations beyond the island's reach, the council facing not only a local defamation but a written complaint already despatched, the paper's double destination making it the graver matter the bench had moved to seize and examine. | |
352 | another person and that Jos: Bates did when he the said Johnson Lodged with him about Eight years agoe tell him that he did assist Broom and Delarose to make their Escape which was all the proof he could make of that part of the papers Johnson was asked how he proved the part relating to the Secret Entry of the Bills he said Bates did offer him as was set down in the paper The Govr asked him why he had not Detected both these here on the Island before now and why he charged the Governmt for not calling Bates to an accot for his Villainy He said as in the paper he did at a Con sultation acquaint us with it But that is Intirely false, for the Govr doth positively averr he never heard of it before & and so do the Gentlemen of the Councill. As to VanOosten his Charging himself with more Credit then was due to him by Johnsons Charge the same Error was in John sons Accot as was in Van Oostens and Johnson was Privy to it and both were Rectifyed by the Govrs Order when it was discoverd Upon the Whole we look on all to proceed, from ij malice to the two persons and to Insinuate himself into the Honble Companys favr Whersore We have granted Joseph Bates to take his course at Law against him if he think proper and for his Vile Reflection on the Governmt when he never apprized us of any matter Re lateing thereto. We Orderd him to be whipt at the fflagg Staff. We have, forbid the fireing the Guns usuall on this Anniversary Least they may Surprize the Ships now comeing into our Road and make them alter their Course. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Jos: Bates Brooms & Larose Escape Govrs Quest: Johnsons falsity: Johnsons Acct erronious as well as Van Oostens./ Bates at Liberty to Sue Johnson./ Johnson to be Punished./ Guns none to be fired./ Restoration | Johnson set out that the paper was meant to serve another person, and that Bates, when Johnson lodged with him about eight years earlier, had told him he had helped Broom and Delarose make their escape, which was all the proof he could give of that part of the paper. Johnson was asked how he proved the part about the secret entry of the bills. He said Bates had made him the offer as set down in the paper. The Governor asked him why he had not exposed both these matters on the island before now, and why he charged the government for not calling Bates to account for his villainy. He said, as in the paper, that he had done so at a consultation. But that was entirely false, for the Governor positively declared he had never heard of it before, and so did the gentlemen of the council. On Van Oosten, Johnson had charged himself with more credit than was due to him. By Johnson's own account the same error stood in his accounts as in Van Oosten's, and Johnson was privy to it, both being corrected by the Governor's order when discovered. On the whole the council judged the paper to proceed from malice against the two men and from a wish to insinuate himself into the Honourable Company's favour. It therefore granted Joseph Bates leave to take his course at law against Johnson if he thought proper. For his vile reflection on the government, when he had never informed it of any matter relating to it, the council ordered Johnson whipped at the flagstaff. The council forbade the firing of the guns usual on this anniversary, lest it surprise the ships now coming into the road and make them alter their course. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The council's examination broke Johnson's memorial down charge by charge and found each unsupported, his proof of Bates's collusion in the desertion resting only on a remark made years before and his claim to have exposed the bill fraud at a consultation flatly denied by the whole bench. The method shows the council testing a written accusation against its own record and the members' recollection, the paper's failure to match either turning Johnson from accuser into offender. The discovery that the same error Johnson laid against Van Oosten stood in his own accounts undercut his pose as the honest detector of fraud. Both balances had been corrected by the Governor's order alike, and Johnson's own complicity in the error he denounced exposed the memorial as a self-serving attempt to win the Company's favour by blackening others, the council reading the whole as malice rather than service. The two remedies the council applied marked the divided nature of the offence. Bates was left free to sue Johnson at law for the private defamation, the bench declining to try a personal slander it referred to the courts, while Johnson's reflection on the government itself, made without ever informing the council, drew the public punishment of whipping at the flagstaff. The order forbidding the customary anniversary gun salute shows the same defensive caution that governed the island's road, the council suppressing its own ceremonial firing lest the approaching ships mistake it for an alarm and sheer off from the anchorage. | |
353 | June Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Saturday ij 2 day of June 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esq Governr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approod of On Wensday the 30th of May last came in the four follow ing Ships Vizt The Hethcott Captain Tolson Commandor. The Monmouth Captain Kemeys the Francis Captain Newsham and The Marlbrough Capt: Mickelsfield./ All from the Cape Last and brought us the following Goods By the Hethcott from Maddrass Vizt Batavia Arrack six half Leagrs at p 7 .. 18 p Leagr 105 .. .. Sugar 30 Baggs q g 2 at wp 4 .. p Candy 126 .. 14 .. 5 231 .. 14 .. 5 Charges 2 .. 23 .. 41 Pagodas 233 .. 14 .. 46 The Marlbrough from Maddras Vizt Batavia Arrack six half Leagrs at p 7 .. 18 p Leagur 105 .. .. Sugar 30 Baggs q g 2 at 4 p Candy 127 .. 14 .. 32 232 .. 14 .. 32 Charges 2 .. 23 .. 41 Pagodas 235 .. 1 .. 7 Margin Notes: 4 Shipps arrivall. Goods from Maddrass./ from do: | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Saturday 2 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Wednesday 30 May four ships came in. They were the Heathcote under Captain Tolson, the Monmouth under Captain Kemeys, the Frances under Captain Newsham and the Marlborough under Captain Michelfield. All were last from the Cape, and brought the following goods. The goods from the Heathcote from Madras were entered in pagodas, fanams and cash. Batavia arrack, six and a half leaguers at 7 pagodas 18 fanams per leaguer, 105 pagodas [...]. Sugar, 30 bags, quantity 9 maunds 2 [...] at 4 fanams per candy, 126 pagodas 14 fanams 5 [...]. Total 231 pagodas 14 fanams 5 [...]. Charges 2 pagodas 23 fanams 41 [...]. Total 233 pagodas 1 fanam 46 [...]. The goods from the Marlborough from Madras were entered in the same money. Batavia arrack, six and a half leaguers at 7 pagodas 18 fanams per leaguer, 105 pagodas [...]. Sugar, 30 bags, quantity 9 maunds 2 [...] at 4 fanams per candy, 127 pagodas 14 fanams 32 [...]. Total 232 pagodas 14 fanams 32 [...]. Charges 2 pagodas 23 fanams 41 [...]. Total 235 pagodas 1 fanam 7 [...]. Interpretations The four ships arrived together from the Cape, the standing pattern by which the homeward shipping gathered at the island before the final passage. The Frances under Captain Newsham had earlier parted from the Cardigan at the Cape, the squadron now reaching the island within days of each other, the council taking its consigned goods from each as they came into the road. The cargoes from the Heathcote and Marlborough were entered in the Madras money of account, the pagoda subdivided into fanams and cash, the reckoning the council used for goods shipped from Fort St George. The Batavia arrack, the distilled spirit of the eastern trade measured by the leaguer, and the sugar weighed by the maund and priced by the candy were the staple provisions the Madras presidency sent to supply the island's stores and table. The near-identical invoices from the two ships, each carrying six and a half leaguers of arrack and thirty bags of sugar at the same rates, show the Company shipping matched parcels by different vessels to spread the risk of the voyage. The charges added in proportion to each cargo before the total covered the freight and handling, the two consignments together replenishing the island's stock of spirit and sugar from the western Indian trade. | |
354 | By The Monmouth from Bengall. Vizt Batavia Arrack Vizt 4 half Leagrs at q g 60 is 240 galls at 7 .. 8 p Leagr 145 .. Shirts 150 of Burron Cossaes at 63 .. 8 p 100 95 .. 4 .. Stockings 100 p at 12 .. 8 p Corge 62 .. 8 .. 157 .. 12 .. Rice 35 Baggs q Buz 70 is 51 .. 9 at 1 .. 7 p mad Rups 49 .. 2 .. Battas o p Ct 4 .. 14 .. 6 54 .. 6 Sugar Tresana 10 Baggs wg Buz 20 md is 14 .. 2 .. 18 at 10 .. 8 p bagg 105 .. 461 .. 12 .. 6 Charges of Merchandize 38 .. 14 .. 6 Rupes 500 .. 11 .. By the Francis from China Vizt Tea Bohea Ta 28 .. 2 .. 6 for 1 Chest ta m c c Ta m c c No B q 100 potts wnett 90 at 3 .. 27 .. .. Charges Extraordinary 1 .. 8 .. 5 .. 6 28 .. 8 .. 5 .. 6 Tea Single Ta 20 .. 7 .. 3 .. 4 for 1 Chest No S q 100 potts wnett 97 Catty at ta 2 .. 19 .. 4 .. Charges Extraordinary 1 .. 3 .. 3 .. 4 20 .. 7 .. 3 .. 4 Sewing Silk Ta 32 .. 6 .. 3 for 1 Box No A q 20 Catty nett of Sevl Colours at 1 .. 5 .. 30 .. Charges Extraordinary 2 .. 6 .. 3 32 .. 6 .. 3 China Ware Ta 42 .. 4 .. 4 .. 3 for 2 chests No 3 .. 8 .. 2 q Vizt Plates blew & white 314 at 2 .. 6 8 .. 1 .. 6 .. 4 Tea Potts Do 139 at 5 .. 6 .. 9 .. 5 .. Cups & Saucers Do 1220 at 1 .. 5 18 .. 3 .. .. Large Cups Do 900 .. 7 6 .. 3 .. .. 97 .. 7 .. 1 .. 4 Charges Extraord 2 .. 73 .. 42 .. 4 .. 1 .. 5 2 Chests 124 .. 9 .. 8 Margin Notes: from Bengall./ Cargo from China. | The goods from the Monmouth from Bengal were entered in rupees, annas and pies. Batavia arrack, 4 and a half leaguers, quantity 53 [...], being 240 gallons at 72 rupees 8 annas per leaguer, 145 rupees [...]. Shirts, 150 of Burron coffaes at 63 rupees 8 annas per 100, 95 rupees 4 annas. Stockings, 100 pairs at 12 rupees 8 annas per corge, 62 rupees 8 annas, making 157 rupees 12 annas. Rice, 35 bags, quantity Burron [...] 40, being 51 [...] 9 at 1 rupee 7 annas per Madras [...], 49 rupees 2 annas. Batta on per cent, 4 rupees 14 annas 6 pies, making 54 rupees [...] 6 [...]. Sugar of Tresinda, 10 bags weight Burron [...] 20, being 14 [...] 2 [...] 18 [...] at 10 rupees 8 annas per bag, 105 rupees [...]. Total 461 rupees 12 annas 6 pies. Charges of merchandise, 38 rupees 14 annas 6 pies. Total 500 rupees 11 annas [...]. The cargo from the Frances from China was entered in taels, mace and candareens. Bohea tea, tare 28 [...] 3 [...] 6 [...], for one chest, number B, quantity 100 catties net weight 90 [...] catties at tare 3 [...] mace, 27 taels [...]. Charges extraordinary, 1 tael 8 mace 5 candareens 6 [...], making 28 taels 8 mace 5 candareens 6 [...]. Singlo tea, tare 20 [...] 7 [...] 3 [...] 4 [...], for one chest, number S, quantity 100 catties net weight 97 catties at tare 2 [...] mace, 19 taels 4 mace. Charges extraordinary, 1 tael 3 mace 3 candareens 4 [...], making 20 taels 7 mace 3 candareens 4 [...]. Sewing silk, tare 32 [...] 6 [...] 3 [...], for one box, number A, quantity 20 catties net of several colours at 1 tael 5 mace, 30 taels. Charges extraordinary, 2 taels 6 candareens 3 [...], making 32 taels 6 candareens 3 [...]. China ware, tare 42 [...] 4 [...] 4 [...] 3 [...], for two chests, numbers 82 and [...], as follows: Plates, blue and white, 314 at 2 mace 6 [...], 8 taels 1 mace 6 candareens 4 [...]. Tea pots of the same, 139 at 5 [...], 6 taels 9 mace 5 [...]. Cups and saucers of the same, 1,220 at 1 mace 5 [...], 18 taels 3 mace. Large cups of the same, 900 at [...] 7 [...], 6 taels 3 mace. Charges extraordinary, making 97 taels 7 mace 1 candareen 4 [...], 273 [...]. Two chests, numbers 1 and 2, total 42 taels 4 mace 1 candareen 5 [...], making 124 taels 9 mace 1 candareen 8 [...]. Interpretations The Monmouth's cargo from Bengal was entered in rupees, annas and pies, the money of account of the Bay of Bengal, distinct from the pagoda reckoning used for the Madras ships and the tael reckoning for the China goods. The batta charged on the rice was the exchange allowance levied when one Indian money was converted to another, a standing charge in the Bengal accounts where a sum reckoned in one local currency had to be expressed in the rupee of account. The Bengal goods ran through the staples of that presidency's trade. Burron coffaes were plain cotton cloths of the Bengal weave made up into shirts, stockings reckoned by the corge of twenty, and the Batavia arrack and the rice and sugar of Tresinda the bulk provisions the council bought to victual the island and its shipping. These were the kinds of goods the Bengal council shipped to St Helena to supply its stores, the cloth and made-up garments for the Company's slaves and people and the spirit, rice and sugar for the table and the homeward crews. The Frances added a China cargo of tea and porcelain on the same pattern as the Cardigan's of 24 May 1722, the bohea and singlo tea weighed by the catty against an allowed tare and the blue and white plates, tea pots, cups and saucers priced by the piece. The charges extraordinary added to each line covered the handling and freight beyond the prime cost, the whole China invoice closing at 124 taels 9 mace before the homeward reckoning, the council taking both the Bengal provisions and the China goods as the four ships lay in the road. | |
355 | June Yesterday the Captains Made a Complaint to us that the Planters Refused to Supply them with Beef whereupon We Sumond those Indebted to the Honble Company to appear this day to Render us an accot of their Cattle and how they had disposed of them since the List they gave in the 25 of March Last. And this day the said Capts sent us the following Letter. To the Worshipl Edward Johnson Esq Govr and Councill. Whereas we have made application to the cheif Planters of this Island for fresh provisions for the Nourishment of our Seamen while in this Port, and meeting with their Denial We humbly Request your Worship and that we may be Supplyed out of the Companys Stock for Refreshmt of our men. You will Oblige St Helena June ij 2d 1722 Worshipl Sr Your Humble Servts Jas: Tolson Tho: Newsham Rich: Mickelfield Reig: Kemeys Orlando Bagley present was called In and promiseson Rich: Curling Sayes he has a pretty good Stock but has only one fitt to kill and Should be ashamed to offer any more occasiond by the backwardness of the Seasons./ Rich: Beale Sayes he has Cattle one Bullock that he can Spare which is not very good and if he must be foreed to it now it will be a Loss because the Cattle are Improveing./ Mr Ryder appeard for his father in Law Mr Greentree (he being Sick) and Sayes he two that he can Spare but are So bad they are not fitt to kill./ Margin Notes: Complaint Complt for Beef of ij Planters. Capts Lettr for Refreshmt. few Planters Enquired of what Cattle they have to Spare. | The captains complained the previous day that the planters had refused to supply them with beef. The council therefore summoned those indebted to the Honourable Company to appear that day to render an account of their cattle and how they had disposed of them since the list they gave in on 25 March last. The captains sent the council the following letter that day. It addressed Governor Johnson and the council. The captains set out that they had applied to the chief planters of the island for fresh provisions to feed their seamen while in port, but had met with refusal. They asked that they might be supplied out of the Company's stock for the refreshment of their men. The letter was sent from St Helena on 2 June 1722, subscribed by James Tolson, Thomas Newsham, Richard Michelfield and Reginald Kemeys. Orlando Bagley appeared and promised some. Richard Gurling said he had a fairly good stock but only one beast fit to kill, and would be ashamed to offer any more, given how the cattle had suffered through the backward seasons. Richard Beale said he had one bullock he could spare, which was not very good, and if he were forced to it now it would be a loss because his cattle were improving. Mr Ryder appeared for his father-in-law Mr Greentree, who was sick, and said he had two that could be spared, but they were so poor they were not fit to kill. Interpretations The planters' refusal of beef to the ships brought the council to use its leverage as the planters' creditor, summoning those indebted to the Company to account for their cattle and the disposal since the March return. The annual census of 25 March furnished the documentary base for the demand, the council able to check each planter's professed scarcity against the herd he had declared, the debt giving the bench a hold over men who might otherwise withhold their stock. The captains' formal letter shifted the matter from a private refusal to a request that the Company supply the ships from its own herds, the homeward crews needing fresh provisions against the scurvy of the long passage. The four commanders' joint subscription pressed the council to make good from its stock what the planters denied, the island's standing duty to refresh the Company's shipping set against the planters' reluctance to part with cattle still recovering from the poor seasons. The planters' answers turned on the condition of their herds rather than outright refusal, each pleading that his cattle were too few, too poor or still improving to be killed without loss. The recurring complaint of the backward seasons marks the island's moderate but uncertain climate, where a run of poor weather thinned the herds and left the planters unwilling to slaughter breeding stock, the council weighing genuine scarcity against the obligation to feed the ships in the road. | |
356 | June Mr Ryder Sayes he has three head and they but Ordinry and that by what ever Cattle are disposed of now is a loss for they are every day Improveable./ John Harding Sayes he has four Bullocks but two only of them is good, for any thing now and the other will be better in a month or two and then he designes to offer them to the Honble Company towards paying his debts./ Mr Johnson Sayes he has Cattle but they are very bare./ Sam: Jessey Sayes he has one that is Saleable now./ Jno Long Sayes that the Cattle are Now thriveing and its hard to be foreed to part with them./ John Long appeard for his Mother Mrs Marsh and pleaded the Same on her behalf./ This day we had a Single Alarm for one Ship Eight Leagues off stone top which is not yet come In./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Wensday ij 6th of June 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approved of. Yesterday we had a Single alarm the Ship Eight Leagues off Stone top not yet come in./ Margin Notes: Each their Answers. an Alarm./ | Mr Ryder said he had three head, but they were only ordinary, and that to dispose of any cattle now would be a loss, since they improved every day. John Harding said he had four bullocks, but only two were good for anything now, while the others would be better in a month or two, when he meant to offer them to the Honourable Company towards paying his debts. Mr Johnson said he had cattle, but they were very poor. Samuel Jessey said he had one fit to sell now. John Long said the cattle were now thriving, and it was hard to be forced to part with them. John Long appeared for his mother Mrs Marsh and pleaded the same on her behalf. A single alarm was made that day for one ship eight leagues off Stone Top, which had not yet come in. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Wednesday 6 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. A single alarm was made the previous day for a ship eight leagues off Stone Top, which had not yet come in. Interpretations The planters' answers continued the pattern of the previous day, each pleading the poor or improving condition of his herd as the ground for withholding beef. Harding's offer to give his bullocks to the Company in a month or two towards his debt shows the planters using their cattle to discharge what they owed, the timing of slaughter weighed against both the beast's condition and the planter's account with the Company. The recurring plea that the cattle were thriving and improving daily marks the herds' recovery from the backward seasons, the planters unwilling to kill stock still gaining condition. The council recorded each answer as a return against the man's declared holding, the reluctance general across the leading planters and the matter left unresolved as the cattle were judged not yet fit for the ships. The single alarm for a ship off Stone Top, carried over into the next consultation still uncome, continued the island's standing watch on its approaches. The batteries warned the settlement of every sail standing in, the distance in leagues recording the vessel still well out to sea, the council noting the approach against the security of the road as it had through the run of alarms since early 1720. | |
357 | June Capt: Michelfield deliverd the following Letter To the Worshipl Edward Johnson Sr: Esqr Govr and Councill./ When I was here Last Voyage arrack being very scarce and I having a Small Quantity did Spare you for the use of the Honble Company 15 Leaguers at 5 .. 6 p Gallon which would not have done undr 6/ if it had not been that your Worship &c did agree to take 15 Leagrs of me at 5 .. 6 p Gallon at the Return of my next voyage which in order to fullfill my part of the Contract I have Laid in 15 Leaguers more then Should have done had it not been for the aforesaid agreemt Which if it be not complyd wt will be a very Greate Detriment to. June the 6th 1722 Your Worships very Hum: Servt Rich: Michelfield In Consideration that Captain Michelfield in his Letter to us does averr that he did put on Board his Ship 15 Leagrs of Arrack more then he Should otherwise have done on purpose to perform the contract Which our necessity at the time he was here in his last Voyage obligd us to, Although our present Stores of Arrack are So very Large We agree to take Eight Leaguers of which Captain Goodwin the Store keeper is Orderd to acquaint the Captain./ Mr Byfeld brought In his monthly Accot of the Honble Comps Live Stock and Expence for the Month of May last which was Examind and approod of./ Capt Goodwin Likewise brought In his accot of Goods and Stores deliverd and Sold out in the said month of May last which was also Examind and approod of. Margin Notes: Capt Michelfield Lettr about Arrack./ 8 Leagers agreed for./ Mr Byfelds Acco for May./ Storekeepers Acco for do Mo: | Captain Michelfield delivered the following letter. It addressed Governor Johnson and the council. Michelfield set out that when he was last at the island, arrack being very scarce and he having a small quantity, he spared the council 15 leaguers for the Honourable Company's use at 5s 6d per gallon, which would not have done under 6 shillings had the council not agreed to take 15 leaguers from him at 5s 6d per gallon at the return of his next voyage. To fulfil his part of the contract he had laid in 15 leaguers more than he should otherwise have done, and if the agreement were not complied with it would be much to his detriment. The letter was sent on 6 June 1722, subscribed by Richard Michelfield. Given that Captain Michelfield declared in his letter that he had put 15 leaguers of arrack aboard his ship more than he should otherwise have done, on purpose to perform the contract that the council's need at the time of his last voyage had obliged it to, and although the council's present stores of arrack were very large, it agreed to take eight leaguers. Captain Goodwin, the storekeeper, was ordered to acquaint the captain. Mr Byfield brought in his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expense for the previous May, which was examined and approved. Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his account of goods and stores delivered and sold in the previous May, which was also examined and approved. Interpretations Michelfield's letter rested on a standing contract from his earlier voyage, the council having agreed to take a fixed quantity of arrack from him on his return in exchange for the supply he gave when the spirit was scarce. The captain pressed the agreement as binding, having laid in extra stock to meet it, and his appeal shows how the island's irregular supply led the council into forward bargains with commanders, undertaking to buy on a later voyage what it needed at the moment of want. The council honoured the contract in part rather than in full, taking eight leaguers of the fifteen though its present stores of arrack were already large. This was a compromise between the binding force of the earlier agreement and the council's actual need, the bench unwilling either to repudiate the contract and harm a willing supplier or to overstock a spirit it no longer wanted, the partial purchase preserving the captain's faith without burdening the stores. The monthly accounts of live stock, expense and store goods continued the routine accounting discipline the council required of its officers. Byfield as chief overseer rendered the stock and expense and Goodwin as storekeeper the goods delivered and sold, the regular monthly returns keeping the state of the herds and the stores before the council, the records on which the home reckoning and the year's indent depended. | |
358 | Mr Slaughter brought In and Deliverd the following accot of the Expence of the General Table for the month of May last Which was Examind and approod of Vizt of Beef 819 at 2 .. 5 p Ct 10 .. 4 .. 9 Goales 8 at 1 .. 6 4 .. .. Turkeys 8 at 6/ 2 .. 8 Fowles 22 at 1 .. 6 1 .. 13 Eggs 40 at 1 3 .. 4 Bottles milk 62 at 1 .. 4 1 .. 0 .. 8 Butter 6 at 1/ 6 Dayes Greens 31 at 4/ 1 .. 11 Gallons of Arrack 68 at 6/4 21 .. 10 .. 8 Bottles of Madera Wine 106 at 1/ 5 .. 6 Do Port 4 at 2/6 10 Sherry 4 at 2 .. 6 10 Do Gallesia 7 at 2/6 17 .. 6 Flasks french wine 8 at 3/ 1 .. 4 Do ale 9 at 1/3 11 .. 3 Quart of Sweet Oyle 1 at 4 3 Gallon of vinegar 1½ at 4 6 of Sugar 130 at 1/ 6 .. 10 Sugar Candy 9½ at 1 9 .. 6 Soape 24 at 1/5 1 .. 14 Lemons 3000 at 2 .. 6 p 100 3 .. 15 Tea 7 at 7 .. 6 2 .. 12 .. 6 Flower 30 at 1 .. 3 7 .. 6 Bread 140 at 1/3 1 .. 15 Candles 73 at 1/6 5 .. 9 .. 6 £ 74 .. 18 .. 2 On Saturday Evening last Arrived the Strotham Capt: Westcott from Bengall and brought us the following Goods Vizt Batavia Arrack St H: 4 half Leagrs at q g 70 is 280 Gallrs at 7 .. 9 .. 8 p Leagr 159 .. Card over. Shirts Margin Notes: The Stewards Acco for May./ Particulars. Strothams arrivl./ Goods from. | Mr Slaughter brought in the following account of the expense of the General Table for the previous May, which was examined and approved. Beef, 819 pounds at 25 shillings per hundredweight, £10 4s 9d. Goats, 8 at 10 shillings each, £4 0s 0d. Turkeys, 8 at 6 shillings each, £2 8s 0d. Fowls, 22 at 1s 6d each, £1 13s 0d. Eggs, 40 at [...], 3s 4d. Bottles of milk, 62 at 4d each, £1 0s 8d. Butter, 6 at [...], 6s 0d. Days' greens, 31 at 1 shilling each, £1 11s 0d. Arrack, 68 gallons at 6s 4d per gallon, £21 10s 8d. Bottles of Madeira wine, 106 at 1 shilling each, £5 6s 0d. Port, 4 at 2s 6d each, 10s 0d. Sherry, 4 at [...], 10s 0d. Gallesia, 7 at 2s 6d each, 17s 6d. Flasks of French wine, 8 at [...], £1 4s 0d. Ale, 9 at 1s 3d each, 11s 3d. Quart of sweet oil, 1 at [...], 3s 0d. Gallons of vinegar, 1 at 4 shillings, 6s 0d. Sugar, 130 pounds at 1 shilling each, £6 10s 0d. Sugar candy, 9 at 1 shilling each, 9s 6d. Soap, 24 at 1s 5d each, £1 14s 0d. Lemons, 3,000 at 2s 6d per 100, £3 15s 0d. Tea, 7 pounds at 7s 6d each, £2 12s 6d. Flour, 30 at 1s 3d each, 7s 6d. Bread, 140 at 1s 3d each, £1 15s 0d. Candles, 73 at 4s 6d each, £5 9s 6d. Total £74 18s 2d. On Saturday evening last the Stretham under Captain Westcott arrived from Bengal and brought the council the following goods, entered in rupees, annas and pies. Batavia arrack, 4 and a half leaguers, quantity 70 [...] each, being 280 gallons at 79 rupees 8 annas per leaguer, 159 rupees [...]. Carried over. Shirts [...]. Interpretations The General Table account covered the victualling of the Governor's table and the establishment dining at the Company's charge, the beef priced by the hundredweight and the rest by the head, bottle, gallon or pound. The arrack at 6s 4d per gallon remained the single heaviest item at £21 10s 8d, the imported spirit and wine far outweighing the fresh local produce, the table provisioned chiefly from the eastern trade as in the previous month's account. The lemons, again entered at 3,000 and priced by the hundred, were grown on the island and supplied in quantity against the scurvy that struck the homeward crews. Their bulk purchase for the table reflects the island's settled role as a place where vitamin-bearing fruit could be taken aboard, the lemon groves a recognised asset the council protected by its fines on those who destroyed the trees. The Stretham's arrival from Bengal continued the run of homeward ships calling for refreshment, her cargo entered in the rupee money of account of the Bay of Bengal. The Batavia arrack measured by the leaguer and the shirts and other goods to follow were the staple provisions and cloth the Bengal presidency shipped to supply the island's stores, the council taking its consigned portion as the ship lay in the road. | |
359 | June Batavia Arrack 4 half Leagrs amount 240 Brot over 159 .. Shirts 150 of Burran Cossaes at 63 .. 8 p 100 is Rup 95 .. 4 .. Stockings 100 p at 12 .. 8 p Corge 62 .. 8 .. 157 .. 12 Rice Vizt 35 baggs q Buz 70 is 51 .. 9 wt at 1 .. 7 p mad Rupe 49 .. 2 .. Batta 10 p Ct 4 .. 14 .. 6 54 .. Sugar Tresinda Vizt 10 bags wg 20 .. Buzs is 14 .. 2 .. 18 at 10 .. 8 p bagg 105 .. 475 .. 12 Charges Merchandize 47 .. 2 Rupes 522 .. 16 And by the Letter We Recd with this Invoice there is Mention made of the Same quantity of goods Laden on Board the Addison not yet arrived./ On Monday Last about one a Clock we had an Alarm for a Ship who lay about the Island that Layand the next./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Fryday the 8th day of June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approved of. The Ship mentiond in the Last Consultation did not come in Yesterday morning Early we had Double Alarm A Ship under Margin Notes: Bengall. more Goods Sent. Alarme. Double Alarms. | The goods from the Stretham from Bengal were entered in rupees, annas and pies. Batavia arrack, 4 and a half leaguers, amounting to 240 [...], 159 rupees [...]. Shirts, 150 of Burron coffaes at 63 rupees 8 annas per 100, 95 rupees 4 annas. Stockings, 100 pairs at 12 rupees 8 annas per corge, 62 rupees 8 annas, making 157 rupees [...]. Rice, 35 bags, quantity Burron [...] 70, being 51 [...] 9 at 17 [...] per Madras [...], 49 rupees 2 annas. Batta 10 per cent, 4 rupees 14 annas 6 pies, making 54 rupees [...]. Sugar of Tresinda, 10 bags of 20 Burron [...], being 14 [...] 2 [...] 18 [...] at 10 rupees 8 annas per bag, 105 rupees [...]. Total 475 rupees 12 [...]. Charges of merchandise, 47 rupees 2 [...]. Total 522 rupees 16 [...]. The council noted from the letter received with this invoice that mention was made of the same quantity of goods laden aboard the Addison, not yet arrived. On Monday last about one in the afternoon an alarm was made for a ship that lay about the island, which sailed the next day. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Friday 8 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The ship mentioned in the previous consultation did not come in. Early the previous morning a double alarm was made for a ship under [...]. Interpretations The Stretham's Bengal cargo followed the same staple pattern as the Monmouth's of the previous days, the Batavia arrack measured by the leaguer, the Burron coffaes made up into shirts and the stockings reckoned by the corge, with rice and sugar of Tresinda by the bag. The batta charged on the rice was the exchange allowance levied when the sum reckoned in one Indian money was converted to the rupee of account, a standing charge in the Bengal invoices. The notice that the same quantity of goods was laden aboard the Addison, not yet arrived, shows the Company shipping matched parcels by different vessels to spread the risk of the voyage. The council recorded the expected duplicate against the Addison's arrival, the practice ensuring that the loss of one ship would not deprive the island of its consigned provisions, the second parcel awaited to complete the supply. The alarm for a ship that lay about the island and sailed the next day, with the further double alarm following, continued the island's standing watch on its approaches. The batteries warned the settlement of every sail standing near, and the vessels that came close without entering the road kept the council in continual readiness, the run of alarms sharpened by the pirate reports that had governed the island's defence since early 1720. | |
360 | under ffrench Collours came Round the Sugar Loaf point, from mundens We fired for her to bring to but She Regarded not we fired three Shott from thence when She opened the Bay (wt having five of your Honrs Ships in the Road, for their Security) We fired from the Line which foreed her to bear a way, He sent his Boat a Shore to lett us know it was a Ship belonging to the ffrench Company from Surrat We Sufferd her to Anchor without your Honr Ships The Capt came a Shore and Shewed his Commission./ About Eleaven a Clock the other Ship came in which was the James and Mary, from Banjar very much disabled in her Masts./ Gabriel Powell petitiond for Liberty to Send his Eldest Son Gab: to England for Education as did also Captain Goodwin for his Son Thomas./ Both which were granted Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Thus far has been Copyed and Sent home by Ship Hethcott. Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 12 day of June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approod of On Saturday the 9th Instant Saild hence for England the five following Ships. The Hethcote Capt Tolson the ffrancis Capt Newsham The Margin Notes: ffrench Ship Arrived after ij Guns fired. James & Marys Arrival./ Leave for Capt Powell & Capt Goodwins Sons to goe off./ 5 Ships | A ship under French colours came round Sugar Loaf Point from Munden's. The council fired for her to bring to, but she took no notice. Three shots were then fired from there, and when she opened the bay, having five of the Honourable Company's ships in the road, the council fired from the line for their security, which forced her to bear away. She sent her boat ashore to let the council know she was a ship belonging to the French Company from Surat. The council allowed her to anchor away from the Honourable Company's ships. The captain came ashore and showed his commission. About eleven that morning the other ship came in, which was the James and Mary from Banjar, very much disabled in her masts. Gabriel Powell petitioned for leave to send his eldest son Gabriel to England for education, as did Captain Goodwin for his son Thomas. Both petitions were granted. The record to this point was copied and sent home by the Heathcote. It was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 12 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. On Saturday 9 June the following five ships sailed for England. They were the Heathcote under Captain Tolson, the Frances under Captain Newsham and [...]. Interpretations The forcing of the French ship to bear away shows the island's batteries managing the road as a defensive position, the guns of the line turned on an unidentified vessel approaching while five Company ships lay vulnerable at anchor. The council's caution reflected the standing concern for the security of the road, the warning shots compelling the stranger to identify herself before she was allowed to anchor apart from the Company's shipping, the same management of the anchorage the pirate reports had sharpened since early 1720. The French ship's eventual admission, her captain coming ashore to show his commission, marks the diplomatic protocol by which a foreign vessel established her right to refuge. Once she proved herself a ship of the French Company from Surat rather than a pirate or enemy, the council let her anchor under watch, the island serving as a recognised port of call for the distressed shipping of friendly nations while keeping a careful separation from its own fleet. The grant of leave to Powell and Goodwin to send their sons to England for education marks the provision the leading families made for their children's schooling, the island offering no settled education beyond the proposals for a school the council had lately considered. The sons of the principal planter and a councillor were sent home to be taught, the council recording each departure in the register, the children of substance leaving the island for an education it could not itself supply. | |
361 | June The Marlbrough Capt Mickelfild the Monmouth Capt Kemeys and the Stretham Capt Westcote./ By the Hethcote Capt Tolson we Sent the Generall Letter and pachet./ Whereas Samll Price haveing, for Severall years past been Indebted to the Honble Company and being at this time about Eighty Six pounds odd money His house in James valley was formerly made over to the Honble Compy as a Security as p Consultation of the 3 of July 1719 and the said price did apply to us about the midle of aprill to acquaint us that he had agreed with William Seal for, forty pounds for the Said House but that, Seal seemed to retract his bargain, Seal on the 3 of May applyed to us as Church Warden about an allowance, for the maintainance of Thomas Hayse and his family who were in great distress we then talked with the Said Seal about the purchase of the said House We did agree with him to give him untill Chrismas next for the payment of the Sum of forty pounds therefore order that Posession of the Said House be immeadiatly given to Seal in pursuance of our agreement./ Orderd that the goods brought, from India by ij Late Shipping be Sold out at the following prizes Vizt Upon an Average of the Sugar mentiond in the four Last Invoices./ Orderd it be Sold out at 6 p Ct Arruck at 6 .. 4 p Gallon Rice at 3 p Ct Shirts 6 at 3 .. 6 p Cor Stockings 6 at 3 .. 6 p pr Margin Notes: Departure. Price Indebted to the Honble Co: Will: Seal to have his House at £ 40: Goods fro: India Sold at the follow prizes./ vizt | The other ships that sailed for England were the Marlborough under Captain Michelfield, the Monmouth under Captain Kemeys and the Stretham under Captain Westcott. The council sent the general letter and packet home by the Heathcote under Captain Tolson. Samuel Price had for several years been indebted to the Honourable Company, his debt now standing at about £86 odd. His house in James Valley had earlier been made over to the Honourable Company as security at the consultation of 3 July 1719. Price applied to the council about the middle of April to say he had agreed with William Seale to sell him the house for £40, but Seale seemed to draw back from the bargain. Seale, as churchwarden, applied to the council on 3 May about an allowance for the maintenance of Thomas Hayse and his family, who were in great distress. The council then spoke with Seale about the purchase of the house, and agreed to give him until Christmas next to pay the £40. The council therefore ordered that possession of the house be given to Seale at once, in keeping with the agreement. The council ordered that the goods brought from India by the late shipping be sold at the following prices. Sugar, on an average of the sugar entered in the four last invoices, to be sold at 6d per pound. Arrack, at 6s 4d per gallon. Rice, at 3d per pound. Shirts, 6s each or 6 shillings per pair [...]. Stockings, 6s each per pair [...]. Interpretations The transfer of Price's house to William Seale shows the council managing a debtor's secured property to recover what he owed the Company. The house had been made over as security in July 1719, and the council, finding a buyer willing to pay £40 by Christmas, ordered possession given at once, the sale converting the pledged property into a payment toward Price's debt while leaving the purchaser time to find the money. The link between Seale's purchase and his application as churchwarden marks the overlap of parish and Company business in the council's hands. Seale came before the bench on the poor relief of a distressed family and was met with the council's wish to settle the house upon him, the two matters joined in the same sitting, the council using the occasion to advance the recovery of Price's debt through a man already before it on parish affairs. The order fixing the resale prices of the India goods set the rates at which the late shipping's cargoes would be sold to the inhabitants and the homeward ships. The sugar averaged across the four last invoices, the arrack at 6s 4d per gallon and the made-up shirts and stockings by the piece were priced to cover the Company's cost and yield a margin, the council setting a uniform tariff so the goods drawn from the several ships could be sold off through the stores at a steady return. | |
362 | Capt: Goodwin acquainting of us that there is a Sufficient Quantity of China Ware in the Stores that the prizeing of the Invoice of the Cargoes by the Cadogan and Francis Will Lower the price so much that it may be a hindrance of the Sale of that now ij the Stores Therefore We lett alone the prizing the China Ware till Captain Goodwin acquaints us they are wanted but the tea by Each Ship to be sold at Vizt The Bohea at 6 .. 8 p Catty The Single at 4 .. p Do The Silk at 1 .. 6 p or Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Monday the 18 day of June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and approovd of. Mr Powell and Mr Wrangham were Sent, for upon an Information that they had Sold some goods up and down the Island which they paid no Custom for, they both did own that they had a few Chints of Captain Westcott for Some provissions they had Sold him Which they designd for their own family Occasions and that they had parted with about 6 or 7 pieces at 9 a peice but would Sell no more nor Margin Notes: China Ware why not prized. Tea at: Messrs: Powell & Wrangham Sold Goods. their Answers. | Captain Goodwin informed the council that there was a sufficient quantity of China ware in the stores, and that pricing the invoice of the cargoes by the Cardigan and the Frances would lower the price so much that it might hinder the sale of what was already in the stores. The council therefore left the pricing of the China ware until Captain Goodwin should report it wanted, but ordered the tea by each ship sold at the following prices. Bohea tea, at 6s 8d per catty. Singlo tea, at 4s per catty. Silk, at 8s 6d each. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Monday 18 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Powell and Mr Wrangham were sent for on information that they had sold some goods up and down the island on which they paid no custom. Both admitted that they had a few chintzes of Captain Westcott's, sold to him for some provisions, which they had meant for their own family use, and that they had parted with about 6 or 7 pieces at 9 [...] apiece, but would sell no more, nor [...]. Interpretations The council's decision to hold back the pricing of the China ware shows it managing the resale market to protect its existing stock. Pricing the fresh porcelain from the Cardigan and Frances would have driven down the value of the ware already in the stores, so the council deferred the new pricing until the old stock was wanted, keeping the supply scarce enough to hold the price rather than flooding the market with two cargoes at once. The fixed prices for the tea by the catty and the silk by the piece set the rates at which those goods would be sold to the inhabitants and the homeward ships, the bohea and singlo priced apart by grade as the dearer black and cheaper green sorts. The council set a uniform tariff for the tea while leaving the porcelain unpriced, treating the two parts of the China cargo differently according to how each stood against the stores already held. The summons of Powell and Wrangham over the chintzes sold without custom marks the council's enforcement of the import duty on private trade. Chintzes were the painted or printed cotton cloths of the Indian trade, and the two planters had bought them from a ship's captain in barter for provisions, then sold a few pieces on the island without paying the customs charge. The council's intervention shows that even goods taken in private exchange fell within the customs system, the duty owed on any sale and the leading planters called to account for evading it. | |
363 | June nor take any thing hereafter of any Commanders before they Satisfied Custom was paid Therefore beg they may be forgiven this time./ The Vallue of the Goods being but very Small the calling them to an Accot now and their promise for the future we hope will have the good effect to prevent any future attempts, from them or any others is therefore we pass this by being the first time./ Mr Wrangham acquainted us that his attendance here below in the Honble Comps Service had occasioned his own affairs to Run So behind hand that his continuance would bea very Great Prejudice to him and therefore desird to be discharged Which he was accordingly./ Mr Powell Deliverd in a Bond of Henry Francis to Capt Tolson, for money he owes him desireing the Same may be Registerd. Granted. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Thus far has been Copyed and Sent home by the James and mary Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Fryday the 22 day of June 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley./ Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of This morning Saild Hence the James and mary for England and the ffrench Ship mentiond in Consultr of the 8th of June Saild in Compy./ The Margin Notes: & Desire to be Excused./ passed by. Mr Wrangham desires to be Discharged. Capt Tolsons Bond Regith./ James Mary & ffrench Ships Departure./ | Powell and Wrangham said they would never again take anything from any commander before the custom was satisfied, and asked to be forgiven this time. The value of the goods being very small, the council hoped that calling them to account now and their promise for the future would have the good effect of preventing any further attempts by them or others. It therefore passed the matter by, this being the first time. Mr Wrangham informed the council that his attendance below in the Honourable Company's service had let his own affairs fall so far behind that his continuance would be a great loss to him, and asked to be discharged. He was discharged accordingly. Mr Powell delivered in a bond of Henry Francis to Captain Tolson, for money Francis owed him, and asked that it be registered. The request was granted. The record to this point was copied and sent home by the James and Mary. It was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Friday 22 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The James and Mary sailed for England that morning, together with the French ship mentioned in the consultation of 8 June. The [...]. Interpretations The council's decision to pass over the customs offence marks a measured use of its enforcement power, the small value of the goods and the offenders' promise weighed against the deterrent effect of a penalty. By treating the matter as a first offence and warning that future evasion would be punished, the council secured the principle that custom must be paid on private trade without pressing a heavy fine on two of its leading planters, the leniency itself a tool to prevent further attempts. Wrangham's discharge from the Company's service shows the tension between the unpaid or poorly paid civil duties the council imposed and a man's own affairs. His attendance below in James Valley had cost him the management of his plantation, and the council released him, the grant marking how the demands of Company service could conflict with a planter's private interest, the bench unwilling to hold a man whose own estate was suffering for it. The registration of Henry Francis's bond to Captain Tolson continued the council's standing function as a register of debts and property. The bond secured money Francis owed, and Powell brought it to be entered in the Company's books so the obligation should stand on record, the practice giving creditors a formal proof of their claims that the council preserved against any later dispute. | |
364 | The Gunner brought In his account of Gunners Stores Expend ed in the month of May last which was Examind & is as follows may ij 2 It being Muster day 8 4 a Double Alarm 6 6 6 Do Arrived ij London Greenwich & Grantham 31 10 4 17 103 Do For Govr Boons coming on Shore 21 1 4 16 39 5 Delivd to Jno Desfountain & orlando Bagley 1 7 for Govr Boons going on Board 21 2 4 15 45 Do Depar: ij London Greenwich and Granthm for ldg 13 1 4 8 31 17 An Alarm 4 4 4 Do Arrived the Cadogan 9 9 9 Do To Thomas Allis for Alarming Sandy Bay 1 Do To Jno Desfountain & Thomas Harper 1½ 25 Departed the Cadogan for England 9 9 9 28 Being King Georges Birth Day 129 9 2 31 20 2 65 523 29 A Double Alarm 6 6 6 Do To John Desfountain 1 30 Arrivd ij Hethcote ij Francis ij Marlbro & Monmouth 34 3 12 19 88 Do The Princess Amelias Birth Day 21 3 4 14 54 Do To Thomas Harper and Jos: Hayse 1 Expended for the Gaurd 24 For Priming 22 Musquett Balls 6 Cartouch Paper 7 Axle Trees 2 Sheep Skynes 4 Flints 80 match 42 42 80 4 2 7 6 304 9 2 51 56 2 188 976 This Day Mrs Bridgett Bazett was Sent for and did, Signe, Seale and Deliver the assignment on the back of the Lease, formerly grant ed to Thomas Perkins for thirty acres of the Honble Companys Land and did Receive the Sume of 75 of us for the Remaining Terme thereof being 11½ Years as mentiond in Consultation of the 26th of Septr 1721 William Margin Notes: Gunrs Acco for May./ Mrs Bazett Do for Perkins Land £ 75./ | The gunner brought in his account of the gunner's stores expended in the previous May, which was examined and ran as follows. The columns ran guns fired, aprons of lead, wads, ladles, sheepskins, [...], falcons and powder expended. 2 May, being muster day, expended 8 [...]. 4 May, a double alarm, 6 guns fired, 6 falcons, 6 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of the London, Greenwich and Grantham, 31 guns fired, 10 ladles, 4 sheepskins, 17 falcons, 103 [...] powder. The same day, for Governor Boone coming ashore, 21 guns fired, 1 ladle, 4 sheepskins, 16 falcons, 39 [...] powder. 5 May, delivered to John Des Fountaine and Orlando Bagley, 1 [...]. 7 May, for Governor Boone going aboard, 21 guns fired, 2 ladles, 4 sheepskins, 15 falcons, 45 [...] powder. The same day, on the departure of the London, Greenwich and Grantham for England, 13 guns fired, 1 ladle, 4 sheepskins, 8 falcons, 31 [...] powder. 17 May, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 falcons, 4 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of the Cardigan, 9 guns fired, 9 falcons, 9 [...] powder. The same day, to Thomas Allis for alarming Sandy Bay, 1 [...]. The same day, to John Des Fountaine and Thomas Harper, 1½ [...]. 25 May, on the departure of the Cardigan for England, 9 guns fired, 9 falcons, 9 [...] powder. 28 May, being King George's birthday, 129 guns fired, 9 aprons of lead, 2 wads, 31 ladles, 20 sheepskins, 2 [...], 65 falcons, 523 [...] powder. 29 May, a double alarm, 6 guns fired, 6 falcons, 6 [...] powder. The same day, to John Des Fountaine, 1 [...]. 30 May, on the arrival of the Heathcote, Frances, Marlborough and Monmouth, 34 guns fired, 3 sheepskins, 12 falcons, 19 [...], 88 [...] powder. The same day, the Princess Amelia's birthday, 21 guns fired, 3 sheepskins, 4 falcons, 14 falcons, 54 [...] powder. The same day, to Thomas Harper and Joseph Hayse, 1 [...]. Expended for the guard, 24 [...]. For priming, 22 [...]. The expense of the guard comprised musket balls, 6 [...], 2 [...]; cartridge paper, 7 [...]; axletrees, 2 [...]; sheepskins, 4 [...]; flints, 80 [...]; and match, 42 [...]. The column totals stood at 42 pounds of match, 80 flints, 4 sheepskins, 2 axletrees, 7 [...] cartridge paper, 6 [...] musket balls, 304 guns fired, 9 aprons of lead, 2 wads, 51 ladles, 52 sheepskins, 2 [...], 188 falcons, 976 [...] powder. That day Mrs Bridget Bazett was sent for, and signed, sealed and delivered the assignment on the back of the lease formerly granted to Thomas Perkins for thirty acres of the Honourable Company's land. She received from the council the sum of £75 for the remaining term of 11½ years, as set out in the consultation of 26 September 1721. The assignment was subscribed by William [...]. Interpretations The gunner's monthly powder account recorded the ceremonial and defensive firing of the island's batteries, the heaviest expenditure falling on the royal birthdays. King George's birthday on 28 May drew 129 guns and 523 measures of powder, and the Princess Amelia's birthday a further 21, the great salutes marking the calendar of loyalty the garrison observed. The salutes for Governor Boone of Bombay coming ashore and going aboard mark the honours paid to a senior Company official passing through, the guns spent on rank as well as on warning and defence. The repeated arrivals and departures of the homeward ships, the London, Greenwich and Grantham, the Cardigan, and the squadron of the Heathcote, Frances, Marlborough and Monmouth, each drew their salute, the powder accounted against every movement in and out of the road. The double alarms for unidentified sail show the same guns serving warning, the account tracking the steady consumption of powder, match and flints through a month crowded with shipping. The assignment of the Perkins lease by the widow Bazett completed a transaction settled the previous September, the council buying back the remaining 11½ years of a thirty-acre Company lease for £75. The repurchase shows the council recovering leased land into its own hands, paying the holder for the unexpired term so the ground could be put to other use, the formal assignment on the back of the lease and its registration giving the surrender the standing of a recorded conveyance. | |
365 | June William Beale was Sent for to make payment out of the money he had Receivd of the last Shipping towards Lessening the debt he owes Honble Company. He appeard and Sayes He has been obliged to buy Provisions of Severall persons for the People he Lodged in the last Shipping and when he has adjusted Accot with them will bring what money he has left to us on tuesday next and Likewise Some he Receivd of Mr Swallow./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Synday the 24th day of June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approod of. This day arrived the Ship Leithulier Capt John Edwards Commander from England with an Invoice Containing Goods Sent from thence with the other Papers and Generall Letter dated the 23 of ffebry 1721 Which we now Read through./ Orderd That an Order be Immediately wrote and Deliverd to the Capt to Send us on Shoar the Severall Goods and Merchandize Consignd to us by our Honble Masters as soon as possible and to mention therein that if he wants any Asistance We are ready to Supply him./ And the Captn was Immediately Servd wt ij Same Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Beale calld upon for pt of his debt his promise to pay some pt: Arrivl of Ship from England Genll Lr read./ Ord: to be sent ij Capt: | William Beale was sent for to make payment, out of the money he had received of the late shipping, towards lessening his debt to the Honourable Company. He appeared and said he had been obliged to buy provisions of several persons for the people he lodged during the late shipping. When he had settled his accounts with them he would bring the council what money he had left on Tuesday next, and likewise some he had received of Mr Swallow. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Sunday 24 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The Leithulier under Captain John Edwards arrived that day from England, with an invoice of goods sent from there, the other papers and the general letter dated 23 February 1721, which the council now read through. The council ordered that an order be written and delivered at once to the captain, to send ashore the several goods and merchandise consigned to it by the Honourable Masters as soon as possible, and to tell him that if he wanted any assistance the council was ready to supply him. The captain was immediately served with the order by James [...]. The order was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The council's pressure on Beale to pay down his debt from the money he took during the shipping shows its standing practice of recovering what was owed when a debtor came into ready cash. Beale had earned money lodging the ships' people and victualling them, and the council moved to capture part of that income against his account, the debt giving the bench a claim on the profits a man made from the homeward traffic. The arrival of the Leithulier from England with the general letter and invoice opened a fresh round of business, the directors' letter being the standing instrument by which the Company conveyed its orders and the invoice the manifest of the consigned cargo. The council's reading of the letter through marks the formal reception of the directors' instructions, the document governing the council's conduct until the next letter arrived. The immediate order to the captain to land the consigned goods within the charter-party terms shows the council enforcing the schedule by which ships were bound to unload. The standing requirement that a commander deliver his cargo promptly protected the Company against demurrage and delay, and the council's offer of assistance with the unloading marks its interest in clearing the ship quickly, the order served at once to set the discharge in train. | |
366 | Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 26th day of June 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approod of. The Secrety brought the four Letters to be sent to India by this Ship Lethieulier which was Examind and Orderd to be Copiyed out fair./ We this day Read the Letter and Invoice receivd by this Ship from Madora adviseing of ten pipes of Wine Sent us and it being mentiond therein that a Sworne Stower saw the Wine well Stowed to prevent Leakage., Orderd that Capt Goodwin be Desired to go on Board to See in what Manner the Said Wine is Stowed and then to make his Report./ The Doctr brought in his Book of Medicines Expended which was Examind and Approod of./ He paid in ten pounds towards Lessening his debt and Sayes he has no more money by him but as soon as he can Raise more he will bring it to us./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Lettr for India Exam:/ Lettr from Madora Capt Goodwin to goe on board Medicines Expend Doctr Paid Ball: Stays £ 10./ | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 26 June 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The secretary brought the four letters to be sent to India by the Leithulier, which were examined and ordered to be copied out fair. The council read the letter and invoice received by this ship from Madeira, advising of ten pipes of wine sent to it. The letter mentioned that a sworn stower had seen the wine well stowed to prevent leakage. The council ordered Captain Goodwin to go aboard to see in what manner the wine was stowed and then to make his report. The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended, which was examined and approved. He paid in £10 towards lessening his debt, and said he had no more money by him, but would bring it as soon as he could raise more. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The four India letters prepared for the Leithulier continued the council's standing correspondence with the Company's eastern settlements, the letters to the several presidencies copied fair before being sealed into the ship's packet. The island served as a forwarding point for the directors' instructions and the council's own reports, the letters dispatched by each ship bound for the coast to keep the scattered stations in communication. The order for Goodwin to inspect the stowage of the Madeira wine shows the council guarding against the leakage and short delivery that recurred in its dealings with shipping. The Madeira correspondent's note that a sworn stower had overseen the loading was meant to forestall any later dispute, and the council's own inspection on arrival continued its established practice of verifying a cargo against the bill before accepting it, the wine checked before the casks were taken into the stores. The doctor's part-payment of his debt and the rendering of his book of medicines continued two standing controls at once, the accounting discipline over the medical stores and the recovery of servants' debts. The daily book of medicines dispensed, laid before the council and approved, kept the surgeon's expenditure under check, while the £10 paid toward his account shows the council pressing each debtor to reduce what he owed as he came into money, the same recovery applied across the establishment. | |
367 | July. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ij 3d day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approod of The Gunner brought In and Deliverd his accot of Gunners Stores Expended in the Month of June Last which was Examined approod and is as follow June ij 2 An Alarm 4 4 4 Do Arrived the Stretham 7 7 7 5th an Alarm 4 4 4 7th a Double alarm 6 6 6 Do Arrivd the James and mary & appeard a Ship with French Collrs 7 7 7 Do makeing ij Ship bring to & Send her Boat 6 6 2 4 48 Do Arrivd a ffrench Ship in the Road 9 9 9 9 Departed ij Hethcote Francis Monmth Stretham and Marlbro for England 43 1 4 38 6 22 Departed ij James & mary & ffrench Ship 16 16 16 24 Three Single alarms 12 12 12 Do Arrivd the Lethieulleir from England 13 1 4 8 31 25th for a Boat 1 1 1 15 Do for to answer a Ship wch passt the Road 7 7 49 27 an allarm 4 4 4 For his worship the Govrs Use 2 Expence for the Gaurds 9 For priming 6 musquett Balls 6 Hand Spikes 2 Cartridge Paper 6 Flints 30 match 35 Signd John French 35 30 6 2 6 139 7 1 2 13 8 115 29 Margin Notes: Gunrs Acco for June. | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 3 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The gunner brought in his account of the gunner's stores expended in the previous June, which was examined and approved, and ran as follows. The columns ran guns fired, shot expended, aprons of lead, wads, ladles, sheepskins, [...], falcons and powder expended. 2 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 falcons, 4 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of the Stretham, 7 guns fired, 7 falcons, 7 [...] powder. 5 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 falcons, 4 [...] powder. 7 June, a double alarm, 6 guns fired, 6 falcons, 6 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of the James and Mary and the appearance of a ship under French colours, 7 guns fired, 7 falcons, 7 [...] powder. The same day, making the ship bring to and send her boat, 6 guns fired, 6 shot, 2 ladles, 4 sheepskins, 48 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of a French ship in the road, 9 guns fired, 9 falcons, 9 [...] powder. 9 June, on the departure of the Heathcote, Frances, Monmouth, Stretham and Marlborough for England, 43 guns fired, 1 ladle, 4 sheepskins, 38 falcons, 66 [...] powder. 22 June, on the departure of the James and Mary and the French ship, 16 guns fired, 16 falcons, 16 [...] powder. 24 June, three single alarms, 12 guns fired, 12 falcons, 12 [...] powder. The same day, on the arrival of the Leithulier from England, 13 guns fired, 1 ladle, 4 sheepskins, 8 falcons, 31 [...] powder. 25 June, for a boat, 1 gun fired, 1 shot, 1 apron of lead, 15 [...]. The same day, to answer a ship that passed the road, 7 guns fired, 7 sheepskins, 49 [...] powder. 27 June, an alarm, 4 guns fired, 4 falcons, 4 [...] powder. For the Governor's use, 2 [...]. The expense of the guards comprised priming, 9 [...]; musket balls, 6 [...]; hand spikes, 6 [...]; cartridge paper, 2 [...] 2 [...] 6 [...]; flints, 30 [...]; and match, 35 [...]. The column totals stood at 35 pounds of match, 30 flints, 6 [...] cartridge paper, 2 hand spikes, 6 musket balls, 139 guns fired, 7 shot, 1 apron of lead, 2 wads, 13 ladles, 8 sheepskins, 115 falcons, 29 [...] powder. The account was signed by John French. Interpretations The gunner's June account recorded a month crowded with shipping movement and alarms, the powder spent on the arrival and departure of the homeward squadron and the run of single and double alarms for unidentified sail. The departure of five ships together on 9 June drew 43 guns, the great collective salute marking the dispatch of the homeward fleet, the account tracking the consumption of powder, match and flints against every movement in and out of the road. The firing on the French ship to make her bring to and send her boat, listed apart with its shot and heavier powder charge, marks the defensive action of 7 June when the batteries forced a stranger to identify herself before five Company ships at anchor. The guns turned on the approaching vessel until she proved herself a ship of the French Company, the entry preserving the cost of the warning shots against the security of the road, the caution sharpened by the pirate reports that had governed the island's defence since early 1720. The smaller charges for a boat and to answer a passing ship, set against the great salutes, show the range of the batteries' duty from ceremonial honour to working signal. The powder spent answering a ship that merely passed the road and signalling to a boat marks the constant low-level use of the guns alongside the grand salutes and alarms, the account measuring the steady drain on the magazine that the gunner's monthly returns kept before the council. | |
368 | Mr Doveton on behalf of Mrs Coulson brought and deliverd a Bill of Sale from her son John Coulson, for a dwelling house he has Sold her (in which She had her life time) Desiring the same may be Registerd for better Security thereof./ Orderd the Said Bill of Sale be Registerd accordingly. Richd Swallow Son of Thomas Swallow Deceased appeard this day with his fathers last will and Testament desireing the same may be proved, But their being but two Witnesses to the Said Will whereas three are Required by Law, That no dispute may hereafter arrise We Sent for the wildow of the deceasd Thom Swallow and Mary the Daughter of the deceased being all the partyes mentioned in the Said Will to Testify their Satisfaction to the Said Will which accordingly they did before us. Orderd that the Said Will be Registerd./ Mr Byfeld brought in his Acco of the Honble Comps live Stock & Ex pences for the Month of June last wch was Examd & Approod of./ Capt Goodwin pursuant to ij Last Consultation Reported that he had been on Board & found ij Wine from Madera well Stowd. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thursday the 5 day of July 1722 at Union Castle In James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and approod of Jno Bagley & Richd Ray was Summoned at the Complaint of Jno Lacy for denying to pay him his Just Debt Vizt Jno Bagley five pounds five Shillings & 6 and Richd Ray ten Shillings & 6 Jno Margin Notes: Coulsons Bill of Sale Registerd. Tho: Swallows Will proovd. by Consent of all ij Partys. Mr Byfelds Acco for June. Capt Goodwin about ij Wine Complt agt Jno Bagley & Richd Ray./ | Mr Doveton, on behalf of Mrs Coulson, brought in a bill of sale from her son John Coulson for a dwelling house he had sold her, in which she had her life interest, asking that it be registered for better security. The council ordered the bill of sale registered accordingly. Richard Swallow, son of Thomas Swallow deceased, appeared that day with his father's last will and testament, asking that it be proved. There being only two witnesses to the will, whereas three were required by law, the council, to prevent any future dispute, sent for the widow of Thomas Swallow and Mary the daughter of the deceased, all the parties named in the will, to testify their assent to it, which they did before the council. The council ordered the will registered. Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expense for the previous June, which was examined and approved. Captain Goodwin reported, in keeping with the previous consultation, that he had been aboard and found the wine from Madeira well stowed. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Thursday 5 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. John Bagley and Richard Ray were summoned on the complaint of John Lacy for refusing to pay him their just debts. John Bagley owed £5 5s 0d and Richard Ray owed 10s 6d. The [...]. Interpretations The registration of the Coulson bill of sale continued the council's standing function as a register of property transactions. The mother had bought a house from her son and held it for her life, and the council entered the conveyance in its books so the title should stand on record, the registration giving her the security against any later challenge that an unrecorded sale would lack. The proving of Thomas Swallow's will turned on the shortfall of witnesses, the law requiring three where the document carried only two. The council met the defect not by rejecting the will but by summoning every party named in it to affirm their assent before the bench, the parties' own testimony curing the want of a third witness, the council preferring to validate the will by consent rather than leave the estate unsettled and open to dispute. The verification of the Madeira wine's stowage closed the inspection the council had ordered, Goodwin confirming the casks well stowed against the leakage that recurred in its dealings with shipping. The report shows the council's practice of checking a cargo on arrival even where the shipper had certified it, the wine cleared for the stores only after its own officer had seen it, the same caution it applied to short delivery and damaged goods throughout the season's traffic. | |
369 | July. John Bagley owns the Debt but pretends he has paid it but not making it any way appear that he has. Orderd that he make Mr Lacy Satisfaction and also Richd Ray to do the Same./ The following Petitions were presented vizt: The Humble Petition of Giles Hayse. Sheweth. That Whereas your Petitioner was formerly ad mitted to Rent a Small parcell of Land that John Harding Hires of the Honble Company your Petitioner being Tennant to him which finding not to be so Advantagious as he was in hopes it would have been and William Simpson being desireous to Rent the same under the Same Conditions as your Petitioner doth Humbly prayes the Said Simpson may be admitted Tennant in your Petitioners Stead the Said John Harding being Con sent with Your Worships & Councills approval thereto where fore prays this his Humble request may be Granted. And as in Duty &c Giles Hayse Orderd that, Simpson be admitted Tenn: under John Harding as Giles Hayse was. The Humble Petition of Mary Swallow Sheweth./ That Whereas your Petitioner for some time past haveing had an Earnest desire to goe, for India in Hopes of bettering her Condition and a Suitable Opportunity now offering Humbly beggs leave may be Granted Her and her Eldest Daughter aged about 14 Years, to take passage in the Ship now in the Road for Bencoolen (or Else where) which she hopes will very much Con tribute to the future Good and advantage of your Petitioners Said Daughtr Margin Notes: Each to Pay Mr Lacy. Giles Hayse desires Simpson may be admitted Tennt in his Stead./ Granted./ Mary Swallow desires to goe off ij Island | John Bagley admitted the debt but claimed he had paid it, though he could not show in any way that he had. The council ordered him to satisfy Mr Lacy, and Richard Ray to do the same. The following petitions were presented. Giles Hayse petitioned the council. He set out that he had earlier been admitted to rent a small parcel of the Honourable Company's land from John Harding, being tenant to him. Finding it less profitable than he had hoped, and William Simpson being willing to rent it on the same terms, he asked that Simpson be admitted tenant in his place, John Harding consenting with the council's approval. The petition was subscribed by Giles Hayse. The council ordered that Simpson be admitted tenant under John Harding, as Giles Hayse had been. Mary Swallow petitioned the council. She set out that she had for some time wished to go to India to better her condition, and a suitable opportunity now offering, asked leave for herself and her eldest daughter, aged about 14, to take passage in the ship now in the road for Bencoolen or elsewhere, which she hoped would much benefit her daughter [...]. Interpretations The council's order on Bagley turned on the burden of proof, his admission of the debt standing against his bare claim of payment which he could not establish. The bench required documentary or other proof of discharge, and finding none, ordered the debt paid, the same standard it applied to Ray, the council acting as a small court of debt where a creditor's claim was met by an unproven defence. The substitution of Simpson for Hayse as Harding's tenant shows the council controlling the transfer of leased Company land. The under-tenant wished to give up a parcel he found unprofitable, and the council allowed the change only with the head tenant Harding's consent and its own approval, the transfer of even a small sublease requiring the bench's sanction so the Company's control over its land was preserved through every change of holder. Mary Swallow's petition to leave for India continued the council's authority over the departure of inhabitants. The widow Mary Swallow, who had married the soldier Bedloe in 1721 and been a standing trouble to the council, had earlier been refused leave until she made proposals for her maintenance in India, and her renewed application to take passage with her daughter shows her pressing again for departure. The council's control over who might leave the island, particularly where a woman and child might become a charge elsewhere, governed the grant, the petition setting her wish to better her condition against the bench's caution over her departure. | |
370 | Daughter and is the Cheife motive that Induces her to make this application Humbly Craving for a Grant thereof And as in duty &c July ij 4th 1722 Mary Swallow Referred till she gives us Satisfaction how She can pay for their Passage and discharge her debts on the Island Gabt Powell and Richd Curling as Execrs of Charles Steward Deceasd came in and Desird our opinions about a Pasr in the Will of Thomas Gargen Deceasd in Relation to a Legacye by him Left to Eliz: Steward Widow now wife of Jno Lacy, we told them it did not regularly come before us but if they would Petiti on the next Consultation Setting forth the Case We would then proceed in it. According to an advertizement we have accounted with the Garrison and paid the workmen and Soldiers their Diett money./ Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Fryday the 6th day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approved of Tho Margin Notes: Referrd till able to pay. Gabt Powell & Curling as Execrs of Steward Desire our Opinion to be brought ij next Consultr./ Reckoning Ended./ Capt Goodwins Report in p foregoing Consultation in 3 Lds whr Sent home thro mistake & Entred here. | Mary Swallow set out that her daughter was the chief motive that led her to make this application, and asked that it be granted. The petition was sent on 4 July 1722, subscribed by Mary Swallow. The council deferred the matter until she gave it satisfaction how she could pay for their passage and discharge her debts on the island. Gabriel Powell and Richard Gurling, as executors of Charles Steward deceased, came in and asked the council's opinion about an article in the will of Thomas Gargen deceased, concerning a legacy he had left to Elizabeth Steward, widow, now wife of John Lacy. The council told them the matter did not regularly come before it, but if they would petition at the next consultation setting out the case, it would then proceed in it. In keeping with an advertisement, the council had accounted with the garrison and paid the workmen and soldiers their diet money. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Friday 6 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. [...] Interpretations The council's deferral of Mary Swallow's petition until she could account for her passage and debts shows its standing caution over the departure of a debtor and a potential charge. The bench would not let her leave with an unsettled account on the island, the requirement that she show how she would pay her way and clear her debts forming a check against a departing inhabitant escaping her obligations or burdening another settlement. The executors' approach over the Gargen legacy marks the council's insistence on regular procedure even where it held a general jurisdiction over wills and estates. The matter concerned a legacy under one deceased man's will payable to a woman now remarried, a tangled question of inheritance the council declined to hear informally, directing the executors to bring a formal petition so the case could be properly set out, the bench preferring a regular hearing to an off-hand opinion on a disputed bequest. The payment of diet money to the garrison and workmen, made under an advertisement, marks the standing provision for victualling the soldiers and labourers at the Company's charge. The directors' general letter by the Drake had required a quarter's diet money kept for the soldiers' victualling, and the council's accounting with the garrison and paying the diet money shows that provision carried out, the men paid their allowance for their own subsistence in place of a common table. | |
371 | July The Govr Reported that John Coulson had been with him and acquainted him that he had Sold his house in the valley to his Mother for two hundred pounds one hundred pounds down, fifty pounds in Blacks and fifty pounds more to be paid at Xmas next that he had paid to him Eighty pounds and that Mrs Coulson had given her note payable to ij Honble Company for thirty three pounds Seventeen Shillings and one penny farthing at Xmas next which was the Ballance of John Coulsons Accot./ William Cole and John Purling both appeard and Wm Cole Acquainted us that he Could never propose to pay his Debt to the Honble Company without disposeing of his Land He had agreed with ij Said Purling for his House and Land and desires the Sd Purling may become paymaster for his debt to ij Honble Comp which he now agreed to and promised to pay all the Said Coles present Debt in a twelve months time./ In Consideration that the Said Cole was willing to Sell and we know that the Said Purling was in very good Circumstances though not able at present to advance the money we have taken Purling to be paymaster./ Capt Goodwin Reported that yesterday Evening the Ship Lethie ulier had an end of unliveiring her Cargo & that there wanting wanting, But that Instead of four pieces of Cabin Cnms They had Deliverd eight pieces wch never Agreeing wth ij Number of Feet in ij Invoice the partyers We Sent the following Letter to Capt Edwards, with ij p Our Dispatches for India. Pursuant to your Charter party the ten working dayes allowd for the unliveiring your, Ship here being Expired Yesterday Evening and according to our Honble Masters In structions to us, We have made up our Packet of Letters for ij Severall Settlements belonging to the Honble Company in India which we Send you and you are to proceed on your voyage according to your orders and Instructions you Receivd from Margin Notes: Jno Coulson Sold his House to his Mother. Its paid 8 in pt of his debt. the rest to be paid next Xmas. Jno Purling become pay-master for Wm Coals debt. Leithieulier unliverd Capt Goodwins report ab: him &c Lettrs Capt Goodwin has Indorsd on ij bill of Lading. a Copy to be Sent in Packet apart. Lettr to Capt Edwards for Sailing | The Governor reported that John Coulson had been with him and told him he had sold his house in the valley to his mother for £200, £100 down, £50 in slaves and £50 more to be paid at Christmas next, which he had paid to him. Mrs Coulson had given her note payable to the Honourable Company for £33 17s 1¼d at Christmas next, which was the balance of John Coulson's account. William Cole and John Gurling both appeared. Cole told the council he could never propose to pay his debt to the Honourable Company without disposing of his land. He had agreed with Gurling for his house and land, and asked that Gurling become paymaster for his debt to the Honourable Company. Gurling now agreed to this and promised to pay all of Cole's present debt within twelve months. Given that Cole was willing to sell and that the council knew Gurling to be in very good circumstances, though not able at present to advance the money, the council accepted Gurling as paymaster. Captain Goodwin reported that the previous evening the Leithulier had nearly finished unloading her cargo, and that only four pieces of oaken timber were wanting, which they had delivered eighty pieces of, agreeing with the number set out in the invoice. The council sent the following letter to Captain Edwards with the dispatches for India. The letter set out that, in keeping with the charter party, the ten days allowed for unloading the ship had expired the previous evening. In keeping with the Honourable Masters' instructions, the council had made up its packet of letters for the several settlements belonging to the Honourable Company in India, which it sent to him, and he was to proceed on his voyage according to the orders and instructions he had received from [...]. Interpretations The Coulson house transaction shows the council managing a debtor's property to recover its money in mixed form. John Coulson sold his house to his mother for a price part in cash, part in slaves and part in a deferred payment, and the mother gave the Company her note for the balance of his account, the debt transferred from the son to the mother on the security of her note, the council converting an outstanding account into a dated promise to pay. The substitution of Gurling as paymaster for Cole's debt rested on the council's judgement of the new debtor's solvency. Cole could not pay without selling his land, and the council allowed the transfer because it knew Gurling to be of good substance though short of ready cash, the bench shifting the obligation onto a man better able to bear it, the security of the debt improved by moving it to a wealthier holder even at the cost of a year's delay. The letter to Captain Edwards enforced the charter-party schedule, the ten days allowed for unloading having expired and the ship now bound to proceed. The council's dispatch of the India packet by the same ship shows the island serving as the relay point for the directors' correspondence with the eastern settlements, the letters made up and sent on as the ship cleared, the commander ordered to sail under his standing instructions once his cargo was landed and the packet aboard. | |
372 | from the Honble Court of Directors before your Departure from England We wish you a good Voyage and are Sr Union Castle St Helena Your Honble Servants July the 6th 1722 Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin. We Resolved upon ten Blacks to be Sent to Bencoolen whose names and ages are as follows Nathan age 25 Solomon 23 David 28 Drurylane 24 Joseph 23 Job 26 Jeffry 29 Rotherhith 28 Lackry 31 Burnham 25 Mr Beal according to our orders to bring us a Report of their Healths and Condition to proceed the Voyage Reported they were all fitt./ The Captn Requestid of us that the ten Blacks might Remain on Shoar untill his Ship was Ready to Saile Granted. We bought the following Goods of Capt Edwards vizt 2 Chests of Red Wine at £ 18 p Chest 36 .. 1 Cheshire Cheese 1 .. 5 1 Puncheon of Beer 3 .. 10 2 Saddles 5 .. 1 Ferkin of Butter 3 .. 48 .. 15 Margin Notes: Blacks Sent to Bencoolen./ Doctr Report of their Healths. to Continue on Shore till Sailing of the Ship./ Goods bought of Capt Edwards./ | The letter to Captain Edwards concluded that he was to proceed according to the orders and instructions he had received from the Honourable Court of Directors before his departure from England. The council wished him a good voyage. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. The council resolved that ten slaves be sent to Bencoolen, whose names and ages were as follows. Nathan, aged 25. Solomon, aged 23. David, aged 28. Drury Lane, aged 24. Joseph, aged 23. Job, aged 26. Jeffry, aged 29. Rotherhith, aged 28. Lackry, aged 31. Burnham, aged 25. Mr Beale, in keeping with the council's orders to report on their health and condition to proceed the voyage, reported them all fit. The captain asked the council that the ten slaves might remain ashore until his ship was ready to sail. The request was granted. The council bought the following goods of Captain Edwards. 2 chests of red wine at £18 per chest, £36 0s 0d. 1 Cheshire cheese, £1 5s 0d. 1 puncheon of beer, £3 10s 0d. 2 saddles, £5 0s 0d. 1 firkin of butter, £3 0s 0d. Total £48 15s 0d. Interpretations The dispatch of ten slaves to Bencoolen continued the island's standing role as a labour depot for the Company's western settlements, the Sumatran station drawing on St Helena's slave population as the Drake had carried twenty in 1721. The council resolved the number, listed each by name and age, and had the surgeon certify their fitness before shipping, the slaves treated as a transferable labour force the island supplied to the eastern stations on the directors' orders. The surgeon's report on the slaves' health before the voyage marks the standing care taken that those shipped were fit to survive the passage. Beale was directed to examine them and report their condition, the certification ensuring the Company did not embark sick or unfit slaves on a long voyage, the same medical check the island applied whenever its slaves were sent on to another settlement. The council's purchase of red wine, cheese, beer, saddles and butter from Captain Edwards shows the island provisioning itself from the private trade of visiting commanders. The captains carried goods on their own account, and the council bought what the stores wanted directly from them, the transaction supplying the table and the establishment with European provisions the homeward and outward ships brought, the goods entered to the Company's account at the agreed prices. | |
373 | July To the Honble Nath: Elwick Esqr Presidt & Counc: at Fort St George Our last to you was by the Drake Captain William Westerbane Comander dated the 3 of Novr 1721 who Saild hence for Bencoolen and thereto Referr you. By the Inclosed List of Shipping that have toucht here Since youl find those dispatcht from you hath arrive with us, and brought your Severall Letters and Invoices of Goods Consignd to us So that it will be needless to particularize herein their Severall dates nor the Ships names by which they came, We observe the contents of the Said Letters, and Desire youl desist Sending us any more Goods untill further advice our Stores (as we Informd you in our last) being at present over Stockt with all Sorts of India Goods, and Instead thereof youl please to continue Sending the full one p Cent in good Sugar and Rice which is very usefull to us many wayes. We Likewise desire the continuance of your Instructions to ij Severall Comanders relating to Seeds and Plants from the Cape but not to Exceed ij five pounds value when brought here as formerly Intimated to you. We begg the favour youl inform the Comanders of the Honble Comps Ships that we are So overstockt with Arrack that We can by no means buy any of them which we hope will prevent their furnishing themselves to dispose of here Union Castle St Helena We are July 6th 1722 Honrd Sr & Gentlemen Your Humble Servants Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Lettr for Fort St George | The council wrote a letter to the president and council at Fort St George. It addressed Nathaniel Elwick, president, and the council at Fort St George. The council set out that its last letter to them had gone by the Drake under Captain William Westerban, dated 3 November 1721, who had sailed for Bencoolen, to which it referred them. By the enclosed list of shipping that had touched at the island since, they would find that the dispatches sent from them had arrived, bringing their several letters and invoices of goods consigned to the council, so that it was needless to set out the several dates or the ships' names by which they came. The council observed the contents of the letters and asked them to send no more goods until further advice, the island's stores being at present overstocked with all sorts of India goods. Instead, the council asked them to continue sending the full one per cent in good sugar and rice, which was very useful to it in many ways. The council likewise asked the continuance of their instructions to the several commanders concerning seeds and plants from the Cape, but not to exceed £5 in value when brought, as it had earlier intimated. The council asked the favour that they inform the commanders of the Honourable Company's ships that the island was so overstocked with arrack that it could by no means buy any from them, which it hoped would prevent their furnishing themselves with it to dispose of at the island. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The letter to Fort St George shows the island regulating its own supply through correspondence with the Madras presidency, asking that the flow of India goods be halted because the stores were overstocked. The council's request marks the standing problem of matching supply to a small market, the island unable to absorb the quantities the eastern settlements shipped, the bench using its letters to throttle back the consignments rather than accumulate goods it could not sell. The preference for sugar and rice in place of other goods, taken as the full one per cent, marks the island's real wants against its surplus. Sugar and rice were the staple provisions the island always needed for its table and its shipping, useful in many ways as the letter put it, while the manufactured India goods sat unsold, the council directing the presidency to send what the island consumed rather than what it could not move. The request that the commanders be told the island would buy no arrack shows the council managing the private trade of visiting captains. The ships' masters carried arrack on their own account to sell at the island, and the council, its stores already full, sought to head off the trade at its source by having Fort St George warn the commanders, the bench preferring to stop the captains loading the spirit than to refuse it ship by ship when they arrived. | |
374 | To the Honble Wm Phipps Esqr Presidt & ijo Counc At Bombay Our last to you was, by the Drake Capt Wm West erbane Commander Dated the 3 of Novr 1721 who then Sailed hence for Bencoolen Since when We have Receivd yours of the 7 of Janry 1721 by the Greenwich Capt John Barnes with ij Invoice and Goods therein Mentiond and observe what you give us for an answer why you did not Supply us with the Rice and other grain we formerly wrote for. And as our Stores are at this time overstockt with all Sorts of India Goods thats Vendable here, We desire youl desist Sending us any till further advice, But begg youl please ija continue your In structions to the Commanders of the Honble Comps, Ships Rela ting to Seeds and plants from the Cape But never moie then they can afford to Sell us for five pounds at the most. We have Enclosed a List of Ships arrivall and Departure Since our last by the Drake which we hope will be Serviceable to you and Shall continue the Same on all occasions according to ij Desire We congratulate Govr Phipps on his accession to your Governmt Govr Boon Saild hence in very good health We have not further to add but to Wish you health and Success in our Honble Masters affairs We are Honrd Sr & Gentlemen Union Castle St Helena Your Humble Servants July ij 6th 1722 Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander John Goodwin Margin Notes: Lettr to Bombay | The council wrote a letter to the president and council at Bombay. It addressed William Phipps, president, and the council at Bombay. The council set out that its last letter to them had gone by the Drake under Captain William Westerban, dated 3 November 1721, who had then sailed for Bencoolen. Since then it had received their letter of 7 January 1721 by the Greenwich under Captain John Barnes, with the invoice and goods mentioned in it. The council observed the answer they gave why they had not supplied it with the rice and other grain it had earlier written for. The council set out that its stores were at present overstocked with all sorts of India goods that were saleable at the island, and asked them to send no more until further advice. It begged them to continue their instructions to the commanders of the Honourable Company's ships concerning seeds and plants from the Cape, but never more than they could afford to sell for £5 at the most. The council enclosed a list of ships' arrivals and departures since its last letter by the Drake, which it hoped would be useful to them, and would continue the same on all occasions as desired. The council congratulated Governor Phipps on his accession to the government. Governor Boone had sailed home in very good health. The council had nothing further to add but to wish them health and success in the Honourable Masters' affairs. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The letter to Bombay matched the council's letter to Fort St George of the same day, the bench writing in near-identical terms to both presidencies to halt the flow of India goods while its stores were overstocked. The parallel correspondence shows the council managing its supply across the whole eastern establishment at once, the same instruction sent to each western settlement to stop consigning goods the small island market could not absorb. The acknowledgement of Bombay's answer over the rice and grain ties this letter to the earlier exchange, the Bombay government having pleaded its own scarcity and directed the island to Bengal for cheaper provisions. The council noted their reply while pressing again for the staples it needed, the correspondence tracking a continuing negotiation over which presidency should supply the island's provisions and on what terms. The congratulation of Phipps on his accession and the note of Boone's safe departure mark the council's attention to the changes of government in the presidencies. William Phipps had succeeded Charles Boone as president of Bombay, and the council recorded the transition and the outgoing governor's passage in its letter, the courtesy reflecting the standing communication between the island and the eastern settlements on which the Company's correspondence depended. | |
375 | July. To the Honble Saml Feake Esqr Presidt &c Counc At Bengall Our last to you was, by the Drake Capt Willm Westerbane Commander dated the 3 of Novembr 1721 who then Saild hence for Bencoolen By the Inclosed List of Ships that have toucht here Since youl observe ija all from your Port, Excepting the Addison and have by each, Ship receivd your Severall Letters and Invoices of Goods Consignd to us so that we need not trouble you in Par ticularizeing herein their Severall dates nor the Ships names by which they came. We being at this time overstockt with all sorts of India Goods must desire youl desist sending us any more till further advice but to Send us the full one p Cent in only fine Sugar and Rice, and a Quantity of Wax, for Candles and that youl continue your Instructions to the Commanders Relating to Seeds & plants from the Cape as We requested of you in our last. We likewise begg the favour of you to Inform the Comandors of the Honble Comps Ships that, for the reason above We cannot buy any Arrack of them to prevent their furnishing themselves therewith in Expectation of Selling it here, as we Acquainted you in our aforesaid Letter by the Drake. We Wish you health and Prosperity and that our Masters affairs may flourish under you And are Honrd Sr and Gentlemen Union Castle St Helena Your Humble Servants July the 6th 1722 Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld John Alexander Jno Goodwin. Margin Notes: Lettr to Bengall. | The council wrote a letter to the president and council at Bengal. It addressed Samuel Feake, president, and the council at Bengal. The council set out that its last letter to them had gone by the Drake under Captain William Westerban, dated 3 November 1721, who had then sailed for Bencoolen. By the enclosed list of ships that had touched at the island since, they would observe that all from their port, except the Addison, had arrived. The council had received by each ship their several letters and invoices of goods consigned to it, so that it need not trouble them by setting out the several dates or the ships' names by which they came. The council set out that, being at present overstocked with all sorts of India goods, it must ask them to send no more until further advice, but to send the full one per cent in only fine sugar and rice and a quantity of wax for candles, and to continue their instructions to the commanders concerning seeds and plants from the Cape as it had requested in its last letter. The council likewise begged the favour that they inform the commanders of the Honourable Company's ships that, for the reason given, it could buy no arrack of them, to prevent their furnishing themselves with it in expectation of selling it at the island, as it had told them in its letter by the Drake. The council wished them health and prosperity and that the Masters' affairs might flourish under them. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The letter to Bengal completed the council's round of correspondence with the three western presidencies, the same instruction to halt the flow of India goods sent to Fort St George, Bombay and Bengal on the one day. The parallel letters show the council coordinating its supply across the whole eastern establishment, the overstocked stores answered by a uniform request to each settlement to stop consigning goods the island could not sell. The Bengal letter added wax for candles to the staples the council wanted in place of manufactured goods, marking a specific want of the island alongside the sugar and rice. The request for the full one per cent in particular commodities shows the council directing the form of its dues, taking the levy not in whatever the presidency chose to send but in the provisions and materials the island actually consumed, the candles' wax a household necessity the bench named among its real needs. The notice that all the Bengal ships had arrived except the Addison ties the letter to the council's earlier expectation of that ship, whose duplicate cargo had been awaited. The list of shipping enclosed with each letter gave the presidencies intelligence of the homeward traffic, the council's standing practice of reporting arrivals and departures continued here, the island serving as the relay point through which the scattered settlements learned of the movement of the Company's fleet. | |
376 | To the Worshl Isaac Pyke Esqr Depty Govr of the West Coast &c Counc Our last to you was by the Drake Captain Wm Westerbane Comander dated the 3 of Novembr 1721 who then Sailed hence, for Bencoolen and thereto referr you. We were in great hopes of hearing from you before this time but by the Loss of the Dartmouth we Imagine was the reason we did not and therefore have the Less to write you. According to our Honble Masters orders We have Sent you ten Blacks all males and hope theyl prove Usefull to you. If you have any Quantity of Rice and Sugar We desire youl send us as much as Conveniently you can but no Arrack We having at this time a Sufficient Stock for Severall years. We hope the Severall persons we Sent you last year has been Serviceable to you. Herewith comes Inclosed a list of Ships that has toucht here and Departed Since our Last./ We herewith Enclose a Copy of a Letter we wrote and Sent to Govr Pyke by the aforesd Ship Drake having had no answer thereto occasiond as we Suppose by the Loss of the Dartmouth also ij Addisons not being arrived here and begg a Due Regard may be had thereto. According to our Honble Masters orders comes Enclosed this Ship Lethieulliers Charter party and thereto Referr you. We are Union Castle St Helena Sr and Gentlemen July the 6th 1722 Your Humble Servants Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld John Alexander John Goodwin Margin Notes: Lettr to Bencoolen. | The council wrote a letter to Bencoolen. It addressed Isaac Pyke, deputy governor of the West Coast, and the council. The council set out that its last letter to them had gone by the Drake under Captain William Westerban, dated 3 November 1721, who had then sailed for Bencoolen, to which it referred them. The council set out that it had been in great hopes of hearing from them before this time, but imagined the loss of the Dartmouth was the reason it had not, and therefore had the less to write. In keeping with the Honourable Masters' orders, the council had sent them ten slaves. Start of crossed out section now sent by the Drake End of crossed out section all males, and hoped they would prove useful to them. The council asked them to send as much rice and sugar as they conveniently could, but no arrack, the island having at present a sufficient stock for several years. The council hoped the several persons it had sent the previous year had been useful to them. It enclosed a list of ships that had touched at the island and departed since its last letter. The council enclosed a copy of a letter it had written and sent to Governor Pyke by the Drake, having had no answer to it, occasioned as it supposed by the loss of the Dartmouth and the Addison's not having arrived, and asked that due regard be paid to it. In keeping with the Honourable Masters' orders, the council enclosed the Leithulier's charter party, to which it referred them. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The letter to Bencoolen completes the council's round of correspondence with the eastern settlements, addressed to the deputy governor of the West Coast, the post Isaac Pyke had taken on leaving the island in 1719. The council's reference to the persons sent the previous year and the ten slaves now shipped marks the island's standing supply of labour and people to the Sumatran station, the bench commending its drafts of slaves and servants to the settlement they were sent to serve. The supposed loss of the Dartmouth runs through the letter as the explanation for the silence from Bencoolen and the gap in the correspondence. The council read the absence of any answer to its earlier letter as the consequence of a ship lost on the passage, the hazard of the long sea routes leaving the scattered settlements uncertain of each other's letters, the bench enclosing a copy of the unanswered letter against the chance the first had perished with the ship. The crossed-out reference to the Drake marks a correction in the drafting, the council striking the named ship when the slaves were in fact held ashore for the Leithulier rather than shipped by the earlier vessel. The cancellation shows the clerk amending the letter to match the actual arrangement, the ten slaves resolved on this sitting to be sent by the ship then in the road, the enclosure of that ship's charter party confirming the Leithulier as the vessel by which the correspondence and the slaves would go. | |
377 | July To ij Honble Saml Feake Esqr Honrd Sr By the Drake Capt Westerbane Comander we wrote you a Letter (Duplicate of Which comes herewith adviseing of a Letter We Sent by the Hartford Capt Nelly to Dr Thomlinson informing him of a Mistake in his Accot here of thirty five pounds ten Shillings and Seven Pence due to our Honble Masters but having not yet Receivd the Money or any answer from you Sr nor from Mr Preston his attorney In England We begg the favour of you as you are one of his Trustes and have effects of his in your hands to remitt us the Sume aforesaid that our Said Honble Masters may Receive their Just debt due In Complying with which you will very much oblige Sr Your Humble Servants Union Castle St Helena Edwd Johnson July the 6th 1722 Edwd Byfeld John Alexander John Goodwin A Duplicate of the Letter We Sent to Govr Pyke by the Drake was likewise, Sent by this Ship to him in the Bencoolen Packett. Mr Slaughter brought in his Accot of the Expence of the Generall Table for the Month of June Last which was Examind and approod of and is as follows./ of Beef 829 at 2 .. 5 p 100 £ 10 .. 7 .. 3 Goates 8 at 10 4 Turkeys 8 at 6 2 .. 8 Fowles 16 at 1/6 1 .. 4 Eggs 40 at 1 3 .. 4 Bottles of milk 60 at 4 1 Card over £ 19 .. 2 .. 7 Margin Notes: Lettr to Govr Feake./ Duplicate of Lettr to Govr Pyke ija fort by Drake The Stewards Acco for June/ | The council wrote a letter to Samuel Feake. It addressed him as the Honourable Samuel Feake. The council set out that by the Drake under Captain Westerban it had written him a letter, a duplicate of which came with this one, advising of a letter it had sent by the Hartford under Captain Nelly to Doctor Thomlinson, informing him of a mistake in his account at the island of £35 10s 7d due to the Honourable Masters. Not having yet received the money or any answer from Feake or from Mr Preston, Thomlinson's attorney in England, the council begged the favour, Feake being one of Thomlinson's trustees and having effects of his in his hands, to remit it the sum, so the Honourable Masters might receive their just debt. The letter was sent from Union Castle, St Helena, on 6 July 1722, subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A duplicate of the letter the council had sent to Governor Pyke by the Drake was likewise sent by this ship to him in the Bencoolen packet. Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for the previous June, which was examined and approved, and ran as follows. Beef, 829 pounds at 25 shillings per 100, £10 7s 3d. Goats, 8 at 10 shillings each, £4 0s 0d. Turkeys, 8 at 6 shillings each, £2 8s 0d. Fowls, 16 at 1s 6d each, £1 4s 0d. Eggs, 40 at [...], 3s 4d. Bottles of milk, 60 at 4d each, £1 0s 0d. Carried over, £19 2s 7d. Interpretations The letter to Feake pursued the recovery of a Company debt through the trustee of a departed servant. The chaplain Thomlinson's account had been found short by £35 10s 7d, one of the omissions exposed when Governor Johnson's audit corrected the books, and the council, unable to get the money from Thomlinson or his English attorney, turned to Feake as a trustee holding Thomlinson's effects. The approach shows the council reaching across the eastern settlements to attach a debtor's assets wherever they lay, the debt followed into the hands of whoever held the man's property. The duplication of the letters to Feake and to Governor Pyke, sent by more than one ship and in more than one packet, marks the council's care against the loss of correspondence on the long sea routes. The supposed loss of the Dartmouth and the silence from Bencoolen had taught the bench to send copies by separate vessels, the same letter repeated so that the failure of one ship would not break the chain of communication on which the Company's business depended. The General Table account continued the routine victualling of the Governor's table at the Company's charge, the beef priced by the hundredweight and the rest by the head or bottle. The steady monthly pattern of beef, goats, turkeys, fowls, eggs and milk shows the establishment provisioned chiefly from the island's own stock, the account rendered and approved each month as part of the standing discipline over the Company's expense. | |
378 | Brot over £ 19 .. 2 .. 7 Butter 17 at 1/ 17 Days Greens 30 at 1/ 1 .. 10 Gallons Arrack 59 at 6/4 18 .. 13 .. 8 Bottles of Madera Wine 105 at 1/ 5 .. 5 Do Port 58 at 2/6 7 .. 5 Do Sherry 1 at 2/6 2 .. 6 Gallesia 5 at 2/6 12 .. 6 Flasks french wine 3 at 3/ 9 Bottles of ale 8 at 1/3 10 quarts of Sweet Oyle 3 at 3/ 9 Gallons of Vinegar 2½ at 4/ 10 .. 6 Sugar 136 at 1/ 6 .. 16 Sugar Candy 7 at 1/ 7 Soape 26 at 1/5 1 .. 16 .. 10 Lemons 1800 at 2/6 p 100 2 .. 5 Tea 7½ at 1/6 2 .. 16 .. 3 Flower 34 at 3 8 .. 6 Bread 138 at 3 1 .. 14 .. 6 p Salt Beef 5 at 1/6 7 .. 6 Candles 50 at 1/6 3 .. 15 Signd Wm Slaughter £ 75 .. 13 .. 4 Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 10th day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The | The General Table account continued. Brought over, £19 2s 7d. Butter, 17 at 1 shilling each, 17s 0d. Days' greens, 30 at 1 shilling each, £1 10s 0d. Arrack, 59 gallons at 6s 4d per gallon, £18 13s 8d. Bottles of Madeira wine, 105 at 1 shilling each, £5 5s 0d. Port, 58 at 2s 6d each, £7 5s 0d. Sherry, 1 at 2s 6d each, 2s 6d. Gallesia, 5 at 2s 6d each, 12s 6d. Flasks of French wine, 3 at [...], 9s 0d. Bottles of ale, 8 at 1s 3d each, 10s 0d. Quarts of sweet oil, 3 at 3 shillings each, 9s 0d. Gallons of vinegar, 2 at 4 shillings each, 10s 6d. Sugar, 136 pounds at 1 shilling each, £6 16s 0d. Sugar candy, 7 at 1 shilling each, 7s 0d. Soap, 26 at 1s 5d each, £1 16s 10d. Lemons, 1,800 at 2s 6d per 100, £2 5s 0d. Tea, 7 pounds at 1s 6d each, £2 16s 3d. Flour, 34 at 3d each, 8s 6d. Bread, 138 at 3d each, £1 14s 6d. Pieces of salt beef, 5 at 1s 6d each, 7s 6d. Candles, 50 at 1s 6d each, £3 15s 0d. The account was signed by William Slaughter, total £75 13s 4d. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 10 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Interpretations The General Table account closed at £75 13s 4d, the arrack again the single heaviest item at £18 13s 8d, the imported spirit and wine far outweighing the fresh local produce. The pattern matches the previous months' accounts, the table provisioned chiefly from the eastern trade in arrack, Madeira, port and other wines, the household's bulk consumption of liquor measured against the smaller charges for greens, butter and milk. The lemons, entered at 1,800 and priced by the hundred, were grown on the island and bought in quantity against the scurvy that struck the homeward crews. Their regular purchase for the table reflects the island's settled role as a place where vitamin-bearing fruit could be supplied, the lemon groves a recognised asset the council protected by its fines on those who destroyed the trees. The standing monthly form of the account, the beef and salt beef, the wines and spirit, the sugar, candles and bread, shows the establishment victualled by a settled mix of local stock and imported provisions. The account rendered and approved each month kept the Company's table expense under continual check, the figures part of the accounting discipline on which the home reckoning and the year's indent depended. | |
379 | July. The Last Consultation Read and Approod of The following Petition was presented by Mr Thomas Houlditch. The Petition of Tho: Houlditch Genr Humbly Sheweth That Whereas your Petitionr in the ab sence of a Chaplain hath not only officiated in Reading the prayers and a Sermon every Sunday and the Service appointed in the Calendar, for Each Holyday in Publick before his Worship and you Gentlemen, the Garrison and the People as was Usually done by the Chaplains but hath also performd the daily Service of both morning and Evening Prayers to the Garrison and others where his Worship and you Gentlemen have been also present and no Sallary or Stipend hath hitherto been Appointed your Petitioner for Such his Services. Therefore your Petitioner Humbly Prayes his Worship and you Gentlemen would either allow him Such a Reward as you Shall Deem reasonable, or Recom mend his Petition Setting forth his case to the Honble Court of Directors Either of which to you Shall Seem most proper Will Infinitely Oblige July ij 10th 1722 Worshipl Sr and Gentlemen Your Humble Petitioner and Devoted Servant Thomas Houlditch We having no presedent of this nature Referr his Petition to our Honble Masters. The Dr brought in his book of medicines Expended Margin Notes: Mr Tho: Houlditch Petitn for an alloidance for reading prayers &c./ Referd to ij Honble Compy./ Dr Expend. | The previous consultation was read and approved. Thomas Houlditch presented the following petition. It addressed the Governor and council. Houlditch set out that, in the absence of a chaplain, he had not only read the prayers and a sermon every Sunday and the service appointed in the calendar for each holy day, in public before the Governor, the council, the garrison and the people, as was usually done by the chaplains, but had also performed the daily service of both morning and evening prayers to the garrison and others, at which the Governor and council had also been present. No salary or stipend had so far been appointed him for these services. He asked that the Governor and council either allow him such a reward as they should think reasonable, or recommend his petition, setting out his case, to the Honourable Court of Directors, whichever they thought most proper. The petition was sent on 10 July 1722, subscribed by Thomas Houlditch. The council, having no precedent of this nature, referred his petition to the Honourable Masters. The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended [...]. Interpretations Houlditch's petition arose from the standing vacancy in the chaplaincy, the island left without an ordained minister and a layman taking up the reading of prayers and sermons in his place. The chaplaincy had been a recurring difficulty, the successive ministers in dispute or departed, and Houlditch's performance of both the Sunday and the daily services shows the parish duties carried on by a willing inhabitant when no clergyman was present, the religious establishment maintained by makeshift in the absence of its proper officer. The council's referral of the reward to the directors rather than granting it shows the limit of its authority over salaries it had no precedent to fix. The bench would not set a stipend for a service the establishment did not provide for, the want of any earlier case making the matter one for the Company at home, the council passing the question to the directors as it had done with the schoolmaster's allowance and other charges outside its settled scale. The petitioner's offer of two alternatives, an immediate reward or a recommendation to the directors, marks the practical course open to a man claiming payment for unestablished service. By leaving the choice to the council, Houlditch sought either present satisfaction or the bench's support for his claim at home, the council taking the second course, recommending the case upward rather than committing the Company to a payment it had no warrant to make. | |
380 | Since the 26th June Last which was Examind & approod of Island St Helena By the Worshipl Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr and Counc An Advertizement Whereas Several persons on this Island have bought or otherwayes Exchanged with Several persons belonging to the Garrison for their Red Coates which are the Regimen tall Cloaths belonging to the Honble Lords Proprietors and Designd only for the Use of the Garrison. These are therefore to forbid any person for the future to buy wear or use or have in their Custody any of the Garrison Accoutrements under penalty of five pounds as by Law in England on Whom or in whose possession any of the Kings Accoutremt are found, Whereof all persons are to take notice at their Perill. Dated at Union Castle in James Valley this 5th day of July 1722 Signd p order John Alexander Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Saturday the 14th day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Margin Notes: no person not of ij Garrison to wear any of ij Regimentall Red Coats. the penalty | The doctor's book of medicines expended since 26 June last was examined and approved. Island of St Helena. The Governor and council issued an advertisement. The advertisement set out that several persons on the island had bought or otherwise exchanged with members of the garrison their red coats, which were the regimental clothing belonging to the Honourable Lords Proprietors and intended only for the garrison's use. It therefore forbade any person in future to buy, wear, use or have in their custody any of the garrison accoutrements, under penalty of £5, as by the law in England on whoever or in whose possession any of the King's accoutrements were found. All persons were to take notice at their peril. It was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 5 July 1722, and signed by order by John Alexander. The advertisement was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Saturday 14 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Interpretations The advertisement against trading in the garrison's red coats marks the council's protection of the Company's military property. The regimental clothing belonged to the Lords Proprietors and was issued only for the garrison's use, and the soldiers' sale or barter of their coats to the inhabitants threatened both the uniform of the garrison and the Company's stock, the bench moving to stop a traffic that stripped the soldiers of their issued clothing. The penalty of £5 was set by reference to the law in England governing the King's accoutrements, the council adopting the metropolitan standard to give its prohibition the force of an established rule. By grounding the fine on the existing English law against possessing military stores, the bench tied its local order to a recognised statute, the penalty falling on whoever was found in possession of the garrison's gear, the same form of liability the English law imposed. The control extended beyond buying to wearing, using or merely having the accoutrements in custody, casting the net wide enough to catch any inhabitant in possession however acquired. The breadth of the prohibition shows the council closing every avenue by which the garrison's clothing might pass into private hands, the mere holding of the gear made an offence so that the traffic could be suppressed at any point in the chain. | |
381 | July The Last Consultation Read and approod of Capt Edwards brought us in this day Bank Bills that he had taken here to the amount of, fifty one pounds fifteen Shillings which he paid in and Desires he may have Bills of Exchange payable by the Honble Comp Orderd that Bills be drawn accordingly Pursuant to the Honble Companys Orders./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 17th day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and approod of The following Petition of John Lacy was presented That Whereas your Petitioner having for some time past had a very great Desire to Seek his fortune in India and having Sold his wifes Life time in a parcell of Land by a former Husband and other his Effects in order to persue his Inclination when a fitt opportunity offerd and the Ship Lethieullier being now in the Road and bound Margin Notes: Bank Bills bro: in by Capt Edwards/ Bills of Exchad: drawn./ Wm Lacy requests to goe for India with | The previous consultation was read and approved. Captain Edwards brought in bank bills that day that he had taken at the island to the amount of £51 15s 0d, which he paid in, asking that he might have bills of exchange payable by the Honourable Company. The council ordered that bills be drawn accordingly, in keeping with the Honourable Company's orders. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 17 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. John Lacy presented the following petition. It addressed the council. Lacy set out that for some time he had had a great desire to seek his fortune in India, and having sold his wife's life interest in a parcel of land by a former husband and his other effects, in order to pursue his inclination when a suitable opportunity offered, and the Leithulier being now in the road and bound [...]. Interpretations The exchange of bank bills for bills of exchange shows the working of the island's two-tier paper currency. The bank bills were the island's local paper, which Captain Edwards had taken in payment during his stay, and the council converted them into bills of exchange drawn on the Company in England, the local note redeemed for an instrument payable at home so the commander could carry his takings off the island in a transferable form. The drawing of the bills in keeping with the Company's orders marks the council's adherence to the directors' standing instructions on credit. The Company had pressed the council to limit the bills drawn on it, and the bench's note that the bills were drawn pursuant to orders shows it acting within the directors' rules, converting the local currency only as the established procedure allowed, the home accounts protected by the controlled issue of bills of exchange. Lacy's petition to leave for India continued the council's authority over the departure of inhabitants, the writer having converted his wife's life interest in land and his other effects into a portable estate before seeking passage. The sale of a life interest held in right of a former husband's marriage shows a planter realising a fixed and limited property to fund a fresh start in the eastern settlements, the Leithulier in the road offering the opportunity he had prepared for, his departure subject to the council's leave. | |
382 | bound for Bencoolen Humbly prays leave may be granted your Said petitioner with his wife and three Children to take passage accordingly in the Said Ship having now no manner of Dependance on the Island whereby to Subsist July ij 17th 1722 And as in Duty Bound &c John Lacy Granted./ Mary Oliver of this Island a ffree Black desired leave that her son Harry might goe off with Mr Thomas Jeynson Pur ser of the Ship Lethieullier now in the Road. Which was Granted. John Harding and Benja Greentree appeard according to Summons at the Complaint of Saml Doveton, for Denying to pay him a Just Debt due in Right of his wife and Sayes Severall people are Indebted to Richd Swallows Estate to wch they are Trustes, but cannot gett them In. Capt Goodwin brought in His book of Collections of Store Goods Sold and Deliverd out in the month of June Last which was Examind and Approod of. Edwd Johnson Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Lacys Petitn./ Granted./ Leave for a free Blk Boy to goe off./ Saml Dovetons Complt agt ij Trustees of Richd Swallows Estate/ Storekeepr Acco for June./ | Lacy set out that the Leithulier was bound for Bencoolen, and asked that he, his wife and three children be granted leave to take passage in her, having now no means of subsistence on the island. The petition was sent on 17 July 1722, subscribed by John Lacy. The petition was granted. Mary Oliver, a free black of the island, asked leave that her son Harry might go off with Mr Thomas Jeynson, purser of the Leithulier, now in the road. The request was granted. John Harding and Benjamin Greentree appeared in answer to a summons, on the complaint of Samuel Doveton for refusing to pay him a just debt due in right of his wife. They said several people were indebted to Richard Swallow's estate, of which they were trustees, but they could not get the money in. Captain Goodwin brought in his book of store goods sold and delivered out in the previous June, which was examined and approved. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Lacy's grant of leave with his whole family turned on his having no means of subsistence on the island, the council allowing the departure of a man who had realised his estate and could no longer support himself. The bench's readiness to let a destitute family go, where it had held back the widow Swallow until she settled her debts, marks the distinction it drew between a debtor escaping his obligations and a man who had cleared his affairs before seeking passage, the Leithulier's sailing for Bencoolen offering Lacy the fresh start he sought. Mary Oliver's petition for her son shows the council's authority extending over the free black population as well as the settlers and slaves. A free black mother sought leave for her son to leave with a ship's purser, and the council granted it, the departure of even a free person of colour requiring the bench's sanction, the same control over who might leave the island applied across every rank of its people. The trustees' inability to satisfy Doveton's claim against Swallow's estate marks the standing difficulty of administering an estate whose assets lay in debts owed by scattered people. Harding and Greentree, appointed trustees over the Swallow orphans' dividends in 1721, could not pay the creditor because they could not collect what was owed to the estate, the matter showing how the recovery of debts due to an estate held up the payment of debts the estate itself owed, the trustees caught between the two. | |
383 | July. Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 31st day of July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approod of. The Govrs Indisposition and no Business of moment occuring prevented the Consultation on Tuesday Last. On the 18th Instant Saild hence for Bencoolen the Lethieullier Captain Edwards Commander. Mr Byfeld Reports that Old Megg dyed Last week. The Govr Sayes that two dayes after the Lethieullier Saild the overseer of the Blacks acquainted him that Benjar one of the Honble Companys Blacks was missing but supposed he was gone into the Countrey to fetch his Yamms but He being not heard of Since do beleeve he gott privately on Board the Ship aforesaid./ The Doctor brought in his Book of medicines Expended Since the 10th Instant which was Examind and approod of./ We have this day Considerd and Prefixd the price on the Invoice Cargoe of Goods Receivd by the Lethieullier./ Upon reperusal of ij Consultation dated ij 26 of aprill Wt last wt in Relation to Sarah Southens answer upon being Sumond to appear ij day to make up her Accts Orderd that Mr James Greentree who became Ingaged to the H: C for paymt of ij Said debt be sumond to appear next Consultr day. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: The Petition of Saml Jessey That whereas ij Petr did some time Since at publick auction purchase a parcell formerly Tho: Bumnums deceasd & having made full paymt for the same Humbly prays he may have a bill of Sale to Ascertain him a title thereto your Petitionr having already desird one of Mr Wood ij Surviveing Execut who Seems to question whether he has powerr to give Such a bill of Sale ij said Land &c having been Sold by order of ijr worship & Counc Wherefore Submitts to what Shall Seem most meet to ij worship &c and as in duty &c Junc ij 26th 1722 Sam Jessey Referrd till ij departure of the Ship now in the Road & then to be further enquird into. Mrs Southens Anfwer to hnd & bt | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 31 July 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The Governor's illness, and no business of moment occurring, prevented the consultation the previous Tuesday. On 18 July the Leithulier under Captain Edwards sailed for Bencoolen. Mr Byfield reported that old Megg had died the previous week. The Governor said that two days after the Leithulier sailed, the overseer of the slaves told him that Benjar, one of the Honourable Company's slaves, was missing. He was supposed to have gone into the country to fetch his yams, but not having been heard of since, the Governor believed he had got privately aboard the ship. The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended since 10 July, which was examined and approved. The council considered and fixed the price on the cargo of goods received by the Leithulier. On reviewing the consultation of 26 April last concerning Sarah Southen's answer, she having been summoned to appear that day to make up her accounts, the council ordered that Mr James Greentree, who became engaged to the Honourable Company for payment of the debt, be summoned to appear the next consultation day. Samuel Jessey petitioned the council. He set out that some time earlier he had bought at public auction a parcel of land formerly Thomas Burnham's deceased, having made full payment for it, and asked that he might have a bill of sale to establish his title to it. He had already asked Mr Wood, the surviving executor, who seemed to question whether he had power to give such a bill of sale, the land having been sold by order of the council. He therefore submitted to what the council should think most proper. The petition was sent on 26 June 1722, subscribed by Samuel Jessey. The council referred the matter until the departure of the ship now in the road, and then to be further enquired into. Mr Southen's answer was [...]. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The disappearance of the Company's slave Benjar marks a fresh instance of slaves escaping the island by sea aboard the departing ships. The overseer's report and the Governor's belief that the man had got privately aboard the Leithulier echo the earlier escapes toward Madagascar, the slaves seizing the chance of a sailing vessel to leave, the cover of going into the country to fetch yams masking the flight until the ship was gone. Jessey's petition over the Burnham land turned on the doubt whether the executor could convey a title the council itself had ordered sold. The land had been sold at public auction by the council's order to satisfy a debt, and the surviving executor questioned his own power to give the bill of sale, the buyer left without the formal title he had paid for. The council's referral shows the tangle that arose where an estate's land was sold under the bench's authority rather than the executor's own, the question of who could properly convey it left for further enquiry. The renewed pursuit of Sarah Southen's debt through her surety James Greentree shows the council enforcing a guaranteed obligation against the man who stood bound for it. Southen having failed to make up her accounts, the bench turned to Greentree, who had engaged to the Company for the payment, the surety summoned to answer for the debt the principal had not discharged, the standing recourse by which the council recovered from the guarantor what it could not get from the debtor. | |
384 | August Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 7th day of August 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approod of. The Gunner brought in and Deliverd his monthly account of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of July last which was Examind and Approved and is as followes. July 4th It Being Muster day 7 10th For ij Worshipl ij Govr Comeing from on Board ij Lethieullier 35 9 26 89 18 Departed the Lethieullier for Bencoolen 13 13 13 19 To Capt Alexander 1 28 To Ensigne Slaughter 1 Expence for the Gaurd 8 Flints 50 Carthridge Paper 8 Spunge Heads 4 Rammer heads 4 Hand Spikes 6 Match 14 14 6 4 4 8 50 48 9 39 119 The Petition of Samuell Jessey in the Last Consultation was this day Reperused and Mr Wood the Surviveing Execut to Thomd Burnham Deceased appearing was orderd in pursuance to Consultr of the 25th of Augt 1719 to give the Said Samll Jessey a bilbof Sale for the Land He bought of the Said Burnhams the order in the Said Consultation Margin Notes: Gunrs Acco for July. Saml Jessey to have a Bill of Sale./ | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 7 August 1722 at the plantation house. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The gunner brought in his monthly account of the gunner's stores expended in the previous July, which was examined and approved, and ran as follows. The columns ran guns fired, ladles, falcons and powder expended. 4 July, being muster day, expended 7 [...] powder. 10 July, for the Governor coming from aboard the Leithulier, 35 guns fired, 9 ladles, 26 falcons, 89 [...] powder. 18 July, on the departure of the Leithulier for Bencoolen, 13 guns fired, 13 falcons, 13 [...] powder. 19 July, to Captain Alexander, 1 [...]. 28 July, to Ensign Slaughter, 1 [...]. Expense for the guard, 8 [...]. The expense of the guard comprised flints, 50; cartridge paper, 8; spunge heads, 4; rammer heads, 4; hand spikes, 6; and match, 14. The column totals stood at 14 pounds of match, 6 hand spikes, 4 rammer heads, 4 spunge heads, 8 cartridge paper, 50 flints, 48 guns fired, 9 ladles, 39 falcons, 119 [...] powder. Samuel Jessey's petition from the previous consultation was reviewed that day. Mr Wood, the surviving executor of Thomas Burnham deceased, appearing, was ordered, in keeping with the consultation of 25 August 1719, to give Jessey a bill of sale for the land he had bought of Burnham. The order in the said consultation [...]. Interpretations The gunner's July account marks the move of the council's sittings to the plantation house, the heaviest powder charge falling on the Governor's return from aboard the Leithulier and the ship's departure for Bencoolen. The 35-gun salute for the Governor coming ashore and the 13 guns on the ship's sailing show the batteries marking both the movements of the establishment and the dispatch of the vessel carrying the India packet, the slaves and the departing inhabitants. The reduced range of items in the account reflects a quieter month than the crowded shipping season of May and June, the alarms and great salutes giving way to a few ceremonial firings and the routine guard expense. The steady consumption of match, flints and cartridge paper for the guard measures the ordinary drill the garrison maintained, the account tracking the magazine's slow drain in a month with little traffic in the road. The resolution of Jessey's land title shows the council curing the defect in the executor's authority by its own order. Wood having doubted his power to convey land sold under the council's direction, the bench ordered him to give the bill of sale, grounding the order on the earlier consultation that had authorised the sale, the council's authority supplying what the executor lacked so the buyer who had paid his money should at last receive his formal title. | |
385 | August. Consultation to be inserted in the Bill of Sale. James Greentree was Summond according to the order in the foregoeing Consultation to appear this day to answer to the agreement he made with the Govr Relating to Mrs Southens debt to the Honble Comp Upon which James Ryder his son in Law appeared and acquainted Us (at his father Greentrees desire) that he was not able to appear being very ill, therefore We appointed to goe over to his own house to morrow morning about it. Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the Expence of the ij Generall Table for the month of July last which was Examind and approod of and is as follows./ of Beef 584 at 2 .. 5 p 100 £ 7 .. 6 of Pork 56 at 1/6 1 .. 8 Goates 11 at 10/ 5 .. 10 Kidds 3 at 5 15 of Butter 25 at 1/ 1 .. 5 Fowles 13 at 1/6 19 .. 6 Eggs 56 at 1 4 .. 8 Bottles of milk 62 at 1 .. 4 1 .. 8 Days Greens 31 at 1/ 1 .. 11 Gallons of Arrack 62 at 6/4 19 .. 12 .. 8 Bottles of Madora Wine 90 at 1/ 4 .. 10 Bottles of Port 72 at 2/6 9 Quart of Sweet oyle 1 8 Gallon of Vinegar ½ at 4 2 Sugar 130 at 1/ 6 .. 10 Sugar Candy 6 at 1/ 6 Card over £ 60 .. 3 .. 6 Margin Notes: James Greentree Sumond abt ij Pps Southens debt. Mr Ryder Appeard. Govr & Counc to goe to Mr Greenhes house./ The Stewards Acco for July. Particulars | The order in the said consultation was to be inserted in the bill of sale. James Greentree was summoned, in keeping with the order in the previous consultation, to appear that day to answer for the agreement he had made with the Governor concerning Mrs Southen's debt to the Honourable Company. James Ryder, his son-in-law, appeared and told the council, at his father Greentree's request, that he was not able to appear, being very ill. The council therefore appointed to go over to his own house the next morning about it. Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the General Table for the previous July, which was examined and approved, and ran as follows. Beef, 584 pounds at 25 shillings per 100, £7 6s 0d. Pork, 56 pounds at 1s 6d, £1 8s 0d. Goats, 11 at 10 shillings each, £5 10s 0d. Kids, 3 at 5 shillings each, 15s 0d. Butter, 25 at 1 shilling each, £1 5s 0d. Fowls, 13 at 1s 6d each, 19s 6d. Eggs, 56 at [...], 4s 8d. Bottles of milk, 62 at 4d each, £1 0s 8d. Days' greens, 31 at 1 shilling each, £1 11s 0d. Arrack, 62 gallons at 6s 4d per gallon, £19 12s 8d. Bottles of Madeira wine, 90 at 1 shilling each, £4 10s 0d. Bottles of port, 72 at 2s 6d each, £9 0s 0d. Quart of sweet oil, 1 at [...], 3s 0d. Gallon of vinegar, ½ at 4 shillings, 2s 0d. Sugar, 130 pounds at 1 shilling each, £6 10s 0d. Sugar candy, 6 at 1 shilling each, 6s 0d. Carried over, £60 3s 6d. Interpretations The council's decision to go to Greentree's house to take his answer shows its readiness to carry its process to a sick man rather than press his attendance. Greentree, summoned as surety for Mrs Southen's debt, was too ill to appear, and the bench appointed to meet him at his own house, the accommodation reflecting both his standing and the practical need to settle the matter without forcing a sick man to the council. The pursuit of the surety continued the council's recovery of Southen's debt through the man who stood bound for it, Greentree having engaged to the Company for the payment. The bench's determination to take his answer in person, even at his own house, marks the importance it placed on holding the guarantor to his undertaking, the surety's obligation enforced wherever he could be found. The General Table account followed the standing monthly form, the arrack again the heaviest single item at £19 12s 8d and the imported wines and spirit outweighing the local produce. The presence of port in quantity and the regular beef, goats and milk show the table provisioned by the usual mix of imported liquor and island stock, the account rendered and approved each month as part of the continuing discipline over the Company's expense. | |
386 | Brought over £ 60 .. 3 .. 6 Soape 25 at 1/5 1 .. 15 .. 5 of Tea 7 at 7/6 2 .. 12 .. 6 of Flower 38 at 3 9 .. 6 of Bread 134 at 3 1 .. 13 .. 6 Pieces of Salt Beef 19 at 2/10 2 .. 13 .. 10 Do Pork 30 at 2/6 3 .. 15 Peacock 1 6 Bushell of Pease 1 8 of Pepper 4 at 1/ 4 of Candles 64 at 1/6 4 .. 16 William Slaughter £ 78 .. 17 .. 9 Mr Byfeld deliverd his monthly accot of the Honble Comps live Stock and Expence for the month of July last which was Examind and approod of. Capt Goodwin brought In and Deliverd his monthly accot of Goods and Stores Sold and Deliverd out of the Stores for ij said month of July which was Examind & approved of. Orderd that all the Honble Companys Plantations and live Stock be Surveid and an accot taken thereof by the Gentlemen of the Councill and to begin on Wensday the 16th Instant./ Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Mr Byfelds Acco for July. Storekeepr Acco for July. Account of Stock & Plantation to be viewd & taken. | The General Table account continued. Brought over, £60 3s 6d. Soap, 25 at 1s 5d each, £1 15s 5d. Tea, 7 at 7s 6d each, £2 12s 6d. Flour, 38 at 3d each, 9s 6d. Bread, 134 at 3d each, £1 13s 6d. Pieces of salt beef, 19 at 2s 10d each, £2 13s 10d. Pieces of salt pork, 30 at 2s 6d each, £3 15s 0d. Peacock, 1, 6s 0d. Bushel of peas, 1, 8s 0d. Pepper, 4 at 1 shilling each, 4s 0d. Candles, 64 at 1s 6d each, £4 16s 0d. The account was signed by William Slaughter, total £78 17s 9d. Mr Byfield delivered his monthly account of the Honourable Company's live stock and expense for the previous July, which was examined and approved. Captain Goodwin brought in his monthly account of goods and stores sold and delivered out of the stores for the previous July, which was examined and approved. The council ordered that all the Honourable Company's plantations and live stock be surveyed and an account taken of them by the gentlemen of the council, to begin on Wednesday 15 August. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The General Table account closed at £78 17s 9d, the salt beef and pork in quantity marking the household's stock of preserved meat alongside the fresh beef and goats. The peacock entered as a single item shows the occasional delicacy that varied the table, the account otherwise following the standing monthly pattern of imported liquor, local stock and preserved provisions. The monthly accounts of live stock, store goods and the General Table together kept the whole of the Company's expense and stock before the council, the three returns rendered and approved at each sitting. This continuing discipline over the storekeeper's and overseer's books was the documentary base on which the home reckoning and the year's indent depended, the council checking each officer's account as it came in. The order for a full survey of the plantations and live stock by the councillors marks the periodic stocktaking the council undertook to verify the state of the Company's estate. The survey, to begin on a fixed day and carried out by the gentlemen of the council in person, continued the established practice of viewing the plantations to confirm the yam stocks and count the herds, the comprehensive account grounding the year's reckoning and the report home on a direct inspection rather than the overseer's monthly figures alone. | |
387 | Augst Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 14th day of Augt 1722 at the Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest John Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approod of. The Weather being so very bad and the Govr not well prevented our goeing to Mr Greentrees as appointed in the foregoeing Consultation, We intend to goe this afternoon. Richard Swallow Senr Executer to his Decd father Thomas Swallow brought in and presented this day an Inventory of his Said fathers Estate and the two Appraisers Messrs Curling and Wrangham made oath they had vallued every thing contained in the Said Inventory according to the best of their Judgments and Richard Swallow was Sworne to the truth thereof. Orderd the said Inventory be Received and Lodgd in the Secrety office. Richd Swallow made a proposvall to make Sale of as much of his fathers Estate as will pay the Honble Company what is now oweing and to pay it in at the 25th of march next because he thinks giving the buyers Credit, for their payment, so long will be of some Greater advantage than paying sooner and at the same time will pay twenty five pounds towards Lessening his own debt and will clear the whole by the march following Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Mr Greenhe heald 10 dys Tho: Swallows Inventory bro: in & Sworn to./ Proposalls to pay his Debt off./ and Rd Swallow part of his debt./ | Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 14 August 1722 at the plantation house. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The weather being very bad and the Governor not well, the council was prevented from going to Mr Greentree as appointed in the previous consultation. It intended to go that afternoon. Richard Swallow, son and executor to his deceased father Thomas Swallow, brought in and presented that day an inventory of his father's estate. The two appraisers, Mr Gurling and Mr Wrangham, made oath that they had valued everything in the inventory to the best of their judgement, and Richard Swallow was sworn to the truth of it. The council ordered the inventory received and lodged in the secretary's office. Richard Swallow proposed to sell as much of his father's estate as would pay the Honourable Company what was now owing, and to pay it in on 25 March next, since he thought giving the buyers credit for their payment so long would be of greater advantage than paying sooner. At the same time he would pay £25 towards lessening his own debt, and would clear the whole by the following March. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The proving of Thomas Swallow's inventory completed the settlement of his estate, the appraisers' oath and the executor's sworn truth giving the valuation the standing of a formal record lodged in the secretary's office. The inventory was the foundation for paying the estate's debts, the sworn appraisal fixing the value of the property against which the Company's claim and the other creditors would be satisfied. Richard Swallow's proposal to defer the sale and payment until 25 March turned on the advantage of giving the buyers credit, the executor judging that a sale on time would fetch better prices and yield more than an immediate sale for cash. The council weighed the planter's reasoning that extended credit to purchasers would realise a greater sum, the deferred payment to the Company set against the prospect of a fuller recovery from the estate. The combination of the estate debt and Swallow's own debt in one proposal shows the council dealing with a man indebted both as executor and in his own right. Swallow undertook to pay the estate's debt to the Company by the sale and to reduce his personal debt by £25 at the same time, clearing the whole within the year, the bench treating the two obligations together and accepting a staged settlement that bound the executor to discharge both over a fixed period. | |
388 | An Advertizement This is to give publick notice that the Honble Company will take all the grown Cattle any person or persons shall offer betwixt this and Christmas next In order to make the better Calculate for the Service of the next years Shipping and to be at a Certainty that none may goe unprovided for, as Some had Like to have done the last year, and to prevent any persons complaining that they are hindred from Dis poseing of their Cattle. Dated at the plantation House the 14th of August 1722 Signd p Order p Benja Hawkes The above advertizement Enterd, by mistake to be Enterd in the next Consultation Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 21st day of August 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approod of. According to the Appointment of the Last Consultation We went to Mr Annes Greentree. The Governr acquainted Greentree with the Engagement he was under to the Honble Comp about Southens debt of which the Govr had taken a memorandum in his Pocket Book which was to Serve the Honble Comp with 50 oo weight of Yamms and to make Margin Notes: Govrs Report of Mr Greentrees Engagemt for ij Pps Southens debt. | Start of crossed out section The Governor and council issued an advertisement. The advertisement gave public notice that the Honourable Company would take all the grown cattle any person should offer between then and Christmas next, in order to make the better calculation for the service of the next year's shipping, and to be certain that none should go unprovided for, as some had wished to have done the previous year. It was meant to prevent any person complaining that they were hindered from disposing of their cattle. It was dated at the plantation house on 14 August 1722, and signed by order by Benjamin Hawkes. End of crossed out section The above advertisement was entered by mistake, to be entered in the next consultation. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 21 August 1722 at the plantation house. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. In keeping with the appointment of the previous consultation, the council went to Mr James Greentree's. The Governor told Greentree of the engagement he was under to the Honourable Company concerning Southen's debt, of which the Governor had taken a memorandum in his pocket book. Greentree was to serve the Honourable Company with 50,000 weight of yams and to make [...]. Interpretations The advertisement struck through as misplaced shows the clerk's correction of a record entered out of order, the cattle notice cancelled in this consultation and reserved for the next. The cancellation marks the council's care to keep its record in proper sequence, the advertisement preserved in full but flagged as entered by mistake so its true place in the proceedings should be clear. The cattle advertisement itself answered the difficulty the council had met earlier in the year, when the planters refused beef to the ships. By offering to take all grown cattle before Christmas, the council sought both to provision the next year's shipping in good time and to remove the planters' grievance that they were hindered from selling their stock, the standing offer designed to draw in the cattle the bench had struggled to obtain when the ships were in the road. The council's visit to Greentree and the Governor's reliance on a memorandum in his pocket book mark the informal way the surety's engagement had been recorded. Greentree's undertaking to serve the Company with yams in respect of Southen's debt rested on the Governor's private note rather than a formal bond, and the council's attendance at his house to establish the terms shows it pinning down a loosely recorded obligation, the verbal engagement reduced to a definite quantity of yams to be supplied. | |
389 | August make that up one hundred pounds vallue when ever it was called for and that he would take care to pay the remainder out of the produce of the Stock and plantation which Greentree owned and acknowledged to be so, But said that about a year agoe the Govr Sent, for him, to remind him of his Engagement there was about Eighteen pounds of the hundred behind and unpaid then and that he had waited for the Govrs Sending for the Cattle which he offered when he offerd the Yamms and referd to the memorandum in the Govrs pochet book but no mention of any Cattle was therein He said he would tell Southern of it and it Should be paid the next Transferr but he Says the Govr answered he would have it all. on which he told her he would not be Concerned any further in her affairs neither has he Since. The Governr in answer Said that Severall notices to Southern were at last a warrant was Sent for Southern to make up her Account and payment. She told him that she thought her Brother Greentree had done it for her for he had promised her from time to time to doe it, and that then he Sent for Greentree and that after talking to him about the Debt Greentree desired to know how much was behind hand of the Hundred pounds which he promised he would See paid. The Govr told him that would not doe for he looked on him for the whole according to his Engagement and that he never heard any Cattle mentioned by Greentree or Southern at any time and that when Greentree Entered into the Engagement, The Govr Said Mr Greentree that there may be no Misunderstanding here after pray hear the memorandum I have made and Read it to him and Called Capt Cason and Ormston to be Witinesses which Mr Greentree ownes and that there is not one word mentioned of any Cattle. Upon Margin Notes: Govrs Answer to Mr Greentrees Engagemt. | Greentree was to make that up to £100 in value whenever it was called for, and would take care to pay the remainder out of the produce of the stock and plantation, which Greentree owned and acknowledged to be so. But he said that about a year earlier the Governor had sent for him to remind him of his engagement. There was then about £18 of the hundred behind and unpaid, and he had waited for the Governor sending for the cattle he had offered when he offered the yams. He referred to the memorandum in the Governor's pocket book, but no mention of any cattle was in it. He said he would tell Southen of it, and it should be paid the next transfer, but he said the Governor answered he would have it all, on which he told her he would not be concerned any further in her affairs, nor had he since. The Governor, in answer, said that several notices had been given to Southen, and at last a warrant was sent for her to make up her account and payment. She told him she thought her brother Greentree had done it for her, for he had promised her from time to time to do it. The Governor then sent for Greentree, and after talking to him about the debt, Greentree asked to know how much was behind of the £100, which he promised he would see paid. The Governor told him that would not do, for he looked on him for the whole according to his engagement, and that he had never heard any cattle mentioned by Greentree or Southen at any time when Greentree entered into the engagement. The Governor told Greentree that there might be no misunderstanding afterwards, and asked him to hear the memorandum he had made, and read it to him. He called Captain Cason and Mr Ormston to be witnesses, which Greentree owned, and there was not one word mentioned of any cattle. Interpretations The dispute turned on the precise terms of Greentree's suretyship for Southen's debt, the surety claiming he had offered cattle alongside the yams while the Governor held him to the whole £100 in yams as the memorandum recorded. The conflict shows the weakness of an engagement taken on a private note, the two men differing over what had been agreed, the want of a formal bond leaving the extent of the surety's liability open to argument. The Governor's resort to reading the memorandum aloud before witnesses marks his effort to fix the terms beyond further dispute. By having Greentree hear the note and calling Cason and Ormston to witness that no cattle were mentioned, the Governor converted the loose record into an acknowledged statement of the obligation, the surety made to own the terms before witnesses so the agreement could not afterwards be denied. The surety's withdrawal from Southen's affairs, declaring he would be concerned no further when the Governor insisted on the whole, shows the breakdown that followed the disagreement over terms. Greentree had stood for his sister's debt on his own understanding of the bargain, and when the Governor pressed the larger liability he abandoned the engagement, the matter left as a contest between the bench's reading of the memorandum and the surety's claim of a different agreement. | |
390 | Upon Gunner French his Complaint to the Govr of some want of Repairs and deficiences on the Line We went on ij fryday last with the Gunner to take a veiw of it, The Gun ner Complained that all the platforms, from the west to the Center wanted to be raised Considerablely, for that the Hor rizon was above the Muzle of the Gunns if they were lain in their beds and that if their was occasion there could not be that Service Expected from them as if they were raised So as to be above the Horrizon and that all the platformes of the Line were sunk since they were first Laid and that ij Parapets and (the Magazine in the Bastion in the Center although newly Coverd In) was so leaky Since the fireing the Gun over it on the advance of the ffrench Ships mentiond in Consultation of the 8th day of June last that he was forced to remove all the Ponder and Cartiges from thence without which if there Should be an occasion he could not Supply the Gunns on the Line We Examind each particular and found it Requisite to be done and have orderd Bell the overseer of the works to Set about it immediately and put the whole Line into such order as the Gunner Should Direct relating to his Complaint Mr Byfeld after he had deliverd in the Report of the Gentlemen of the Councill on a Survey of the Honble Companys live Stock and Plantations taken last week Desired to know what method he must take to provide Beef for the Shipping the next Year, for that he had been Reduceing the Stock only to answer the Expence of the Table pursuant to the Indulgence Designd by our Honble Masters for the people to Sell to the Shipping We knowing that most peoples Stocks are very young (occasioned by the Disapoint mens of the Seasons for four years last past) We think it proper to Issue out the Advertizement following Island Margin Notes: Gunner Complt of ij Line being out of Repair./ the same veiwd Line to be Immediately Repaird/ | On the gunner French's complaint to the Governor of some want of repairs and defects on the line, the council went the previous Friday with the gunner to view it. The gunner complained that all the platforms from the west to the centre needed to be raised considerably, since the horizon was above the muzzle of the guns if they were laid in their beds, so that if there were occasion the service expected of them could not be had as if they were raised above the horizon. He complained that all the platforms of the line had sunk since they were first laid, as had the parapets. He complained that the magazine in the bastion in the centre, though newly covered in, was so leaky since the firing of the gun over it on the advance of the French ships mentioned in the consultation of 8 June last, that he had been forced to remove all the powder and cartridges from there. If there should be occasion, he could not supply the guns on the line. The council examined each particular, found it requisite to be done, and ordered Bell, the overseer of the works, to set about it at once and put the whole line into such order as the gunner should direct concerning his complaint. Start of crossed out section Mr Byfield, after he had delivered in the report of the gentlemen of the council on a survey of the Honourable Company's live stock and plantations taken the previous week, asked to know what method he must take to provide beef for the shipping the next year, since he had been reducing the stock only to answer the expense of the table, in keeping with the indulgence intended by the Honourable Masters for the people to sell to the shipping. The council, knowing that most people's stocks were very young, occasioned by the disappointment of the seasons for the four years past, thought it proper to issue out the following advertisement. End of crossed out section Interpretations The gunner's complaint exposed the decay of the island's principal battery, the platforms and parapets sunk since they were laid and the guns now firing below the horizon. The technical fault meant the guns could not bear properly on ships in the road, the muzzles dropping below the level needed to reach an approaching vessel, the defect striking at the very purpose of the line as the island's chief defence of its anchorage. The leaky magazine, damaged by the firing over it during the French ship's approach on 8 June, marks a fresh consequence of that defensive action. The concussion of the gun fired above the powder store had opened the newly covered roof, forcing the gunner to remove the powder and cartridges, so that the centre of the line could not be supplied in an emergency, the council's own defensive firing having undermined the magazine on which the defence depended. The crossed-out passage on the beef supply shows the council returning to the difficulty that had run through the summer, the planters' young stock leaving little to provide for the next year's shipping. The reference to the four years of disappointing seasons explains the thinness of the herds, and the indulgence allowing the people to sell to the shipping had drawn the council into reducing its own stock for the table, the cancelled advertisement marking a first attempt to address the shortage before it was reserved for proper entry. | |
391 | August. Island St Helena By the Worshipl Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr and Councill. An Advertizement This is to give Publick notice that the Honble Company will take all the grown Cattle any person or persons Shall offer betwixt this and Christmas next In order to make the better Calculate, for the Service of the next years Shipping and to be at a Certainty that none may goe unprovided for, as some had like to have done the Last year and to prevent any persons Complaining that they are hindred from disposeing of their Cattle Dated at the Plantation House ij 14 of Augst 1722 Signd by order p Benja Hawkes Orderd that Sarah Southern be Summond to appear before us next Consultation day In Order to give Satisfaction for her debt due to the Honble Comp The Gentlemen of the Councill According to the order in Con sultation of the 7th Instant made Report that they had been and Surveyed all the Honble Companys Plantations and had taken an Account of all their live Stock which was Examined and approved of and is as follows./ Mr Byfeld after he had Deliverd in the Report of the Gentle men of the Councill on a Survey of the Honble Comps Live Stock and Plantations taken last week Desired to know what method he must take to provide Beef for the Shipping ij next year for that he had been Reduceing the Stock only to answer ij Expence of the Table pursuant to the Indulgence designd by our Honble masters for the people to Sell to the Shipping We knowing that most peoples Stocks are very Young (occasioned by Margin Notes: Mrs Southern Sumond ab: her debt. Report of ij Acco taken of Stock & Plantations./ Mr Byfelds acct of Stock to follow this in the Copies How Beef to be provided for the Shipping./ Peoples. | Start of crossed out section The Governor and council issued an advertisement. The advertisement gave public notice that the Honourable Company would take all the grown cattle any person should offer between then and Christmas next, in order to make the better calculation for the service of the next year's shipping, and to be certain that none should go unprovided for, as some had wished to have done the previous year, and to prevent any person complaining that they were hindered from disposing of their cattle. It was dated at the plantation house on 14 August 1722, and signed by order by Benjamin Hawkes. End of crossed out section The council ordered that Sarah Southen be summoned to appear the next consultation day, in order to give satisfaction for her debt due to the Honourable Company. The gentlemen of the council, in keeping with the order in the consultation of 7 August, reported that they had viewed and surveyed all the Honourable Company's plantations and had taken an account of all the live stock, which was examined and approved, and ran as follows. Mr Byfield's account of the stock follows this in the copies. Mr Byfield, after he had delivered in the report of the gentlemen of the council on a survey of the Honourable Company's live stock and plantations taken the previous week, asked to know what method he must take to provide beef for the shipping the next year, since he had been reducing the stock only to answer the expense of the table, in keeping with the indulgence intended by the Honourable Masters for the people to sell to the shipping. The council, knowing that most people's stocks were very young, occasioned by [...]. Interpretations The repeated cancellation of the cattle advertisement, struck through here as in the previous consultation, shows the clerk's continued effort to place the notice in its proper entry. The advertisement remained the council's answer to the beef shortage, offering to take all grown cattle before Christmas, the recurring cancellation marking the difficulty of fitting the misplaced notice into the record while the substantive business proceeded. The renewed summons of Sarah Southen continued the council's pursuit of her debt after the breakdown with her surety Greentree. With Greentree having withdrawn from her affairs and disputed the terms of his engagement, the council turned back to the principal debtor, summoning Southen herself to make satisfaction, the bench moving between the surety and the debtor as each declined to pay. The councillors' survey of the plantations and live stock fulfilled the order of 7 August, the personal inspection by the gentlemen of the council grounding the year's reckoning on a direct count. Byfield's question how to provide beef for the next year's shipping, set against the survey's findings and the young state of the herds, shows the council facing the practical consequence of the stocktaking, the indulgence allowing the people to sell to the shipping leaving the Company's own stock too thin to victual the ships after the poor seasons. | |
392 | by the Disapointments of the Seasons, for four years last past) We think it proper to Issue out the Advertizement following. Island St Helena By the Worshipl Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr and Councill An Advertizement This is to give Publick Notice that the Honble Company will take all the grown Cattle any person or persons Shall offer betwixt this and Christmas next In Order to make the better Calculate, for the Service of the next years Shipping and to be at a Certainty that none may goe unprovided for, as some had like to have done the last Year and to prevent any persons Complaining that they are hindored from dispose ing of their Cattle./ Dated at the Plantation House the 14th of August 1722 Signd by Order p Benja Hawkes The following Petitions were Presented. The Petition of Arthur Bradley Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner in the year 1719 had a Grant and Lease, for 18 acres of the Honble Companys wast Land called Sextons Ground 15 acres of which he disposed of by consent of the then Govr and Councill to Edmund Bodley and Reserved the other 3 acres, for your Petitioners own use But the Same being very difficult to fence in and your Said Petitioner being not able to doe it doth Still lie wast, and as it is of no advantage but rather a Charge to your Petitioner He Humbly prays he may be permitted to throw up the Said three acres and freed from the yearly Charge with out one farthing bennefitt And as in Duty &c Augt ij 21st 1722 Ar Bradley Margin Notes: Stock Low. for the buying of Cattle for Shipping. Bradleys desires to throw up 3 Acres Land. | The council, knowing that most people's stocks were very young, occasioned by the disappointments of the seasons for the four years past, thought it proper to issue out the following advertisement. The Governor and council issued an advertisement. The advertisement gave public notice that the Honourable Company would take all the grown cattle any person should offer between then and Christmas next, in order to make the better calculation for the service of the next year's shipping, and to be certain that none should go unprovided for, as some had wished to have done the previous year, and to prevent any person complaining that they were hindered from disposing of their cattle. It was dated at the plantation house on 14 August 1722, and signed by order by Benjamin Hawkes. The following petitions were presented. Arthur Bradley petitioned the council. He set out that in 1719 he had a grant and lease of 18 acres of the Honourable Company's waste land called Sexton's Ground, 15 acres of which he had disposed of by consent of the then Governor and council to Edmund Bodley, and reserved the other 3 acres for his own use. The 3 acres being very difficult to fence in, and he being unable to do it, they still lay waste and were of no advantage but rather a charge to him. He asked that he might be permitted to throw up the 3 acres and be freed from the yearly charge, without one farthing benefit. The petition was sent on 21 August 1722, subscribed by Arthur Bradley. Interpretations The cattle advertisement, now entered in its proper place after the cancellations of the previous consultations, marks the council's settled answer to the beef shortage that had run through the summer. By offering to take all grown cattle before Christmas, the council sought to provision the next year's shipping in good time and to remove the planters' complaint that they were hindered from selling, the standing offer designed to draw in the stock the bench had struggled to obtain when the ships were in the road. Bradley's petition to surrender his 3 acres turned on the burden of a leasehold he could not profitably use. The parcel of Company waste was difficult to fence and lay idle, costing him the yearly rent for no return, and he asked to give it up without compensation, the surrender showing how a holder might find a small lease more charge than benefit, the council's land yielding nothing where the holder lacked the means to enclose and work it. The reservation of the 3 acres when Bradley sold the larger part of Sexton's Ground to Bodley marks the way Company leaseholds were divided and transferred under the council's consent. The original grant of 18 acres had been split, 15 conveyed to another holder and 3 kept back, the surrender of the remainder now closing the holding, the council's control over the letting and transfer of its waste land followed through every division and relinquishment of the parcel. | |
393 | August. The Petition of Edmd Bodley Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner haveing 16 acres of Land that he Rents of the Honble Company which has lain wast ever Since he had it in May 1719 by reason of his being not able to fence it in he haveing no help and receiveing a hurt in the Said Honble Companys Service whereby he is Disabled in one of his hands and the Land running him out without the least proffitt, Humbly prays he may be permitted to throw up the Same and his Lease Vacated Accordingly. In Consideration of the premisses and that the Sd Land will Serve Some other Young begin ner Orderd his Petition be Granted and also Bradleys they paying Rent for the Same to micheImas next./ The Humble Petition of Richd Curling James Vesey John Long John Harding Benja Greentree John Bagley Junr and Margarett Tovey. Sheweth That Whereas We your Petitioners have for Some time past Suffered very Great Losses in our flock of Goates that range in and about Sandy bay valley to the manifest Damage and detriment of our Selves and families and have good Grounds to Suspect Such damages Proceeds from the Evill practice of Some ill disposed persons who wickedly destroy our Goats to Subsist themselves and their family in So base and Villainous a manner Wherefore we your Said petitioners doe most Humbly address our Selves to your Worship and Councill praying a redress of the Damages aforesaid which otherwise will tend to the Destruction of our whole Stock of Goats and be an Evill Example to others of the like ill principles as you in your prudence and Justice Shall think Margin Notes: Edmd Bodleys request to throw up 16 Acres Land. Its bcaus disabled Granted. Complt of Losses Sustained in Goats. Redress prayd. | Edmund Bodley petitioned the council. He set out that he had 16 acres of land he rented of the Honourable Company, which had lain waste ever since he had it in May 1719, because he was unable to fence it in, having no help and having received a hurt in the Honourable Company's service that disabled one of his hands. The land was running him out without the least profit. He asked that he might be permitted to throw it up and his lease vacated accordingly. Given the circumstances, and that the land would serve some other young beginner, the council ordered his petition granted, and also Bradley's, they paying rent for the land until Michaelmas next. Richard Gurling, James Vesey, John Long, John Harding, Benjamin Greentree, John Bagley junior and Margaret Tovey petitioned the council. They set out that for some time they had suffered very great losses in their flock of goats that ranged in and about Sandy Bay valley, to the manifest damage of themselves and their families. They had good grounds to suspect that the damage came from the wicked practice of some ill-disposed persons who destroyed their goats to subsist themselves and their families in so base and villainous a manner. They asked the council for a redress of the damages, which would otherwise tend to the destruction of their whole stock of goats and be an evil example to others of the like ill principles, as the council in its prudence and justice should think [...]. Interpretations Bodley's surrender, granted on the same terms as Bradley's, marks the council's willingness to take back leaseholds that yielded nothing to holders unable to work them. Bodley's hurt in the Company's service had disabled his hand, leaving him unable to fence the land, and the council vacated the lease, the parcel returned to be offered to a young beginner, the bench preferring a useful tenant to an idle rent it could not in justice press on a disabled man. The condition that both Bradley and Bodley pay rent until Michaelmas marks the council balancing relief with the Company's due. The holders were freed from their leases but held to the rent for the current term, the surrender taking effect at the quarter day rather than at once, the bench releasing the men from a continuing charge while securing the rent already accrued. The goat-owners' petition raises the theft of stock by persons subsisting on stolen animals, a recurring concern in the island's pastoral economy. The leading planters of the Sandy Bay district complained of losses they attributed to thieves living off their goats, the damage threatening their whole flocks, the petition seeking the council's protection of a property that ranged loose on the open ground and was peculiarly vulnerable to the kind of stealthy theft the bench had long struggled to suppress. | |
394 | think most meet which will Infinitely oblige us your Petitioners. And as in Duty &c August ij 21st 1722 Orderd that a warrant be Issued out to Search all the Houses in Sandy bay Valley for fire armes in order to prevent the like daimages Complaind of in the petition above. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 28th day of Augt 1722 at the Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approod of./ The following Petition was presented. The Petition of Benja Pledger Solitr Sheweth That Whereas your petitioner haveing but five acres of free Land and the same being but ordinary and lying so cold that it produces provisions very slowly Humbly prays your Worship and Councill would be pleased to grant your Petitioner about fifteen acres of the Honble Companys wast Land known by the name of Sextons Ground part thereof lately in the possession of Arther Bradley and Edmd Bodley whereon He hopes to raise provisions Sufficient for the maintenance Margin Notes: fire Armes Searcht for. Benja Pledger desires to Rent a free Land. | The petitioners asked the council to grant a redress as it should think most proper. The petition was sent on 21 August 1722. The council ordered that a warrant be issued to search all the houses in Sandy Bay valley for firearms, in order to prevent the like damages complained of in the petition above. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena. At a consultation held on Tuesday 28 August 1722 at the plantation house. Present Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield second in council, John Alexander third and John Goodwin fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The following petition was presented. Benjamin Pledger, soldier, petitioned the council. He set out that he had only 5 acres of free land, which was so ordinary and lay so cold that it produced provisions very slowly. He asked that the council grant him about 15 acres of the Honourable Company's waste land known by the name of Sexton's Ground, part of which was lately in the possession of Arthur Bradley and Edmund Bodley, on which he hoped to raise provisions sufficient for the maintenance [...]. Interpretations The warrant to search the Sandy Bay houses for firearms shows the council attributing the goat losses to shooting and moving to disarm the suspected thieves. The connection between the killing of the goats and the possession of guns led the bench to order a general search of the district, the firearms treated as the instrument of the theft, the council striking at the means rather than waiting to catch the offenders in the act. The grant of Sexton's Ground to Pledger, the very land Bradley and Bodley had just surrendered, shows the council's practice of reletting waste land to a holder better able to work it. The parcel that had lain idle and unprofitable in disabled hands was at once offered to a soldier seeking ground to raise provisions, the bench turning over the same land from holders who could not fence it to one who hoped to make it productive, the Company's waste kept in circulation among those who would cultivate it. Pledger's plea that his 5 acres of free land lay too cold to produce provisions marks the variation in the island's ground and its moderate but uneven climate. The poor and cold quality of his existing land left it slow to yield, and he sought the larger Company parcel to grow enough to live on, the petition reflecting how the island's scattered plots differed in fertility and exposure, a holder's subsistence depending on the quality and warmth of the ground he held. | |
395 | August maintenance of himself and family. Augt ij 28th 1722 And as in Duty bound &c Granted./ Benja Pledger And that a Warrant be deliverd to Capt Goodwin to measure the Same and then a Lease to be drawn up, for the terme of twenty one Years commenceing, from the 25th of Septr 1722 According to the Order of last Consultation Sarah Southern was Summond to appear here this day. The Marshall made Return of the Summons and Says when he went to Summons Mrs Southern He read it to her to which She replyed She would not appear, for She knew no Business the Govr had with her, Since the said Sarah Southern did refuse to appear and by the answer She made to the Marshall on the Summons She seems to persist in Denying of any Debt due to the Honble Company as She did in Consultation of the 26 of Aprill Last. Orderd That a Warrant be granted to Seize her Effects to make Satisfaction to the Said Honble Company and her more Ready to Comply. Edwd Johnson Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: and ij Same to be Measured./ Sarah Southern refusd to Appear upon Summons Her Effects to be Seizd for Satisfaction./ | Pledger asked the council to grant him the land for the maintenance of himself and his family. The petition was sent on 28 August 1722, subscribed by Benjamin Pledger. The petition was granted, and a warrant ordered delivered to Captain Goodwin to measure the land, after which a lease was to be drawn up for a term of 21 years, commencing from 25 September 1722. In keeping with the order of the previous consultation, Sarah Southen was summoned to appear that day. The marshal made return of the summons and said that when he went to summon Mrs Southen he read it to her, to which she replied she would not appear, since she knew of no business the Governor had with her. Sarah Southen having refused to appear, and by the answer she made to the marshal on the summons, she seemed to persist in denying any debt due to the Honourable Company, as she had done at the consultation of 26 April last. The council ordered that a warrant be granted to seize her effects, to make satisfaction to the Honourable Company, and to make her more ready to comply. The record was subscribed by Governor Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The grant of Sexton's Ground to Pledger on a 21-year lease, with a warrant to measure and a fixed commencement at the quarter day, shows the formal process by which the council let its waste land. The same parcel surrendered by Bradley and Bodley passed at once to a new tenant on a long lease, the survey by Captain Goodwin fixing the bounds and the term beginning at Michaelmas, the council's control over its land carried through the measurement, the drawing of the lease and the dating of the term. Southen's flat refusal to answer the summons brought the council to enforce its claim by seizing her effects, the standing recourse against a debtor who would neither appear nor pay. Her denial that she owed anything, persisted in since April, left the bench no course but distraint, the warrant to seize her property serving both to satisfy the debt and to compel her compliance, the council moving from summons to seizure when the debtor defied its process. The marshal's return of the summons and Southen's recorded reply mark the formal steps the council took before ordering seizure. The reading of the summons, the debtor's refusal and the marshal's report gave the bench the documented basis for the warrant, the procedure ensuring that the move to seize her goods rested on a proper service and a recorded contempt, the council building the record that justified the distraint. | |
396 | 1722 Island St Helena. At a Consultation Held on Thursday the 30th day of Augst 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation read and Approovd of. The Govr Reports that Yesterday Evening John Dixon the marshall came to him and acquainted him that he had been at Sarah Southerns in order to make a Seizure on her Effects by vertue of a Warrant Impowering him So do He read the Warrant to her She Shutt the doors and forbid him at his perill to Enter or take any thing be- longing to her and used Severall threatning expressions So that he was affraid to persist in it knowing her to be an Outragious woman Desired he might be discharged from being Marshall any longer, for he feared She would do him some Mischeef./ Accordingly John Dixon the marshall was Discharged and made Richd Tinsley Marshall in his Stead./ Orderd that a new Warrant be Issued out to the Said Tinsley and that the Serjt of the Guards with a file of Musqueteers go along with ye Said Tinsley to his Assistance./ Edw Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Govr Report abt Mrs Southern. Marshalls fears desired a dismission Discharged Accordingly. Tinsly Entertaind A New warrt Issued out & Guards Ordr | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Thursday 30 August 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Governor's report The Governor reported that on the previous evening the marshal John Dixon had come to him with an account of his attempt to enforce the council's order. Dixon had gone to the house of Sarah Southen to seize her goods under a warrant that authorised him to do so. He read the warrant to her, but she shut her doors against him and forbade him at his peril to enter or to take anything belonging to her. A margin note records that she denied owing any debt and so denied his right to seize or meddle with anything of hers. She used several threatening words, so that he was afraid to go on with it, knowing her to be a violent woman. He asked to be released from the office of marshal, fearing she would do him some harm. Marshal's fear and request to resign The council accordingly discharged John Dixon from the office of marshal and appointed Richard Tinsley in his place. A new warrant issued and a guard ordered The council ordered a fresh warrant drawn for Tinsley, and directed the sergeant of the guard with a file of musketeers to go with him to assist in carrying it out. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The refusal of Sarah Southen turned on a denial of the debt itself rather than mere obstruction. By disputing that she owed the Company anything, she challenged the legal foundation of the seizure warrant, since a distress for debt presupposes a debt owed. This continued her stance recorded at the consultation of 28 August 1722, where she told the marshal she knew of no business the Governor had with her and a warrant was first ordered to seize her effects. Her resistance forms part of a longer record reaching back to her conviction for the seditious libel touching the chaplain Jones at the general sessions of 28 January 1720 and her suretyship dispute with her brother James Greentree pressed across the summer of 1722. The discharge of Dixon and the immediate appointment of Tinsley show the marshal's office treated as an instrument that had to remain filled for the council's writ to run. A marshal who would not or could not execute process was simply replaced, the function mattering more than the man. The same office had passed earlier through Samuel Price, Joseph Bates and John Hodgkinson, each holder serving at the council's pleasure. Speculations The decision to send the sergeant of the guard with a file of musketeers alongside the new marshal answered the specific obstacle that had defeated the first attempt. Dixon had failed against a single defiant householder who shut her doors and threatened him. By backing Tinsley with armed soldiers, the council removed the personal risk that had made Dixon ask to resign and converted a contest of nerve into a show of force the householder could not resist. The remedy was matched precisely to the cause of the earlier failure. | |
397 | Septembr Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 4th day of Septr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2 Prest John Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approovd of. The Govr Reports that Richd Tinsley Marshall on friday morning last acquainted him that he had Served the Warrant Mentiond in the last Consultation to Seize the Goods of Sarah Southen both in the Countrey and at the House at the fort and had taken an Inventory of the Effects Upon which on Saturday last was publishd an Advertizemt that the Goods at the House in the Valley would be put to publick sale on wensday being Review day and most people then down and the day after, those in the Countrey. The Gunnr broughtt in his Acct of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of August last which was Examind approvd and is as follows./ Augst 1 Being King Georges proclamation day Guns fired 21 Duty 1 Seakons 4 Faulkings 16 Powder Expendd 47 Do It being musterday Powder Expendd 14 10 To Thomas Alliss Powder Expendd 1 21 To Ensign Slaughter Powder Expendd 1 Expences for the Guard Powder Expendd 10 Musquett Balls 4 Flints 50 Cartridge Paper 4 Card Over 4 50 4 21 1 4 16 73 Margin Notes: Govrs Report of the Marshalls Seizing Mrs Southern Effects Publick Sale appointed./ Gunrs Accot for August./ | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 September 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Governor's report of the marshal's seizure of Sarah Southen's goods The Governor reported that the marshal Richard Tinsley had come to him on the previous Friday morning with an account of carrying out his warrant. Tinsley had served the warrant named in the last consultation to seize the goods of Sarah Southen, both in the country and at her house at the fort, and had taken an inventory of the goods. An advertisement was then published on the previous Saturday giving notice that the goods at the house in the valley would be sold at public sale on the Wednesday, that day being review day when most people would be down, and that those in the country would be sold the day after. Public sale appointed The council confirmed the days fixed for the two sales. Gunner's account for August The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of August, which was examined and approved. The account, set out under the headings guns fired, falcons, sakers, faulkners and powder spent, ran as follows. 1 August, being King George's proclamation day: 21 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 sakers, 16 faulkners and 47 pounds of powder spent. 1 August, the same day being muster day: 14 pounds of powder spent. 10 August, to Thomas Allis: 1 pound of powder spent. 21 August, to Ensign Slaughter: 1 pound of powder spent. Expenses for the guard: 10 pounds of powder spent. Musket balls: 4. Flints: 50. Cartridge paper: 4. Carried over: 4 guns fired [...], 50 [...], 4 [...], 21 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 sakers, 16 faulkners and 73 pounds of powder spent. Interpretations The timing of the public sale around review day shows the council using the muster of the inhabitants to serve the seizure. With most people already down from the country for the review, a sale fixed for that Wednesday would draw the largest body of buyers and so realise the best price for Sarah Southen's goods. This carried forward the recovery against her ordered at the consultation of 28 August 1722, when the council directed a warrant to seize her effects to satisfy the Company after she refused to appear or acknowledge any debt. The actual seizure had been delayed by the resignation of the first marshal John Dixon, recorded at the consultation of 30 August 1722, after Sarah Southen shut her doors and threatened him. The gunner's account distinguishes guns by type, the falcons, sakers and faulkners being light pieces of ordnance of ascending bore that made up the island's batteries, the powder charged against each according to its size. Recording the issue by gun type and by occasion allowed the council to audit the consumption of powder against the events that warranted it, here the proclamation honours of 1 August, the muster of the same day, and small issues to named men and to the guard. The same form of monthly stores account had been kept by the former gunner John French and was continued under his successors. The proclamation honours of 1 August marked the accession day of King George, kept yearly with a salute, the single heaviest charge of the month at 47 pounds of powder for the guns fired together with the falcons, sakers and faulkners discharged in the ceremony. | |
398 | 1722 Brot Over 8 4 3 6 4 50 4 Guns fired 21 Duty 1 Seakons 4 Faulkings 16 Powder Expendd 73 Musquett Rodds 6 Spunge Staves 3 Hand Spikes 4 match 8 John French 8 4 3 6 4 50 4 21 1 4 16 73 Mrs Brigtt Bazett presented the following Petition The Petition of Brigtt Bazett Sheweth That Whereas your Petitionor intending very Speedily to Enlarge and rebuild her dwelling House in the ffort Valley for the better conveniency of Lodging and Reception of Gentlemen in Shipping is very much Streight- ened for ground to make the Building Commodious and uniform Wherefore Humbly prays your Worship and Councill would be pleased to grant Your Petitioner a lease for that Small peice of Ground that lies vacant between yr Petitioners and Mrs Greentrees House which will be of great Service to your Petitioner and no detriment (as she can Con- ceive) to any person in particular or the publick in Generall And as in Duty &ca Brigtt Bazett Sept 12th Ao 1722 Granted she paying ten Shillings p annum, and as building is very chargeable that she have a Lease for ninety nine Years to Commence from Michallmas next. Jno Long was Summond upon Complaint of Mrs Bazett for Margin Notes: Mrs Bazett desires to Renta pce of Ground in yffort Valley. Granted for 99 years. | The gunner's account for August continued, set out under the headings guns fired, falcons, sakers, faulkners and powder spent. Brought over: 4 guns fired [...], 50 [...], 4 [...], 21 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 sakers, 16 faulkners and 73 pounds of powder spent. Musket rods: 6. Spunge staves: 3. Hand spikes: 4. Match: 8. The whole account, signed by the gunner John French, totalled as follows: 8, 4, 3, 6, 4, 50, 4, 21 guns fired, 1 falcon, 4 sakers, 16 faulkners and 73 pounds of powder spent. Mrs Bridget Bazett presented the following petition. Bridget Bazett petitioned the council, setting out that she intended very shortly to enlarge and rebuild her dwelling house in the Fort Valley for the better convenience of lodging and receiving gentlemen from the shipping. She found herself much cramped for ground to make the building roomy and regular. She therefore asked the Governor and council to grant her a lease of the small piece of vacant ground lying between her own house and Mr Greentree's house, which would be of great service to her and, as far as she could see, no harm to any private person or to the public. The petition was dated 4 September 1722 and signed by Bridget Bazett. A margin note records that Bridget Bazett asked to rent a piece of ground in the Fort Valley. The council granted the petition. Since building was very costly, she was to have a lease of ninety-nine years commencing from the following Michaelmas, paying ten shillings a year. John Long was summoned on the complaint of Mrs Bazett for [...]. Interpretations The grant of a ninety-nine-year term answered the petitioner's stated intention to put up a substantial new building. The council linked the length of the lease directly to the heavy cost of construction, a long term giving the holder time to recover that outlay and an incentive to build well rather than cheaply. The same reasoning had governed other building grants on the island, the rent fixed at the customary ten shillings a year for such a parcel in the valley. The purpose of the rebuilding marks the function of the Fort Valley house as lodging for gentlemen arriving on the Company's shipping. A remote provisioning station depended on accommodating the officers and passengers of the East Indiamen that called, and a private householder offering rooms filled a need the Company itself did not meet. Bridget Bazett was the widow of the former third councillor and storekeeper Captain Matthew Bazett, and had been confirmed in two acres and pursued for various debts across these records, here turning her holding to profit by enlarging it for paying guests. The grant of vacant ground lying between two existing houses shows the council managing the close-built valley by letting small interstitial parcels to the adjoining holder. Such a strip was of use chiefly to the neighbour who could absorb it into a larger building plot, and letting it to Bridget Bazett raised a rent from idle ground while doing no harm to others, the same test of no prejudice to any private person or to the public that the council applied to its other valley lettings. | |
399 | Septr for refusing to pay her a Just Debt due from William Portley, deceased to her Husband Bazett on Accot of Thomas Perkins./ The Said Long produced a memorandum Signd by Willm Portley and Wittnessed by Benjn Cleaverly and John Hoskinson wherein it is mentioned that he had paid a Debt demanded by Mrs Bazett, some from his own Accot and some from other people. Orderd that the Books of Accots be Examind between this and next Consultation day to See what Appears therein. The Said John Long being Executr to William Portley/ Orderd that he bring in an Inventory of the Said Portleys Effects by this day fortnight. Mr Byfield brought in his Accot of the Honble Companys live stock and Expence for the month of August last which was Examind and Approvd of. Richard Gurling presented the following Petition The Petition of Richd Gurling free Plantor Sheweth. That forasmuch as Your Petitioner being Ex- ecutor to the last Will and Testament of Edwd Bagley Decd and understanding that the Estate in Possesion of Sarah Southern formerly Widow of the Said Bagley is Seized and intended to be Exposed to publick Sale for payment of the Said Southerns debt to the Honble Company and for that the above Edward Bagleys Orphans Estate already Inven- toryd and Registerd in form and some Cattle which are so Seperate stock given by Severall persons to the Orphans being Intermixt with the Said Sarah Southerns Your Petitioner Humbly Margin Notes: Mrs Bazetts Complt agt Jno Long. a memorandm produced to Clear the dispute Books to be Exam'd Long to bring in an Inventory of Portleys Effects. Rd Gurlings Claim on behalf of Wd Bagleys Orphs to some Cattle Seized wth Mrs Southerns. | Mrs Bazett's complaint against John Long The summons of John Long arose from his refusal to pay Mrs Bazett a debt owed to her late husband Captain Bazett. The debt was due from the deceased William Portley on the account of Thomas Perkins. A memorandum produced to settle the dispute John Long produced a memorandum signed by William Portley and witnessed by Benjamin Cleverly and John Hoskinson. It stated that Portley had paid a debt demanded by Mrs Bazett, part from his own account and part on behalf of other people. Books to be examined The council ordered the account books examined between then and the next consultation day to see what they showed. Long to bring in an inventory of Portley's goods John Long, being executor to William Portley, was ordered to bring in an inventory of Portley's goods within a fortnight. Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the previous month of August, which was examined and approved. Richard Gurling presented the following petition. Richard Gurling's claim on behalf of William Bagley deceased to cattle seized with Sarah Southen's goods Richard Gurling, free planter, petitioned the council as executor to the last will and testament of the deceased Edward Bagley. He understood that the estate in the possession of Sarah Southen, formerly the widow of Edward Bagley, had been seized and was to be sold at public auction to pay Sarah Southen's debt to the Company. The orphans' estate of Edward Bagley had already been inventoried and registered in proper form. Some cattle belonging to the orphans as a separate stock, given them by various people, had become mixed with Sarah Southen's own goods. Interpretations The dispute over Portley's debt shows the council acting as auditor between rival private claims through its control of the account books. Mrs Bazett claimed payment of a debt that Long, as Portley's executor, said had already been discharged on a witnessed memorandum, and the council resolved the conflict by sending the matter to the books rather than ruling on the spot. The debt itself was traced through three hands, owed by Portley on the account of Thomas Perkins to the late Captain Bazett, the kind of stale obligation the corrected books had been used to recover since 1720. William Portley was the discharged chief overseer convicted of perjury at the general sessions of 15 December 1720, and the same John Long had been pursued over watercourses and fences across these records. The Gurling petition exposes the risk that the seizure on Sarah Southen would sweep up property that was not hers. Cattle held by her late husband Edward Bagley's orphans as a separate stock, the gift of several donors, had been pastured among her own beasts, so that a distress for her debt threatened to take animals belonging to the children. By raising his executorship and the registered orphans' inventory, Gurling invoked the documentary record to mark off the protected stock before the sale, the council's standing inventories of orphan estates serving exactly to keep such property distinct. Richard Gurling appears throughout these records as a planter and executor, and the cattle of Sarah Southen's deceased son Bagley had earlier been the subject of her husband Sergeant Thomas Southen's claim against Gurling at the consultation of 20 November 1716. The order that Long bring in an inventory of Portley's effects within a fortnight applied to the executor the same duty of account the council imposed on all who administered a dead man's estate. An inventory fixed the assets against which creditors such as Mrs Bazett might be satisfied, and compelled the executor to render what he held rather than leave the estate unaccounted. | |
400 | 1722 Humbly prays the same so belonging to the Said Bagleys Orphans may be preservd and sett apart, for their only use according to their Fathers Will and the trust he reposed in your Said Petitioner they being noway Engaged in the debt aforesaid And as in duty &ca Sept ye 4th Ao 1722 Richard Gurling Granted that the Seperate Stock upon Satisfactn given to us that they are as Sett forth in the Petition to be returned to the Said petitioner The Blacks to goe towards payment of the Debt./ Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 11th day of Septembr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4te The last Consultation Read and Approvd of./ Richard Tinsley brought us an Accot of the Sale of the Goods and Effects he had Seized of Sarah Southerns./ Ordered that he deliver hor a Copy of the Inventory and Sale with the Remainder of what is unsold and that the Accot of the Sale be lodged in the Secrettaryes office untill the time of payment for the Goods which is untill March Next. Margin Notes: Seperate Stock to be returnd./ Accot of Sarah Southens Sale./ Shes to have a Copy thereof wth the Remaindr unsold returned./ | Richard Gurling asked that the cattle belonging to Edward Bagley's orphans be preserved and set apart for their sole use, according to their father's will and the trust placed in him, since the children were in no way liable for Sarah Southen's debt. The petition was dated 4 September 1722 and signed by Richard Gurling. Separate stock to be returned The council granted that the separate stock, on proof being given that the animals were as described in the petition, be returned to Gurling. The black cattle were to go towards payment of the debt. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 September 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Account of Sarah Southen's sale Richard Tinsley brought in an account of the sale of the goods seized from Sarah Southen. Sarah Southen to have a copy of the inventory, with the unsold remainder returned The council ordered Tinsley to deliver Sarah Southen a copy of the inventory and sale, together with whatever was left unsold. The account of the sale was to be lodged in the secretary's office until the goods were paid for, which would be the following March. Interpretations The order to return the unsold remainder and to give Sarah Southen a copy of the inventory shows the seizure confined to what would satisfy the debt rather than stripping her of everything. A distress for debt was meant to raise the sum owed and no more, so goods that found no buyer reverted to the owner and she received a record of what had been taken and sold. This closed the recovery pressed against her since the consultation of 28 August 1722, after her repeated denial of any debt and the resignation of the first marshal John Dixon recorded at the consultation of 30 August 1722. The distinction drawn in the Gurling grant between the separate stock and the black cattle marks two different bodies of animals caught in the same seizure. The orphans' stock, proved to be theirs and given by various donors, was released to their executor as property never liable for Sarah Southen's debt, while the black cattle were kept to be sold towards the sum owed. Returning the children's beasts on proof, yet holding her own, allowed the council to satisfy the Company without taking property that belonged to the protected orphan estate of Edward Bagley. The deferral of payment for the goods until the following March set the buyers' credit against the island's customary reckoning. Purchasers at such a public sale were not required to pay at once but by a fixed later day, the account lodged in the secretary's office meanwhile as the record of what each owed, the same deferred settlement the council allowed on the sale of newly bought slaves and other goods. | |
401 | Septr next by our Order that the goods might Sell the better./ The Govr Reported that Charles one of the Honble Compys Blacks did on Sunday Evening last bring him a Chest lock given him by one Yon a black fellow of Mr Joshua Johnsons and Acquainted him that he heard that he had given Severall other Blacks some, afterwards Cremona an other of the Honble Companys Blacks brought him two and Daniel an other of the Honble Companys two more that on Monday Morning he Sent to Captain Goodwin to goe down to the the ffort with him to Examine whether they were not Stollen out of the Stores./ Upon Examineing the Stores Capt Goodwin found four Dozen and four Missing. Yon was brought before him and on Examination Said yt Mingo a Black belonging to Samll Jessey Said to him (as they were Carrying a hand barrow in the work repairing the Line) Yon dont you want a lock for your Chest he answered no why Mingo can you give me one, Mingo told him he might get one between the barrs in the Store Room Window where they lay with a peice of Iron Hoop Crook'd, He on Tuesday morning being the first day they begune to work in the Square did take out nine and that Cremona did watch at the door that goes from the Square to the Line and that Stephen another of the Honble Companys Blacks watched at the other door towards the Carpenters Shedd whilst he took them out, He gave four to Stephen and two to Cremona and on thursday last when all the Blacks were gone to dinner he took out Six more which no body but himself knew of that he gave two to Daniell the Carpenter to Black walton one to Charles one which was all that he disposed of among the Honble Companys Blacks Margin Notes: Govrs Report of Severall Locks. Suspected to be Stole out of ye Stores./ found 4 dozen Missing. Blacks Exam'd | The opening sentence completes the order of the previous consultation, the sale of the country goods being fixed for the day after by the council's direction so that the goods might fetch better prices. Governor's report of stolen locks The Governor reported that on the previous Sunday evening Charles, one of the Company's slaves, had brought him a chest lock given to him by Yon, a slave belonging to Mr Joshua Johnson. Charles told him he had heard that Yon had given several other slaves locks too. Afterwards Cremona, another of the Company's slaves, brought him two more, and Daniel, another of the Company's slaves, brought two more. On the Monday morning the Governor sent to Captain Goodwin to go down to the fort with him to examine whether the locks had been stolen out of the stores. Found four dozen missing On examining the stores Captain Goodwin found four dozen and four locks missing. The slaves examined Yon was brought before the Governor and questioned. He said that Mingo, a slave belonging to Samuel Jessey, had spoken to him as they were carrying a hand barrow during the repair of the line, asking whether he wanted a lock for his chest. Yon answered no, and Mingo said he could give him one. Mingo told him he might get one from between the bars of the store room window, where the locks lay, using a piece of crooked iron hoop. On the Tuesday morning, the first day they began to work in the square, Yon took out nine locks. Cremona watched at the door leading from the square to the line, and Stephen, another of the Company's slaves, watched at the other door towards the carpenters' shed, while he took them out. He gave four to Stephen and two to Cremona. On the previous Thursday, when all the slaves had gone to dinner, he took out six more that no one but himself knew of, giving two to Daniel the carpenter, one to Black Walter and one to Charles, which was all he had distributed among the Company's slaves. Interpretations The discovery of the theft turned on slaves who carried the stolen locks to the Governor rather than keeping them. Charles, Cremona and Daniel each brought him locks given by Yon, the trail of small gifts among the slaves leading back to the store room window from which they had been levered out. This pattern of disclosure exposing a concealed traffic in stolen goods among the island's slaves resembles the receiving network traced through Gabriel Powell's house thefts across the summer of 1720. The method described shows the insecurity of the store room that the storekeeper had repeatedly pressed before the council. The locks lay within reach of the barred window and could be drawn out with a bent piece of iron hoop, while two slaves watched the doors from the square to the line and to the carpenters' shed. This bore out Captain Goodwin's report at the consultation of 8 August 1721 that the store room was so exposed that goods could be taken and the losses charged to no account, and his proposal for new storehouses under his own eye. The locks were taken during the repair of the line, the slaves having access to the square as labourers on the fortifications. The decay of the line and the leaky magazine had been found at the consultation of 7 August 1722, the overseer Bell ordered to set about the repairs, and the very presence of the slave gangs at the work gave them the opening to reach the store room window when the others went to dinner. | |
402 | 1722 Blacks and that he had given two to John Moor be- longing to Mrs Carne for himself and four more to lay by for him./ Cremona Acknowledged that Yon gave him two but that he did not know how he came by them./ Stephen Said Yon gave him but three but he did not watch but that Yon told him he gott them from a Sailor Daniell said that Yon brought him a lock on thursday last to make him Satisfaction for a piece of Cloth which Yon had Stollen from hime some time before, that he told him he bought it of a Sailor and on Sunday in the afternoon he gave him another. Blackwall said that he lent Yon five Shillings some time before and that he gave him the lock for it./ John Moor Said that Yon gave him two to lay by for him and this morning hearing what Yon had done he with Lucas another of Mrs Carnes Blacks Searching up & down to See if they could find any about their House found two in the pockets of a pair of Bretches which hung up and two in a Bag. The ffifteen Locks were brought, Mingo was brought but he denyed any talk with Yon about any locks, that he had two locks by him one a Chest lock which he bought of a Sailor Some months agoe the other was a padlock given him by Andrew Berque the Cooper he fetch'd the Locks the Chest lock was one of the sort Stollen out of the stores It had been buried in the Earth which He said he did to hide it from his master He Said that Cæsar Mr Woods Black was by when he bought the Lock of the Sailor and See him pay for it, Cæsar was Called He Said that Mingo came this morning to him and bid him say if he was Called that Margin Notes: abt the Robbery. their pretences how they came by ye Locks./ | The account of Yon's distribution of the locks continued. Yon had given two locks to John Moor, a slave belonging to Mrs Carne, for himself, and four more to lay by for him. About the robbery Cremona acknowledged that Yon had given him two locks but said he did not know how Yon had come by them. Stephen said Yon had given him only three locks, and that he had not kept watch, but that Yon had told him he got them from a sailor. Daniel said that Yon had brought him a lock on the previous Thursday to make amends for a piece of cloth Yon had stolen from him some time before. Yon told him he had bought it from a sailor, and on the Sunday afternoon gave him another. Black Walter said he had lent Yon five shillings some time before and that Yon had given him the lock for it. John Moor said that Yon had given him two locks to lay by for him. That morning, on hearing what Yon had done, he searched up and down with Lucas, another of Mrs Carne's slaves, to see whether they could find any about their house, and found two in the pockets of a pair of breeches hanging up and two more in a bag. How they pretended to have come by the locks The fifteen locks having been brought in, Mingo was examined but denied any talk with Yon about locks. He admitted having two locks of his own, one a chest lock he had bought from a sailor some months before, the other a padlock given him by Andrew Bergue the cooper. He had fetched the locks. The chest lock was one of the sort stolen from the stores. It had been buried in the earth, which he said he did to hide it from his master. He said that Caesar, Mr Wood's slave, had been present when he bought the lock from the sailor and saw him pay for it. Caesar was called. Mingo said that Caesar had come to him that morning and asked him to say, if he were called, that [...]. Interpretations The examinations show each slave offering a sailor as the innocent source of his lock, the same explanation repeated across several mouths. Buying from a sailor was the standard cover for goods that could not lawfully be held, since a slave had no recognised capacity to own or trade and possession of store goods was treated as proof of theft. The council had proclaimed against exactly this traffic in its advertisement of 24 February 1720 against dealing between white inhabitants and the Company's slaves, and the laundering of provenance through a claimed ship origin had been laid bare in the Powell house thefts of 1720. The locks passed through the slave community as a small currency, given in payment of private debts and obligations among the slaves themselves. Yon gave Black Walter a lock for five shillings lent, and gave Daniel a lock to make amends for cloth he had earlier stolen from him, so that stolen Company goods served to settle reckonings between slaves who had no other money. This hidden economy among the island's slaves, bartering goods for cloth, debts and favours, mirrors the network of exchange exposed in the receiving cases of 1720. Mingo's burial of the chest lock to hide it from his master marks the concealment that a slave's want of any title forced on him. Holding goods he could not account for, he hid them in the earth rather than keep them openly, and his attempt to suborn Caesar into swearing to the sailor story shows the same effort to manufacture a lawful provenance. The crooked iron hoop, the watched doors and the buried lock together trace a deliberate scheme to strip the store room and disperse its contents beyond recovery. | |
403 | Septr that he did see him buy a Chest Lock of a Sailor about the Sea gate But Cæsar Said he knew nothing of it. Phill Rowley a free Black Said that Mingo offered him a Chest Lock above three weeks Since. The Governour Orderd./ Yon to receive a hundred lashes Mingo a hundred and both to be dischard the Works Cremona ffifty Daniell twenty one Stephen ffifty Blackwall twenty one John Moor twenty one. As an Encouragement for the discovery we order Charles to have the value of ten Shillings out of the Stores of what he Chooses. Orderd that Samuell Jessey be Summond next Consul- tation day to make Satisfaction for the Remainder of those Locks stollen out of the Stores and not Yet discovered porsuant to the Law of this Island. Captain Goodwin brought in his monthly Accot of goods Sold and Deliverd out of the Stores, for the month of Augst last which was Examind and Approvd of./ Mr Slaughter brought in his Accot of the Expence of the Generall table for the month of August last which was Examind approvd of and is fellows./ Particulars 680 of Beef at 2s 5d ⅌ 100 8 10 5 Goats at 10/ 2 10 4 Hides at 5/6 1 14 Fowles at 1/6 1 1 2 Ducks at 1/6 3 6a Eggs at 1d 5 2 Card Over 13 9 7 Margin Notes: their punishmt As an Encouragement for the discovery Saml Jessey to make Satisfaction for Locks wanting Storekeeprs Accot for August The Stewards Acct for August | The account of the locks closed with the testimony about Mingo's purchase. Caesar was to say he had seen Mingo buy a chest lock from a sailor near the Sea Gate, but Caesar said he knew nothing of it. Phil Rowley, a free black, said that Mingo had offered him a chest lock above three weeks before. The Governor ordered the following punishments. Yon to receive a hundred lashes. Mingo a hundred lashes, and both to be discharged from the works. Their punishment Cremona fifty lashes. Daniel twenty-one lashes. Stephen fifty lashes. Black Walter twenty-one lashes. John Moor twenty-one lashes. Reward for the discovery As an encouragement for the discovery, the council ordered Charles to have the value of ten shillings out of the stores in whatever he chose. Samuel Jessey to make satisfaction for the locks wanting The council ordered Samuel Jessey summoned to the next consultation day to make satisfaction for the remainder of the locks stolen from the stores and not yet recovered, according to the law of the island. Storekeeper's account for August Captain Goodwin brought in his monthly account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores for the previous month of August, which was examined and approved. The steward's account for August Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the general table for the previous month of August, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 680 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £8 10s 0d. 5 goats at 10 shillings each, £2 10s 0d. 4 hides at 5 shillings 6 pence each, £1 [...]. 14 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £1 1s 0d. 2 ducks at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 3s 0d. 6 dozen eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 5s 2d. Carried over: £13 9s [...]. Interpretations The reward of ten shillings to Charles set a deliberate price on disclosure, encouraging slaves to bring stolen goods to the Governor rather than keep or trade them. By rewarding the slave who first carried in a lock and giving him the value in goods of his own choosing, the council turned the slave community's knowledge of the theft against the thieves, the same use of informers that had broken the receiving networks of 1720. The graded scale of lashes shows the punishment fitted to each slave's part in the scheme. Yon and Mingo, as the principal thief and the contriver who showed him how to reach the locks, received a hundred lashes each and were put out of the works, while those who only kept watch or received single locks were whipped less severely, the fifty for the doorkeepers and twenty-one for the mere receivers marking their lesser share. This differential treatment by degree of involvement matched the proportioned penalties the council applied to the Powell house receivers in 1720. The summons of Samuel Jessey to make good the locks still missing placed the loss on the owner of the slave who began the theft. Mingo belonged to Jessey, and under the island's law the master answered for the value of what his slave had stolen and could not be recovered, the same principle by which the runaway reward and other charges were laid on owners to make them watch their slaves. Forty-four of the four dozen and four locks remained unaccounted, and Jessey was called to satisfy the Company for the shortfall. | |
404 | 1722 Brot over 13 9 2 64 of Butter at 1/6 3 4 31 Days Greens at 1/ 1 11 12 pd Salt Beef at 2/10 1 14 12 Do Pork at 2/6 1 10 64 Gallons of vinegar at 4/ 1 5 1 Quart of Sweet Oyle 3 6 Sugar Candy at 1/ 6 136 Sugar at 1/6 8 8 63 Gallons of Arrack at 6/4 19 19 90 Bottles of Madera Wine at 1/ 4 10 12 Do Port at 2/6 1 10 12 Flasks of French Wine at 2/6 1 10 8 Persia Wine at 2/6 1 7 of Tea at 7/6 2 12 6 24 of Soape at 1/6 1 14 38 of flower at 1/3 9 6 130 of Bread at 1/3 1 12 6 67 of Candles at 1/6 5 6 William Slaughter 66 8 2 Jno Long appeard according to the last Consultation It appeard by the Honble Companys Books that William Port- ley had paid to Mr Perkins Accot ten pounds in the Year 1714 three pounds in the Year 1715 and three pounds in the Year 1716 with which Mrs Bazell was Satisfyed. Capt Goodwin desired that he might have a Lease for a peice of Land in James Valley, Adjoyning to his house and the new Sesions House 6 foot in front and Eighty Deep to Buildon for ninety nine Years Granted To Margin Notes: It appears how Wm Portley paid Mr Bazell by debt of 16£ &c. Lease Granted Capt Goodwin for ground in James Valley for 99 years./ | The steward's account of the general table for August continued, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £13 9s 2d. 64 pounds of butter at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £3 4s 0d. 31 days' greens at 1 shilling per day, £1 11s 0d. 12 pounds of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence per pound, £1 14s 0d. 12 pounds of pork at 2 shillings 6 pence per pound, £1 10s 0d. 64 gallons of vinegar at 4 shillings per gallon, £1 5s 0d. 1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d. 6 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 6s 0d. 136 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £8 8s 0d. 63 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £19 19s 0d. 90 bottles of Madeira wine at 1 shilling each, £4 10s 0d. 12 bottles of port at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £1 10s 0d. 12 flasks of French wine at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £1 10s 0d. 8 bottles of Persia wine at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £1 0s 0d. 7 pounds of tea at 7 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 12s 6d. 24 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £1 14s 0d. 38 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 9s 6d. 130 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 12s 6d. 67 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £5 0s 6d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £66 8s 2d. John Long appeared according to the last consultation. The Company's books showed that William Portley had paid Mrs Perkins's account ten pounds in the year 1714, three pounds in the year 1715 and three pounds in the year 1716, with which Mrs Bazett was satisfied. How William Portley paid Mrs Bazett the debt of sixteen pounds The books confirmed the payment of the sixteen pounds in those three instalments. Lease granted to Captain Goodwin for ground in James Valley for ninety-nine years Captain Goodwin asked for a lease of a piece of land in James Valley adjoining his house and the new sessions house, six foot in front and eighty deep, to build on for ninety-nine years. The council granted it. Interpretations The vindication of Portley's payment closed the dispute the council had sent to the books at the consultation of 4 September 1722. Mrs Bazett had pressed John Long, as Portley's executor, for a debt she claimed unpaid, but the books showed the sixteen pounds discharged in three instalments across 1714 to 1716, and she accepted the record. The matter ran back to the late Captain Bazett's claim on the account of Thomas Perkins, the kind of stale obligation the corrected books were kept to resolve, and Portley was the discharged chief overseer convicted of perjury at the general sessions of 15 December 1720. The grant to Captain Goodwin matches the ninety-nine-year lease given to Bridget Bazett at the consultation of 4 September 1722, the long term again answering the cost of building. A narrow strip six foot wide and eighty deep was of use only to the adjoining holder who could absorb it into his own plot, and the council let such interstitial ground in the close-built valley to the neighbour at a long term that rewarded substantial construction. The parcel lay against the new sessions house, the venue for courts near the United Castle. The arrack at nearly twenty pounds dominates the table's expense, the single largest article by a wide margin. As the chief strong liquor of the island, supplied from the East and sold under the Company's monopoly, arrack was both the costliest item on the gentlemen's table and the staple drink of the settlement, here charged at 6 shillings 4 pence the gallon against the moderate rates of the wines and the small sums for provisions. | |
405 | Septr To prevent the like Complaint as in the last Genrl Letter that the Duplicate and Copy of a Consultation did not agree, Business in the Secretarys office we think is in that posture now that for the future both Copys and Duplicates may be kept in that forwardness as that they may be broughtt into Consultation the first Consultation in Every month to be Examined Orderd Accordingly./ Captain Goodwin the Storekeeper Acquainted us that the Guirahs appointed in Consultation of the 18th of July 1721 for the reasons therein Mentiond to be Sold out at Six Shillings a piece are all Sold and desired that We would set the price on the three Hundred peices bought of Capt Glegg at Seven Shillings and Six pence ⅌ pt be Sold out at nine Shillings and Six pence p piece. Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ye 18th day of Septembr 1722 at Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Pres Edwd Byfield 2 John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4te Lame The last Consultation Read and Approvd of./ Capt Alexander Acquainted us that porsuant to the Order in the last Consultation, he had Delivered Copys of those papers Relating to Mrs Southern to the Marshall for him to deliver to South Richd Margin Notes: Business in yt Secretrys Office in a good posture Consultations to be Exam'd monthly. Damagd Guirahs all Sold. that Series bought to be Sold at 9s 6d ⅌ pt Copys of Saml Jesseys peticon Delivd to ye marshall by ye Marshall | The opening sentence completes the council's resolution on the keeping of the records. To prevent a recurrence of the complaint made in the last general letter, that the duplicate and copy of a consultation had not agreed, the council settled the business of the secretary's office on a better footing. Business in the office in good order The council found the office now in such order that for the future both copies and duplicates could be kept up to date, ready to be brought into consultation. Consultations to be examined monthly The council ordered the first consultation of every month examined for this purpose, and directed accordingly. Damaged gurrahs all sold Captain Goodwin the storekeeper reported that the gurrahs appointed to be sold at six shillings a piece at the consultation of 18 July 1721, for the reasons given there, were all sold. He asked that the price on the three hundred pieces bought from Captain Glegg at seven shillings and six pence per piece be fixed. Those since bought to be sold at 9 shillings 6 pence per piece The council ordered the three hundred pieces sold at nine shillings and six pence per piece. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 18 September 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth, lame. The previous consultation was read and approved. Copies of the papers about Sarah Southen delivered to the marshal Captain Alexander reported that, in accordance with the order of the last consultation, he had delivered copies of the papers relating to Sarah Southen to the marshal Richard [...], for him to deliver to Sarah Southen. Interpretations The monthly examination of the records answered a specific fault the directors had complained of, that a consultation's copy and duplicate did not match. The island sent home two versions of its proceedings, and any divergence between them undermined the record on which London relied. By ordering the first consultation of each month checked, the council built a routine guard against the kind of clerical slip that had drawn the directors' censure, the same drive to keep the books true that had run through the accountant's office since 1719. The repricing of the gurrahs shows the storekeeper setting the selling price by reference to prime cost. Gurrahs were a plain Indian cotton cloth imported for sale, and the older stock had been cleared at six shillings under the order of 18 July 1721, while the fresh three hundred pieces bought from Captain Glegg at seven shillings and six pence were now marked up to nine shillings and six pence, a margin of two shillings on the cost. Captain Henry Glegg had brought the Cardigan from Bengal in 1718, and the Company's practice was to price its piece goods at a set advance on invoice value. The delivery of copies of the papers to Sarah Southen completed the procedural fairness shown in the seizure against her. Having had her goods distrained and sold for her debt, she was given a full record of the inventory, the sale and the proceedings, the same furnishing of copies the council allowed to others against whom it proceeded, so that the party could see exactly what had been taken and how the account stood. This followed the recovery pressed against her since the consultation of 28 August 1722. | |
406 | 1722 Richd Tinsley the Marshall acquainted us that on Tues- day last in the afternoon he went to Mrs Southern to deliver her a Copy of the Inventory of the Goods he had Seized and a Copy of the Accot of what was Sold and told her that he was ready to deliver her what was remaining unsold in the House in the Valley She told him She would have nothing to doe with them and that She would not take any papers, if he left them there She would make Bum papers of them, So that he did not leave them, but brought them to us for further orders concerning them Orderd that the papers above Mentiond lie in the Secretary office for hor and that the Goods Remaining unsold in the House in the Valley be removed by the Marshall and kept in his Custody untill further Orders in order to clear the House that Saml Jessey who bought it may take possesion thereof and that a Conveyance be forthwith made by the Secretary to the Said Jessey for the Said House./ William Coles brought in the following Petition. The Humle Petition of Wm Coles Soldier Sheweth/ That forasmuch as your Petitioner having lately Sold his House Land and plantation to John Pirling for pay- ment of the Honble Companys debt and his debts to others (it being Impossible for him to doe it any other way) and therby being destitute of any land to Raise provision for the Suppor of his family. Humbly prays to become Tennant to the Honble Company, for about two Acres of Gumwood Land lying in dog- wood Valley to build a House on and about Ten Acres more Lying on one Side of Deep valley to make a Plantation on, for that your Said Petitioner finds it very Expencive to buy pro- visions for himself and family and will Run him behind hand Daily Margin Notes: The Marshalls report abt Mrs Southerns refusing ye papers he carried her./ ye papers to be Lodgd in ye Secrty Office. Goods Unsold to be in ye Marshalls Custody./ Jessey to have a Bill of Sale./ Will Coles having Sold his ocn Land &c. Desires to Rent a peice of ye HC. | The marshal's report about Sarah Southen's refusal of the papers he brought her The marshal Richard Tinsley reported that on the previous Tuesday afternoon he had gone to Sarah Southen to deliver her a copy of the inventory of the goods he had seized and a copy of the account of what had been sold. He told her he was ready to deliver whatever remained unsold in the house in the valley. She told him she would have nothing to do with him or with them, and that she would not take any papers. If he left them there she would make them into [...] paper, so that he did not leave them, but brought them back to the council for further orders. The papers to be lodged in the secretary's office The council ordered the papers lodged in the secretary's office for Sarah Southen. The goods remaining unsold to be in the marshal's custody The council ordered the goods remaining unsold in the house in the valley removed by the marshal and kept in his custody until further orders, so as to clear the house. Jessey to have a bill of sale Samuel Jessey, who had bought the house, was to take possession of it, and a conveyance was to be made forthwith by the secretary to Jessey for the house. William Coles brought in the following petition. William Coles, soldier, petitioned the council, setting out that he had lately sold his house, land and plantation to John Pirling to pay his debt to the Company and his debts to others, since he could not pay them any other way. He was thereby left without any land to raise provisions for the support of his family. He asked to become tenant to the Company for about two acres of gumwood land lying in Dogwood Valley to build a house on, and about ten acres more lying on one side of Deep Valley to make a plantation. He found it very costly to buy provisions for himself and his family and would run himself further into debt. Interpretations The refusal of Sarah Southen to take the papers left the council to lodge them on her behalf and clear the house regardless. Her continued defiance, of a piece with her shutting her doors against the first marshal at the consultation of 30 August 1722 and her denial of any debt, could not stop the seizure once the goods were sold and the house conveyed away. By placing the inventory and account in the secretary's office and removing the unsold goods into the marshal's custody, the council completed the recovery while preserving her right to the record and the remainder whenever she chose to claim them. The sale of the house had satisfied her debt to the Company pressed since the consultation of 28 August 1722. The Coles petition shows a Company servant forced to sell his whole holding to clear his debts and then seeking fresh land to survive. Having parted with his house, land and plantation to John Pirling to satisfy the Company and his private creditors, he was left unable to feed his family except by buying provisions that drove him deeper into debt. His request for waste land to build on and plant turned to the Company as the source of the very subsistence its debt had stripped from him, the same dependence on Company land grants that recurs across these records. The grant of waste land to raise provisions served the Company's own interest in a self-supporting population that did not burden it. A planter who grew his own food was no charge on the stores and might in time supply the shipping, so letting Coles gumwood and plantation ground answered both his need and the island's standing want of provision-growers, the council's policy of settling industrious holders on its waste to increase the island's produce. | |
407 | Septr Daily is obligd to buy always and therefore beggs a grant of the two parcells of Land aforesaid. And as in Duty &ca Sept ye 18th 1722 William Coles We understanding that the Ten Acres mentiond in the Petition above, was formerly in the posession of John Worrall Planter Referred the Petition to a further Consideration untill We have Spoke with the Said John Worrall about ye Said Land./ Jonathan Higham Junr presented ye follond Petic The Humble Petition of Jonath Higham Junr Sheweth That your Petitioner greatly Suffers by the Blacks Samuell Price Lets to be in house in Sandy bay Valley in order to Look after his Plantation which He hires of the Honble Compd and which your Petitioner is informd the Said Price wants to dispose of he not being able of himself to Mannage it and your Petitioner haveing five Acres that lies very near to that of the Said Prices Humbly prays he may be admitted Tennant to the Honble Company, for the Said two Acres which if granted to any other person will be very detrimental to your Said Petr by living so near to him and damages he will be lyable to Sus- tain daily by Hoggs, besides Severall other Inconveniences, Wherefore Humbly prays his Request may be granted the premisses being Considered./ And as in Duty &ca Sept ye 18th 1722 Jonathan Higham Junr Orderd that Samuell Price be Summond to attend next Consultation Day & then the Petitioner to have his answer. Samuell Margin Notes: Referd till further Consideracion Vide Jonath Higham Complt agt Saml Price and desires to become Tennt for 2 Acres Land | The Coles petition closed with his plea that, since he was obliged to buy provisions daily, the grant of the two parcels of land would relieve him. The petition was dated 18 September 1722 and signed by William Coles. Deferred for further consideration The council, understanding that the ten acres named in the petition had formerly been in the possession of John Worrall, planter, deferred the petition for further consideration until it had spoken with Worrall about the land. Jonathan Higham junior presented the following petition. Jonathan Higham junior's complaint against Samuel Price, and his request to become tenant for the two acres of land Jonathan Higham junior petitioned the council, setting out that he suffered great losses by the slaves Samuel Price kept in his house in Sandy Bay Valley to look after the plantation Price hired from the Company. He was informed that Price wanted to give it up, being unable to manage it himself. Higham held five acres lying very near to Price's, and asked to be admitted tenant to the Company for the two acres. If granted to any other person the land would be very harmful to him, since a near neighbour would expose him to damage by hogs and to several other inconveniences. The petition was dated 18 September 1722 and signed by Jonathan Higham junior. Price to be summoned before any answer The council ordered Samuel Price summoned to attend the next consultation day, after which Higham would have his answer. Interpretations The deferral of the Coles grant shows the council guarding against letting land that might carry a prior claim. The ten acres he sought had formerly been held by John Worrall, and rather than grant ground that another might still claim, the council held the petition until it had spoken with Worrall. This caution over the disposal of waste land, confirming a parcel was clear before letting it, ran through all the council's lettings under Governor Johnson. The Higham petition turns on the standing problem of damage between neighbouring holders in Sandy Bay. Higham held five acres next to the parcel Price wished to give up, and feared that a stranger admitted to it would expose his ground to straying hogs and other harm, whereas absorbing it himself would remove the risk. By seeking the adjoining land before it passed to another, he invoked the same logic of consolidating a holding against neighbour disputes that recurs across these records, the want of lawful fences and the trespass of hogs being a constant source of complaint. The order to summon Price before answering ensured the sitting tenant was heard before his land was relet. Price hired the parcel from the Company, and his interest had to be settled before it could pass to Higham, so the council called him to the next consultation rather than dispose of the ground over his head. Samuel Price had served the Company many years and settled as a planter on the former Bodley plantation, and appears repeatedly in these records seeking and holding Company land. | |
408 | 1722 Samuel Jessey appeard upon the Summons in the last Consultation and promisses to make Satisfaction for the Locks Stollen and missing out of the Stores upon Captain Goodwins giving him an accot of the Vallue of the Locks./ Edwd Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thursray the 27 day of Septembr 1722 at the Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr Edwd Byfield 2 John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4te The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Porsuant to an Advertizement out We this day made up accot with all the Work people and others, And those that had Creditt due to them Transferd Creditt to any that were Indebted to the Honble Company were as follows./ Jas Whalley Serjt having Creditt for work as Stone Layer to James Draper 2 10 Thomas Dutch Serjt to Elizh Marsh, for Dictt 2 10 Richd Hareling Sold having Creditt for Sallary To Thomas Swallows Estate 5 7 6 George Lendon Drumer for Dictt to James Draper 1 10 Wm Simpson Serjt to Saml Jessey for dictt 1 16 0 Benjn Margin Notes: Saml Jessey promisses to make Satisfaction for the Locks Stole./ Reckoning &c Transfers made | Samuel Jessey to make satisfaction for the locks stolen Samuel Jessey appeared on the summons from the last consultation and promised to make satisfaction for the locks stolen and missing from the stores, once Captain Goodwin gave him an account of the value of the locks. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Thursday 27 September 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Reckoning and credit transferred In accordance with an advertisement issued earlier, the council that day made up the accounts with all the workpeople and others. Those who had credit due to them transferred it to any who were indebted to the Company, as follows. Joseph Whaley, sergeant, having credit for work as a stone layer, to James Draper: £2 10s 0d. Thomas Dutch, sergeant, to Elizabeth Marsh, for diet: £2 10s 0d. Richard Harding, soldier, having credit for salary, to Thomas Swallow's estate: £5 7s 6d. George Lendon, drummer, for diet, to James Draper: £1 10s 0d. William Simpson, sergeant, to Samuel Jessey, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Interpretations The promise of Jessey to satisfy the Company for the missing locks confirmed the owner's liability for his slave's theft. Mingo, who had contrived the robbery of the stores, belonged to Jessey, and under the island's law the master answered for the value of what his slave had stolen and could not be recovered, here the locks still wanting of the four dozen and four found short at the consultation of 4 September 1722. Jessey reasonably required an account of the value before paying, so that the charge against him could be fixed. The transfer of credits among the workpeople shows the Company acting as a clearing house for the island's small debts. A man owed for his labour or salary could assign that credit to another who owed the Company, so that the obligations cancelled in the books without coin changing hands, the diet debts of some settled by the wages of others. This bookkeeping of mutual debts, advanced by the corrected accounts since 1719, let a remote settlement short of currency square its reckonings on paper. The advertisement calling in such claims continued the practice begun under the drive to clear the books. The credits arose from the two main forms in which the Company owed its people, labour and diet. Joseph Whaley and Richard Harding were owed for stone-laying and salary, while Thomas Dutch, George Lendon and William Simpson were owed for diet, the board the Company found them, and each turned his credit to the discharge of a private debt. Joseph Whaley had been raised to four shillings a day as a stone layer, and Thomas Dutch was the publican who lost his licence for harbouring the discharged gunner's mate Worrall in 1720. | |
409 | Septr Benjn Pledger having Creditt due to him for two head Cattle & three Hoggs Cash notes and Custom for alarms amounting to 12 8 9 Besides Sallary Remaining due 2 5 8 Transfers to Edmd Bodley towards paymt of ye H Comp debt 14 14 5 Thom: Gardner to Thomas Allis for Dictt 1 16 Edmd Bodley to John Pirling for Dictt 1 16 Jno Wm Pypher to Richd Gurling for dictt 2 10 Jno Whalley In Francis Wrangham for dictt 1 16 Samuell Price appeard according to Summons Orderd in the foregoing Consultation and the Petition of Jonathan Higham Junr Entord in the Said Consultation being reporused & Considerd Orderd that the Said Samuell Price assigne his Right to the Said Land to the Said Higham He Entering to his Creditt towards payment of his debt to the Honble Company the Sume of twenty pounds at the 25th of March next Ensueing and to have a Lease for the Same when Measured by the Surveyor. Orderd that the Marshall be Sent to Samuell Price to bring his deeds relating to the House Sold to Willm Scale in order to make a title to the Said Scale./ Marys Orchard Widow brought this day the Last Will and Testament of hor deceasd Husband John Orchard Desireing it might be proved which was Accordingly done by the Witneses Orlando Bagley Senr and James Vesey the other Witness Peter Sinsnick being dead Since the Said will was Signd. Orderd the Said Will be approved of and Registerd Accordg This day Appeard Jonathan Doveton, Francis Leach and James Leach Who Petitiond the Honble Company for a devidend of Sifty two pounds one Shilling and four pence Lodged Severall years agoe in the Honble Companys Cash here The orphan for whom Margin Notes: Saml Price Appeard & Jonad Highams Petition reporused./ Price to assigne his right to land Higham he paying £20 to ye H Coy./ Price to deliver up his deeds. Jno Orchards Will proved./ Petitioners for their part of an Orphs devidend | The transfer of credits among the workpeople continued. Benjamin Pledger, having credit due to him for two head of cattle and three hogs in cash notes and custom for alarms amounting to £12 8s 9d, besides salary remaining due of £2 5s 8d, transferred to Edmund Bodley towards payment of his Company debt: £14 14s 5d. Thomas Gardner to Thomas Allis, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Edmund Bodley to John Pirling, for diet: £1 16s 0d. John William Pypher to Richard Gurling, for diet: £2 10s 0d. John Whalley to Francis Wrangham, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Samuel Price appeared and Higham's petition reperused Samuel Price appeared on the summons ordered in the previous consultation, and the petition of Jonathan Higham junior entered there was read again and considered. Price to assign his right to Higham, Higham paying £20 to the Company The council ordered Samuel Price to assign his right to the land to Higham. Higham was to enter to his credit, towards payment of his debt to the Company, the sum of twenty pounds on the following 25 March, and to have a lease of the land once it was measured by the surveyor. Price to deliver up his writings The council ordered the marshal sent to Samuel Price to bring in his deeds relating to the house sold to William Seale, so as to make a title to Seale. John Orchard's will proved Mary Orchard, widow, brought in that day the last will and testament of her deceased husband John Orchard, asking that it be proved. This was done on the oaths of the witnesses Orlando Bagley, sergeant, and James Vesey, the other witness Peter Sinsnick having died since the will was signed. The council ordered the will approved and registered. Petitioners for their part of an orphan's dividend Jonathan Doveton, Francis Leach and James Leach appeared that day and petitioned the Company for a dividend of fifty-two pounds one shilling and four pence lodged several years before in the Company's cash. The orphan for [...]. Interpretations The transfer of credits shows the same clearing of mutual debts in the Company's books carried through a long list of the island's people. Benjamin Pledger's credit for cattle, hogs and alarm custom, together with arrears of salary, passed to Edmund Bodley to discharge his Company debt, while smaller diet credits moved from one man to another, the obligations cancelling on paper without coin. This bookkeeping of assigned credits, advanced by the corrected accounts since 1719, let the settlement settle its reckonings against the chronic want of currency. The resolution of the Higham petition reset the terms on which the Sandy Bay parcel passed. Price was to assign his right to the adjoining holder Higham, who in turn entered twenty pounds to his own credit against his Company debt at the next quarter day and took a lease once the ground was measured, so that the reletting both satisfied the neighbour's wish to consolidate against hog damage and turned the land to the discharge of a debt. This followed the summons of Price ordered at the consultation of 18 September 1722, the sitting tenant heard before his land was relet. The proof of John Orchard's will on two oaths, the third witness having died, shows the council's standing test for admitting a will to registration. Two surviving witnesses swearing to the signing sufficed where a third was dead, the will then approved and entered in the book kept for the purpose with copies on demand, the same procedure applied to the wills of Margaret Sich, Richard Coles and John Marsh across these records. Orlando Bagley and James Vesey were long-established planters who recur as witnesses and jurors. The Leach petition raises a long-dormant orphan's fund lodged years before in the Company's cash. Money belonging to the children of a dead planter had been left in the Company's keeping, and the kinsmen now sought their share, the council holding such funds and paying them out only to those with a proved claim. Francis and James Leach had earlier sought the credit of their brother Richard Leech, gone as a ship-carpenter's apprentice and long unheard of, refused at the consultation of 29 April 1718 because payable only to a lawful administrator. | |
410 | 1722 whom that money was so Secured during his minority not being heard of above sixteen Years they beleive him to be dead. According to the Honble Companys Instructions We paid them each one fourth thirteen pounds and four pence the other fourth part to be divided between the Widow of Robert Leach deceasd and the orphan, one third to the Widow (now the Wife of Ralph Orme Planter) two thirds to the orphans the Widows third was Transferd towards the payment of Ralph Ormes debt to the Honble Company Mr Doveton one of the Executers of Robt Leach desired that the two Thirds due to the Orphans might remain in the Honble Companys Cash which was done./ Orderd that Letters of Administration be granted to the Eldest Brother Francis Leach and that the three Brothers Enter into Bond next Consultation day porsuant to the Perpt of the Last Generall Letter by ye Lethieullier We this Day Signd and deliverd the Conveyance to Saml Jessey mentiond in the Last Consultation, for the House he bought at Publick auction late in the posession of Sarah Southern./ The Said Samuel Jessey desires the Said Conveyance now deliverd him may be Registerd Orderd it be Regist Accordg William Scale being Indebted to Samuel Price, for His House In James Valley as p Consultation of the 12 of June Last paid and Trensferd to Samuel Prices Credit Caleb Davis for Voyages in the Long boat Riungb 4 Transferd to Willm Scale Jno Scale Soldier having Credit for Sallary Transferd to William Scale 5 7 6 Carrd over 9 7 6 Margin Notes: His same paid porsuant to ye HCs Instructions & to whome. Mr Dovetons request abt ye othr ⅓. Lettr of Admd granted to Eldest Bro. Bond to be given. Jesseys Conveyance for ye House Signd & Delivd./ And to be Registerd. Scale pays in to 30 of Prices debt./ | The Leach petition closed with the account of the missing brother for whom the money had been secured during his minority. Not having been heard of for above sixteen years, the family believed him dead. The same paid in accordance with the Company's instructions, and to whom Following the Company's instructions, the council paid the three brothers one fourth each, thirteen pounds and four pence. The remaining fourth part was to be divided between the widow of the deceased Robert Leach and the orphan, one third to the widow, now the wife of Ralph Orme, planter, and two thirds to the orphans. The widow's third was transferred towards payment of Ralph Orme's debt to the Company. Mr Doveton's request that the two thirds for the orphans remain Mr Doveton, one of the executors of Robert Leach, asked that the two thirds due to the orphans remain in the Company's cash, which was done. Letters of administration to be granted to the eldest brother, and a bond to be given The council ordered letters of administration granted to the eldest brother Francis Leach, and that the three brothers enter into bond at the next consultation day, in accordance with the directors' last general letter brought by the Leithulier. Jessey's conveyance signed and delivered The council signed and delivered that day the conveyance to Samuel Jessey named in the last consultation, for the house he had bought at public auction, lately in the possession of Sarah Southen. And to be registered Samuel Jessey asked that the conveyance now delivered him be registered, which the council ordered done. Seale pays in to 30 of Price's debt William Seale, being indebted to Samuel Price for his house in James Valley as recorded in the consultation of 12 June 1722, paid and transferred to Samuel Price's credit the following, set out under the names with their sums. Caleb Davis, for voyages in the long boat, transferred to William Seale: £4 0s 0d. John Seale, soldier, having credit for salary, transferred to William Seale: £5 7s 6d. Carried over: £9 7s 6d. Interpretations The division of the Leach fund shows the Company administering an absent man's portion and the shares of the dead and the orphaned through its hold on the cash. The long-missing brother's quarter was split among the surviving brothers, while the dead Robert Leach's quarter passed in fixed fractions to his widow and the orphans, the widow's third turned at once to discharge her new husband Ralph Orme's debt. This holding and apportioning of family money, paid out only on the directors' instructions and to proved claimants, made the Company a banker and trustee to its servants' estates, the same role recorded in the refusal of the Leach credit at the consultation of 29 April 1718. The grant of administration to the eldest brother and the bond required of all three answered the rule that such funds pass only to a lawful administrator under security. The earlier refusal had turned on the want of administration, and now the council cured the defect by granting it to Francis Leach and binding the brothers, in accordance with the directors' general letter brought by the Leithulier, so that the payment rested on proper title and a bond to answer for it. Ralph Orme, who had married Robert Leach's widow, recurs in these records as a planter who took up and surrendered Company land. The registration of Jessey's conveyance completed the disposal of Sarah Southen's house seized for her debt. The dwelling she had refused to quit, sold at public auction to Jessey, was now conveyed and the deed entered for the security of his title, closing the recovery pressed against her since the consultation of 28 August 1722. The transfer of credits to discharge Seale's debt to Price for his James Valley house, recorded at the consultation of 12 June 1722, shows again the clearing of private debts through assigned Company credits without coin. | |
411 | Octobr Brot over 9 7 6 Paid in Gold 12 13 By Cash Bills 5 17 6 By Plantation for 124 of Beef 1 11 By Do Turkey and four fowles 11 30 Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 2d day of Octobr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4te The Last Consultation Read and Approvd of. The Gunner brought in His Accot of Gunnors Stores Expend- ed in the Month of Septembr last which was Examind and Approvd and is as follows./ ye 5 It being Muster day 8 14 To Capt Goodwin 7 16 At the Funeral of John Orchard 5 23 At the Funeral of Andrew Cason 5 27 To Captn Goodwin 1 Expence for the Gaurd 9 Musquett Balls 6 Cartridge paper 2 Card over 2 6 22 Margin Notes: Gunrs Accot for Septr | The settlement of William Seale's debt to Samuel Price for his house in James Valley continued, the payments set out under their heads with the sums. Brought over: £9 7s 6d. Paid in gold: £12 13s 0d. By cash bills: £5 17s 6d. By the plantation, for 12 pounds of beef: £1 11s 0d. By the plantation, one turkey and four fowls: £0 11s 0d. The whole: £30 0s 0d. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 2 October 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Gunner's account for September The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of September, which was examined and approved. The account ran as follows, set out under the headings for guns fired and powder spent. 5 September, being muster day: 8 [...]. 14 September, to Captain Goodwin: 2 [...]. 16 September, at the funeral of John Orchard: 1 [...]. 23 September, at the funeral of Andrew Cason: 1 [...]. 27 September, to Captain Goodwin: 1 [...]. Sixpence for the guard: 9 [...]. Musket balls: 6. Cartridge paper: 2. Carried over: 2, 6, 22. Interpretations The completion of Seale's payment in gold, cash bills and produce shows the mixed means by which a debt of thirty pounds was satisfied on the island. Part was paid in coin and cash bills, the Company's paper currency, and part in beef and poultry from the plantation, the want of ready money making goods a regular medium of payment. This combination of gold, bills and provisions to make up a single sum reflects the chronic currency shortage that ran through all the island's reckonings, the bills issued to circulate in place of coin and called in for audit since 1721. The gunner's account records two funerals among the occasions warranting an issue of powder, marking the ceremonial honours paid at the burials of John Orchard and Andrew Cason. A measure of powder was spent in salute at the funerals of men of standing, the same charge entered for such observances as for alarms and the reception of ships. The will of John Orchard had been proved at the consultation of 27 September 1722, his death thus falling just before this account, and the funeral honour confirms his place among the established planters. The form of the account, charging powder against each dated occasion, continued the monthly stores reckoning the council required of the gunner. Recording the issue by event allowed the consumption to be audited against the cause that warranted it, the muster, the funerals, the small issues to Captain Goodwin and the guard, the same method kept under the former gunner John French and his successors. | |
412 | 1722 Brot over 2 6 22 Flints 50 Match 7 Hand Spikes 3 John French 3 7 50 2 6 22 With an Accot of Gunners Stores worn out or So much Dam- aged as to Render them useless and fitt for no Service if occasion Should require (vizt) Twelve twelve Pounders Four whole Culverins Gunns Two Demy Culverins Nineteen Barrells of Powder damaged by a Leake in the powder Room from the Mount. Cartridge Cases useless Thirty. The following Petitions were Presented The Petition of William Addis Orphan Sheweth/ That Whereas your Petitioner being Extream bare of all manner of Necessary Cloathing and haveing not any money or Credit to buy any Such Necessaries with, Humbly prays leave and consent of Your Worship and Councill to make choice of Mr Steward, for his Gaurdian. In order to the demand- ing and Receiving what Effects he has in the hands of Mr Greentree and Mr Johnson (Executors to your Petitioners fathers Last Will) they not taking any notice of or the Least Care to assist your Petitioner with the necessary Cloathing aforesaid and as he is one of the Garrison he ought to appear with Clean Linnen and all other Suitable Apparell and therefore beggs His Humble request may be granted./ And as in Duty &ca Octobr ye 2d 1722 William Addis Orderd Margin Notes: Guns useless. 18. Damagd Powder 19 Barrels./ Wm Addiss request to make Choice of Mr Steward for his Guardian. | Island of St Helena The gunner's account for September continued, set out under the headings for guns fired and powder spent. Brought over: 2, 6, 22. Flints: 50. Match: 7. Hand spikes: 3. The whole, signed by the gunner John French, totalled as follows: 3 hand spikes, 7 [...] of match, 50 flints, 2 [...], 6 musket balls and 22 pounds of powder spent. The gunner also brought in an account of gunner's stores worn out or so damaged as to render them useless and fit for no service if occasion should require, as follows. Guns useless, 18 Twelve twelve-pounders, four whole culverins and two demi-culverins, eighteen guns in all. Damaged powder, 19 barrels Nineteen barrels of powder damaged by a leak in the powder room from the Mount. Thirty cartridge cases useless. The following petitions were presented. William Addis's request to choose Mr Steward for his guardian William Addis, orphan, petitioned the council, setting out that he was extremely bare of all manner of necessary clothing and had no money or credit to buy any. He asked leave and consent of the Governor and council to choose Mr Steward for his guardian. This was so that he might demand and receive whatever of his effects lay in the hands of Mr Greentree and Mr Johnson, executors to his father's last will, who had taken no notice of him or shown the least care to provide him with the necessary clothing. As one of the garrison he ought to appear with clean linen and other suitable clothes, and he asked that his request be granted. The petition was dated 2 October 1722 and signed by William Addis. Interpretations The gunner's return of useless guns and damaged powder marks the decay of the island's ordnance that had been before the council all year. Eighteen guns were worn beyond service and nineteen barrels of powder spoiled by a leak in the powder room from the Mount, confirming the leaky magazine found at the consultation of 7 August 1722, when the powder and cartridges had been removed because the firing of the gun over the magazine on 8 June had let in the wet. The overseer Bell had then been ordered to repair the line and the magazine, and this account quantified the loss the decay had caused. The Addis petition shows an orphan invoking the council's protective jurisdiction against neglectful executors. The boy's effects lay with Greentree and Johnson, executors of his father's will, who had failed to clothe or maintain him, and by seeking a new guardian he sought to compel the delivery of his own property. The council stood as the guardian of the island's fatherless children, overseeing their estates through the Court for Orphans and replacing those who failed in the trust, the same oversight exercised in the Cotgrove, Steward and Griffith orphan matters across these records. The boy's plea rested on his standing in the garrison, which required him to appear in clean linen and decent clothes. A soldier was expected to keep a proper appearance, and the want of clothing that his father's estate should have furnished left him unable to meet that duty, so his claim joined his personal need to the demands of his place in the garrison. His father was Robert Addes, the planter and sworn deponent who recurs in these records, and the Steward and Greentree families were among the established executors of the island. | |
413 | Octr Orderd that the Executors be Summond to attend next Con- sultation day. The Humble Petition of Willm Beale Surgeon Sheweth Setting forth therein that he being altogether Destitute of any Land and being obliged constantly to buy Yams and other provisions for the use of his family and finding it very Expencive Humbly prays to become Tennant to the Honble Company, for about two Acres of their Wast Land Lying under the High water fall bellow the Land and Plantation late Henry Francis Deceasd where being a few Springs He doubts not of raising provisions Sufficient for his Said family and to fatt Hoggs which will be a means of putting him in a better condition to pay his debt to the Said Honble Company and therefore Humbly prays a Grant of the Said Land/ And as in Duty &ca Octobr ye 2d 1722 Granted. William Beale The Petition of Thos Watts Quartr Gunr Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner being Destitute of any House in the Fort Valley but what he is obligd to Hire which Runs him behind hand every Year and haveing a wife and family to maintaine. Humbly prays your Worship and Councill would be pleasd to grant him a Small peice of of the Honble Companys wast Ground lying between the Hous belonging to Giles Smith formerly Hugh Bodleys and the upper old Garden to Build a Small House on and a Yard which will Save your Petitioner a very great Expence and be at a Certainty of a House to live in./ And as in Duty &ca Octr ye 2d 1722 Thomas Watts Margin Notes: Execrs to Attend. Willm Beale prays a grant of some wast Land./ Granted. Thos Watts prays to Rent or to ye HC a peice of Ground to Build on./ | Island of St Helena The opening sentence completes the council's order on the Addis petition. The executors were summoned to attend the next consultation day. William Beale's petition for a grant of waste land William Beale, surgeon, petitioned the council, setting out that he was wholly without land and obliged to buy yams and other provisions constantly for his family, which he found very costly. He asked to become tenant to the Company for about two acres of their waste land lying under the High Water Fall, below the land and plantation late of the deceased Henry Francis. With a few springs there he had no doubt of raising provisions enough for his family and of fattening hogs, which would help put him in a better position to pay his debt to the Company. He therefore asked for a grant of the land. The petition was dated 2 October 1722 and signed by William Beale. The council granted the petition. Thomas Watts's petition to rent a piece of ground to build on Thomas Watts, quarter gunner, petitioned the council, setting out that he had no house in the Fort Valley but the one he was obliged to hire, which ran him behind hand every year, and that he had a wife and family to maintain. He asked the Governor and council to grant him a small piece of the Company's waste ground lying between the house belonging to Giles Smith, formerly Hugh Bodley's, and the upper old garden, to build a small house and yard on. This would save him a very great expense and give him the certainty of a house to live in. The petition was dated 2 October 1722 and signed by Thomas Watts. Interpretations The Beale and Watts petitions show the same pattern of want of land driving the people to the Company as landlord. Each man, burdened with a family and the cost of provisions or rent, sought a small parcel of Company waste to relieve himself, the surgeon to raise food and the gunner to escape a yearly hire that left him in debt. This dependence on Company land grants for both subsistence and shelter, the petitioner offering to better his condition and so pay his debt, runs through all the lettings under Governor Johnson. The grant to Beale rested on the springs that made the parcel fit to raise provisions. Two acres of waste under the High Water Fall, watered by a few springs, could be turned to yams and hog-fattening, the supply of water being the condition that made otherwise idle ground productive. Letting such a parcel answered both the surgeon's need and the island's standing want of provision-growers who would be no charge on the stores, the land lying below the holding late of Henry Francis, the planter and surveyor who recurs throughout these records. The Watts request turns on the saving of a yearly rent that drove him into debt. Hiring a house in the Fort Valley cost him more each year than he could bear, whereas a small building plot of his own gave the certainty of a dwelling without the recurring charge, so his petition weighed the one-time grant of waste ground against the continuing drain of rent. The parcel lay by Giles Smith's house, formerly Hugh Bodley's, and the upper old garden, marking the close-built valley where the council let small interstitial plots to settled holders. William Beale appears across these records as a surgeon and victualler, repeatedly bidding for the island's medical place and warned against meddling with the licensed surgeon's patients. | |
414 | 1722 Granted and that He have a Lease for twenty one Years ye Termes of repaying fifteen Shillings p annum. The Petition of William Coales Enterd in Consultation of the 18th of Sept last was Reperused and John Worrall was talkt with who acquainted us He had a grant of a peice of Land in deep Valley in Govr Bouchers time and did begin to ffence it but finding it Impossible for the Walls to Stand by reason of the Steepness of the Said Hill Side He desired Mr Bazett then the Surveyor to mea- sure the Same Quantity of Land a little distance from that on the other Side the Hill which Mr Bazett readily did He very well knowing the Said Land so begune to be ffenced would be of more Service to the Neighbourhood and the other as usefull for the Said Worrall./ The Petition of Thoms Allis Planter Sheweth That forasmuch as Your Petitioner Under- standing that William Coals has Petitiond your Worship and Councill for the grant of a Parcell of The Honble Companys wast Land lying in deep Valley, and Whereas your Petitionor haveing some Land that Lies in the Same Valley but nearer the head of it the Letting of that Land that now lies wast (and ust ever did) will be very Prejudicial to your Petitionor in Per- ticular and the neighbourhood in Generall, who has but very little Bennefitt of any Commonage but the Said Land Petitiond for by the Said Coales and will in Severall other Respects prove as Detrimental to your Said Petitioner Wherefore Humbly prays the Said Land may lie Still wast, or if it must be lett that your Petitioner for the Reasons aforesaid may be allowed to Rent it before any other Person./ And as in Duty &ca Octr ye 2d 1722 Thomas Alliss Upon Margin Notes: a Lease granted for 21 years Willm Coales Petition reperused./ Jno Worrall talkt wth abt ye Land Petitiond for./ Thos Allis Petition agt ye grant of Land Petitiond for by Will Coals. | Island of St Helena The opening sentence completes the grant on the Watts petition. He was to have a lease for twenty-one years, paying fifteen shillings a year. A lease granted for twenty-one years The council granted Thomas Watts a lease of the ground for twenty-one years at fifteen shillings a year. William Coles's petition reperused, and John Worrall spoken with about the land petitioned for The petition of William Coles entered in the consultation of 18 September 1722 was read again, and John Worrall was spoken with. Worrall told the council that he had a grant of a piece of land in Deep Valley in Governor Boucher's time and had begun to fence it, but found it impossible for the walls to stand because of the steepness of the hillside. He had then asked Mr Bazett, at that time the surveyor, to measure him the same quantity of land a little distance off on the other side of the hill, which Bazett readily did. Worrall, knowing well that the land now begun to be fenced would be of more service to the neighbourhood, was content that it serve Coles as the other parcel served himself. Thomas Allis's petition against the grant of land petitioned for by William Coles Thomas Allis, planter, petitioned the council, setting out that he understood William Coles had asked for a grant of a parcel of the Company's waste land lying in Deep Valley. He himself held some land in the same valley but nearer its head, and the letting of the land now lying waste, which had never been let before, would be very harmful to him and to the neighbourhood, who had very little benefit of any common pasture. The land Coles asked for would in several other respects prove harmful to him. He therefore asked that the land be left waste, or, if it must be let, that he be allowed for the reasons given to rent it before any other person. The petition was dated 2 October 1722 and signed by Thomas Allis. Interpretations The exchange with Worrall shows the council tracing the history of a contested parcel before granting it. The land Coles sought had been begun by Worrall under a grant in Governor Boucher's time but abandoned as unfenceable for the steepness of the hillside, Worrall taking an equivalent elsewhere by Bazett's survey, so that the ground stood clear for a fresh grant. This continued the caution shown at the consultation of 18 September 1722, when the council deferred the Coles petition until it had spoken with Worrall, the same guarding against prior claims that marked all the lettings under Governor Johnson. Mr Bazett was the late surveyor and storekeeper Captain Matthew Bazett, here recalled in his earlier office. The Allis petition raises the standing objection of the neighbouring holder to the letting of common waste. Allis held land higher in the same valley and feared that granting the idle parcel to Coles would harm both himself and the neighbourhood, who drew what little pasture they had from the open ground, and he asked either that it be left waste or that he have the first refusal. This contest between the want of provision-land and the value of common grazing had been put squarely before the council in the inhabitants' collective petition of 22 March 1720 against letting the principal waste tracts, the same tension between settlement and pasture running through these records. The competing claims of Coles and Allis to the one parcel set the council a choice between rival neighbours. Coles sought the land to raise provisions after selling his own holding to clear his debts, while Allis sought to keep it waste or take it himself to protect his adjoining ground and the common, so the council had to weigh one man's need for subsistence against another's claim of prejudice. The same parcel pulled in two directions, each petitioner pressing the harm a grant to the other would do him. | |
415 | Octr Upon which Petition and being well assured that the Letting this Land Petitiond for by William Coales will be very prejudic to Thomas Allis and others of the Neighbourhood./ Orderd that the Said Coales petition be Rejected But if he can think of any Land in another place that is fitt for his use and no way Detrimental to the publick We Shall be willing to Grant it him./ This day We granted Letters of Administration to Francis Leech mentioned in the foregoing Consultation. Jonathan Doveton Francis Leech and James Leech Enterd into Bond to Indemnify the Honble Company from any further De- mand Relating to the Dividend of ffifty two pounds one Shilll and four pence Likewise Mentiond in the foregoeing Consultatn Mr Byfeld Reports that Nell Gruah one of the Honble Compas wenches was deliverd of a Girl this morning named Marqt Porsuant to the order in the Consultation of the 11th of September last Mr Hawkes brought in the Consultations Copys and Duplics to this day which were all Examind./ Captain Goodwin Acquainted us that He had discovered a Small Island Called Sphoree on which he beleived there was a Considerab Quantity of Salt which at this time is very much wanted, because there is none Remaining in the Stores, That getting at it will be Difficult but that He himself will make an Yßay with the Assis- tance of the Honble Companys Boates and their Hands joyned with his own and that if it answers He hopes we will allow him Such a Compensation and reward for his attempting Such an Enterprize of so publick a Concernment./ Orderd that an Advertizement be Issued out forbidding any person to Attempt the fetching of Salt from the Said Margin Notes: Upon which. Ordg the Said Land to ly Wast Coals may Choose Anothr peice./ Lettr of Admt granted to ffrad Leech./ Bond given to Indemnify ye H Co. a Girl Born. Consultacions all Exam'd. Salt discovered on Sphoree Capt Goodwin Offers to make an Yßay. | Island of St Helena The council's decision on the competing petitions followed the Allis complaint. Being well satisfied that letting the land asked for by William Coles would be very harmful to Thomas Allis and others of the neighbourhood, the council ordered the land left waste. The land to lie waste, but Coles may choose another piece The council rejected the Coles petition. If Coles could think of any land elsewhere that was fit for his use and in no way harmful to the public, the council would be willing to grant it to him. Letters of administration granted to Francis Leach The council granted that day letters of administration to Francis Leach, named in the previous consultation. Bond given to indemnify the Company Jonathan Doveton, Francis Leach and James Leach entered into bond to indemnify the Company against any further demand relating to the dividend of fifty-two pounds one shilling and four pence, also named in the previous consultation. A girl slave born Mr Byfield reported that Nell Gruah, one of the Company's slave women, had been delivered of a girl that morning, named Mary. Consultation copies and duplicates examined In accordance with the order of the consultation of 11 September 1722, Mr Hawkes brought in the copies and duplicates of the consultations up to that day, which were all examined. Salt discovered on Speery Captain Goodwin reported that he had discovered a small island called Speery, on which he believed there was a considerable quantity of salt. Salt was much wanted at the time, since none remained in the stores. Captain Goodwin offers to make an essay Goodwin said that getting at the salt would be difficult, but that he himself would make an attempt with the assistance of the Company's boats and their hands joined with his own. If it answered, he hoped the council would allow him such compensation and reward for attempting an enterprise of such public concern. An advertisement issued The council ordered an advertisement issued forbidding any person to attempt the fetching of salt from the [...]. Interpretations The rejection of the Coles petition with leave to seek other ground shows the council preferring the settled neighbour's objection while not refusing the needy man outright. Allis's claim that letting the parcel would harm him and the common pasture prevailed, the land left waste, yet Coles was invited to name a parcel elsewhere that did no public harm. This balancing of a landless man's need against the prejudice to existing holders carried forward the rival petitions weighed at the consultation of 2 October 1722, the council guarding the common while still seeking to settle the people. The completion of the Leach administration and bond closed the apportioning of the long-dormant fund. Letters of administration to the eldest brother and a joint bond to indemnify the Company answered the requirement that such money pass only to a lawful administrator under security, curing the want of title that had caused the earlier refusal at the consultation of 29 April 1718. The bond protected the Company against any later claim to the fifty-two pounds, the same safeguard the directors' general letter brought by the Leithulier had required. The Speery salt venture shows the council managing a scarce necessity through a controlled private enterprise. Salt was wholly out of the stores, and Captain Goodwin's offer to fetch it from the islet with the Company's boats, in return for a reward if it answered, secured the supply while reserving the gain to the public, the accompanying advertisement forbidding any other person to attempt it. By licensing one undertaker and barring all others, the council protected both the source and the man who risked the difficult landing, the same method of a single authorised undertaker it applied to other works of public concern. The birth of the slave girl Mary, entered in the live-stock report, continued the practice of recording slave children as Company increase, as with the births of Tom, Megg and Jack noted in the spring of 1722. | |
416 | 1722 said Island untill the Honble Company are Served That when We see how it answerrs We will then think of Some way to make him Satisfaction for his own Labour and Charge. Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ye 9th day of Octobr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Mr Byfield brought in his Accot of the Honble Companys live stock and Expence for the month of Septembr last which was Examind and Approvd of./ Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his Account of Goods Sold and delivord out of the Stores in the month of September last which was also Examind and approved of./ Mr Slaughter brought in and Delivord his Accot of the Expence of the Generall Table for the Said month of Septembr which was likewise Examind Approved and is as follows./ Particulars 463 of Beef at 2s 5d ⅌ 100 5 15 9 114 of Veale at 1/6 2 17 1 Sheep at 2/4 1 4 1 Sheep at 10/ 3 6 Goats at 1/6 45 10 Fowles Card over 13 11 9 Margin Notes: Mr Byfelds Accot for Septr./ Storekeeprs Accot for Septr./ The Steward Accot for ye Genll Expence | Island of St Helena The advertisement on the salt continued, forbidding any attempt to fetch it until the Company was supplied. The order forbade fetching salt from the island until the Company was served, and provided that, once the council saw how the venture answered, it would then think of some way to make Goodwin satisfaction for his own labour and charge. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 9 October 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield's live stock account for September Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the previous month of September, which was examined and approved. Storekeeper's account for September Captain Goodwin brought in his account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores during the previous month of September, which was also examined and approved. The steward's account for September Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered his account of the expense of the general table for the previous month of September, which was also examined and approved. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 463 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £5 15s 9d. 11 pounds of veal at 6 pence per pound, £2 17s 0d. 1 sheep at 24 shillings, £1 4s 0d. 6 goats at 10 shillings each, £3 0s 0d. 10 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 15s 0d. Carried over: £13 11s 9d. Interpretations The provision made for Goodwin's reward shows the council holding back any payment until the salt venture proved itself. He was to have satisfaction for his labour and charge only once the council saw how the attempt answered, so that the reward followed success rather than effort, the public bearing no cost on a venture that might fail. This deferral of payment until the outcome was known, with a single licensed undertaker barred from competition, matched the controlled enterprise the council had settled at the consultation of 2 October 1722 to secure the wanted salt. The three monthly accounts brought together show the regular audit of the Company's charge at the island. The overseer's live stock account, the storekeeper's account of goods issued and the steward's account of the general table were each examined and approved in turn, the routine reckoning by which the council kept the Company's expense under view. This monthly rendering of the plantation, the stores and the table continued the discipline of the accounts pressed since the books were brought current after 1719. The steward's table account marks the beef as the staple of the establishment's provision, the largest article by quantity though modest in cost beside the wines and spirits of other months. The general table was the board kept for the Company's officers and servants, victualled chiefly on the island's own beef, goats and poultry, here charged at the customary 25 shillings the hundredweight for the beef that made up the bulk of the month's supply. | |
417 | Octobr Brot over 13 11 9 1 Turkey 6 1 Goose 6 64 of Butter at 1/6 3 4 75 Eggs at 1d 6 3 3 Ducks at 1/6 4 6 30 Dayes Greens at 1/ 1 10 60 Bottles of milk at 1/4 1 1 Bottle of Sweet oyle of 2 qts at 7 6 1 Bushell of Pease 8 3 3 Peices of Salt Beef at 2/10 8 6 14 Ditto Pork at 2/6 1 15 140 of Sugar at 1/6 3 10 6 of Sugar Candy at 1/ 6 28 of Soape at 1/5 1 19 8 7½ of Tea at 7/6 2 16 3 45 of Flower at 1/3 11 3 137 of Bread at 1/3 1 14 3 74 Candles at 1/6 5 11 59 Gallons Arrack at 6/4 18 13 8 23 Gallons Madera Wine at 4/0 4 12 18 Flasks of French Wine at 3/ 2 14 10 Port Wine at 2/6 p Bottle 1 5 12 Persia Wine at 2/6 1 10 260 Lemons at 2/6 ⅌ 100 3 6 3 William Slaughter 71 17 1 Mr Byfield acquainted us that Mr Vaughn the overseer informd him that the Greatest part of the Honble Companys Goatr Rangeing in and about that parcell of Land lett to Doctor Beale in the foregoing Consultation will be very detrimental to the Said Goats and Severall of them may be Killed undiscoverd./ Orderd Margin Notes: Mr Byfeld reports the Land lett to Dr Beale will be very in Detriment to ye Hon Cos Goats./ | Island of St Helena The steward's account of the general table for September continued, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £13 11s 9d. 1 turkey, £0 6s 0d. 1 goose, £0 6s 0d. 64 pounds of butter at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £3 4s 0d. 75 eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 6s 3d. 3 ducks at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 4s 6d. 30 days' greens at 1 shilling per day, £1 10s 0d. 60 bottles of milk at 4 pence each, £1 0s 0d. 1 bottle of sweet oil of 2 quarts, £0 7s 6d. 1 bushel of peas, £0 8s 3d. 3 pieces of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence each, £0 8s 6d. 14 pounds of pork at 2 shillings 6 pence per pound, £1 15s 0d. 140 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £3 10s 0d. 6 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 6s 0d. 28 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 5 pence per pound, £1 19s 8d. 7 pounds of tea at 7 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 16s 3d. 45 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 11s 3d. 137 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 14s 3d. 74 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £5 11s 0d. 59 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £18 13s 8d. 23 gallons of Madeira wine at 4 shillings per gallon, £4 12s 0d. 18 flasks of French wine at 3 shillings each, £2 14s 0d. 10 bottles of port wine at 2 shillings 6 pence per bottle, £1 5s 0d. 12 bottles of Persia wine at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £1 10s 0d. 200 lemons at 2 shillings 6 pence per 100, £3 6s 3d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £71 17s 1d. Mr Byfield's report that the Company's goats range about the land let to Doctor Beale, to the harm of the goats Mr Byfield reported that Mr Vaughn, the former overseer, had told him that the greater part of the Company's goats ranged in and about the parcel of land let to Doctor Beale at the consultation [...]. This would be very harmful to the goats, since several of them might be killed and the loss never discovered. Interpretations Byfield's report exposes a conflict between a fresh land grant and the Company's own roaming stock. The greater part of the Company's goats ranged over the very parcel under the High Water Fall lately granted to the surgeon William Beale at the consultation of 2 October 1722, so that a holder fencing and using the ground might kill goats among his own without the loss ever being traced. This collision between letting waste land and preserving the Company's flock that grazed it bore on the same tension between settlement and pasture raised in the Coles and Allis petitions and the inhabitants' objection of 22 March 1720 to letting the principal tracts. The risk that goats might be killed and the loss never discovered shows the difficulty of accounting for stock that ranged loose over granted ground. The Company's goats wandered unwatched across the island, and a grant that drew a new holder onto their range gave him both the opportunity and the cover to take them, the harm hidden among the ordinary wastage of a scattered flock. This was the same problem of leakage from a stock that could not be closely watched which had driven the runaway and theft measures and the Sandy Bay goat-theft search warrant of 28 August 1722. The table account again marks arrack as the costliest single article of the establishment's provision, charged at nearly nineteen pounds against the moderate sums for the wines and the small charges for food. As the chief spirit of the island, supplied from the East under the Company's monopoly, arrack dominated the table's expense as it had in the August account, here at 6 shillings 4 pence the gallon, the staple drink of the officers' board far outweighing the Madeira, French, port and Persia wines beside it. | |
418 | 1722 Orderd that Mr Hawkes do inform Mr Beale that Since our Information from the overseer We do not think it proper to grant him the Said Land but that if he knows of any other peice that He thinks will be for his purpose we will grant that in Lieu thereof. The Executors of Robert Addis Deceasd was on the Petition of William Addis his son (Entord in the foregoing Consultation) Had notice to appear this day Mr Johnson one of the Executors Appeard on behalf of himself and Mr Greentree the other Executors (who is not able to Walk) and Sayes that the Said William Addis never did Apply to them for any necessarys if he had they should have taken care to Supply him and upon promise He would do so the Said Addis was dismist and Orderd to Apply himself to the Executors accordingly. Copy of a Letter of Administration Granted to Francis Leech. Island St Helena We the Govr and Councill of this Island St Helena on behalf of the Honble United Company of Merchants of Engld Tradeing to the East Indies absolute Lords Proprietors of the Said Island To Francis Leech of this Island Eldest Brother to Richd Leech Orphan who went of this Island above twenty one Years since and not heard of for above Sixteen Years is in all probabillity beleived to be dead./ And Whereas the Said Richd Leech Decd (as in all pro- babillity he must be) as aforesaid was in his life and at the time of His death Seized and possesed of Divors rights and Credits within the Jurisdiction of the Said Island and He dying Intestate Margin Notes: Nót it to be given Mr Beale. Execrs of Robt Addis Appeard abt Supplying One of ye Orphs wth Necessarys. his Petition Hee promisses they will./ Lettr of Admt Granted ffrancis Leech./ | Island of St Helena Notice to be given to Mr Beale The council ordered Mr Hawkes to inform Mr Beale that, in view of the overseer's report, it did not think it proper to grant him the land. If Beale knew of any other piece he thought would suit his purpose, the council would grant that in its place. The executors of the deceased Robert Addis appeared The executors of the deceased Robert Addis appeared on the petition of his son William Addis, entered in the previous consultation, having had notice to attend that day. Mr Johnson, one of the executors, appeared on behalf of himself and Mr Greentree, the other executor, who was unable to walk. About supplying him with necessaries Johnson said that William Addis had never applied to the executors for any necessaries, and that if he had they would have taken care to supply him. On their promise to do so, the petition of Addis was dismissed, and he was ordered to apply to the executors accordingly. A copy of the letter of administration granted to Francis Leech follows. Island of St Helena Letter of administration granted to Francis Leach The Governor and council of the island of St Helena, on behalf of the Honourable United Company of Merchants of England Trading to the East Indies, absolute Lords Proprietors of the island, granted administration to Francis Leach of the island. He was the eldest brother to Richard Leech, orphan, who had left the island above twenty-one years before and, not having been heard of for above sixteen years, was in all probability believed to be dead. Since Richard Leech, who in all probability must be dead, had in his life and at the time of his death held and possessed various rights and credits within the jurisdiction of the island, and had died intestate, [...]. Interpretations The refusal of the Beale grant shows the council reversing a letting once a competing interest came to light. The overseer's report that the Company's goats ranged the parcel under the High Water Fall, raised at the consultation of 9 October 1722, outweighed the surgeon's need, so the grant made at the consultation of 2 October 1722 was withdrawn and Beale offered other ground instead. This readiness to undo a grant that threatened the Company's stock, while still seeking to accommodate the petitioner elsewhere, matched the council's handling of the Coles petition and its general caution in letting waste land under Governor Johnson. The dismissal of the Addis petition turned on the executors' answer that the boy had never asked them for support. Johnson, appearing for himself and the infirm Greentree, denied any neglect and promised to supply the necessaries if applied to, so the council sent the orphan back to his guardians rather than transfer the trust. This resolution by binding the executors to their duty, rather than removing them, shows the council enforcing the obligation of those who held an orphan's estate while leaving the existing arrangement in place, the same protective oversight exercised across the orphan matters in these records. The recital in the letter of administration sets out the legal foundation of the council's authority over estates. Acting as the agents of the Company as absolute Lords Proprietors of the island, the Governor and council exercised the proprietary jurisdiction to grant administration over the goods of those who died within it, here the long-absent and presumed-dead Richard Leech who had left rights and credits behind. This grant to the eldest brother on a bond cured the want of lawful title that had caused the refusal of the Leach claim at the consultation of 29 April 1718, the administration resting the payment of the fund on proper authority. | |
419 | Octobr Intestate By vertue whereof the full disposall and grant of Administration of all the goods and Chatles of the Said Decd & Singular Also the hearing of the Computation Calculate or account of Such Administration and the final release or discharge from the Same are known to belong Entirely and Solely to us the Govr and Councill of this place And We being desireous that ye Goods and Chatles of the Said deceasd Richd Leech, Should be well and faithfully Administred, Employed and disposed of to proper uses, Do by Vertue of these presents grant to you, full power Entirely to Administer and faithfully to dispose of the Goods & Chatles of the Said deceasd Also to demand Collect Levy and cause payment to be made of all debts, or dues whatsoever belonging to the said Decd in his life, and at the time of his death and to pay what debts wore owing by the said deceasd at the same time upon this Island as far as Such his Goods and Chatles will Extend in proportion to their Vallue. This power We grant you haveing an Assurance of ye Fidelity chargeing you by the Oath you have taken in this behalf That you do make or Cause to be made a full Entire & faithfull Inventory of all and Singular the Goods and premisses of the Sd Deceasd Richd Leech that hath been is or may be found on this Island to belong unto him at the time of his decease and deliver the same unto us on or before the 30th day of this Instant Octobr And also that you deliver an Accot of Your Administration unto Us when you Shall be thereunto required And therefore to younx do committ and you We do by these presents Ordaine Constitute and Appoint to be Sole administrator of all and Singular Such Good and Chatles as are before Mentiond,/ Daied | Island of St Helena The letter of administration granted to Francis Leach continued. Richard Leech having died intestate, the full disposal and grant of administration of all the goods and chattels of the deceased belonged entirely and solely to the Governor and council. The hearing of the account of such administration and the final release or discharge from it likewise belonged to them. Wishing the goods and chattels of the deceased Richard Leech to be well and faithfully administered, employed and disposed of to proper uses, the council granted Francis Leach full power to administer the goods and chattels of the deceased and to dispose of them faithfully. He was also to demand, collect, levy and require payment of all debts or dues owing to the deceased in his life and at the time of his death, and to pay what debts the deceased owed at the same time, so far as his goods and chattels would extend in proportion to their value. The council granted this power having assurance of Francis Leach's fidelity, and charged him by the oath he had taken to make, or cause to be made, a full and faithful inventory of all the goods and premises of the deceased Richard Leech that had been, were, or might be found on the island to belong to him at the time of his death. He was to deliver the inventory to the council on or before the 30th day of that present October, and to deliver an account of his administration whenever required. The council therefore committed, ordained, constituted and appointed him sole administrator of all the goods and chattels mentioned. The letter was dated [...]. Interpretations The letter spells out the council's proprietary jurisdiction over the estates of those who died on the island. As the agents of the Company, absolute Lords Proprietors, the Governor and council held the sole right to grant administration, to hear the administrator's account and to give the final discharge, exercising over the goods of the dead the authority a probate court held elsewhere. This claim to the whole disposal of an intestate's estate, with the receipt of the account and the release reserved to itself, grounded the council's standing oversight of the orphan and intestate estates that recurs throughout these records. The administrator's twin duty bound Francis Leach both to gather the estate and to answer the creditors out of it. He was empowered to collect the debts owing to the dead man and required to pay the debts the dead man owed, but only so far as the assets reached in proportion to their value, so that the estate met its obligations rateably and no further. This rule that the administrator pay creditors only to the extent of the assets, shared among them in proportion, governed the settlement of the insolvent estates across these records, the Gargen, Carne and Burnham estates among them. The requirement of a sworn inventory by a fixed day made the administration accountable from the outset. By his oath Leach was to render a full inventory of all the deceased's goods by 30 October and an account of his dealings on demand, the inventory fixing the assets against which the creditors and the family shares could be measured. This compulsion of a dated inventory under oath was the same discipline the council imposed on every executor and administrator, the instrument by which it kept the disposal of an estate within its view. | |
420 | 1722 Daied and Given under our hands and the Honble Companys Seal this 2d day of Octobr 1722 Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 16 day of Octobr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Governr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of Samuel Price was Summond and did appear here this day at the Complaint of Jonathan Higham Senr for Re- fuseing and Denying to pay him a just debt The Said Price alledged he did not owe the Said Higham any debt but that ye Six pounds he demands for a Patch of fine Chints which the Said Higham gave his Daughter the Said Prices late Deceasd Wife. Jonathan Higham Junr made Oath that ye Said Price did Some time Since, signe a note to his father, for a Debt of ten pounds of Which this Six pounds for the Chints was part and Included in the Account between them. Orderd the Said Price do pay the Said Higham the Said Sume as Soon as he can the Said Price promisses to Margin Notes: Jonad Higham Senrs Compt agt Sam Price for denying to pay him a Just debt. Jonad Higham Junr Sworne. Price to pay ye Jo Higham./ | Island of St Helena The letter of administration to Francis Leach closed with its date and seal. It was dated and given under the hands of the Governor and council and the Company's seal on 2 October 1722, and signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 16 October 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Jonathan Higham senior's complaint against Samuel Price for denying a just debt Samuel Price was summoned and appeared that day on the complaint of Jonathan Higham senior, for refusing and denying to pay him a just debt. Price claimed he owed Higham no debt, except the six pounds Higham demanded for a piece of fine chintz that Higham had given his daughter, Price's late wife. Jonathan Higham junior sworn Jonathan Higham junior made oath that Price had some time before signed a note to his father for a debt of ten pounds, of which the six pounds for the chintz was part and included in the account between them. Price ordered to pay Higham The council ordered Price to pay Higham the sum as soon as he could, and Price promised to [...]. Interpretations The Higham complaint shows the council acting as a small court for the recovery of a private debt, resolved on the evidence of a signed note. Price denied owing anything beyond the six pounds for the chintz, but Higham junior swore the sum formed part of a ten-pound debt Price had acknowledged under his hand, and the council ordered payment on the strength of that note. This summary determination of a debt dispute on sworn evidence and a written acknowledgement was the same process the council applied to the Bazett and Portley matter and the run of debt summonses across these records. The debt itself arose from a gift turned to a charge between a father-in-law and his son-in-law. Higham had given the chintz to his daughter, Price's wife, now dead, yet it stood in the account between the two men as a debt of six pounds, the marriage that once linked them having ended and the reckoning surviving it. This survival of a family obligation as a recoverable debt after the death of the wife who connected the parties shows how closely property and kinship were entwined in the island's small society. Jonathan Higham senior was the overseer and father-in-law of the late John Sinsnick, recurring in these records as a holder of Fort Valley ground. The chintz marks the kind of valuable Indian cotton that figured in the island's private dealings. A printed or painted calico imported from the East, fine chintz was a costly cloth fit to give as a marriage portion, here valued at six pounds, the same class of piece goods the Company itself imported and priced for sale, such as the gurrahs repriced at the consultation of 11 September 1722. | |
421 | Octobr to pay it at ten Shillings a month with which ye Said Higham was Satisfyed./ Thomas Clew presented two Bills of Sale one that he had of John Worrall for a House He bought of him at the ffort and the other that John Worrall had of Thoms Allis for half ye Said House that was given by Thomas Allis Deceasd betwee his Son and the Said Worrall, Desireing they may be Registerd for better Security thereof. Orderd the Said two Bills of Sale be Registerd Accordingly Joseph Bates presented Likewise a bill of Sale from John Harding for two Acres of Land he bought of him Dureing the Life of Mrs Slaughter Desireing ye Same may be Registerd Orderd the Said bill of Sale be Registerd as he desires./ The Said Higham likewise made Complaint against Geo Lendon, for denying to pay him twenty Shillings that he has owed him Some time Since./ The Said Lendon owns the Debt and Sayes he will pay it as Soon as he is able./ Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Jos Clew as ye promisd. Thos Clews prays the Regestrng the Bills of Allis for Houss. Ordered./ Jo Bates prays ye Registry of a Bill of Sale. Ordd Highams Complt agt Geo London for debt owns ye Debt & promisse to pay it./ | Island of St Helena Price's promise of payment closed the Higham debt. Price promised to pay the sum at ten shillings a month, with which Higham was satisfied. Thomas Cleve's request to register two bills of sale for a house Thomas Cleve presented two bills of sale. One he had from John Worrall, for a house he bought of him at the fort, and the other was the bill John Worrall had from Thomas Allis for half of the house. That half had been given by the deceased Thomas Allis, divided between his son and Worrall. Cleve asked that the bills be registered for the better security of his title. Ordered The council ordered the two bills of sale registered. Joseph Bates's request to register a bill of sale Joseph Bates likewise presented a bill of sale from John Harding for two acres of land he bought of him during the life of Mrs Slaughter, and asked that it be registered. Ordered The council ordered the bill of sale registered as he asked. Higham's complaint against George Lendon for a debt Higham also made complaint against George Lendon for refusing to pay him twenty shillings he had owed him some time before. Lendon acknowledges the debt and promises to pay it Lendon acknowledged the debt and said he would pay it as soon as he was able. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The registration of the bills of sale shows the council maintaining a public register of title to secure holders against later dispute. Cleve traced his title to the fort house through two conveyances, one from Worrall and one from Allis for the half given by the deceased Thomas Allis between his son and Worrall, and sought registration so that his ownership rested on the record. This entering of bills of sale for the better security of title was the standing means by which the island fixed property rights, the same registration the council granted across these records and pressed retrospectively on lapsed deeds in the winter of 1721 to 1722. The Higham debts settled at this sitting show the council enforcing small private obligations on acknowledgement and a promise of instalments. The chintz debt was set to be paid at ten shillings a month, and Lendon owned the twenty shillings he owed and undertook to pay when able, the council recording the admission and the terms rather than levying at once. This resolution of petty debts by confirming the sum and fixing a manageable repayment reflected the want of ready money that ran through the island's dealings, payment by instalment being the practical course where coin was scarce. The bill of sale for two acres bought of John Harding during the life of Mrs Slaughter marks the way land descended and changed hands among the island's families. The reference to the life of Mrs Slaughter fixes the term or the timing of the bargain, the parcel passing under the life interests and reversions that governed the holding of land, here registered by Joseph Bates for security. John Harding appears in these records as a Sandy Bay planter whose deeds were registered on the sellers' concurrence, and Joseph Bates was the corporal and former marshal who recurs throughout. | |
422 | 1722 Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 23 day of October 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of Mr Byfield made Report that Soldier one of the Honble Companys Blacks belonging to the Lime Kiln dyed on Sunday morning last./ Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 30th day of Octobr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfield 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approved of./ The following Petition of Wm Beale was presented The Humble Petition of Wm Beale Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner had very lately granted him about two acres of the Honble Companys Wast Land lieing under the High Water fall bellow the Plantation late Henry Francis Margin Notes: a Blacks death. Wm Bealls Petition. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 23 October 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. A slave's death Mr Byfield reported that Soldier, one of the Company's slaves belonging to the lime kiln, had died on the previous Sunday morning. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 30 October 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The following petition of William Beale was presented. William Beale's petition William Beale petitioned the council, setting out that it had very lately granted him about two acres of the Company's waste land lying under the High Water Fall, below the plantation late of Henry Francis. Interpretations The report of the slave's death continued the practice of recording the loss of the Company's labour force to the council. The death of Soldier, attached to the lime kiln, was entered as the increase and decrease of the slaves was generally entered, the overseer accounting for each birth and death among the Company's slaves so the strength of its hands could be kept under view. This routine recording of slave deaths matched the entry of the slave girl Mary's birth at the consultation of 2 October 1722, the live-stock account treating the slaves as part of the Company's stock. The renewed Beale petition reopens the grant of the parcel under the High Water Fall that the council had withdrawn. Beale had been granted the two acres at the consultation of 2 October 1722, only for the grant to be refused at the consultation of 9 October 1722 when the overseer reported the Company's goats ranged the ground, Beale then offered other land in its place. His return to the council shows the surgeon pressing the matter again, the want of provision-land that drove his first application unrelieved by the offer of an alternative he had evidently not found suitable. The land's identification by reference to the plantation late of Henry Francis fixes the parcel within the known geography of the island's holdings. Henry Francis was the planter and surveyor whose ground lay above the waste under the High Water Fall, and naming his former plantation as the boundary located the disputed two acres precisely, the same use of a neighbour's holding to mark out a parcel that runs through all the council's land grants. | |
423 | Octobr Francis (Deceasd) But the same being Countormanded upon a information that if any Land was Enclosed there twould be very detrimental to the Honble Companys Goats which your Petitioner did noway Conceive and being destitute of the least peice of Land to raise provisions for his family and to Save the daily charge he is at Humbly prayes a Grant of about two Acres in Lieu of ye aforesaid Adjoyning to that belonging to Griffiths Orphans at the foot of Peak Hill. And as in Duty &ca Octr the 30th 1722 William Beale Ordered that the Said Beals request be granted and that he do build a Small house thereon to prevent any Damage to any Goats as was objected against his Grant in Consultation of ye 9th Instant and that he be obliged to keep one of his Sons or Some other White Man alwayes there when ye House is so Built. The Petition of Edmd Bodley was Presented The Humble Petition of Edmd Bodley Sheweth That forasmuch as your Petitr being very Desireous to make some Necessary Provision, for the Support of him- self and family in Case of altering his present Condition (which he intends to do) Humbly prayes your Worship and Councill to grant your Petitioner about three Acres of the Honble Companys Wast Land lying near the lower end of Lemmon Valley to make a Plantation and to build a Small House on which if your Worship and Councill will be pleasd to grant it will be of very great Service to your Said Petitioner and no prejudice to any Person./ And as in Duty &ca Octr ye 30th 1722 Edmd Bodley Orderd the Consideration of this Petition be Defered till next Con- sultation day We being Informd the Letting of that Land will be very Margin Notes: for abt 2 Acres Land at foot of Peak Hill./ Granted, & to Build a House thereon as wht meant live thereiy. Dr Bodley prays the rent a pce of Land at Bottom of Lemmon Valley. Referd till further Consideration. | Island of St Helena The Beale petition continued. The grant of the parcel below the plantation late of Henry Francis, deceased, had been countermanded on information that enclosing any land there would be very harmful to the Company's goats, which Beale said he had in no way intended. Being without the least piece of land to raise provisions for his family and to save the daily charge he was at, he asked for a grant of about two acres in place of the first, adjoining the land of Griffith's orphans at the foot of Peak Hill. The petition was dated 30 October 1722 and signed by William Beale. Granted, to build a house on, the holder to live there The council granted Beale's request and ordered that he build a small house on the land. This was to prevent any damage to the goats, as had been objected against his first grant at the consultation of 9 October 1722. He was obliged to keep one of his sons or some other white man always there once the house was built. The petition of Edmund Bodley was presented. Edmund Bodley's request for a grant of land at the lower end of Lemon Valley Edmund Bodley petitioned the council, setting out that he wished to make some provision for the support of himself and his family in case he should alter his present condition, which he intended to do. He asked the Governor and council to grant him about three acres of the Company's waste land lying near the lower end of Lemon Valley, to make a plantation and build a small house on. If granted, it would be of great service to him and no harm to any person. The petition was dated 30 October 1722 and signed by Edmund Bodley. Deferred for further consideration The council deferred consideration of the petition until the next consultation day, being informed that the letting of that land would be very [...]. Interpretations The grant of the alternative parcel resolved the conflict between Beale's need and the Company's goats by tying the land to settlement. The two acres adjoining Griffith's orphans' ground at the foot of Peak Hill lay clear of the range that had defeated his first grant at the consultation of 9 October 1722, and the council secured the goats further by requiring him to build a house and keep a white man there. This condition turned the grant to the island's standing policy of settling a white inhabitant on every parcel, the residence both working the land and guarding the Company's stock, the same requirement of a white man to a holding that recurs throughout these records. The Bodley petition shows a man seeking land in anticipation of a change in his condition, the veiled reference being to an intended marriage. He sought ground to support himself and a family he expected to have, the council holding the petition until it had weighed the harm letting the parcel might do, the same caution over the disposal of waste land it applied to every such request under Governor Johnson. Edmund Bodley appears in these records as a holder who surrendered Sexton's Ground in the summer of 1722, disabled in one hand by a hurt in the Company's service. The condition imposed on Beale marks the council's reconciliation of two competing interests in the one grant. His want of provision-land pulled against the Company's care for its roaming goats, and the council met both by granting clear ground and binding him to a resident keeper, so that the land was settled and the stock protected at once. This management of a grant by attaching a condition that served the Company's wider concern shows the council shaping its lettings to more than the petitioner's need, the residence requirement answering the very objection that had countermanded the first grant. | |
424 | 1722 very Detrimental to all the Neighbourhood thereabouts it being the only outlet all that Neighbourhood have for their Hoggs & Goats Mr Byfeld acquainted us that as we had now bought Cattle of most people on the Island and that even many of those Cattle have Severall marks besides the marks of the persons of whome the Cattle were bought He feared Severall Inconvieneys might happen to the Honble Company as well as to the people by mistake of the overseers and the Blacks that Look after the Cattle, for that as Cattle alter Either for the better or worse their Coatrs in Some measure do alter like- wise and there might be Cattle of the Same breed rangeing in the Same wast, beingin some measure alike a mistake might the more Easily happen To prevent which he proposed that what Cattle was bought should be Croped Close on both Eares which would Cutt off all marks and that Mrs Coulson should have two Months time given hor to alter hor Mark it being an Unlawfull one, for as beforesaid Close Croping both Eares is Cutting off all marks and Consequently no mark is properly belongd only to the Honble Company./ Orderd that it be so and that a Publick Adver- tizement be Issued out and that Mrs Coulson have Particular notice thereof by a Copy of this Order Sent to hor./ Edward Byfield Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Mr Byfeld Report of many Inconvenieneys that may happn by ye Sevl Marks of Cattle lately bought of ye plant. Mrs Coulson to Alter Her Mark./ Advertizement Issued out to this Purpose./ | Island of St Helena The reason for deferring the Bodley grant followed. Letting the land would be very harmful to all the neighbourhood thereabouts, it being the only outlet that the whole neighbourhood had for their hogs and goats. Mr Byfield's report of inconveniences from the many marks of cattle lately bought Mr Byfield reported that, the Company having now bought cattle from most people on the island, many of those cattle carried several marks besides the marks of the persons from whom they were bought. He feared several inconveniences might arise to the Company and to the people through mistakes by the overseers and the slaves who looked after the cattle. Cattle altered their coats in some measure for better or worse, which likewise changed their look, and there might be cattle of the same breed ranging in the same waste. Being in some measure alike, a mistake might the more easily happen. To prevent this, he proposed that the cattle bought be cropped close on both ears, which would cut off all marks, and that Mrs Coulson be given two months to alter her mark, it being an unlawful one, since close cropping of both ears was the cutting off of all marks and so a beast with no mark belonged properly to the Company alone. Mrs Coulson to alter her mark The council ordered Mrs Coulson to alter her mark. An advertisement issued to this purpose The council ordered that it be so, that a public advertisement be issued, and that Mrs Coulson have particular notice of it by a copy of the order sent to her. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The deferral of the Bodley grant turned on the parcel's value to the neighbourhood as the sole outlet for their stock. The ground at the lower end of Lemon Valley was the only way out that the surrounding holders had for their hogs and goats, so enclosing it would shut the neighbourhood's animals in, the council weighing the common interest against the single petitioner. This protection of a shared outlet against a private grant matched the objection that defeated the Coles petition at the consultation of 2 October 1722, the same care for common access running through the council's lettings. The marking scheme answered a specific confusion created by the Company's own purchases. Having bought cattle from most of the island, the Company held beasts carrying many different owners' marks, which the change of a beast's coat and the mingling of like animals on the open waste made easy to mistake, so Byfield proposed cropping both ears to clear every mark and stamp the cattle as the Company's. By reducing the many private marks to a single condition of no mark, the council secured its herd against misappropriation, the unmarked beast belonging to the Company as the unmarked goats did under the rule of 20 December 1715. The order against Mrs Coulson's mark shows the council suppressing a private mark that conflicted with its new system. Her mark was the close cropping of both ears that the Company now reserved to signify its own unmarked cattle, so it was declared unlawful and she was given two months to change it, the copy of the order sent to her giving formal notice. This regulation of cattle marks, long pressed and adjourned at the consultations of 31 July and 7 August 1716 for want of consent, was now fixed by the Company's need to mark off the herd it had assembled. The widow Grace Coulson was a long-resident planter who recurs throughout these records. | |
425 | Novr Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 6th day of Novembr 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Prest Edwd Byfeld 2 Jno Alexandr 3 absent being Indisp John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approved of. Mr Byfeld brought in his Accot of the Honble Companys live Stock and Expence for the month of Octobr which was Examind & approvd of Captain Goodwin brought in his Accot of Goods Sold and Deliverd out of the Stores in the month of Octobr which was Examind and approvd of. The Gunner brought in His Accot of Gunnors Stores Expended in the month of Octobr last which was Examind approvd of and is as follows. Octobr ye 1 To Capt Goodwin 1 5 Being Muster Day 8 25 To Mr Byfeld 1 Expences for the Gaurds 9 Flints 45 Musquett Balls 3 Spunge Staves 2 Carthridge Paper 4 Scowring Rods 6 Match 10 Jno French 10 6 4 2 3 45 19 Mr Byfeld Reports that Margaret one of the Honble Companys Wenches was Deliverd last week of a Boy Called Neptune. John Margin Notes: Mr Byfelds Accot for Octr. Storekeeprs Accot for ye Mounth. Gunrs Accot of Expences &c. a boy born./ | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 6 November 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Goodwin, fourth. John Alexander, third, absent, being unwell. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield's live stock account for October Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the month of October, which was examined and approved. Storekeeper's account for October Captain Goodwin brought in his account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores during the month of October, which was examined and approved. Gunner's account of expenses for October The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of October, which was examined and approved. The account ran as follows, set out under the heading for powder spent. 1 October, to Captain Goodwin: 1 pound of powder spent. 5 October, being muster day: 8 pounds of powder spent. 25 October, to Mr Byfield: 1 pound of powder spent. Expenses for the guard: 9 pounds of powder spent. Flints: 45. Musket balls: 3. Spunge staves: 2. Cartridge paper: 4. Scouring rods: 6. Match: 10. The whole, signed by the gunner John French, totalled as follows: 10 match, 6 scouring rods, 4 cartridge paper, 2 spunge staves, 3 musket balls, 45 flints and 19 pounds of powder spent. A boy slave born Mr Byfield reported that Margaret, one of the Company's slave women, had been delivered the previous week of a boy named Neptune. Interpretations The three monthly accounts brought together at this sitting continued the regular audit of the Company's charge. The overseer's live stock account, the storekeeper's account of goods issued and the gunner's account of stores spent were each examined and approved in turn, the routine reckoning by which the council kept the Company's expense under view. This monthly rendering of the plantation, the stores and the ordnance maintained the discipline of the accounts pressed since the books were brought current after 1719. The gunner's account again charges powder against each dated occasion, here the muster, the small issues to Captain Goodwin and Mr Byfield, and the guard. Recording the issue by event allowed the consumption to be audited against the cause that warranted it, the same method kept under the gunner across these records, the muster day drawing the largest charge as the inhabitants were exercised at their arms. The birth of the boy Neptune, like that of the girl Mary at the consultation of 2 October 1722, was entered as the increase of the Company's slaves. The overseer recorded each birth among the slave women so that the strength of the Company's hands could be kept under view, the slaves counted as part of the Company's stock and their children added to it, the same accounting that recorded the deaths such as that of the slave Soldier at the consultation of 23 October 1722. | |
426 | 1722 John Coulson Appeard According to Summons upon the Complaint of William Seal Church Warden on the behalf of the Inhabitants that he took no Care to provide for his family and that if Some method was not taken Even his Plantation and Stock would be Runned and then his family must be a Charge on the Island./ John Coulson owned he had been Remiss but promisses for the future to be very Industrious. The following Petition was Presented The Humle Petition of Frances Carne James Green- tree and Richd Gurling. Sheweth. That Whereas Lemmon Valley and the parts Adjacent being the only wast land that We have any bennefit of for the Range and Pasturage of our Hoggs and Goats, And being Informd that Edmd Bodley hath lately Petitiond your Worship and Councill for a grant of a Parcell of the Said Wast Land in Lemmon Valley We your Said Petitioners do Therefore most Humbly pray the Same may be permitted to lie Still wast or Else your Said Petitionr cannot be able to Subsist their familyes with So Necessary and useful living stocks as Hoggs and Goats are alwayes found to be Submitting this our Humle Request to your Worship &ca further Consideration and prudence./ And as in Duty &ca 9br ye 6th 1722 Fra: Carne James Greentree Richd Gurling Against the Petition of Edmund Bodley in the Last Consultation Mr Gurling Appeard in behalf of himself and the other Petitioners and Acquainted us that the Peice of Ground Petitiond for by Edmund Bodley was the only lett to that Ancient Range for Goates and Hoggs belonging to that Side of the Country and that it would be not only Depriveing Margin Notes: Church Wardens Complt agt Jno Coulson./ He promisses to be more Industrious for ye futures./ See Petition agt ye Petition of Ed Bodley for Land in Lemon Valley | Island of St Helena Churchwarden's complaint against John Coulson John Coulson appeared on the summons, upon the complaint of William Seale, churchwarden, on behalf of the inhabitants. The complaint was that Coulson took no care to provide for his family, and that if some method were not taken his plantation and stock would be ruined, and his family would then become a charge on the island. He promises to be more industrious for the future Coulson admitted he had been negligent but promised to be very industrious for the future. The following petition was presented. The petition of Frances Carne, James Greentree and Richard Gurling Frances Carne, James Greentree and Richard Gurling petitioned the council, setting out that Lemon Valley and the parts adjacent were the only waste land of any benefit to them for the range and pasture of their hogs and goats. Being informed that Edmund Bodley had lately asked for a grant of a parcel of that waste land in Lemon Valley, they asked that it be allowed to lie waste. Otherwise they could not subsist their families with such necessary and useful living stock as hogs and goats always proved to be. They submitted the request to the Governor's further consideration and prudence. The petition was dated 6 November 1722 and signed by Frances Carne, James Greentree and Richard Gurling. Mr Gurling appeared against the Bodley petition Against the petition of Edmund Bodley in the last consultation, Mr Gurling appeared on behalf of himself and the other petitioners. He told the council that the piece of ground asked for by Bodley was the only outlet left to that old range for goats and hogs belonging to that side of the country, and that letting it would not only deprive [...]. Interpretations The Coulson summons shows the churchwarden enforcing the parish interest against a planter whose neglect threatened to burden the island. Seale complained on behalf of the inhabitants that Coulson failed to provide for his family, so that his plantation and stock might fail and his family fall on the parish, the council exacting a promise of industry rather than a penalty. This use of the parish office to compel a failing householder to support himself, lest the parish bear the charge, matched the council's handling of the widow Mudge and the aged Norman across these records, the fear of a new parish charge driving its intervention. The Carne petition raises the same defence of common pasture that has run through the autumn's land disputes. Lemon Valley and its surrounds were the only waste left for the hogs and goats of the holders on that side of the country, so a grant to Bodley would shut their stock out, the petitioners pressing the common interest against the single applicant. This collective resistance to the letting of a shared range, the holders unable to keep their stock without it, echoed the inhabitants' general objection of 22 March 1720 to letting the principal tracts and the outlet objection that had already caused the council to defer the Bodley grant at the consultation of 30 October 1722. The opposition led by Gurling marks the parcel as the sole outlet for an established range, its loss falling on a whole quarter of the island. Bodley sought ground that was the only way out for the hogs and goats of that side of the country, so the grant threatened not one neighbour but every holder who pastured stock there, the petitioners standing together to keep it open. Frances Carne, the widow of George Carne, James Greentree and Richard Gurling were all substantial holders whose herds and flocks recur throughout these records, here joined in a common cause against the enclosure of their range. | |
427 | Novr Depriveing of them of So much Ground as in his Petition but he must likewise Keep the Stock clear all Round it or Else it would be impossible for him or any body Else to work in Security which would hinder them keeping any Stock./ For which Reasons Edmd Bodleys Petition was Rejected. Mr VanOasten brought in Mr Powells Accompt Stated Accord- ing to the Honble Companys Order which was Referrd to the next Consultation day Capt Alexander being absent. As Likewise his Remarks on the Accomptant Genlls Leetter about the Accots which was Referrd for the Same Reason. Mr Slaughter brought in and Deliverd his monthly Accot of Expences for the Month of Octr last which was Examind and is as follows 247 of Beef at 25s ⅌ 100 3 1 9 117 of Veale at 1/6 ⅌ Stone 2 18 6 4 Goats at 10/ ead 2 1 Sheep 1 4 16 fowles at 1/6 ead 1 4 4 Ducks at 1/6 ead 6 1 Goose at 6 68 Eggs at 1d ead 5 8 52 Butter at 1/6 ⅌ lb 2 12 31 Days Greens 1 11 14 pd Salt Beef at 2/10 ⅌ pd 1 19 8 15 pd Salt Pork at 2/6 ⅌ pd 1 17 6 62 Bottles Milk 1/4 ⅌ Bottle 1 8 1 Bushell of Pease 8 6 3 Pepper 1/ ⅌ lb 3 2 Quts Vinegar 4/ ⅌ Gall 2 26 Soape 1/5 ⅌ lb 1 16 10 145 Sugar at 1/6 ⅌ lb 3 12 6 140 Bread at 3d ⅌ lb 1 15 Carried Over 28 4 7 Margin Notes: Therefore Rejected. Mr Powells Accot Stated wth remarks on ye Accomptts Lettr./ The Stewards Expences for Octr | Island of St Helena The objection to the Bodley grant closed with Gurling's account of its full effect. Granting the parcel would not only deprive the holders of so much ground as named in the petition, but would also oblige Bodley to keep the stock clear all round it, since otherwise neither he nor anyone else could work the land in safety, and this would hinder the holders from keeping any stock at all. Rejected For these reasons the council rejected Edmund Bodley's petition. Mr Powell's account stated, and his remarks on the accountant general's letter Mr Van Oosten brought in Mr Powell's account, stated in accordance with the Company's order, which was deferred to the next consultation day, Captain Alexander being absent. His remarks on the accountant general's letter about the accounts were deferred for the same reason. The steward's account of expenses for October Mr Slaughter brought in and delivered his monthly account of expenses for the month of October, which was examined. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 247 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £3 1s 9d. 117 pounds of veal at 6 pence per pound, £2 18s 6d. 4 goats at 10 shillings each, £2 0s 0d. 1 sheep, £1 4s 0d. 16 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £1 4s 0d. 4 ducks at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 6s 0d. 1 goose, £0 6s 0d. 68 eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 5s 8d. 52 pounds of butter at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £2 12s 0d. 31 days' greens, £1 11s 0d. 14 pounds of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence per pound, £1 19s 8d. 15 pounds of salt pork at 2 shillings 6 pence per pound, £1 17s 6d. 62 bottles of milk at 4 pence per bottle, £1 0s 8d. 1 bushel of peas, £0 8s 6d. 3 pounds of pepper at 1 shilling per pound, £0 3s 0d. 2 quarts of vinegar at 4 shillings per gallon, £0 2s 0d. 26 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 5 pence per pound, £1 16s 10d. 145 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £3 12s 6d. 140 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 15s 0d. Carried over: £28 4s 7d. Interpretations The final ground for rejecting the Bodley petition was the burden the grant would have laid on the whole neighbourhood's stock. A holder enclosing the outlet would have to keep all other beasts clear of it to work the land safely, which would have barred the surrounding holders from pasturing any stock there, so the grant threatened not merely to narrow the range but to destroy its use. This recognition that a single enclosure could disable a shared pasture for everyone confirmed the common interest the council had weighed since first deferring the grant at the consultation of 30 October 1722, the petition of Frances Carne, Greentree and Gurling prevailing. The deferral of Powell's stated account for the absent Captain Alexander shows the council requiring its full number for matters of weight. The account, drawn up under the Company's order, and the accountant general's letter on the accounts were both held over until Alexander could attend, the council unwilling to settle them short-handed. This insistence on the third councillor's presence for the examination of accounts reflects the care taken with the books since they were brought current after 1719, the audit of a substantial account not to be concluded by a bare quorum. The steward's table account marks the salt beef and salt pork among the provisions, the preserved meats kept against the want of fresh supply. Beef and pork salted down in barrels formed the standing reserve of a remote settlement, drawn on alongside the fresh beef, goats and poultry of the island, here charged by the piece at the established rates. The veal at nearly three pounds, an unusually large article this month, reflects the slaughter of young cattle the lean herds and the demands of the table together drove. | |
428 | 1722 Brought Over 28 4 7 6 Sugar Candy at 1/ 6 50 flower at 1/3 ⅌ lb 6 6 Tea at 7/6 ⅌ lb 12 6 53 Gall of Arrack at 6/4 ⅌ Gall 18 9 24 Gall Madaa Wine at 4/ ⅌ Gall 18 7 4 11 Bottles Port Wine at 2/6 ⅌ Bottle 1 16 13 flasks of ffrench Wine at 3/ ⅌ flask 1 7 6 68 Candles at 1/6 ⅌ lb 1 19 ye Willm Slaughter 5 2 62 13 8 Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 13 day of Novr 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4 The last Consultation read & approvd of./ This day We perused Mr Powells Accot brought In last Consul- tation day by Van Oosten, Orderd That Mr Powill have a Coppy of the par in the Honble Compas last Generall Letter Relating to the Examining & Stakeing his Accot for Seven Years past. And likewise of the List taken out of the Books of those persons that have Treansfurd money to him and are Still Indebted to the Honble Compas And that he be Sumoned to Attend Consultation on fryday next by ten of the Clock in the morning. We Margin Notes: Mr Powells Accot perusd & to have a Copy of ye par in ye Genll Lettr relating thereto./ also of ye Names of ye persons indebted & to attend ye Councell | Island of St Helena The steward's account of expenses for October continued, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £28 4s 7d. 6 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 6s 0d. 50 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 12s 6d. 6 pounds of tea at 6 shillings per pound, £1 18s 9d. 53 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £18 7s 4d. 24 gallons of Madeira wine at 4 shillings per gallon, £4 16s 0d. 11 bottles of port wine at 2 shillings 6 pence per bottle, £1 7s 6d. 13 flasks of French wine at 3 shillings per flask, £1 19s 0d. 68 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £5 2s 0d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £62 13s 8d. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 13 November 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Powell's account reperused, to have a copy of the paragraph relating to him, and a copy of the list of those who transferred money to him and are still indebted The council that day reperused Mr Powell's account, brought in at the last consultation by Van Oosten. The council ordered Powell given a copy of the paragraph in the Company's last general letter relating to the examining and stating of his account for seven years past. It likewise ordered him a copy of the list, taken out of the Company's books, of those persons who had transferred money to him and were still indebted to the Company. Powell was summoned to attend the consultation on the following Friday by ten of the clock in the morning. Interpretations The Powell account marks the directors reaching back over seven years to settle a long-running reckoning with the island's largest holder. The Company's general letter had called for the examining and stating of his account, and the council furnished him a copy of the very paragraph that authorised the inquiry, so that the proceeding rested on the directors' express direction. This pursuit of an old account brought to light by the corrected books continued the recovery drive that had charged Governor Pyke and others with omitted debts since 1720, the books now serving to call the greatest planter to account. The list of those who transferred money to Powell yet remained indebted to the Company exposes a tangle in the island's system of assigned credits. Men had passed their credits to Powell to discharge debts of their own, yet stood still charged in the Company's books, so that the same sum appeared to answer twice, the council giving Powell the list to unravel the confusion. This difficulty in the clearing of mutual debts, where a transfer left the original debtor still liable, was the kind of error the audit of the accounts since 1719 was meant to expose and correct. Gabriel Powell was the foremost landholder and grazier of the island, his dealings and debts recurring throughout these records. The steward's table account again shows arrack as the costliest single article of the establishment's provision, charged at over eighteen pounds against the lesser sums for the wines. As the chief spirit of the island, supplied from the East under the Company's monopoly, arrack dominated the table's expense as in every month's account, here at 6 shillings 4 pence the gallon, the staple drink of the officers' board far outweighing the Madeira, port and French wines beside it. | |
429 | Novr We likewise perused the State of the Accots in the Honble Companys Books here brought in the last Consul- tation day by Mr Van Oosten in Answer to the Remarks made by Mr Fletcher on the Books Sent home./ Orderd That Mr Van Oosten do point out the Particular Accots in Each Book for the better Satisfaction of the Honble Compa and that he bring the same in unto Us this day Sevennight./ Porsuant to an Advertizement Issued out on the 7th Inst the Inhabitants brought an Acco into the Secr Office of all the Marks they markt their live Stocks of, which was this day brought into Consultation. Orderd that they be put into a Proper Method by the Secrty against Tuesday next the better to inform Our Selves of Every Persons Mark on this Island, as well as to Regulate any marks where any persons may happen to marke their Cattle alike, and Consequently Prevent any frauds or Mistakes The Doctor brought In his Book of Medicines Expended to this day which was Examind and approvd of./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: State of those Accots perusd in Answer to Mr Fletchers remarks./ Particular Accots to be pointed out for better Satisfaction. Sevl Marks of ye Inhabitants live Cattle brought in to ye Secr in form ye propers./ Secrt to put ye same into a better Method./ Drs Expence of Medicines./ | Island of St Helena State of the accounts perused, in answer to Mr Fletcher's remarks The council likewise reperused the state of the accounts in the Company's books, brought in at the last consultation day by Mr Van Oosten, in answer to the remarks made by Mr Fletcher on the books sent home. Particular accounts to be pointed out for the Company's better satisfaction The council ordered Van Oosten to point out the particular accounts in each book, for the better satisfaction of the Company, and to bring them in within a week. Several marks of neat cattle brought in by the inhabitants In accordance with the advertisement issued on 7 November 1722, the inhabitants brought into the secretary's office an account of all the marks they marked their live stock with, which was that day brought into consultation. The secretary to put the marks into a proper method The council ordered the marks put into proper method by the secretary by the following Tuesday, the better to inform itself of every person's mark on the island, to regulate any marks where persons might happen to mark their cattle alike, and so to prevent any fraud or mistake. The doctor's account of medicines expended The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended up to that day, which was examined and approved. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The reperusal of the accounts in answer to Mr Fletcher shows the island defending its books against the criticism of the Company's accountant general at home. Fletcher had made remarks on the books sent to London, and Van Oosten's stated answer was examined and then ordered set out account by account, so that the directors might see each particular and be satisfied. This careful response to the metropolitan auditor's objections, pointing out the very accounts he questioned, reflected the long drive to keep the books true and answerable that had run through the accountant's office since 1719, the same Van Oosten kept in the office under repeated warning. The registration of every inhabitant's cattle mark carried forward the system the council had resolved on to secure its herd. The advertisement of 7 November 1722 had required the people to bring in their marks, now gathered and ordered into a single register, so that the council held a record of every mark on the island and could resolve any two that clashed. This central register of marks, the better to prevent fraud or mistake, completed the regulation the Company's mass purchase of cattle had made necessary, the same concern that had condemned Mrs Coulson's mark at the consultation of 30 October 1722. The purpose of regulating like marks was to forestall both honest confusion and deliberate fraud over the ownership of cattle. Where two holders marked their beasts alike, an animal might be claimed by the wrong man in error or taken by design, so the council reserved to itself the settling of clashing marks, fixing each holder's mark beyond dispute. This prevention of fraud or mistake through a regulated register shows the council managing the island's scattered herds by documentary control, the same recourse to the written record that secured title to land and goods throughout these records. | |
430 | 1722 Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on fryday the 16th day of Novr 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4 The Last Consultation read & approvd of./ According to the Order of last Consultation Mr Powell was Sumoned and did appear this day, but being not Prepared with his Answer to the Para and List of Accots sent him He desires time till next Consultation day, which we have given him./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Mr Powell Appeard but not prepared had long time./ | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Friday 16 November 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Powell appeared but was not prepared, and was given more time In accordance with the order of the last consultation, Mr Powell was summoned and appeared that day. Being not yet prepared with his answer to the paragraph and the list of accounts sent to him, he asked for time until the next consultation day, which the council granted. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The grant of further time to Powell shows the council allowing the island's largest holder room to answer a demanding seven-year reckoning. Summoned to attend with his answer to the directors' paragraph and the list of debtors who had transferred credits to him, he came unprepared and sought a postponement, which the council allowed rather than press the matter. This indulgence over a complex account, drawn from the corrected books and resting on the Company's own general letter, reflected the weight of the reckoning required of Gabriel Powell, whose dealings and debts as the foremost planter recur throughout these records, the inquiry first set in train at the consultation of 13 November 1722. | |
431 | Novr Island St Helena. At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 20th day of Novr 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4 The Last Consultation read & Approvd of./ Mr Byfeld Reports that a Black man of the Honble Compas Named John Portuguize dyed Yesterday./ The following Petition of Joseph Bates & Giles Hayse was presented Setting forth therein that forasmuch as they understanding William Beale had lately Granted to him about two Acres of the Honble Companys Wast Land Adjoyning to that of Griffiths Orphans at foot of Peak Hill Humbly Conceives the Said Grant of those two Acres to be very Detrimental to their Land & Stocks at the Purslain Bed, and therefore Most Humbly Prays the Same may be Permitted to lie Still Wast Submitt- ing the further Consideration thereof to Our Judgements. And &ca Upon Consideration that the Land aforesaid has never been objected against the Letting thereof, & We have- ing Granted it to the Pr William Beale near a month Since, Orderd That that Grant be hereby further Confirmd & Beale to have a Lease Accordingly Joseph Margin Notes: a Blacks death. Jo Bates & Giles Hayse Petition agt ye Beals grant of Land to him Note this Petr was Misplaced by Mistake & Should been at Mark # on ye other Side. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 20 November 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. A slave's death Mr Byfield reported that a slave man of the Company named John Portuguese had died the previous day. Joseph Bates and Giles Hayse's petition against Beale's grant of land The following petition of Joseph Bates and Giles Hayse was presented. They set out that they understood William Beale had lately been granted about two acres of the Company's waste land adjoining that of Griffith's orphans at the foot of Peak Hill. They considered that grant of the two acres very harmful to their land and stock at the Purslane Beds, and therefore asked that the parcel be allowed to lie waste, submitting the matter to the council's judgement. A note records that this petition was misplaced by mistake and should have been entered at the mark on the other side. The council's decision on the Bates and Hayse petition The council considered that the land had never before been objected to, and that it had granted it to William Beale about a month before. It ordered the grant further confirmed, and that Beale have a lease accordingly. Interpretations The confirmation of the Beale grant against the fresh objection shows the council standing by a settled letting once the parcel had been properly granted. Bates and Hayse complained that the two acres at the foot of Peak Hill would harm their stock at the Purslane Beds, but the council held that the ground had drawn no objection before and had been granted to Beale about a month earlier, so it confirmed the grant and ordered his lease. This refusal to unsettle a grant on a late objection contrasts with the rejection of the Bodley petition, the difference lying in the timing and in the absence of any earlier claim against the Beale parcel, the grant first remade at the consultation of 30 October 1722 after the goat objection was met by the residence condition. The clustering of objections around each new grant marks the constant friction between the want of provision-land and the protection of existing stock and pasture. Beale's two acres drew complaint from the Purslane Beds holders as Bodley's parcel had drawn the Lemon Valley holders, every grant of waste touching some neighbour who feared for his range or his beasts. This recurring contest, the settled holders resisting each enclosure that bore on their stock, runs through the whole autumn's land business and reflects the island's limited ground and scattered grazing. The report of John Portuguese's death continued the recording of the Company's slave losses to the council. His death was entered as the deaths of the slave Soldier at the consultation of 23 October 1722 and others were entered, the overseer accounting for each loss among the Company's slaves so that the strength of its hands could be kept under view, the slaves counted as part of the Company's stock alongside the births lately recorded. | |
432 | 1722 Joseph Bates Alleadgd that the Purslain Beds which Cost him a great Deal of money would be very much Detrimented by haveing that Land Enclosed, he could not keep So Large a Stock as otherwise he might, and that his Predecessor had a grant for the Water Course which was very Expencive to him, and that he himself had bestowd a great deal of Labour & Expence in Perfecting thereof, So that if Mr Beale Should Interrupt that by Carrying the Water thro his Land the Purslain Beds would be Worth nothing, for he Often times wanted Water now. Giles Hayse who Hires the Land of Bates Sayd the same Mr Beale was call'd in, He Sayd it was out of Spight, for he was Assured there was Water Enoh foe both, for he had Observd abundance to Run to Wast. Mr Beale was forbid Disturbing the Water Course Already made by Bates and his Predecessor and the Petitionrs Dismist. Pursuant to the Order of last Consultation, an Accot of all the Inhabitants Marks of their live Stocks, was Enterd into a Book for that purpose & brought this day into Consultation and Examind. An Advertizemt was Orderd for all those Persons who Crop both Ears to Attend this Day Sevennight to have those Marks Alterd that being the proper Mark belonging to the Honble Compa and that any persons who mark alike may Attend at the same time to have their marks Regulated./ Captn Goodwin Acquainted Us that he had receivd a Lettre Margin Notes: Jo Bates Alleadges. He want of Water. Beale not to Disturb ye Water Course formerly Made./ Land Enformd # Inhabitants Marks Entd in a Book & Exam'd Markes to be Regulated./ | Island of St Helena Joseph Bates's allegations Joseph Bates argued that the Purslane Beds, which had cost him a great deal of money, would be very much harmed by enclosing that land, since he could not then keep so large a stock as he otherwise might. His predecessor had held a grant for the watercourse, which had been very costly to him, and he himself had spent a great deal of labour and expense in perfecting it. If Beale should interrupt it by carrying the water through his own land, the Purslane Beds would be worth nothing, since they often wanted water now. The want of water Giles Hayse, who hired the land from Bates, said the same. Beale not to disturb the watercourse already made Beale was called in. He said his application had been made out of spite, since he was satisfied there was water enough for both, having observed plenty of it run to waste. Beale was forbidden to disturb the watercourse already made by Bates and his predecessor, and the petition was dismissed. The land confirmed In accordance with the order of the last consultation, an account of all the inhabitants' marks of their live stock was entered into a book kept for that purpose and brought into consultation that day and examined. The marks to be regulated The council ordered an advertisement issued for all those persons who cropped both ears to attend that day week, to have those marks altered, that being the proper mark belonging to the Company. Any persons who marked alike were also to attend at the same time to have their marks regulated. Captain Goodwin reported that he had received a letter [...]. Interpretations The compromise on the Beale grant separated the ownership of the land from the use of the water. Bates feared not the loss of the ground itself but that Beale would divert the watercourse he and his predecessor had made at great cost, leaving the Purslane Beds dry, so the council confirmed Beale's land while forbidding him to touch the existing watercourse. This division of competing claims, securing the new holder his parcel yet protecting the old holder's water, resolved the dispute by addressing the real grievance rather than the grant, the same separation of land and water the council had reached in the Long watercourse cause settled in the spring of 1722. The value of the watercourse to the Purslane Beds marks water as the scarce resource that governed the worth of land on a dry island. The ground was of little use without the water carried to it, perfected by costly labour, so a diversion that starved it would render it worthless, the want of water being the constant constraint on cultivation. This dependence of a holding's value on a secured water supply, and the readiness of the council to protect an established watercourse against a later grant, runs through the island's land disputes, water rights between holders whose supply crossed a neighbour's ground being a recurring source of conflict. The order against the close-cropped mark carried the cattle regulation into its enforcement. Those who cropped both ears were summoned to alter the mark the Company now reserved to itself, and those who marked alike to have their marks regulated, the register of marks brought in and examined so that every clash could be resolved. This compulsion of the inhabitants to change marks that conflicted with the Company's, following the condemnation of Mrs Coulson's mark at the consultation of 30 October 1722, completed the documentary control of the herd the Company's mass purchase of cattle had made necessary. | |
433 | Novr a Letter from Mr Powell wherein he desires to be Excus'd for not Appearing to day he being very much Indisposed./ The Doctor brought in his Book of Medicines Expend- ed Since the 13 Instant which was Examind & Approvd of./ Mr Van Oosten haveing been Indisposed for Severall dayes past Prevented his bringing In the Accots Orderd in Consultation of the 13 Instant./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 27th day of Novr 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley./ Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4 The Last Consultation read and Approvd of./ The Petition of Benjamin Pledgerd Told was presented Setting forth therein that He haveing ten Acres of Free Land Situate at the Head of Stutes Valley, Humbly prays the same may be measurd and that He may be Permitted to Carry his ffence to the Top of the Ridge next to the Land formerly William Coales which would be of no prejudice Margin Notes: Mr Powel Indisposd Drs Expence of Medicines./ Van Ostens Indisposicion prevents bringing in Accot Ben Pledgerd Prays ye measurmt of Land & to carry a ffence for Conveniency. | Island of St Helena The report of the letter completed the previous matter. Captain Goodwin had received a letter from Mr Powell, in which Powell asked to be excused for not appearing that day, being very much unwell. The doctor's account of medicines expended The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended since 13 November 1722, which was examined and approved. Van Oosten's indisposition prevented his bringing in the accounts Mr Van Oosten, having been unwell for several days past, had been prevented from bringing in the accounts ordered at the consultation of 13 November 1722. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 27 November 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The petition of Benjamin Pledger presented The petition of Benjamin Pledger was presented. He set out that he held ten acres of free land situated at the head of Sticks Valley, and asked that it be measured and that he be permitted to carry his fence to the top of the ridge next to the land formerly held by William Coales, which would be of no harm [...]. Interpretations The successive excuses of Powell and Van Oosten left the inquiry into Powell's account stalled by illness on both sides. Powell, summoned to answer the directors' seven-year reckoning, again asked to be excused as unwell, while Van Oosten, who was to point out the particular accounts, was likewise prevented by sickness, so the matter set in train at the consultation of 13 November 1722 could not advance. This double delay shows how the audit of a complex account depended on the few men who held the books and the figures, the absence of either bringing the business to a halt. The Pledger petition shows a holder seeking to extend his fence to a natural boundary for the convenience of enclosure. He held ten acres at the head of Sticks Valley and asked to carry his fence to the top of the ridge next the land formerly William Coales's, the ridge giving a clear line to fence along. This request to fence to a ridge or other natural feature, easing the cost and labour of enclosure, recurs through the island's land grants, the council weighing such extensions against any harm to neighbours. Benjamin Pledger appears in these records as a soldier granted Sexton's Ground in the summer of 1722, here seeking to improve a separate holding at Sticks Valley. The doctor's regular book of medicines expended continued the accounting control over the medical stores. The surgeon kept a running book of the medicines he dispensed, laid before the council and examined at each sitting, the same daily reckoning required since the theft from the stores by Cholmondley Cevill in 1719. This standing audit of the medicines, examined and approved as the other accounts were, kept the surgery stores under the same documentary discipline as the storehouse and the plantation. | |
434 | 1722 Prejudice to any Person, and will Save the Petitionr a great Deal of Labour & Expence in ffencing the Said Land in And if in the measureing there Should happen to be more than the ten Acres aforesaid He Humbly Prays to become Tennant to the Honble Compa for the Same And &ca Orderd That William Coales who We Under- stand did formerly Possess Some part of this Land Petitiond for, and John Pirling who has lately bought Coales Right to the Same be Sumoned to Attend next Consultation day./ The Sevral Persons who did Crop both Ears of their Cattle Attended and their Marks were Altered. Orderd That Edmund Nichols & Walter Morris be Sumoned to Attend the next Consultation to Answer for their Contempt in not Appearing this day Aocording to the Advertizement for Regulateing of Marks./ We Signed this day the four following Leases Vizt One to Bridgett Bazett Wid: for a Parcell of Ground Mentiond in Consultation of the 4th day of Septr last. One to Jonathan Higham Junr for the Land formerly Granted to Samuel Price Mentiond in Consultation of the 27th of Septr last. One to Thomas Watts for a peice of Ground in James Valley Mentiond in Consultation of the 2 of Octr last And One Margin Notes: if any Overplus to Renta ye Same Neighbourhood to Attend. Marks alterd from 2 Crops. Defaulters for not Attending wth others./ 4 Leases Granted./ Mr Bazett. Jonad Higham Thos Watts 4 | Island of St Helena The Pledger petition closed with his account of its benefit and a reservation on the measure. Carrying his fence to the ridge would be of no harm to any person and would save him a great deal of labour and expense in fencing the land. If on measuring there should prove to be more than the ten acres, he asked to become tenant to the Company for the surplus. The neighbourhood to attend The council ordered that William Coales, who it understood had formerly held some part of the land petitioned for, and John Pirling, who had lately bought Coales's right to the same, be summoned to attend the next consultation day. Marks altered from two crops The several persons who had cropped both ears of their cattle attended, and their marks were altered. Defaulters for not attending to be summoned The council ordered Edmund Nichols and Walter Morris summoned to attend the next consultation to answer for their failure to appear that day, in accordance with the advertisement for the regulating of marks. Four leases granted The council signed that day the four following leases. One to Bridget Bazett, widow, for a parcel of ground named in the consultation of 4 September 1722. One to Jonathan Higham junior, for the land formerly granted to Samuel Price, named in the consultation of 27 September 1722. One to Thomas Watts, for a piece of ground in James Valley named in the consultation of 2 October 1722. Interpretations The summons of Coales and Pirling before granting the Pledger fence shows the council again checking for prior claims to the ground. Coales had formerly held part of the land Pledger sought to fence to, and Pirling had lately bought Coales's right to it, so the council called both before settling the extension, lest it confirm ground that another might claim. This caution over a parcel touching an earlier holder's right matched its handling of the Coles and Worrall land at the consultation of 2 October 1722, the same guarding of title that ran through all the lettings under Governor Johnson. William Coales had sold his house and plantation to John Pirling to clear his debts, recorded at the consultation of 18 September 1722. The enforcement of the mark regulation shows the council compelling attendance and punishing default. Those who had cropped both ears came in and had their marks altered, while Edmund Nichols and Walter Morris were summoned to answer for ignoring the advertisement, the council treating non-attendance as a contempt to be called to account. This insistence on compliance with the marking order, backed by summons for those who stayed away, drove home the documentary control of the herd the Company's mass purchase had made necessary, the register first ordered at the consultation of 30 October 1722. The signing of the four leases shows the council reducing its autumn grants to formal instruments of title. The parcels granted to Bridget Bazett, Higham, Watts and the fourth holder across September and October were now made out as leases, the verbal grant perfected into a registered term that secured the holder's right. This conversion of a council grant into a signed lease, fixing the tenure and the rent, was the standing means by which the island gave certainty to its lettings, the same security of title sought in the registration of bills of sale throughout these records. | |
435 | Novr One to Benjamin Pledgerd for that Peice of Land Men- tiond in Consultation of the 28 of August last. The Petition of Sarah Southen Her Son John & Daughter Sarah was Presented Setting forth therein that they Proveing a flock of Goats that hath and doth Very often Trespass & Do Damages in the Neighbouring Plantations and feareing they will be more troublesome now the Dry weather is Neare Approaching: Humbly Prays leave to Build a Goat Pound Under Some Part of the High Hill in Order to remove their Said Goats there./ And &ca Granted Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena. At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 4th day of Decembr 1722 At Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4 The Last Consultation read & Approvd of./ Edmund Nichols & Walter Morris was Sumoned and did Appear to Answer for their Contempt as in Margin Notes: Ben Pledgerds. Mrs Southen &ca Prays leave to Build a Goat Pound./ Granted./ Defaulters attend./ | Island of St Helena The signing of the four leases concluded with the last grant. One to Benjamin Pledger, for the piece of land named in the consultation of 28 August 1722. Mrs Southen asks leave to build a goat pound The petition of Sarah Southen, her son John and daughter Sarah, was presented. They set out that they held a flock of goats that had and did very often trespass and do damage in the neighbouring plantations. Fearing the goats would be more troublesome now the dry weather was near approaching, they asked leave to build a goat pound under some part of the High Hill, so as to remove the goats there. Granted The council granted the petition. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 4 December 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Defaulters attend Edmund Nichols and Walter Morris were summoned and appeared to answer for their contempt, as [...]. Interpretations The grant of a goat pound to Sarah Southen shows the council allowing a holder to confine straying stock that damaged the neighbours' plantations. Her flock trespassed and did harm, the danger growing as the dry weather drew the goats to wander, so leave to build a pound under the High Hill let her remove and control them. This use of a pound to manage straying goats, protecting the neighbouring crops, matched the Sandy Bay goat pounds and the council's long concern with the damage roaming stock did to cultivation. Sarah Southen, lately at odds with the council over her seized goods and her denied debt, here appears restored to ordinary dealings as a holder of stock seeking the council's leave. The appearance of Nichols and Morris to answer for their contempt shows the council enforcing attendance on its mark regulation. The two had failed to obey the advertisement for the regulating of marks and were summoned to account for the default, the council treating disregard of its order as a contempt requiring answer. This compulsion of compliance, calling the absent to explain themselves, drove home the documentary control of the herd the Company's purchase of cattle had made necessary, the summons ordered at the consultation of 27 November 1722. The timing of the goat pound against the approaching dry weather marks the seasonal pressure that drove stock to stray. As the dry season neared, goats ranged further in search of feed and water and broke more often into the planted ground, so the holder sought to pen them before the trouble worsened. This anticipation of the dry weather's effect on grazing stock reflects the island's moderate but seasonal climate, the want of feed in the dry months a recurring spur to the management of the flocks. | |
436 | 1722 in the last Consultation, they alledged they did not hear of the Advertizement in time or they Should readily obeyed and made their appearance when the Rest did their marks were Regulated and then dismist./ Mr Byfeld brought in his Accot of the Honble Companys live stock and Expence for the month of Novr last which was Examind and Approvd of./ The Gunner brought in his Accot of Gunners Stores Expended in the month of Novr last which was Examind Approvd of and is as follows./ Novr 4th To ye Glorious Remembrance of King William Guns fired 21 Diuto 4 Seak 4 Faulk 13 Apowdr 57 5th It being Gun powder Treason day Guns fired 21 Diuto 1 Seak 3 Faulk 17 Apowdr 36 Do At Mundens point to Scale the Guns Guns fired 14 Sxott 5 Diuanto 1 Diuto 13 Apowdr 106 8th It being muster day Apowdr 8 11 To Mr Slaughter Apowdr 1 12 To Do Apowdr 1 21th To Do Apowdr 1 Expences for the Guards Apowdr 9 To Thos Allis to allarm sandy bay upon an Alarm Apowdr 1 Carthridge Paper 4 Sheep Skins 6 Spunge Staves 5 Flints 60 Match 14 14 60 5 6 4 56 5 1 18 7 30 220 Benja Pledger William Coales and Jno Pirling mentiond in the last Consultation all appeard and after Some Debates agreed & Orderd that Capt Alexander go on Thursday next to view the Land in dispute and make his Report next Consultation day. The following Petition of Gabl Powell &ca was presented The Margin Notes: their marks regulated & yn Dismist. Mr Byfelds Accot for Novr Gunrs Accot for do Mo. Persons Appear upon Sumons. a peice of Land to be Viewd./ | Island of St Helena Their marks regulated and dismissed The defaulters from the last consultation argued that they had not heard of the advertisement in time, or they would readily have obeyed and made their appearance when the rest did. Their marks were regulated and they were dismissed. Mr Byfield's live stock account for November Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the month of November, which was examined and approved. Gunner's account for November The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of November, which was examined and approved. The account ran as follows, set out under the headings guns fired, shot, falcons, demi-culverins, sakers, faulkners and powder spent. 4 November, to the glorious remembrance of King William: 21 guns fired, 4 demi-culverins, 4 sakers, 13 faulkners and 57 pounds of powder spent. 5 November, being gunpowder treason day: 21 guns fired, 1 demi-culverin, 3 sakers, 17 faulkners and 36 pounds of powder spent. 5 November, at Munden's Point to scale the guns: 14 guns fired, 5 shot, 1 falcon, 13 demi-culverins and 106 pounds of powder spent. 8 November, being muster day: 8 pounds of powder spent. 11 November, to Mr Slaughter: 1 pound of powder spent. 12 November, to Mr Slaughter: 1 pound of powder spent. 21 November, to Mr Slaughter: 1 pound of powder spent. Expenses for the guard: 9 pounds of powder spent. To Thomas Allis, to alarm Sandy Bay on an alarm: 1 pound of powder spent. Cartridge paper: 4. Sheep skins: 6. Spunge staves: 5. Flints: 60. Match: 14. The whole totalled as follows: 14 match, 60 flints, 5 spunge staves, 6 sheep skins, 4 cartridge paper, 56 guns fired, 5 shot, 1 falcon, 18 demi-culverins, 7 sakers, 30 faulkners and 220 pounds of powder spent. Persons appear upon summons; agreement of land to be viewed Benjamin Pledger, William Coales and John Pirling, named in the last consultation, all appeared. After some debate they agreed, and the council ordered Captain Alexander to go on the following Thursday to view the land in dispute and make his report at the next consultation day. The following petition of Gabriel Powell was presented. Interpretations The gunner's account marks two royal anniversaries kept with heavy salutes, the largest charges of the month. The 4 November honour for the glorious remembrance of King William and the 5 November keeping of gunpowder treason day were each saluted with twenty-one guns and a great expense of powder, the scaling of the guns at Munden's Point the same day adding the heaviest single charge. These observances, the accession of King William and the deliverance from the powder plot, were kept yearly with ceremonial fire as the accession of King George was, the calendar of loyal anniversaries marked in powder. The scaling of the guns at Munden's Point shows the periodic proving of the ordnance that the decayed batteries made necessary. To scale a gun was to fire it with a light charge to clear the bore of rust and scale, and the fourteen guns so fired at the seaward battery, at a cost of over a hundred pounds of powder, tested and cleaned the pieces that guarded the road. This maintenance of the guns followed the council's long concern with the decay of the line and the leaky magazine found at the consultation of 7 August 1722, the ordnance proved against the want of a serviceable defence. The resolution of the Pledger land dispute by a councillor's view shows the council settling competing land claims through inspection on the ground. Pledger, Coales and Pirling came to an agreement after debate, and Captain Alexander was sent to view the disputed land and report, the survey on the spot furnishing the council the facts to confirm the boundary. This recourse to a councillor's view of contested ground, the same method applied to the Coles and Worrall land and the watercourse disputes, was the standing means by which the council resolved the boundaries and extents of its grants. | |
437 | Decembr The Most Humble Petition of Gabl Powell Francis Wrangham on behalf of himself and Mrs Francis Orphans Jos Bates and Edmd Nichols Sheweth That Whereas We your Petitioners have been lately informed That Mrs Southern and hor family hath had Leave granted them to build a Goat Pound about under high Hill in order to remove and pound their Goats there which for many years have used the Range & been pounded in fryer Valley And forasmuch as We your Said Petitioners have two Severall Flocks of Goats which hath for Severall years at this time doe Range in the very Same place where ye Said Southern and hor family intend to drive theirs which will not only by this means intermix but will cause us frequent trouble in Endeavouring to part the Flocks on pounding dayes as well as Cause a Confusion in the marking of Kidds when pounding notwithstanding our greatest Care to Seperate them besides this your Petitioners has at Sundry times given double the Vallue for Goats when any has been put to Sale more for ye Sake and bennefit of the Range and to keep other persons out of the pound than for any Real want or desire of haveing any new purchase and as the Said Mrs Southern and hor family are likdy to very much prejudice your Said Petitioners by thus depriveing them of the Bennefitt of the Range aforesaid together with the other illconveniencies. Humbly prays your Worship to take the above Premisses into your Prudent Consideration and begg they maynt be permitted to build a pound so near and in the very Centure of the Range of our Said Flocks of Goats which are the only Support of our Selves and Families./ Decembr ye 4th 1722 And as in Duty &ca Jas Bates Gabriel Powell Edmd Nichols Fra Wrangham Margin Notes: Sevl Persons Petition against Mrs Southen Her Son & Daur Building a New Goat Pound undr High Hill./ lately granted. | Island of St Helena Several persons petition against Mrs Southen and her family building a new goat pound under the High Hill lately granted The petition of Gabriel Powell and Francis Wrangham, on behalf of himself and Mrs Francis's orphans, with Joseph Bates and Edmund Nichols, was presented. They set out that they had lately been informed that Mrs Southen and her family had leave to build a goat pound under the High Hill, so as to remove and pound their goats there. That range had for many years been used by the petitioners and their goats pounded in Fort Valley. The petitioners held two separate flocks of goats which for several years past had ranged in the very same place where Mrs Southen and her family intended to drive theirs. Driving the two together would not only mix the flocks but would cause the petitioners frequent trouble in trying to part them on pounding days, as well as confusion in the marking of kids when pounding, despite their greatest care to separate them. The petitioners had at various times given double the value for goats when any were put to sale, more for the sake and benefit of the range and to keep other persons out of the pound than for any real want or desire of a new purchase. Since Mrs Southen and her family were likely to do them great harm by depriving them of the benefit of the range, with the other inconveniences, they asked the Governor to consider the matter and prayed that the Southens not be permitted to build a pound so near and in the very centre of the range of their flocks, which were the only support of themselves and their families. The petition was dated 4 December 1722 and signed by Joseph Bates, Edmund Nichols, Gabriel Powell and Francis Wrangham. Interpretations The petition exposes a clash of established grazing rights against the leave lately given to a new pounder. Powell, Wrangham, Bates and Nichols had long used the range under the High Hill and pounded their goats in Fort Valley, so the grant to Sarah Southen at the consultation of 4 December 1722 to pound her flock in the very centre of their range threatened to overturn a settled arrangement. This conflict between an existing common use and a fresh grant on the same ground mirrors the land disputes of the autumn, the holders of a shared range combining to defend it against an intrusion, as the Lemon Valley holders had against the Bodley petition. The mingling of flocks and the confusion of marks shows the practical difficulty that drove the objection. Two sets of goats driven to the same pound would mix, forcing the owners to part them on pounding days and muddling the marking of kids, the very disorder the council's new mark regulation was meant to prevent. This concern that competing flocks on one range would defeat the orderly identification of stock connects the petition to the cattle-marking system fixed across the autumn, the want of clear separation breeding both trouble and the risk of disputed ownership. The petitioners' admission that they bought goats at double value to keep others off the range marks the range itself as the prize, not the animals. They paid over the worth of the goats to secure the benefit of the pasture and exclude rivals, so the value lay in controlling the range rather than in the stock bought, and a new pounder in its centre would waste that investment. This treatment of a common range as a resource worth paying to monopolise reveals how scarce and contested grazing was on the island, the support of whole families resting on the goats the range could carry. Francis Wrangham, here acting for the orphans of Mrs Francis, was a planter and churchwarden whose dealings recur throughout these records. | |
438 | 1722 This Petition being presented against Mrs Southern hor Son and Daughters building a Goat Pound already grant- ed them and they having been very troublesome to all the neighbourhood and doing the Honble Company Constant Damage in their walls and provisions which will be prevented by thus removeing them. Orderd this Petition be Rejected The Secrty Deliverd in the following List of Books and papers belonging to his office which was Examind and Approvd on./ Consultation Books from No 1 to 17 No A & B 2 old Books of Orders and Instructions (Island Covered) C 1 Ditto Containing Do from England D 1 Letter Book from England E F 2 old Books of Orders abstracted G 1 Letter Book to England badly bound and Damaged H 1 Ditto from England I 1 old Book of Instructions & Orders to Military officers K 1 Lettr Book to England part of it used formerly for Entry of Provisions L 1 Ditto to Ditto M 1 Ditto from Ditto N 1 Ditto to Ditto O 1 Ditto to Ditto P 1 Book of Laws Relating to St Helena W 1 Ditto Containing Wills R 1 Ditto of Registers for Lands Deeds Leases &ca S 1 Ditto New for the Same use Sundry Inventorys of Deceased persons Estates Wills Generall Letters from England Secret Comittee Do Letters Margin Notes: Reasons why their petition is Rejected. List of Books & papers in ye Secrts Office./ Bounded up in Separate parcells | Island of St Helena Reasons why their petition is rejected This petition having been presented against Mrs Southen, her son and daughter, building a goat pound already granted them, and the petitioners themselves having been very troublesome to all the neighbourhood and doing the Company constant damage in their walls and provisions, which would be prevented by removing the goats, the council ordered the petition rejected. The secretary delivered in the following list of books and papers belonging to his office, which was examined and approved. List of books and papers belonging to the secretary's office The consultation books ran from number 1 to 17. The remaining books and papers were listed under their reference letters as follows. A and B: two old books of orders and instructions, covered in leather. C: one book of orders and instructions from England. D: one letter book from England. E and F: two old books of orders, abstracted. G: one letter book to England, badly bound and damaged. H: one book from England. I: one old book of instructions and orders to military officers. K: one letter book to England, part of it used formerly for the entry of provisions. L: one letter book to England. M: one letter book from England. N: one letter book to England. U: one letter book to England. O: one book of laws relating to St Helena. P: one book containing wills. W: one book of registers for lands, deeds, leases and the like. R: one new book for the same use. S: sundry inventories of deceased persons' estates, wills, general letters from England and secret committee letters. These were bound up in leather covers, kept apart. Interpretations The rejection of the Powell petition shows the council weighing rival grazing interests and preferring the public good of curbing a troublesome flock. The petitioners had themselves been a nuisance to the whole neighbourhood, their goats doing constant damage to walls and provisions, so penning Sarah Southen's flock under the High Hill would in fact reduce that harm rather than cause it. By upholding the pound it had granted at the consultation of 4 December 1722, the council judged the confinement of straying stock a greater benefit than the established holders' claim to an unshared range, reversing the usual deference to existing use where that use was itself disorderly. The inventory of the secretary's books shows the council maintaining a careful record of its own archive as the foundation of the island's government. The consultation books, letter books to and from England, the laws, the wills, the land registers and the secret committee letters were each listed and lettered, the whole examined and approved, so that the documentary basis of authority, property and correspondence was itself kept under account. This stocktaking of the records, the rebinding in leather noted because rats did not eat it, continued the repair and ordering of the office carried out since the survey of the books in 1716. The separate books of wills, land registers and inventories of deceased persons mark the documentary instruments through which the council governed property and succession. Title to land rested on the registers of deeds and leases, the descent of estates on the books of wills and the inventories of the dead, so the security of every holding and every legacy depended on these records being kept and preserved. This reliance on a maintained archive of title and probate, the new register book opened when the old was full, underlies the constant registration of bills of sale, wills and grants that runs throughout these records. | |
439 | Decembr Letters and Invoices from India Old Sticht Alphabets and Severall other Loose papers lockt up in the presses./ Mr Powell brought this day and Deliverd in a paper to us a Copy Whereof is as follows/ To the Worshipfll Govr and Councill. I Receivd the 13 of Novembr a Copy of the 42th Para of the Honble Companys Generall by the Lethieullier and being Summond to attend the Consultation but through Sickness not Capable to Appear before this day./ To the first Article of the Honble Compas Para it appears that my name is mentiond amongst the rest though neither Debtor nor Creditor, I suppose it was a Mistake. As for haveing Considerable Sum of Credit in the Honble Companys Books is Evident I have for Severall Years as Appears by their Books of Accots I never had any money Enterd to my Accot but what has been in Publick by Govrs and Councill when notice has been given for all persons to Transfer their Bills from one to another (it being the only way of payment formerly on this Island/ I Humbly Conceive what payments has been made and approved on by the Government on those Appointed Dayes before mentiond is of force./ I am Worshipfll Sr & Gentlemen St Helena ye 4th of Decr 1722 Your Most Humble Servt Gabl Powell Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Mr Powells Answer to ye List &c sent him abt his Accots Sevl pleas. | Island of St Helena The list of books and papers in the secretary's office concluded with the remaining items. Letters and invoices from India. Old stitched books, alphabets and several other loose papers locked up in the presses. Mr Powell's answer to the paragraph of the general letter sent to him about his account Mr Powell brought in and delivered that day a paper, a copy of which is as follows. Powell addressed the Governor and council. He had received on 13 November a copy of the 42nd paragraph of the Company's general letter brought by the Leithulier, and being summoned to attend the consultation had been unable through sickness to appear before that day. To the first part of the Company's article, he answered that his name was mentioned among the rest although he was neither debtor nor creditor, which he supposed a mistake. As for having a considerable sum of credit in the Company's books, that was plain, since he had held such credit for several years, as appeared by their books of account. He had never had any money entered to his account except what had been made public by the Governor and council, when notice was given for all persons to transfer their bills from one to another, that being the only way of payment formerly on the island. He held that the payments made and approved by the government on those appointed days were valid. The paper was dated at St Helena 4 December 1722 and signed by Gabriel Powell. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations Powell's answer rests his defence on the legitimacy of the island's customary system of payment by transferred bills. He maintained that the credits standing to his account had all arisen from the public transfers the Governor and council themselves authorised on appointed days, that being the only way of settling debts where coin was scarce, so the payments were valid and approved by the government. By grounding his account on the sanctioned practice of assigning bills from one party to another, he met the directors' inquiry of the 42nd paragraph not by disputing the figures but by defending the mechanism, the same clearing of mutual debts that runs throughout these records. The dispute over whether Powell appeared as debtor or creditor exposes the confusion the transfer system bred in the books. His name stood in the Company's list though he claimed to be neither owing nor owed, which he put down to a mistake, the very tangle the council had sought to unravel by giving him the list of those who had transferred credits to him yet remained indebted. This difficulty in tracing where a transferred credit finally rested, leaving a man charged or credited in error, was the kind of fault the long audit of the books since 1719 was meant to expose, the inquiry into Powell's seven-year account first set in train at the consultation of 13 November 1722. The continued listing of the secretary's loose papers, the India letters and invoices and the old stitched books locked in the presses, completes the stocktaking of the office archive. These records of correspondence and trade, kept secured in the presses, formed part of the documentary foundation on which the island's government and dealings rested, preserved and accounted as the consultation books and registers were. This care for the whole body of the office's papers, down to the loose and stitched material, continued the ordering and securing of the records carried out since the survey of the books in 1716. | |
440 | 1722 Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ye 11th Day of Decembr 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Capt Goodwin brought in his Monthly Accot of Goods and Stores Sold and Deliverd out of the Stores for the Month of Novr last which was Examind and Approvd of./ Likewise Mr Slaughter brought in his Accot of the Expence of the Generall Table for the Month of Novr Last which was Examind and approvd of and is as follows./ 1016 of Beef at 2s 5d ⅌ 100 12 14 1 Sheep 1 4 2 Goats at 10/ Do 1 1 Kidd 5 Card over 15 3 Margin Notes: Storekeeprs Accot for Novr. The Stewards Acct for do Mo. | Island of St Helena The previous page closed with the signatures of the gunner's account, struck through by the clerk. Start of crossed out section The whole, signed by Captain Goodwin and John Goodwin. End of crossed out section Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 11 December 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Storekeeper's account for November Captain Goodwin brought in his monthly account of goods and stores sold and delivered out of the stores for the month of November, which was examined and approved. The steward's account for November Mr Slaughter likewise brought in his account of the expense of the general table for the month of November, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 1,016 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £12 14s 0d. 1 sheep, £1 4s 0d. 2 goats at 10 shillings each, £1 0s 0d. 1 kid, £0 5s 0d. Carried over: £15 3s 0d. Interpretations The two monthly accounts brought together continued the regular audit of the Company's charge at the island. The storekeeper's account of goods issued and the steward's account of the general table were each examined and approved, the routine reckoning by which the council kept the Company's expense under view. This monthly rendering of the stores and the table maintained the discipline of the accounts pressed since the books were brought current after 1719. The very large quantity of beef in this month's table account marks a heavy slaughter, far above the usual run. Over a thousand pounds of beef was charged at the customary 25 shillings the hundredweight, against the few hundred pounds of other months, the increase perhaps answering the provisioning of shipping in the road or the laying in of meat against the season. The beef remained the staple of the establishment's provision, the bulk of the month's supply drawn from the island's own cattle. The cancelled signatures on the gunner's account show the clerk correcting an error in the attestation of the record. The account had been wrongly subscribed and the names struck through, the correct signing entered in its place, the kind of clerical slip the council's monthly examination of the copies and duplicates was meant to catch. This care over the exact form of the record, the wrong subscription cancelled rather than left to stand, reflected the drive to keep the books true and answerable that ran through the secretary's and accountant's offices, the directors having complained that a consultation's copy and duplicate did not agree. | |
441 | Decr Brot Over 15 3 2 Geese at 6/ 12 6 Fowles at 1/6 9 60 Eggs at 1d 5 30 Dayes Greens at 1/ 1 10 60 Bottles of Milk at 1/4 1 60 of Butter at 1/ 3 9 Peices of Salt Beef at 2/10 1 5 6 6 Ditto Pork at 2/6 15 4 of Pepper at 1/ 4 1½ Gallon of Vinegar at 4/ 6 28 of Soape at 1/5 1 19 8 149 of Sugar at 1/6 3 14 6 4 Sugar Candy at 1/ 4 144 of Bread at 1/3 1 18 40 Flower at 1/3 10 7 Tea at 7/6 2 12 6 57 Gallons of Arrack at 6/4 18 01 20½ Gallons of Madera Wine at 4/ 4 2 34 Bottles of Port Wine at 2/6 4 5 4 Do Ale at 1/3 5 3100 Lemmons at 2/6 ⅌ 100 3 17 6 63 of Candles at 1/6 4 14 6 2 Quarts Sweet Oyls at 1/9 ⅌ Gall 4 4½ Willm Slaughter 70 17 6½ | Island of St Helena The steward's account of the general table for November continued, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £15 3s 0d. 2 geese at 6 shillings each, £0 12s 0d. 6 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 9s 0d. 60 eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 5s 0d. 30 days' greens at 1 shilling per day, £1 10s 0d. 60 bottles of milk at 4 pence each, £1 0s 0d. 66 pounds of butter at 1 shilling per pound, £3 0s 0d. 9 pieces of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence each, £1 5s 6d. 6 pieces of salt pork at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £0 15s 0d. 4 pounds of pepper at 1 shilling per pound, £0 4s 0d. 1 quart and a half gallon of vinegar at 4 shillings per gallon, £0 0s 6d. 28 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 5 pence per pound, £1 19s 8d. 149 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £3 14s 6d. 4 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 4s 0d. 144 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 18s 0d. 40 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 10s 0d. 7 pounds of tea at 7 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 12s 6d. 57 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £18 1s 0d. 20 gallons and a half of Madeira wine at 4 shillings per gallon, £4 2s 0d. 34 bottles of port wine at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £4 5s 0d. 4 bottles of ale at 1 shilling 3 pence each, £0 5s 0d. 3,100 lemons at 2 shillings 6 pence per 100, £3 17s 6d. 63 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £4 14s 6d. 2 quarts of sweet oil at 1 shilling 9 pence per gallon, £1 4s 4½d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £70 17s 6½d. Interpretations The very large quantity of lemons in this month's account marks a seasonal laying in of fruit far above the usual purchase. Over three thousand lemons were charged at the customary rate per hundred, against the few hundred of other months, the bulk perhaps gathered against the season or for the supply of shipping, the lemon being valued as a guard against the scurvy that afflicted long voyages. This large provision of citrus reflects the island's role as a refreshment station, the fruit it grew serving the health of the crews that called. The table account again shows arrack as the costliest single article of the establishment's provision, charged at over eighteen pounds against the lesser sums for the wines and ale. As the chief spirit of the island, supplied from the East under the Company's monopoly, arrack dominated the table's expense as in every month's account, here at 6 shillings 4 pence the gallon, the staple drink of the officers' board far outweighing the Madeira, port and ale beside it. The presence of salt beef and salt pork alongside the fresh meat marks the preserved reserve kept against the want of fresh supply. Beef and pork salted down in barrels formed the standing store of a remote settlement, drawn on by the piece at the established rates beside the fresh beef, goats and poultry of the island, a hedge against the months when fresh provision ran short. | |
442 | 1722 William Scale was Summond at the Complaint of Richd Tinsley for Refuseing to pay him a Just debt and demanding money of him that he does not owe him./ The Said Scale Appeard and Sayes He did Refuse to pay Tinsley Six Shillings that He demanded of him because the Said Tinsley owed him money at the Same time and was willing to Sett So much off on that Accot which Tinsley would not Accept because He did not know that He owed him any thing Scale Charge him with Twenty Shillings left unpaid for work done for Giles Smith in the year 1711 for a Quarter of Boat two Shillings and Six pence Seven Shillings and Six pence for punch at his house in the Countrey in the year 1709 and nine Shillings for punch at another time Tinsley Sayd that he orderd Giles Smith to pay Mr Scale and that the remainder of the money Lay in Mr Smiths hands about three months after that Mr Smith Sayes that Tinsley did order him to pay Mr Scale and that he thinks he did pay Mr Scale Accordingly, Scale Sayes that it was about three Months before he demanded the money of Giles Smith and that then Giles Smith told him there was no more Left in his hands Tinsley further Sayes that in Govr Pykes time there was a Publick Advertizement put out for Every body to come and make up their Accots with him that the Government might See in what Condition Tinsley was in towards payment of his Debt to the Honble Company and that Scale did not come then to make Margin Notes: Scale Summond at Tinsleys Complt He appears. Scale makes out of debt owd him by Tinsley. And Tinsley his debt oweing from Scale. Sevll Particular Instances. | Island of St Helena Seale summoned at Tinsley's complaint William Seale was summoned on the complaint of Richard Tinsley, for refusing to pay him a just debt and demanding money of him that he did not owe. He appears Seale appeared and said he had refused to pay Tinsley the six shillings he demanded, because Tinsley owed him money at the same time and he was willing to set off so much on that account. Tinsley would not accept this, because he did not know that he owed Seale anything. Seale makes out the debt owing to him by Tinsley Seale charged Tinsley with twenty shillings left unpaid for work done for Giles Smith in the year 1711, for a quarter of a boat two shillings and six pence, seven shillings and six pence for punch at his house in the country in the year 1709, and nine shillings for punch at another time. And Tinsley his debt owing from Seale Tinsley said he had ordered Giles Smith to pay Mr Seale, and that the remainder of the money lay in Smith's hands about three months after. Smith said that Tinsley did order him to pay Mr Seale, and that he thinks he did pay him accordingly. Seale said it was about three months before he demanded the money of Giles Smith, and that Smith then told him there was no more left in his hands. Several particular instances Tinsley further said that in Governor Pyke's time there had been a public advertisement issued for everyone to come and make up their accounts with him, so that the government might see what condition Tinsley was in towards payment of his debt to the Company, and that Seale did not then come to make [...]. Interpretations The Seale and Tinsley dispute shows the council acting as a small court to untangle cross-debts between two men. Each claimed the other owed him, Seale refusing the six shillings demanded because he reckoned Tinsley already in his debt for old work and punch, so the council heard out both sides to see where the balance lay. This resort to the council to set off mutual claims, rather than settle the figures between themselves, reflects the want of any other forum for petty debts and the same clearing of cross-obligations that ran through the island's dealings. Richard Tinsley was the marshal lately appointed in place of John Dixon, and William Seale a planter whose dealings recur throughout these records. The age of the debts pressed marks how long such reckonings could lie open on the island. Seale claimed for work and punch supplied in 1709 and 1711, more than a decade before, the obligations carried unsettled across the years until the cross-demand brought them out. This survival of stale debts, traced back through years and the hands of a third man, shows how loosely accounts were kept among the inhabitants and how readily an old reckoning could be revived when one party pressed another. Tinsley's reference to the public advertisement of Governor Pyke's time exposes the difficulty of fixing a debtor's true position when claims lay scattered and unrendered. The former government had called on all to bring in their accounts so that Tinsley's standing towards his Company debt could be seen, yet Seale had not then come forward, leaving the present cross-claim unresolved. This use of a general call for accounts to ascertain a man's liabilities, and the trouble caused when a creditor stayed away, connects the dispute to the council's long effort to bring the island's tangled credits to a true reckoning through the corrected books. | |
443 | Decr make any demand nor has he ever Since So that he did not nor does beleive he owes him any thing Scale Sayes he never heard of any Such Advertizement but he hath Severall times Since demanded the money of him but he always put him off Capt Alexander Remembred that there was an Advertizemt We are of Opinion that if there be Twenty Shillings left unpaid it was Scales own fault because he did not Apply to Giles Smith at the time Tinsley Orderd Smith to pay Scale as to the Seven Shillings and Sixpence for punch it is So long Since We look upon it Satisfyed and that Scale did never Reckon upon it because he did not Demand it ever Since and We all have taken notice of Tinsleys Honesty So that We advisd them to quit all Accots on both sides to this day to which they Agreed Capt Alexander Reports That John Pirling and Benjs Pledger Sent him word that they had agreed about the land in dispute and which He was Orderd to View in the last Consultation./ Mr VanOasten brought in this day the Particulars of all the Accots Mentiond in Consultation of the 13 of Novr last./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Advisd to agree & quit all Accots to this time Report abt ye Land in dispute by Pirling and Pledgerd./ VanOosten bd in ye Particulars of Accots | Island of St Helena The Seale and Tinsley dispute continued. Tinsley said that Seale had not come to make any demand, nor had he ever since, so that he did not, nor did he believe he owed him anything. Seale said he had never heard of any such advertisement, but that he had several times since demanded the money of Tinsley, who always put him off. Captain Alexander remembered that there had been such an advertisement. The council's decision The council was of opinion that, if there were twenty shillings left unpaid, it was Seale's own fault, because he did not apply to Giles Smith at the time Tinsley ordered Smith to pay Seale. As to the seven shillings and six pence for punch, the council looked on it as satisfied, it being so long since and Seale never having reckoned upon it, since he had not demanded it ever since. The council had all taken notice of Tinsley's honesty. Advised to agree and quit all accounts to this time The council advised both parties to quit all accounts on both sides up to that day, to which they agreed. Report about the land in dispute by Pirling and Pledger Captain Alexander reported that John Pirling and Benjamin Pledger had sent him word that they had agreed about the land in dispute, which he had been ordered to view in the last consultation. Van Oosten brought in the particulars of the accounts Mr Van Oosten brought in that day the particulars of all the accounts named in the consultation of 13 November 1722. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The council's resolution of the cross-debts shows it weighing the conduct of each party rather than the bare figures. It held the unpaid twenty shillings to be Seale's own fault for not applying to Giles Smith when Tinsley directed payment through him, and treated the old punch debt as satisfied by long silence, the council reasoning from the parties' delay and neglect to a fair extinguishment. By advising both to quit all accounts to that day, it cut off a tangle of stale claims that could not be cleanly reckoned, the practical settlement preferred to an exact accounting where the evidence was old and the sums small. The weight given to Tinsley's honesty marks the value the council placed on a man's standing in resolving a doubtful debt. Where the figures were uncertain and the claims aged, the council's notice of Tinsley's known honesty told in his favour, character supplying what the record could not fix. This reliance on reputation to tip a balance the books left unsettled reflects the small society in which the parties and the council all knew one another, the same regard for known honesty that bore on the Higham debt resolved earlier in the autumn. The completion of the Pledger land agreement and the delivery of Van Oosten's particular accounts show two long-running matters brought to a close. The disputed land at Sticks Valley, referred to Captain Alexander's view at the consultation of 4 December 1722, was settled by the parties' own agreement, and the particular accounts the directors had called for, delayed by Van Oosten's sickness, were at last brought in. These resolutions carried forward the inquiry into the books first set in train at the consultation of 13 November 1722, the accounts pointed out account by account for the Company's satisfaction. | |
444 | 1722 Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday ye 18th day of Decembr 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley./ Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 John Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approvd of. We this day Porsuant to an Advertizement reckoned with all the Workmen and paid them and also those of the Garrison that are not Indebted to the Honble Company for the present Quarter./ Upon Information that Jno Worrall had Sold his House at the Fort to Thomas Clew for Forty pounds the Said Worral was sent for in and askt the reason why he paid nothing in to lessen his debt to the Honble Company He answerd he was willing to pay twelve pounds due from the Said Clew which was Transferrd Accord- ingly and Promised to pay all the Remaindor of his debt by Midsummer next./ Thos Watts having Creditt For Sawing and Sallary Transferrd to James Greentree 10 Jas Whalzy Serjt for Stone Laying and Sallary To James Draper 2 10 Thos Clew Monk for Do and Stone Laying to Jno Worrall 12 Jams Margin Notes: Reckoning day. Thos Clew paid for Jno Worrall toward lessening his debt £12: as at bottm Transfers as they due./ | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 18 December 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Reckoning day The council that day, in accordance with an advertisement, reckoned with all the workmen and paid them, and also those of the garrison who were not indebted to the Company, for the present quarter. Thomas Cleve paid for John Worrall towards lessening his debt, £12 as at bottom On information that John Worrall had sold his house at the fort to Thomas Cleve for forty pounds, Worrall was sent for and asked why he had paid nothing in to lessen his debt to the Company. He answered that he was willing to pay the twelve pounds due from Cleve, which was transferred accordingly, and he promised to pay the remainder of his debt by the following Midsummer. Transfers of credits due Thomas Watts, having credit for sawing and salary, transferred to James Greentree: £10 0s 0d. Joseph Whaley, sergeant, for stone-laying and salary, to James Draper: £2 10s 0d. Thomas Cleve, mason, for stone and stone-laying, to John Worrall: £12 0s 0d. Interpretations The reckoning with the workmen and garrison shows the quarterly settlement of the Company's wage account with its people. Those not in debt to the Company were paid for the quarter, the council clearing its obligations to the labourers and soldiers on the appointed day, the same periodic reckoning recorded at the consultation of 27 September 1722. This quarterly paying off of the workpeople, the indebted excepted until their debts were met, kept the Company's labour account current and turned the wages of the free to the discharge of the debts of others through transfer. The pursuit of Worrall over the sale of his house shows the council enforcing the application of a debtor's assets to his Company debt. Learning he had sold his fort house to Cleve for forty pounds yet paid nothing in, the council called him to account and took the twelve pounds owing from Cleve by transfer towards the debt, binding him to clear the rest by Midsummer. This insistence that a man who realised an asset apply it to what he owed the Company, the proceeds intercepted by transfer, reflected the recovery discipline pressed through the corrected books, the debtor not suffered to pocket a sale while his Company debt stood. The chain of transfers shows the Company's books again serving to clear mutual debts without coin. Watts's credit for sawing passed to Greentree, Whaley's for stone-laying to Draper, and Cleve's for stone and stone-laying to Worrall, who in turn applied it to his own Company debt, so that a single entry of credit discharged a private and a public obligation at once. This bookkeeping of assigned credits, the labour of one man settling the debt of another, was the standing means by which a settlement short of currency squared its reckonings, the same practice Powell had defended at the consultation of 4 December 1722 as the only former way of payment on the island. | |
445 | Decr Samuel Thornborough Montr for Sallary Transfd To James Greentree 4 Jno Whaley montr to Fra Wrangham for diett 1 16 Richd Pray Sold To Jno Nichols Estate for 2 Qarr Do 3 12 Benja Pledsor Sold for Sallary and Pork to Edmd Bodley 5 Thos Gardner Corpl to Thos Allis for Diett 1 16 Thos Hayse Sold To Sutlr Isaack for Diett 1 16 Jno Hayse Do 1 16 Jos Stapler Sold to Isaac Wood for 2 Quarr Diett 3 12 Jno Wm Pypher Armr Mate having Cr for Sallary To James Greentree 14 Richd Tinsley Marshd having Cr for Sallary To James Greentree 15 11 William Scale paid in this Day Ten pounds in Cash for Samuel Price on Acco of the house he bought of him which Compleats the whole payment of Forty pounds mentiond in Consultation of the 12th of June Last./ John Long was Summoned and Appeard this day at the Complaint of Thos Free He alleadging that the Said Long had taken upa Cow of his that he left off of the Wast Land about four Years Since under pretence of being one of William Portleys (Decd) and produced Severall Witnesses Vizt James Ryder Edmd Nichols Richd Goodwin and John Bagley who all Deposd on Oath that they have heard the Said Free talk of Such a Beast as He Sayes Mr Long has in his Possession Margin Notes: Wm Scale paid £10: in full for ye House bot of Saml Price Thos Frees Complt agt Mr Long abt a Cow. Witnesses. | Island of St Helena The transfer of credits among the workpeople continued. Samuel Thornborough, matross, for salary, transferred to James Greentree: £4 0s 0d. John Whaley, matross, to Francis Wrangham, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Richard Ray, soldier, to John Nichols's estate, for two quarters' diet: £3 12s 0d. Benjamin Pledger, soldier, for salary and pork, to Edmund Bodley: £5 0s 0d. Thomas Gardner, corporal, to Thomas Allis, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Thomas Hayse, soldier, to Sutton Isaack, for diet: £1 16s 0d. John Hayse, soldier, to Sutton Isaack, for diet: £1 16s 0d. Joseph Stapler, soldier, to Isaac Wood, for two quarters' diet: £3 12s 0d. John William Pypher, armourer's mate, having credit for salary, to James Greentree: £0 14s 0d. Richard Tinsley, marshal, having credit for salary, to James Greentree: £0 15s 0d. William Seale paid £10 in full for the house bought of Samuel Price William Seale paid in that day ten pounds in cash for Samuel Price, on account of the house he bought of him, which completed the whole payment of forty pounds named in the consultation of 12 June 1722. Thomas Free's complaint against Mr Long about a cow John Long was summoned and appeared that day on the complaint of Thomas Free. Free alleged that Long had taken up a cow of his that he had let off the waste land about four years before, under pretence of being one of William Portley's cattle. He produced seven witnesses, James Ryder, Edmund Nichols, Richard Goodwin and John Bagley, who all deposed on oath that they had heard Free talk of such a beast. Free said that Long had in his possession [...]. Interpretations The completion of Seale's payment closed the long settlement of his debt to Price for the James Valley house. The final ten pounds in cash made up the whole forty pounds named at the consultation of 12 June 1722, the balance having been cleared in stages through transferred credits and produce, the cash payment completing a debt that the want of currency had spread across several months and means. This mixed and protracted discharge of a single sum reflects the chronic scarcity of coin that ran through all the island's reckonings. The Free and Long dispute over the cow shows the council acting as a court to try a disputed taking of stock. Free claimed Long had seized a beast of his under colour of its being William Portley's, and produced witnesses to swear they had heard Free speak of such an animal, the matter turning on the ownership and identity of the cow. This recourse to the council with sworn witnesses to recover a beast wrongly taken connects the case to the long concern with the marking and ownership of cattle that had occupied the autumn, the confusion of marks the very evil the new register was meant to cure. William Portley was the discharged chief overseer convicted of perjury, his cattle here invoked as the pretext for the seizure. The transfer of credits to James Greentree from several of the workpeople marks him as a substantial creditor to whom the Company's people resorted to settle their debts. The salaries of Thornborough, Pypher and Tinsley all passed to Greentree, who evidently held debts against them or supplied them, the credits assigned to clear what they owed him. This concentration of transferred credits in one man's hands shows how the island's clearing of mutual debts ran through the books, the wages of many discharging obligations to a few, the same bookkeeping of assigned credits that recurs throughout these records. | |
446 | 1722 Possession but cannot Say that it is his the said Frees Mr Ry- der and Edmd Nichols Sayes they did both handle the said Cow and Examind into the Mark, but could no wayes discerne any thing of Mr Frees Mark, but on the Contrary one of the Ears to be of the mark that Portley Used to Mark his Cattle of and So Sayes Severall other Persons now present that Long produced to prove his Title to the Cow now in dispute./ Whereupon Orderd that the said Jno Long do keep the Cow The following Petition of Ralph Orme was presented Setting forth. That forasmuch as your Petitioner haveing obtaind the favour and Grant of a Licence to Retaile Strong Liquors and being in Extream want of a Small Sume of money to buy Arrack and Sugar to begin with Most Humbly prayes your Worship and Councill would be pleasd out of your Accus- tomed Goodness to favour Your Poor Petitioner So far as to Lett him have that part of his Wifes Dividend which became hor Right from the Estate or dividend of Richd Leech formerly an Orphan of this Island (Decd) the same being about four pounds and will most thankfully repay it againe as fast as he cane Raise money otherwise your Petitioner must be forced to Borrow Money and pay Large Interest for the same which ye Petitioners present Circumstances will not Admitt of without a very great Prejudice to himself and family and Therefore most Humbly Prayes your Worship & Councll Consideration & Grant Margin Notes: their Depositions Long to keep ye Cow. Ralph Orme prays for the Loan of £4 his wifes part of Rd Leech. | Island of St Helena The Free and Long dispute over the cow continued. Free said that Long had the beast in his possession but could not say it was his. Their depositions Mr Ryder and Edmund Nichols said they had both handled the cow and examined the mark, but could in no way discern anything of Free's mark. On the contrary, one of the ears proved to be of the mark that Portley used to mark his cattle with. Several other persons now present said the same, whom Long produced to prove his title to the cow in dispute. Long to keep the cow The council thereupon ordered that Long keep the cow. The following petition of Ralph Orme was presented. Ralph Orme's request for the loan of four pounds, his wife's part of Richard Leech's estate Ralph Orme petitioned the council, setting out that he had obtained the favour and grant of a licence to retail strong liquors, and was in extreme want of a small sum of money to buy arrack and sugar to begin with. He asked the Governor and council, out of their accustomed goodness, to favour him so far as to let him have that part of his wife's dividend which became her right from the estate or dividend of Richard Leech, formerly an orphan of the island, deceased. The sum was about four pounds, which he would thankfully repay as fast as he could raise money. Otherwise he would be forced to borrow money and pay large interest, which his present circumstances would not admit of without very great harm to himself and his family. He therefore asked the Governor and council's consideration to grant [...]. Interpretations The decision in Long's favour shows the mark settling the disputed ownership of the cow. Free could swear only that he had spoken of such a beast, while witnesses who handled the animal found no trace of his mark and one ear bearing the mark Portley used, so the council ordered Long keep the cow on the strength of the mark. This determination of title by the evidence of the mark vindicated the very system the council had been regulating through the autumn, the registered mark serving here in practice to resolve a contested claim, as the new register was meant to do for every clash of ownership. The Orme petition turns the orphan's dividend into a source of working capital for a new trade. Orme sought his wife's four-pound share of Richard Leech's estate, lately apportioned, to stock his newly licensed punch house with arrack and sugar, the council holding such family funds and releasing them on a proper claim. This use of a held dividend to furnish a man beginning in trade, sparing him the large interest of a private loan, shows the Company acting again as banker to its people, the Leech fund whose administration had been granted to Francis Leech at the consultation of 2 October 1722 now drawn on by a beneficiary. The licence to retail strong liquors marks the regulated trade in drink on which the island's punch houses depended. Orme had obtained leave to sell arrack and sugar, the licensed retailer bound to buy his stock from the Company's stores under the standing conditions, the trade controlled to protect both the Company's monopoly and public order. This dependence of the licensed victualler on a small stock of arrack and sugar to begin, and his recourse to the council for the means, connects the petition to the long regulation of the island's liquor trade and the punishment of unlicensed retailing recorded throughout these records. Ralph Orme, who had married Robert Leech's widow, recurs in these records as a planter who took up and surrendered Company land. | |
447 | Decr Grant of this his Humble Request./ Decr ye 18th 1722 And as in Duty &ca Ralph Orme The Petitioner being a Poor man We are Willing to Encourage him for the better Support of his family do grant his Request upon Promise of paying it in againe as Soon as he can./ The Govr Deliverd Benjs Greentree the Bond given by Mr Powell and Mr Greentree, for Mary Swallows & Jam Duston Debts of Twenty pounds five Shillings and four Pence farthing mentiond in Consultation of the 17 of July Last He haveing paid in the money to us this day./ On Sunday the 16th Instant Arrived the Ship Cæsar Captain William Mabbot from Mocha but Last from the Cape And brought us the Melancholy accot of the Loss of the Ships Nightingale ale Shandois and Addison which weredrove on Shoar there by a Violent Storme./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Thus far has been Copyed and Sent home By Ship Cæsar Capt William Mabbot Margin Notes: Granted to Encourage him but to pay it in againe. Bond of £20: Delivd up ye Money being pd. Cæsars Arrival. News of Ships Lost at ye Cape. | Island of St Helena The Orme petition closed with his plea for the grant. The petition was dated 18 December 1722 and signed by Ralph Orme. Granted, to encourage him, on his paying it in again Orme being a poor man, the council, willing to encourage him for the better support of his family, granted his request on his promise of paying the money in again as soon as he could. The bond of twenty pounds five shillings and four pence delivered up, the money being paid The Governor delivered to Benjamin Greentree the bond given by Mr Powell and Mr Greentree for Mary Swallow and Samuel Duston's debt of twenty pounds five shillings and four pence, named in the consultation of 17 July last. Greentree had paid in the money to the council that day. Caesar's arrival On Sunday 16 December the ship Caesar, Captain William Mabbot, arrived from Mocha but last from the Cape. News of ships lost at the Cape The Caesar brought the melancholy account of the loss of the ships Nightingale, Shandois and Addison, which had driven on shore there in a violent storm. The record was signed by Edward Johnson, Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. A note records that the consultations had been copied thus far and sent home by the ship Caesar, Captain William Mabbot. Interpretations The grant to Orme shows the council advancing a held fund to a poor man as a measure of support rather than mere creditor's right. Willing to encourage him for his family's sake, the council released his wife's four-pound dividend on his promise to repay, treating the orphan's fund both as the beneficiary's due and as a means of relief. This readiness to use a held dividend to set a struggling householder on his feet, sparing him a ruinous private loan, shows the Company in its role as banker and patron to its people, the Leech estate administered to Francis Leech at the consultation of 2 October 1722 now serving a beneficiary's need. The delivery of the bond on payment shows the discharge of a secured debt closing the obligation of the sureties. Powell and Greentree had stood bound for Mary Swallow and Samuel Duston's debt of twenty pounds five shillings and four pence, named at the consultation of 17 July 1722, and on Greentree paying in the money the council gave up the bond, cancelling the security once the debt was met. This return of the instrument on satisfaction marks the formal close of a bonded debt, the sureties released as the principal sum was paid, the same discharge of bonds that runs throughout the island's dealings. The wreck of the three ships at the Cape marks the hazard of the long passage on which the island and the whole trade depended. The Caesar, herself bound from Mocha by way of the Cape, carried the news that the Nightingale, Shandois and Addison had been driven ashore in a storm, the violent seas of the Cape a constant peril to the Company's shipping. This report of the loss of vessels in the southern seas, entered as the council recorded the arrivals and departures of all ships, reflects the danger of the route that linked the island to England and the East and brought it both supply and news. | |
448 | 1722 Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Thursday ye 27 day Decr 1722 at the Plantation House Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres John Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approved of On Monday the 24th Instant Saild hence the Ship Cæsar for England./ Having Discharged all the Hired Blacks on ye Same Day Their Honrs Blacks wore this day brought before us and those Severall Imploys where the Freemens Blacks wore made use of are Supplyd out of the Honble Companys and are as follows. For the Long Boat. 1 Frank 2 Dick 3 Blackheath 4 Clois 5 Cupido 6 Jemmey 7 Diamond 8 Pompey Fishing Boats. Mordew Marcus Leander Porteus Jack Cato Corrydon Tom Josses Martin Daniel Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Cæsars Departure./ Hired Blacks discharged./ Comp Blacks Imployd in their Steads./ | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Thursday 27 December 1722 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Caesar's departure On Monday 24 December the ship Caesar sailed for England. Hired slaves discharged Having discharged all the hired slaves on the same day, the council that day brought the Company's slaves before it and considered the several employments where the freemen's slaves had been used, which were now supplied out of the Company's own. They were as follows. For the long boat: Frank, Dick, Blackheath, Clois, Cupido, Jemmy, Diamond and Pompey. For the fishing boats: Morden, Marcus, Leander, Porteous Jack, Cato, Corydon, Tom, Joses, Martin and Daniel. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The discharge of the hired slaves and their replacement by the Company's own marks a deliberate end to the long practice of hiring the planters' slaves. The freemen's slaves had been used in the boats and other employments, and the council now substituted the Company's own slaves in their places, ending the hire that had been pressed on it for years by the want of hands. This transition from hired to owned labour, the Company at last able to man its boats from its own slaves, reflects the gradual building of the slave force recorded through the births and purchases of these years, the hiring of the planters' slaves long held necessary until the Company's complement was complete. The assignment of named slaves to the long boat and the fishing boats shows the Company organising its labour force by the particular employments the island required. The boats that fed the slaves at the plantations and fortifications and supported the shipping were a constant care, and the council set out by name the slaves now manning them, the long boat and the fishing boats each given their crews. This careful allocation of the Company's slaves to the vessels on which the island's provisioning depended continued the standing concern for the boats recorded across these records, the long boat replaced after storm and the fishery broken by surf. The substitution turned on the same calculation of cost and self-sufficiency that had governed the slave supply throughout. Hiring the planters' slaves had been a charge the Company bore while its own hands were too few, so replacing them with Company slaves saved the hire and made the island's labour its own, the freemen's slaves released back to their masters. This replacement of hired by owned labour, sparing the Company the cost of hire once it could man its works itself, completed the policy of building a slave force sufficient to the island's needs that had run through the long correspondence with the directors over the want of hands. | |
449 | Janry Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Wensday ye 2d day of Janry 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Prest Edwd Byfeld 2 Prest Sick absent Jno Alexander 3 Prest Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. The Gunner brought in his Accot of Gunnors Stores Expended in the month of Decr Last which was Examined and Approvd and is as follows./ Decr ye 5th It Being Muster day Apowdr 8 12 To Mr Slaughter 16 An Alarm Guns fired 4 Faulk 4 Apowdr 4 Do Arrived the Cæsar Guns fired 9 Faulk 9 Apowdr 9 17 For the Worshipfully Governr 24 Departed the Cæsar for England Guns fired 7 Faulk 7 Apowdr 7 Expences for the Guards Apowdr 10 Musquett Balls 6½ Trucks to John Bagley Junr 6 Carthridge Paper 3 Flints 40 Sheepskins 6 Match 21 Signd Jno French 21 6 40 3 6 6½ 20 20 39 The Govr Reported that Mr VanOosten acquainted him that he had finished the fair Copy of the Books of Accots for the year 1721 in order to be Sent home which wore this day brought into Consultation. Referrd to Mr Byfeld & Capt Goodwin to be Examind Margin Notes: Gunrs Accot for Decr. Books of Accots for 1721 finisht Sd & Examd. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Wednesday 2 January 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Goodwin, fourth. John Alexander, third, absent, being sick. The previous consultation was read and approved. Gunner's account for December The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of December, which was examined and approved. The account ran as follows, set out under the headings guns fired, faulkners and pounds of powder spent. 5 December, being muster day: 8 pounds of powder spent. 12 December, to Mr Slaughter: [...]. 16 December, an alarm: 4 guns fired, 4 faulkners and 4 pounds of powder spent. 16 December, arrived the Caesar: 9 guns fired, 9 faulkners and 9 pounds of powder spent. 17 December, for the worshipful Governor: [...]. 24 December, departed the Caesar for England: 7 guns fired, 7 faulkners and 7 pounds of powder spent. Expenses for the guard: 10 pounds of powder spent. Musket balls: 6½. Trucks to John Bagley junior: 2 [...] 6. Cartridge paper: 3. Flints: 40. Sheep skins: 6. Match: 21. The whole, signed by the gunner John French, totalled as follows: 21 match, 6 sheep skins, 40 flints, 3 cartridge paper, 6 [...], 6½ musket balls, 20 guns fired, 20 faulkners and 39 pounds of powder spent. The books of accounts for 1721 finished and examined The Governor reported that Mr Van Oosten had told him he had finished the fair copy of the books of accounts for the year 1721, so as to be sent home. The books were brought into consultation that day, and referred to Mr Byfield and Captain Goodwin to be examined. Interpretations The gunner's account marks the arrival and departure of the Caesar among the occasions warranting a salute. The ship was honoured with nine guns on coming in and seven on sailing for England, the alarm of the same day and the muster also drawing their charges of powder, the ordnance answering both ceremony and warning. This salute to a Company ship on its arrival and departure, entered alongside the muster and the alarm, continued the standing practice of marking such events in powder, the Caesar having brought the news of the wrecks at the Cape and carried home the consultations. The completion of the 1721 books shows the long drive to bring the Company's accounts current reaching another year's close. Van Oosten had made the fair copy of the 1721 accounts to be sent home, and the council referred them to Byfield and Goodwin for examination, the same audit by two councillors the books had required since the arrears were tackled after 1719. This rendering of a year's accounts in fair form for transmission to the directors, examined before they went, marked the steady recovery of the bookkeeping that the neglect of earlier years had thrown into disorder, Van Oosten kept in the office under repeated warning. The reference of the finished books to two councillors for examination shows the council's standing check on the accountant's work before it was trusted to the directors. The fair copy was not sent on Van Oosten's word alone but examined by Byfield and Goodwin, the audit ensuring the books were true before they left the island. This insistence on a councillors' examination of the accounts, the same care taken with Powell's account and the answer to the accountant general, reflected the directors' long complaint of accounts not sent and not agreeing, the council guarding the record before it went home. | |
450 | 1722 Captain Goodwin Acquainted us that of Late He had been asked for Tea Cups and Saucers but as that there was only Cups as yet opened and prized Therefore he desired We would Set a price on those Cups and Saucers and the Large Cups in the Same Chest brought on the Honble Companys Account by Capt Newsham and the Sneakers brought by the Essex Capt Summons in the year 1720, for those before prized in the Stores wore all Sold./ Cups and Saucers by ye Invoice Cost not 2½ to be Sold out at 6d. The Large Cup not above Three farthings. to be Sold at Two pence The Sneakers by the Essex not Two pence to be Sold out Six pence. The Bowls in ye Same Chest which cost not 7d to be Sold out at 2/6 Each The Coffee Cups in the Same Chest wch cost not 1½d to be Sold out at 4d Ea/ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation held on Tuesday the 8th day of Janry 1722 at the Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The Last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Mr Byfeld brought in and Deliverd his monthly Accot of the Honble Compas Live Stock and Expence of their Severall Plantations for the Month of Decr Last which was Examind and Approvd of. Capt Margin Notes: Report of Tea Cups & Saucers wanted. their Prizes Sett. Mr Byfelds Accot for Decr | Island of St Helena Report of tea cups and saucers wanted Captain Goodwin reported that he had lately been asked for tea cups and saucers, but that as yet only cups had been opened and priced. He therefore asked the council to set a price on those cups and saucers, and on the large cups in the same chest brought on the Company's account by Captain Newsham, and the beakers brought by the Essex, Captain Summons, in the year 1720, since those priced before in the stores were all sold. Their prices set The council set the prices as follows. Cups and saucers, by the invoice costing not 2½ pence, to be sold out at 6 pence. The large cup, not above three farthings, to be sold at 2 pence. The beakers by the Essex, not 2 pence, to be sold out at 6 pence. The bowls in the same chest, which cost not 7 pence, to be sold out at 2 shillings 6 pence each. The coffee cups in the same chest, which cost not 1½ pence, to be sold out at 4 pence each. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 8 January 1723 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield's account for December Mr Byfield brought in and delivered his monthly account of the Company's live stock and the expense of their several plantations for the previous month of December, which was examined and approved. Interpretations The pricing of the chinaware shows the storekeeper setting the selling price at a large advance on prime cost. The cups, saucers, beakers, bowls and coffee cups, all of small invoice value, were marked up several times over, the bowls costing not seven pence sold at two shillings and six pence, the council fixing the rates account by account. This setting of the retail price at a high margin on cost reflected the Company's practice of profiting on the goods it sold to the inhabitants, the same method applied to the gurrahs and other piece goods across these records, the small luxuries of the East fetching a steep advance at a remote island. The chinaware itself marks the Eastern wares that reached the island through the Company's trade and the private ventures of its captains. The cups, saucers, beakers and bowls had been brought on the Company's account by Captain Newsham and by the Essex in 1720, the porcelain of the China trade carried home by the Indiamen and sold at the island for the use of the inhabitants. This supply of Chinese tea and coffee ware, priced and sold from the stores, shows the island sharing in the wares of the Eastern trade that passed through it, the Essex having been the China ship whose tea the council had sought in vain in 1718. The varying margins set on the several wares show the council pricing each article by what it would bear rather than a flat advance. The bowls were marked up far more steeply than the cups, the rate fixed item by item according to the worth and demand of each, the council exercising a deliberate judgement on the price of every kind. This differential pricing of the goods, the costlier margins on the more valued wares, reflected the storekeeper's management of the stores as a source of profit, the same care for the selling price that governed the disposal of all the Company's goods. | |
451 | Janry Capt Goodwin Likewise brought in and Deliverd his monthly Accot of Goods Sold and Delivord out of the Stores in the Month of Decr Last which was Examind and Approved of./ Robert Gurling Planter was Summoned and did Appear this day at the Complaint of Richard Mason, Planter for Shooting a Dog of his without any Just Cause./ Robert Gurling Sayes he dont deny Shooting the Said Masons dog and the Reason was because he was Seen upon a Goat and desired his Evidences might be Examintd./ Richd Leech Soldr being Sworne deposes he Saw the Said Masons Dog Seize and Worrey a Goat upon which he Called to his Uncle Robert Gurling and told him Mr Masons dog was on a Goat whereupon his Uncle went and Shott him./ Stephen Lufskin Sayes he Saw the Same Dog Run after the Goat and heard Mr Gurling fire at him./ Mr Johnson Sayes he Saw the head of the Goat that Robert Gurling told him Mr Masons Dog had Killd and that the Ears appeard to be Much Torne by a Dog or Dogs./ Upon hearing the whole as the dog was taken with the Goat We are of the Opinion that Mr Gurling did no More then Every person would do on the Like occasion./ Joshua Johnson presented his petition praying to hire one Acre of the Honble Companys wast Land adjoyning to that he already Hires in Sandy bay Valley on the Lower part next to Orchards. Granted. Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Storekeeprs Accot for Decr. Pars not sent home in next ye Copy or Duplicate done to the Cuntiny mar yt at 6 Clos Complt agt Robt Gurling for Killing a Dog of Masons Mr Johnsons request to Rent 1 Acre Land | Island of St Helena Storekeeper's account for December Captain Goodwin likewise brought in and delivered his monthly account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores in the previous month of December, which was examined and approved. A margin note records that the particulars were not sent home in either the copy or the duplicate, owing to the line in the margin below. Complaint against Robert Gurling for killing a dog of Mason's Robert Gurling, planter, was summoned and appeared that day on the complaint of Richard Mason, planter, for shooting a dog of his without any just cause. Gurling said he did not deny shooting Mason's dog, and that the reason was because the dog had been seen on a goat. He asked that his witnesses be examined. Richard Leech, soldier, being sworn, deposed that he saw Mason's dog seize and worry a goat, on which he called to his uncle Robert Gurling and told him Mason's dog was on a goat, whereupon his uncle went and shot it. Stephen Lufkin said he saw the same dog run after the goat and heard Gurling fire at it. Mr Johnson said he saw the head of the goat that Robert Gurling told him Mason's dog had killed, and that the ears appeared much torn by a dog or dogs. The council's decision On hearing the whole, the dog having been taken with the goat, the council was of opinion that Gurling did no more than every person would do on the like occasion. Mr Johnson's request to rent one acre of ground Joshua Johnson presented his petition, asking to hire one acre of the Company's waste land adjoining that he already hired in Sandy Bay Valley, on the lower part next to Orchard's. The council granted it. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The Gurling case shows the council justifying the killing of a dog caught in the act of worrying stock. Mason complained of the shooting as without cause, but the witnesses swore the dog had seized and torn a goat, and the council held Gurling did only what any man would in defence of his beasts, the dog taken with the goat. This protection of livestock against marauding dogs, the killing excused where the dog was caught at the kill, ran through the island's concern with the harm dogs did to its scattered stock, the same defence allowed in the wild dogs that killed sheep and goats across these records. Robert Gurling and Richard Mason were both planters whose dealings recur throughout. The weight of the sworn evidence shows the council determining a contested killing on the testimony of witnesses to the act. The nephew who raised the alarm, the man who saw the dog run and heard the shot, and the witness to the torn goat together established that the dog was worrying stock when killed, the council reasoning from the proof to a fair acquittal. This resolution of a dispute over the killing of an animal by the sworn account of those present matched the council's handling of the Free and Long cattle cause, the testimony of witnesses supplying the ground of the decision. The grant to Joshua Johnson of land adjoining his own shows the council letting an interstitial parcel to the holder who could best use it. The acre lay next to ground he already hired and to Orchard's, of use chiefly to the neighbour who could absorb it into his holding, the council granting it as it granted other such parcels to the adjoining tenant. This letting of land integral to an existing holding, raising no resource constraint and detrimental if let elsewhere, was the standing practice of the council's grants, the same consolidation of a holding that ran through the autumn's land business. Joshua Johnson was a substantial planter whose household and dealings recur throughout these records. | |
452 | Janry [Top left corner of the page is torn away, affecting the date line and the start of the Brot Over row.] [...] Brot Over 25 8 1 145 Sugar at 1/6 3 12 6 4 Sugar Candy at 1/ 4 40 Flower at 1/3 10 137 Bread at 1/3 1 14 3 7½ Tea at 7/6 2 16 3 57 Gallons Arrack at 6/4 18 1 20 Gallons Madera Wine at 4/ 4 34 Bottles Port Wine at 2/6 4 5 64 Candles at 1/6 4 16 William Slaughter 66 15 10 | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 15 January 1723 at the Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. The doctor's account of medicines The doctor brought in his book of medicines expended, which was examined and approved. The steward's account for December Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the general table for the previous month of December, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 601 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £7 10s 3d. 4 goats at 10 shillings each, £2 0s 0d. 4 geese at 6 shillings each, £1 4s 0d. 3 turkeys at 6 shillings each, £0 18s 0d. 8 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 12s 0d. 18 eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 1s 6d. 31 days' greens at 1 shilling per day, £1 11s 0d. 62 bottles of milk at 4 pence each, £1 0s 8d. 62 pounds of butter at 1 shilling per pound, £3 2s 0d. 61 pounds of fresh pork at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £1 10s 6d. 18 pounds of salt pork at 2 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 5s 0d. 10 pounds of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence per pound, £1 8s 4d. 2 pounds of pepper at 4 shillings per pound, £0 2s 0d. 1 quart and a half gallon of vinegar at 1 shilling 5 pence per gallon, £0 6s 0d. 26 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 5 pence per pound, £1 16s 10d. Carried over: £25 8s 1d. Interpretations The doctor's regular book of medicines continued the accounting control over the medical stores. The surgeon kept a running book of the medicines he dispensed, laid before the council and examined at each sitting, the same daily reckoning required since the theft from the stores by Cholmondley Cevill in 1719. This standing audit of the medicines kept the surgery stores under the same documentary discipline as the storehouse and the plantation. The steward's table account shows the beef again the staple of the establishment's provision, the largest article by quantity though modest in cost beside the spirits of other months. The general table was the board kept for the Company's officers and servants, victualled chiefly on the island's own beef, goats and poultry, here charged at the customary 25 shillings the hundredweight for the beef that made up the bulk of the month's supply, the fresh and salt pork and the salt beef adding the preserved reserve. The presence of both fresh and salted meats marks the mixed provision of a remote settlement drawing on its own stock and its kept reserve. Fresh pork from the island's hogs stood beside salt pork and salt beef barrelled against the want of fresh supply, the preserved meats a standing hedge for the months when fresh provision ran short. This combination of fresh and salted victual reflected the island's dependence on its own husbandry, eked out by the salted store, the same provision recorded in the tables across these months. | |
453 | Janry Brot over 25 8 1 156 of Sugar at 1/6 3 18 6 Sugar Candy at 1/ 6 148 Bread at 1/3 1 17 54 Flower at 1/3 13 6 6½ Tea at 7/6 2 8 9 71 Gallons Arrack at 6/4 22 9 8 20½ Do Madera Wine at 4/ 4 1 32 Bottles of Port at 2/6 4 10 Do Ale at 1/3 12 6 68 of Candles at 1/6 5 2 4500 Lemons at 2/6 ⅌ 100 5 12 6 1 Quart Sweet Oyle at 3 3 Kidds at 5/ 15 William Slaughter 77 7 Orderd that Jonathan Higham Junr Stone Cutter be Sumoned against next Consultation day to Shew Cause why he does not finish the Work he is Engaged to doe for the Service of the Honble Compa according to his Contract and ought to have been done some months past./ Jno Hodgkinson presented the following Petition Setting forth. That Whereas your Petitioner having had the Honr Sometime Since of Serving the Honble Company in Severall Capacityes, and for that your Said Petitioner Understanding some part of Surgery and Physick (haveing served part of his time to an able Surgeon in England) and Practiced the Same at Sundry times on this Island but being altogether destitute of any Medicines or haveing any Imploy Whereby to gett an Honest livelyhood and being greatly Indebtted Margin Notes: Jonad Higham to Shew cause why he dont ffinish his Contract./ Jno Hodgkinson Prays to be Reentred in the Compas Service. | Island of St Helena The steward's account of the general table for December continued, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £25 8s 1d. 156 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £3 18s 0d. 6 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 6s 0d. 148 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 17s 0d. 54 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 13s 6d. 6 pounds of tea at 7 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 8s 9d. 71 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £22 9s 8d. 20 gallons and a half of Madeira wine at 4 shillings per gallon, £4 1s 0d. 32 bottles of port at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £4 0s 0d. 10 bottles of ale at 1 shilling 3 pence each, £0 12s 6d. 68 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £5 2s 0d. 4,500 lemons at 2 shillings 6 pence per 100, £5 12s 6d. 1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d. 3 kids at 5 shillings each, £0 15s 0d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £77 7s 0d. Jonathan Higham junior to show cause why he does not perform his contract The council ordered Jonathan Higham junior, stone cutter, summoned to the next consultation day to show cause why he had not finished the work he was engaged to do for the Company according to his contract, which ought to have been done some months before. John Hodgkinson's request to be received into the Company's service John Hodgkinson presented the following petition. He set out that he had some time before served the Company in several capacities, and that he understood some part of surgery and physic, having served part of his time to an able surgeon in England and practised the same at various times on the island. Being now wholly without any medicines or any employment by which to get an honest livelihood, and being greatly in debt [...]. Interpretations The very large quantity of lemons again marks a seasonal laying in of fruit far above the usual purchase. Four thousand five hundred lemons were charged at the customary rate per hundred, the bulk perhaps gathered for the supply of shipping or against the season, the lemon valued as a guard against the scurvy that afflicted long voyages. This large provision of citrus, as in the November account, reflects the island's role as a refreshment station whose fruit served the health of the crews that called. The summons of Higham to show cause for his unfinished work shows the council enforcing a contract for the Company's service. Higham, a stone cutter, was engaged to do work that should have been finished months before, and the council called him to answer for the delay, treating the breach of his undertaking as a matter to be accounted for. This compulsion of a contractor to perform or explain, the work overdue and the council pressing for its completion, reflected the standing concern with the repair of the line and the fortifications, the stone work of the island depending on such engagements being kept. The Hodgkinson petition shows a man of some surgical training seeking employment and the means to practise. He had served part of his time to a surgeon in England and practised on the island, but was now without medicines or work and fallen into debt, the want of a stock and a place leaving his skill idle. This dependence of a would-be practitioner on the council for the means to exercise his calling connects the petition to the long management of the island's medical provision, the surgeon's place and the supply of medicines a recurring care, William Beale and others repeatedly bidding for the same employment across these records. | |
454 | 1722 Indebted to the Said Honble Compay which He cannot be able to pay in many years, is Therefore very desireous of And most Humbly prays to be Entertaind once more in the Said Honble Compas Service in the Imploy he professes whereby he hopes to be better Enabled to pay his Said Debt and to be of Some Service to the Gentlemen of the Garrison (as well as the Honble Compas Blacks) faithfully promiseing to be very diligent in his business and observant to all Such Orders as he further hopes to Receive and Endeavour by his future deportment So to demean himself as to Retreive all past Misfortunes and follyes which his Youth then Prompt him the more Readier to, Humbly Submiting himself and Condition to the mature and Wise Consideration of Your Worship &ca Praying for a favourable Acceptance and Grant of this his Humble and earnest Request./ And as in Duty &ca Janry the 15th 1722 Jno Hodgkinson The Encouragement the Petitioner did formerly receive and his Misbehaviour in Each Imploy gives us no hopes of his future performance and Therefore dont think fit to Entertaine him./ This day Mrs Toixy being Indisposed sent a Letter to the Govr Complaining therein of Damages She had Sufford by John Hardings Worrying her Hoggs daily and for his Cattle Trespasing on her Land insomuch She is not able to bare with his ill Neighbourhood any longer./ Whereupon Orderd the Said Harding be Summond to appear before us next Consultation Day./ Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: his Petition rejected. Mrs Toixy Complt agt Jno Harding Harding to be Summond. | Island of St Helena The Hodgkinson petition continued. He was indebted to the Company in a sum he could not pay in many years, and was therefore very desirous to be entertained once more in the Company's service in the employment he professed. He hoped thereby to be better able to pay his debt and to be of some service to the gentlemen of the garrison as well as the Company's slaves. He faithfully promised to be very diligent in his business and observant to all orders, and hoped by his future conduct to retrieve all past misfortunes and follies, to which his youth had then prompted him the more readily. He submitted himself to the council's consideration and asked for a favourable acceptance and grant of his request. The petition was dated 15 January 1723 and signed by John Hodgkinson. His petition rejected The encouragement the petitioner had formerly received, and his misbehaviour in each employment, gave the council no hopes of his future performance, and it therefore did not think fit to entertain him. Mrs Toney's complaint against John Harding That day Mrs Toney, being unwell, sent a letter to the Governor complaining of the damage she had suffered by John Harding's dogs worrying her hogs daily, and by his cattle trespassing on her land, so that she was not able to bear with his ill neighbourhood any longer. Harding to be summoned The council thereupon ordered Harding summoned to appear before it the next consultation day. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The rejection of the Hodgkinson petition shows the council judging a man's fitness for service by his past conduct rather than his present need. Despite his training and his plea, his former misbehaviour in every employment gave the council no confidence he would perform, so it declined to take him on again, his record outweighing his promises of reform. This refusal to re-entertain a man who had failed before, the encouragement once given him having borne no fruit, reflected the council's care in placing its trust, the same weighing of character that had told for Tinsley and against others across these records. The Toney complaint raises again the constant friction between neighbours over straying stock and marauding dogs. Mrs Toney charged that Harding's dogs worried her hogs daily and his cattle trespassed on her land, the same harm from loose stock and dogs that ran through the island's disputes, and the council summoned him to answer. This recurring grievance of damage between adjoining holders, the want of lawful fences and the trespass of beasts, connects the complaint to the long run of such causes, the Gurling dog case heard only the week before turning on the very harm dogs did to stock. The submission of the complaint by letter on account of sickness shows the council receiving its business through correspondence where a party could not attend. Mrs Toney, being unwell, sent her complaint in writing rather than appear, the council acting on the letter to summon the offender, the written application serving in place of a personal appearance. This conduct of the council's business by letter when illness prevented attendance, as Powell's excuses had been sent in writing, reflected the practical working of a small administration where the parties and the council were closely known to one another. | |
455 | Janry Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 22 day of Janry 1722 at the Honble Compas Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approved of John Harding Planter was Summond According to the Order of last Consultation and did appear this day at the Complaint of Margarett Tovey Wid: for damaging Her Hoggs by often Jugging and Worrying them So that She has Lost Several by the Said Hardings Unneighbourly practice and for Hunting Her Cattle and Suffering His Cattle to Trespass on her Pasture Land and that his fences are So very bad and so much out of Repair that any thing may Easily gettover and Therefore desires some Method may be taken to prevent his doing her any further damage./ John Harding owns He did Jugg one Sow of the Said Mrs Toveys that gett into his plantation and Pretends his Sences are Tollerably good But We being assured to the Contrary and having heard before of his Unneighbourly Practice./ Orderd that He do Immediatly Sett about and putt the Fences into good Repair Else he to make good all Damages./ Ebenezar Leech Montross was Summond and did appear this day at the Complaint of Samuel Jessey for hindering him and his Servt from Turning a Water Course in an Antient Channel that Runs from the Bottom of a Small peice of Land belonging to the Said Leech and which the Said Jessey Sayes he was privy and alwayes Consenting too./ After Margin Notes: Jno Harding Appeard at the Complt of Margt Tovey. He Allegations Hardings reply ownes Some Damage. to repair his ffences or to make goode all Damages Saml Jessey Complt agt Eben Leech. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 22 January 1723 at the Company's Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. John Harding appeared on the complaint of Margaret Toney John Harding, planter, was summoned in accordance with the order of the last consultation and appeared that day on the complaint of Margaret Toney, widow. Her allegations She complained that Harding damaged her hogs by often hunting and worrying them, so that she had lost several by his unneighbourly practice. He also hunted her cattle and suffered his own cattle to trespass on her pasture land. His fences were so bad and so much out of repair that anything might easily get over them. She therefore asked that some method be taken to prevent his doing her any further damage. Harding's reply, owning some damage Harding admitted he had hunted one sow of Mrs Toney's that got into his plantation, and claimed his fences were tolerably good. The council, being assured to the contrary and having heard before of his unneighbourly practice, did not accept this. To repair his fences or to make good the damages The council ordered Harding immediately to set about and put his fences into good repair, or else to make good all damages. Samuel Jessey's complaint against Ebenezer Leech Ebenezer Leech, matross, was summoned and appeared that day on the complaint of Samuel Jessey, for hindering him and his servants from turning a watercourse in an ancient channel that ran from the bottom of a small piece of land belonging to Leech. Jessey said he was privy to the watercourse and always consented to it. Interpretations The Harding dispute shows the council placing the blame for straying stock on the holder who failed to keep his fences. Mrs Toney charged that his bad fences let his cattle trespass and let her hogs into his ground where he hunted them, and the council, satisfied his fences were out of repair, ordered him to mend them or answer for the damage. This insistence that a holder maintain his fences or bear the loss his neglect caused, the want of lawful fences being the root of the trespass, ran through the island's neighbour disputes, the burden laid on the party whose disrepair bred the harm. The Jessey and Leech dispute turns on a right to a watercourse running from a neighbour's ground. Jessey claimed an established right to turn the water in an ancient channel from the bottom of Leech's land, a right he said Leech had been privy to and consented to, and Leech now hindered him, the matter resting on the existence and acknowledgement of the water right. This contest over a watercourse crossing a neighbour's land connects the cause to the long run of water disputes on the dry island, the value of a holding depending on its water and the right to it often crossing another's ground, as in the Beale and Bates watercourse settled in November. The council's reliance on its own knowledge of Harding's character shows how a small society's reputation bore on its disputes. The council was assured his fences were bad and had heard before of his unneighbourly practice, so it gave no weight to his claim that they were tolerably good, his known conduct telling against him as Tinsley's honesty had told for him. This use of the council's prior knowledge of a party to judge the truth of his plea reflects the closeness of the island's community, where the bench knew the men before it and weighed their words against their reputations. | |
456 | 1722 After debates on both sides. Orderd that they each make Choice of one person to View the Said Water Course and to accomodate the matter in Controversie to which they agreed./ In Case those two persons Could not agree they to choose a Third & to abide by his Determination./ Jonathan Higham Junr according to the Order of last Consul- tation was Summond and Appearing here this day Acknow- ledged his Remissness and Neglect in not finishing the Work he Contracted for But promises he will be more diligent for the future and will gett the Said work done with all Expedition Upon which he was dismit with a Caution to mind his Work and promise now made./ The following Petition of Robert Gurling was Pre- sented. Setting forth therein that he haveing not any advan- tage of any Water to Raise his provisions is in the dry time of the year Obliged to buy because if he Should digg his Yams in such a time He is lyable to Loose the greatest part of his Yam Succors and therefore Humbly prays to Rent about one Acre and a half of the Honble Compas Wast Land at the Bottom of Peak Gutt which He can Water and Will be very good Nursery for to Sup- ply his Necessity./ And as in Duty &ca Janry ye 22 1722 Robt Gurling. Granted. Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island Margin Notes: Water Course to be viewd./ Jonad Higham Appeard & promises to finish his work oweing himself Remiss. Dismist wth a Caution. Robt Gurling prays to become Tennt for 1 Acre Land./ Granted. | Island of St Helena The watercourse to be viewed After debate on both sides, the council ordered that Jessey and Leech each choose one person to view the watercourse and settle the matter in dispute, to which they agreed. If the two persons could not agree, they were to choose a third and abide by his determination. Jonathan Higham junior appeared and promised to finish his work; dismissed with a caution Jonathan Higham junior, in accordance with the order of the last consultation, was summoned and appeared that day. He acknowledged his remissness and neglect in not finishing the work he had contracted for, but promised to be more diligent for the future and to get the work done with all speed. He was dismissed with a caution to mind his work and the promise now made. Robert Gurling's request to become tenant for one and a half acres of land The following petition of Robert Gurling was presented. He set out that, having no benefit of any water to raise his provisions, he was obliged in the dry time of the year to buy, because if he should dig his yams in such a time he was liable to lose the greater part of his yam suckers. He therefore asked to rent about one acre and a half of the Company's waste land at the bottom of Peak Gutt, which he could water and would be a good nursery to supply his necessity. The petition was dated 22 January 1723 and signed by Robert Gurling. Granted The council granted the petition. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The reference of the watercourse dispute to chosen viewers shows the council settling a water right by arbitration on the ground rather than by its own ruling. Jessey and Leech were each to name a man to view the channel and accommodate the matter, with a third to be chosen if the two disagreed, the parties bound to abide by the determination. This resort to referees viewing the disputed water, the same method applied to the Pledger land and other boundary causes, let the council resolve a technical dispute over a watercourse by the judgement of men who could inspect it, the arbitration sparing the bench a matter best settled on the spot. The dismissal of Higham with a caution shows the council accepting a contractor's submission and promise in place of a penalty. He owned his neglect of the work he had contracted for and undertook to finish it with speed, and the council let him go on his promise, holding the caution and the undertaking sufficient. This indulgence to a defaulting contractor who acknowledged his fault and promised amendment, the work to be pressed on rather than the man punished, reflected the council's interest in getting the work done, the same preference for performance over penalty shown in other such engagements. The Gurling petition turns once more on the want of water that governed the worth of land on the dry island. Without water he could not raise his provisions and was forced to buy in the dry season, when digging his yams would cost him his suckers, so he sought a parcel he could water as a nursery to supply his need. This dependence of cultivation on a watered parcel, the value of the ground lying in its water and the dry season the constant constraint, ran through the island's land grants, the same concern with water that drove the Beale, Bates and Jessey causes. Robert Gurling, cleared the fortnight before for shooting Mason's dog, here appears as a planter seeking watered ground to secure his provisions. | |
457 | Janry Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 29th day of Janry 1722 at the Honble Compas Plantation House. Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Pres Jno Alexander 3 Jno Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Joseph Bates Corpl made Complaint to the Governr on Satur- day Evening last that that day in the Afternoon Mr Hawkes had abused and Struck him Severall Blowes without any Provocation./ The Said Mr Hawkes being now Present ownes He did Strike the Said Bates for his giving him very Saucy and Provoaking Language and Cursed and Damnd him Severall times and that the Said Bates Struck him Several blowes and threatnd he would beat him again wherever He mett him./ Mr Hawkes Served the Said Bates with Severall Paines of Sash Glass out of the Honble Companys Stores Bates after the Glass was Carried away came back to Capt Goodwin Complaining that two paines wore broken Capt Goodwin Referd him to Mr Hawkes who Served him, and Upon Mr Hawkes Saying they were Whole when He deliverd them Bates gave him very abusive Language. Capt Goodwin Acquainted us that He hearing Bates abusive Language Orderd him to be Silent but he Still Persisted./ The Governr Reprimanded Bates for His Ill Behaviour on which He Said he would Endeavour Soon to quit ye Island and Margin Notes: Jos Bates Complt agt Mr Hawkes Mr Hawkes Sayes he was abused & provoked to Strike Bates the further cause of their Quarrell Bates ill Language Reprimanded whereupon | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 29 January 1723 at the Company's Plantation House. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Joseph Bates's complaint against Mr Hawkes Joseph Bates, corporal, complained to the Governor on the previous Saturday evening that, that afternoon, Mr Hawkes had abused him and struck him several blows without any provocation. Mr Hawkes says he was abused and provoked to strike Bates Mr Hawkes, being now present, admitted he had struck Bates for giving him very saucy and provoking language and cursing and damning him several times, and that Bates had struck him several blows and threatened to beat him again wherever he met him. The full cause of their quarrel Mr Hawkes had served Bates with several panes of sash glass out of the Company's stores. After the glass was carried away, Bates came back to Captain Goodwin complaining that two panes were broken. Captain Goodwin referred him to Mr Hawkes, who had served him, and on Mr Hawkes saying they were whole when he delivered them, Bates gave him very abusive language. Bates's ill language Captain Goodwin reported that, hearing Bates abuse Mr Hawkes, he had ordered him to be silent, but Bates still persisted. Reprimanded, whereupon The Governor reprimanded Bates for his ill behaviour, on which Bates said he would endeavour soon to quit the island [...]. Interpretations The Bates and Hawkes quarrel shows the council taking notice of a breach of order between its own officers and servants. Bates complained of being struck, but Hawkes answered that Bates had provoked him with abusive language and struck him first, the council hearing out the whole affair to fix the blame. This concern with the conduct and discipline of those in the Company's service, a blow and abusive words between officers brought before the bench, reflected the council's care for order within the small garrison, the same attention to the behaviour of its servants shown across these records. Mr Hawkes was the secretary who kept the consultation copies, and Joseph Bates the corporal and former marshal. The origin of the dispute in a few broken panes of glass shows how a trifling matter of the stores could flare into a public quarrel. Bates returned complaining that two panes of the sash glass served him were broken, Hawkes maintained they were whole when delivered, and the disagreement over who broke them bred the abuse and the blows. This escalation of a petty dispute over store goods into a breach of the peace between officers reflects the close quarters and short tempers of the small settlement, the matter of two panes drawing in the storekeeper and the Governor alike. The council's siding against Bates shows it weighing the provocation and the persistence in the quarrel. Bates had given abusive language, struck the first blow and persisted after Captain Goodwin ordered him silent, so the Governor reprimanded him rather than Hawkes who struck in answer, the blame laid on the man who began and prolonged the abuse. Bates's retort that he would soon quit the island marks the resentment of a reprimanded man, the council's discipline meeting defiance, the same friction between authority and a refractory servant that recurs in the disputes of these years. | |
458 | 1722 and Desired to be discharged as Corporal Whereupon He was Discharged./ The following Petitions were Presented The Petition of Richd Mason Planter. Sheweth That forasmuch as your Petitioner haveing no Land Capable of making any Plantation on But a Small parcell dureing his Wifes life time, and that being So very Ordinary and bad that notwithstanding all your Petitioners Utmost Industry it cannot be brought to produce provisions Sufficient for your Petitioners family (which being likely to Increase) and haveing not wherewith to buy for So many And for that your Petitioner haveing a very great desire to Seek his fortune in Some part of India Most Humbly prayes leave may be granted him with his Wife two Sons & three Daughters to take Pasage in the next Outward Bound Ship that Arrives here for Bencoolen in hopes of bettering their Condition And Whereas Martin Harper one of your Petitioners Sons (in Law) being a Soldier here has an Earnest desire to goe with his Mother and She being as desir- ous he Should, Doth with your Petitioner Most Humbly Crave leave may be granted him also Who in Case of your Petitioners Death may be of Some Service to his Mother, and is very willing to Serve the Honble Compa in any Imploy he is Capable of Either at Bencoolen or Else where da India And as in Duty &ca Janry ye 29th 1722 Richard Mason Granted That the Said Mason his two Sons and three daughters have leave to goe off According to their desire and in Consideration that Martin Harper may be of great Service Margin Notes: Rd Masons request to goe off & yeildup to his family a request for Martin Harper to goe wth them Granted Accordingly | Island of St Helena The Bates affair closed with his discharge. He desired to be discharged as corporal, whereupon he was discharged. The following petitions were presented. The petition of Richard Mason, planter Richard Mason petitioned the council, setting out that he held no land capable of making any plantation, except a small parcel during his wife's lifetime. That parcel was so very ordinary and bad that, notwithstanding all his utmost industry, it could not be brought to produce provisions enough for his family, which was likely to increase, and he had nothing to buy with for so many. Mr Mason's request to go off with his family Having a very great desire to seek his fortune in some part of India, he asked leave to go with his wife, two sons and three daughters, to take passage in the next outward-bound ship that arrived for Bencoolen, in hopes of bettering their condition. A request for Martin Harper to go with them Martin Harper, one of his sons-in-law, being a soldier, had an earnest desire to go with his mother, and she being as desirous he should, Mason asked that leave be granted him also. In case of Mason's death, Harper might be of some service to his mother, and was very willing to serve the Company in any employment he was capable of, either at Bencoolen or elsewhere in India. The petition was dated 29 January 1723 and signed by Richard Mason. Granted accordingly The council granted that Mason, his two sons and three daughters have leave to go off according to their desire, and, in consideration that Martin Harper might be of great service [...]. Interpretations The Mason petition shows a planter defeated by poor land seeking his fortune in the Company's eastern settlements. His only ground was a bad parcel held for his wife's life, which no industry could make yield enough for a growing family, so he sought passage to Bencoolen to better his condition, the council's leave required for any to quit the island. This recourse to emigration to the East when the island's land would not support a family connects the petition to the standing movement of people between St Helena and the Company's other stations, Bencoolen on Sumatra a frequent destination for those who left. The dependence of his holding on his wife's life shows the precarious tenure that left a man without a stake of his own. The parcel was held only for the term of his wife's life and was poor ground besides, giving him neither security nor sufficiency, so he had little to lose by leaving and much to hope from a fresh start. This insecurity of a life interest in bad land, the holder unable to build a competence on ground that was neither his own nor productive, marks the limits of the island's land for those without a good grant. The provision for the son-in-law Harper shows the council weighing the service a man might render against the loss of a soldier from the garrison. Harper wished to go with his wife's mother and might support her if Mason died, and was willing to serve the Company at Bencoolen, so the council allowed his departure in consideration of his future usefulness, balancing the family's wish and his service against the garrison's want of men. This release of a soldier to go east in the Company's service elsewhere, the loss to the garrison set against the gain to another station, reflected the movement of the Company's servants between its settlements as their service required. | |
459 | Janry Service to his Mother and her children in Case of Masons death that he have leave also though his time is not fully Expird The Humble Petition of John Bradley Soldier Sheweth That Whereas your Petitioner being very desireous to Settle and make a Plantation on this Island and to Raise provisions to Save the Charge and Ex- pence of Buying, Most Humbly prayes to become Tennant to the Honble Company for about two Acres of their Wast Land lying under the maine Ridge next to Sandy Bay between the Lands Hired by Serjeant Wood and James Draper and which was formerly possessed and some part of it planted with Yam Succers by one Humphry Edwards (since gone off the Island) the Same being no wayes Detrimentall to any Person. And as in Duty &ca Janry ye 29th 1722 John Bradley Granted and that it be Measurd Accordingly and a Lease made for the term of Twenty one Years at the Usual Rent of four Shillings ⅌ acre./ Mr Byfeld Reports that Janny a Wench of the Honble Compas at the Peek was Deliverd last week of a Girl named Betty Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Jno Bradley prays to Rent for 2 Acres Land Granted for 21 years./ a Girle Born | Island of St Helena The grant for Martin Harper concluded. In consideration that he might be of service to his mother and her children in case of Mason's death, he was given leave also, though his time was not fully expired. The petition of John Bradley, soldier John Bradley petitioned the council, setting out that he was very desirous to settle and make a plantation on the island, and to raise provisions so as to save the charge and expense of buying meat. He asked to become tenant to the Company for about two acres of their waste land lying under the major ridge next to Sandy Bay, between the lands hired by Sergeant Wood and James Draper. The land had formerly been held and some part of it planted with yam suckers by one Humphry Edwards, since gone off the island, and was in no way harmful to any person. The petition was dated 29 January 1723 and signed by John Bradley. Granted for twenty-one years The council granted the petition, and that the land be measured accordingly and a lease made for the term of twenty-one years at the usual rent of four shillings an acre. A girl slave born Mr Byfield reported that Jenny, a slave woman of the Company at the Peak, had been delivered the previous week of a girl named Betty. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The Bradley grant shows the council settling a soldier on waste land to raise his own provisions and spare the cost of buying meat. He sought two acres to make a plantation and grow his food, the council granting a twenty-one-year lease at the usual rent, the same settlement of an industrious holder on its waste that ran through these records. This letting of ground to a man who would feed himself rather than draw on the stores answered both his need and the island's standing want of provision-growers, the lease and the fixed rent giving him a secure stake. The land's history of former occupation shows the council reletting ground that an earlier holder had abandoned. The parcel had been held and partly planted by Humphry Edwards, since gone off the island, so it lay clear for a fresh grant, the suckers he had set perhaps still in the ground. This reletting of a departed holder's parcel, the land identified by its former tenant and its neighbours, was the standing way the council disposed of ground that fell vacant, the same recourse to the prior occupation that marked its other grants. The departure of Edwards and the emigration of Mason in the same sitting mark the constant movement of people off the island. The terms of the grant, a twenty-one-year lease at four shillings the acre, mark the usual tenure for a plantation parcel as distinct from a building plot. The longer ninety-nine-year terms went to those who built substantial houses, while plantation ground was let for twenty-one years at the customary acreage rent, the council fitting the term to the use. This standard tenure for provision land, the fixed rent and the measured acres, gave the holder security enough to plant and the Company a steady return, the same terms granted to other plantation holders across these records. The birth of the slave girl Betty, entered as the increase of the Company's slaves, continued the recording of slave children as Company stock, as with the births of Mary and Neptune in the autumn. | |
460 | 1722 Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 5th day of Febry 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Johnson Esqr Govr Edwd Byfeld 2 Jno Alexander 3 John Goodwin 4th The last Consultation Read and Approvd of./ Mr Byfeld brought in his Account of the Honble Compas live Stock and Expence for the month of Janry last which was Examind and Approvd of./ Capt Goodwin likewise brought in his account of Goods Sold and Delivord out of the Stores for the Said Month which was also Examind and Approvd of./ The Gunner brought in his Account of Gunnors Stores Ex- pended in the Said Month of Janry which was Examind and Approvd of and is as follows./ Janry 2 Being Muster day Apowdr 9 Expence for the Guards Apowdr 7 Axle trees 2 Trucks 4 Musquett Balls 3 Cathridge Paper 3 Flints 50 Match 10 Signd John French 10 50 3 3 4 2 16 Mr Margin Notes: Mr Byfelds Accot for Janry Storekeeprs Accot for do Mo. Gunrs Accot for ye Same Mo. | Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 5 February 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Johnson, Esquire, Governor; Edward Byfield, second; John Alexander, third; John Goodwin, fourth. The previous consultation was read and approved. Mr Byfield's account for January Mr Byfield brought in his account of the Company's live stock and expenses for the previous month of January, which was examined and approved. Storekeeper's account for January Captain Goodwin likewise brought in his account of goods sold and delivered out of the stores for the same month, which was also examined and approved. Gunner's account for January The gunner brought in his account of gunner's stores spent during the previous month of January, which was examined and approved. The account ran as follows, set out under the headings for guns fired and powder spent. 2 January, being muster day: 9 pounds of powder spent. Expenses for the guard: 7 pounds of powder spent. Axletrees: 2. Trucks: 4. Musket balls: 3. Cartridge paper: 3. Flints: 50. Match: 10. The whole, signed by the gunner John French, totalled as follows: 10 match, 50 flints, 3 cartridge paper, 3 musket balls, 4 trucks, 2 axletrees and 16 pounds of powder spent. Interpretations The three monthly accounts brought together continued the regular audit of the Company's charge at the island. The overseer's live stock account, the storekeeper's account of goods issued and the gunner's account of stores spent were each examined and approved in turn, the routine reckoning by which the council kept the Company's expense under view. This monthly rendering of the plantation, the stores and the ordnance maintained the discipline of the accounts pressed since the books were brought current after 1719. The gunner's account marks a quiet month, the powder charged chiefly to the muster and the guard with no royal anniversary or ship to salute. The muster day drew the largest charge as the inhabitants were exercised at their arms, the guard taking the rest, the absence of ceremonial fire setting this month apart from the heavy salutes of November and December. This variation in the powder spent according to the events of the month shows the account answering faithfully to the occasions that warranted it, the same method of charging powder by occasion kept under the gunner throughout. The presence of axletrees and trucks among the stores marks the carriages on which the guns were mounted and moved. The trucks were the small wheels of a gun carriage and the axletrees the timbers that bore them, their issue answering the upkeep of the carriages that the firing and the weather wore, the same maintenance of the ordnance recorded in the scaling of the guns and the repair of the line. This attention to the gun carriages, the wheels and axles renewed as they failed, continued the council's long concern with the serviceable state of the island's defence, the batteries kept in repair against the decay that the magazine and the line had shown. | |
461 | February Mr Slaughter brought in his Accot of the Expence of the General Table for the month of Janry last wch was Examind and Approvd of and is as follows./ Particulars 732 of Beef at 2s 5d ⅌ 100 9 3 2 Sheep at 24/ 2 8 4 Goats at 10/ 2 52 Pork at 1/6 1 6 21 Fowles at 1/6 1 11 6 10 Ducks at 1/6 15 1 Turkey 6 60 Eggs at 1d 5 52 Butter at 1/2 2 12 62 Bottles of milk at 1/4 1 8 31 Days Greens at 1/2 1 11 40 Doz Corks at 1/3 10 18 Gallons Madera Wine at 4/4 3 12 58 Do Arrack at 6/4 18 7 4 7½ Do Vinegar at 1/ 1 8 6 2 Pepper 2 1 Quart Sweet Oyle 3 24 pd Salt Pork at 2/6 3 20 Ditto Beef at 2/10 2 16 8 154 of Sugar at 1/6 3 17 6 Do Candy at 1/2 6 150 Bread at 1/3 1 17 6 50 Flower at 1/3 12 6 7 Tea at 7/6 2 12 6 Card over 62 3 2 Margin Notes: The Stewards Accot for Janry | Island of St Helena The steward's account for January Mr Slaughter brought in his account of the expense of the general table for the previous month of January, which was examined and approved. It ran as follows, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. 732 pounds of beef at 25 shillings per 100, £9 3s 0d. 2 sheep at 24 shillings each, £2 8s 0d. 4 goats at 10 shillings each, £2 0s 0d. 52 pounds of pork at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £1 6s 0d. 21 fowls at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £1 11s 6d. 10 ducks at 1 shilling 6 pence each, £0 15s 0d. 1 turkey, £0 6s 0d. 60 eggs at 1 shilling per dozen, £0 5s 0d. 52 pounds of butter at 1 shilling per pound, £2 12s 0d. 62 bottles of milk at 4 pence each, £1 0s 8d. 31 days' greens at 1 shilling per day, £1 11s 0d. 40 dozen corks at 3 pence per dozen, £0 10s 0d. 18 gallons of Madeira wine at 4 shillings per gallon, £3 12s 0d. 58 gallons of arrack at 6 shillings 4 pence per gallon, £18 7s 4d. 7 gallons and a half of vinegar at 1 shilling per gallon, £0 8s 6d. 2 pounds of pepper, £0 2s 0d. 1 quart of sweet oil, £0 3s 0d. 24 pieces of salt pork at 2 shillings 6 pence each, £3 0s 0d. 20 pieces of salt beef at 2 shillings 10 pence each, £2 16s 8d. 154 pounds of sugar at 6 pence per pound, £3 17s 0d. 6 pounds of sugar candy at 1 shilling per pound, £0 6s 0d. 150 pounds of bread at 3 pence per pound, £1 17s 6d. 50 pounds of flour at 3 pence per pound, £0 12s 6d. 7 pounds of tea at 7 shillings 6 pence per pound, £2 12s 6d. Carried over: £62 3s 2d. Interpretations The steward's table account shows the beef again the staple of the establishment's provision, the largest article by quantity though modest in cost beside the spirits. The general table was the board kept for the Company's officers and servants, victualled chiefly on the island's own beef, goats and poultry, here charged at the customary 25 shillings the hundredweight for the beef that made up the bulk of the month's supply, the fresh and salt pork and the salt beef adding the preserved reserve. The arrack again stands as the costliest single article, charged at over eighteen pounds against the lesser sum for the Madeira. As the chief spirit of the island, supplied from the East under the Company's monopoly, arrack dominated the table's expense as in every month's account, here at 6 shillings 4 pence the gallon, the staple drink of the officers' board far outweighing the wine beside it. The appearance of forty dozen corks among the provisions marks the bottling that the table's wines and spirits required. The corks served to stop the bottles in which the Madeira and other liquors were kept and drawn, a small but necessary charge of the establishment's drinking, entered among the victuals as the candles and soap were. This incidental provision for the bottling of the wines, the corks bought by the gross, reflects the scale of the table's consumption of liquor, the same heavy drinking the great charge for arrack and wine records. | |
462 | 1722 Brot Over 62 3 2 40 Candles at 1/6 3 26 Soape at 1/5 1 16 10 Signd Willm Slaughter 67 Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Saturday the 16 Day of Febry 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley. Edwd Byfeld Pres Jno Alexander 2 John Goodwin 3 Whereas the Worshipfull Edward Johnson late Govr of this Island was taken Sick about three Weeks Since of a violent Looseness which Soon after turnd to the Bloody Flux of which He died this Day and Mr Edward Byfeld Succeeded as Govr and the other two Gentlemen of Councill took their posts Accordingly Orderd That the Said late Govr Johnson be Interrd on Monday next in the Usual Sollemn and Respectfull manner and with as much frugality as possible and that there be a General Invitation Margin Notes: Govr Johnsons Death. Intermt Ordd | Island of St Helena The steward's account of the general table for January concluded, set out under the particulars with their quantities, rates and sums. Brought over: £62 3s 2d. 40 pounds of candles at 1 shilling 6 pence per pound, £3 0s 0d. 26 pounds of soap at 1 shilling 5 pence per pound, £1 16s 10d. The whole, signed by William Slaughter: £67 0s 0d. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Saturday 16 February 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Byfield; John Alexander, second; John Goodwin, third. Governor Johnson's death The worshipful Edward Johnson, late Governor of the island, had been taken sick about three weeks before of a violent looseness, which soon after turned to the bloody flux, of which he died that day. Mr Edward Byfield succeeded as Governor, and the other two gentlemen of the council took their places accordingly. Ordered The council ordered that the late Governor Johnson be interred on the following Monday in the usual solemn and respectful manner, with as much frugality as possible, and that there be a general invitation [...]. Interpretations The death of Governor Johnson marks the end of an administration and the orderly succession that the Company's establishment provided. He had governed since his elevation, and on his death of the bloody flux the second of the council, Edward Byfield, succeeded as Governor and the others moved up a place, the government passing without interruption by the settled rule of seniority. This succession of the next councillor to the chief place on the Governor's death, the council closing its ranks and continuing its business, shows the stability the Company's graded establishment gave the island, the same orderly advancement that had raised men to the council through these records. The cause of death marks the hazard of disease in a remote tropical station. The Governor was carried off in some three weeks by a violent looseness that turned to the bloody flux, the dysentery that was a common and deadly affliction of such climates, sparing neither the highest nor the meanest. This vulnerability of the island's people to the fluxes and fevers of the place, the chief man dying as readily as the slaves whose deaths the records noted, reflects the constant presence of disease that the surgeon and his medicines were kept against. The order for a frugal but respectful funeral shows the council honouring the office while guarding the Company's purse. The late Governor was to be buried solemnly and with the respect due his place, yet with as much frugality as possible, the council balancing the dignity of the office against the cost the Company would bear. This care to mark the Governor's death with proper observance while sparing needless expense reflected the council's standing economy in the Company's interest, the ceremonial honour fitted to the means, the general invitation gathering the island to the burial of its chief. | |
463 | Febry Invitation of all Housekeepers on the Island to attend the Corps with the Garrison. Mr Ormston (who waited on the Govr dureing his Sick- ness) having all the Keyes belonging to him The present Govr Demanded them, which She readily Deliverd and were by us immediatly Seald up in a Scrutore till We have time to Examine into all affairs under ye Said Decd Govr Johnsons Immediate Care, or in his Custody./ Edward Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Island St Helena At a Consultation Held on Tuesday the 19th day of Febry 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley Edwd Byfeld Esqr Govr Jno Alexander 2 John Goodwin 3 of Councill The last Consultation Read and Approvd of. Our late Govr Edwd Johnson being Interd Yesterday and most of the Inhabitants as well as all the Garrison being at the Funeral, We thought it proper While they were together to publish the following Advertizement./ Island St Helena An Advertizement Whereas it having pleased Almighty God to remove (by Death) Our late Govr Edwd Johnson Esqr These are to Require and Command all and Every person or persons Inhabit- the Said Island as well as all officers and Soldiers belonging to the Garrison to Yeild Due Obedience and Submit them- selves unto Mr Edward Byfeld now Govr of the Said Island and to Respect him as Such./ Dated and Given Under Our hands at Margin Notes: all Housekeeprs Invited./ Mrs Ormston Delivers ye Keyes ye same lockt up Inhabitants &c being to yeild./ this Advertizemt was published | Island of St Helena The order for the funeral concluded. All housekeepers on the island were to be invited to attend the corpse with the garrison. Mr Ormston delivers the keys, the same locked up Mr Ormston, who had waited on the Governor during his sickness and held all the keys belonging to him, was required by the present Governor to deliver them. He readily did so, and the council immediately sealed them up in an escritoire until it had time to examine all affairs under the late Governor Johnson's immediate care or in his custody. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Island of St Helena At a consultation held on Tuesday 19 February 1723 at Union Castle in James Valley. Present: Edward Byfield, Esquire, Governor; John Alexander, second; John Goodwin, third, of council. The previous consultation was read and approved. Inhabitants brought to take the oath The late Governor Edward Johnson having been interred the previous day, and most of the inhabitants as well as all the garrison being at the funeral, the council thought it proper, while they were together, to publish the following advertisement. This advertisement was published The advertisement set out that, since it had pleased Almighty God to remove by death the late Governor Edward Johnson, all and every person inhabiting the island, as well as all officers and soldiers belonging to the garrison, were required and commanded to yield due obedience and submit themselves to Mr Edward Byfield, now Governor of the island, and to respect him as such. The advertisement was dated and given under the hands of the council at [...]. Interpretations The securing of the late Governor's keys shows the council guarding the Company's property and papers at the moment of succession. Ormston, who had held the keys through the Governor's sickness, gave them up to the new Governor, and the council sealed them in an escritoire until the late Governor's affairs and custody could be examined, the transition guarded against any loss or confusion of what had been in his hands. This immediate securing of the dead Governor's keys and papers, the examination of his custody reserved to a fit time, reflected the council's care for the Company's interest at a change of government, the same protection of the records and stores that ran through its dealings. The publication of the advertisement at the funeral shows the new government proclaiming its authority to the assembled island. With the inhabitants and garrison gathered for the burial, the council seized the occasion to require all to submit to the new Governor Byfield, the proclamation of obedience made to the whole community at once. This public declaration of the succession and the demand for due obedience, timed to the largest gathering the island afforded, established the new Governor's authority by formal proclamation, the same publication by advertisement the council used for its orders throughout these records. The form of the proclamation, requiring obedience and respect to the new Governor as the Company's representative, marks the foundation of authority on the island in the Company's commission. The succession passed by the established rule, yet the new Governor's authority was proclaimed and the people commanded to submit, the obedience owed grounded in the office rather than the man. This formal requirement of submission to the new Governor, published under the council's hands, reflected the derivation of all authority on the island from the Company as Lords Proprietors, the same proprietary foundation recited in the grants and commissions throughout these records. | |
464 | 1722 at Union Castle in James Valley this 18th day of Febry 1722 Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin We this day Read over the last will and Testament of the Said Edwd Johnson which was Orderd to be Registered Accord- ingly and a Copy thereof Transmitted to Thomas Heath Esqr of Mile End by the first Homeward bound Ship./ We then proceeded to take an Inventory of the Goods and Effects belonging to the Said Decd Edwd Johnson in persuance to his Said Will abovementiond/ On Sunday last We had a Double Alarm for two Ships about Six Leagues distance to the windward of the Island they Stood to ye Sd W part and next day Evening was out of Our Sight We Suppose them to be Ostenders or Dutch Men./ Edwd Byfeld Jno Alexander Jno Goodwin Margin Notes: Govr Johnsons Will Read. a Copy to be for Mr Heath an Inventory begune of his Effects. a Double Alarm for 2 Ships. Supposd to be Ostendrs | Island of St Helena The advertisement was dated at Union Castle in James Valley on 16 February 1723, and signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Governor Johnson's will read The council that day read over the last will and testament of the late Edward Johnson, which was ordered to be registered. A copy was to be transmitted to Thomas Heath, Esquire, of Mile End, by the first homeward-bound ship. A copy to be sent to Mr Heath The council directed the copy of the will sent to Thomas Heath accordingly. An inventory begun of the effects The council then proceeded to take an inventory of the goods and effects belonging to the late Edward Johnson, in accordance with his will. A double alarm for two ships, supposed to be Ostenders On the previous Sunday the island had a double alarm for two ships about six leagues to windward. They stood to the south-west and by the next evening were out of sight. The council supposed them to be Ostenders or Dutchmen. The record was signed by Edward Byfield, John Alexander and John Goodwin. Interpretations The handling of the late Governor's will shows the council administering the estate of its own chief by the same procedure it applied to every inhabitant. The will was read, ordered registered and an inventory of the effects begun, the goods of the dead Governor accounted as those of any other, while a copy went home to his connection in England. This treatment of the Governor's estate by the ordinary forms of probate, the registration and the inventory, shows the council's standing jurisdiction over the goods of the dead reaching even to its own head, the same care for wills and inventories that ran through these records. The transmission of the copy to Thomas Heath of Mile End marks the link to the Governor's interest at home. The double alarm for the two ships shows the island's constant watch against hostile or interloping vessels. Two ships standing to windward raised a double alarm, the guns and the garrison called to readiness, the council noting their course until they passed out of sight. This vigilance against unidentified ships, the alarm given and the strangers watched, reflected the island's exposure as a lone Company possession in the South Atlantic, the same readiness against attack that the muster, the guns and the repair of the line maintained. The supposition that the ships were Ostenders or Dutchmen marks the particular rivals the Company feared in the Eastern trade. The Ostend Company and the Dutch were competitors whose ships might call uninvited or threaten the Company's monopoly, so strange vessels were taken for theirs and watched with suspicion. This wariness of the Ostend and Dutch interlopers, named as the likely strangers, reflected the commercial rivalries of the age that bore even on a remote refreshment station, the island guarding both its safety and the Company's trade against the ships of competing nations. | |
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469 | EAP 1364 St Helena Document Name and Date St. HELENA Records 1720-1722 Dimensions (height x width x depth) (cm) 38cm x 28cm x 5.5cm No. written pages: 463 No. blank pages: 1 Spine and cover GOOD CONDITION Inside pages FOXING PRESENT THROUGHOUT VOLUME WHAT LOOKS LIKE WATER STAINING ON TOP MIDDLE OF THE FIRST 250 pages Additional comments PAGE 77 IS NOT PRESENT Time taken to photograph (hours) 4 hours |